Ptorchwood Ptales & Ptimely Pthoughts

I have faced the reality that I am never going to have the time to write individual reviews for everything I seen in the last few months. So these are just a few thoughts on the music and dance related performances I've attended.

The Elixir of Love at Lyric Opera

I saw this Valentine's Day Weekend - yep February. I've seen this opera several times previously and its light and fun and romantic. Lyric used the same costumes and sets as they have previously - they're not terrible but it might be time to freshen the look up a bit. Other than that minor criticism, the opera was a lovely well-rounded performance. Both leads, Frank Lopardo and Susanna Phillips sang well and were very playful on stage.  The supporting cast was uniformly strong and the guest conductor, Bruno Campanella showed a real understanding of how to pace the music. (Bel Canto singers can be left, literally breathless if the tempo is off).  It was a very enjoyable evening.

Million Dollar Quartet at the Apollo Theater

I saw this with my BFF on her birthday.  This musical review revolves the (true) story of one day in 1956 when four musicians, true innovators of their time, played together at the Sun Records studio in Memphis. Not a formal recording session but a happy and sad coincidence of these four men coming together for the first and last time on that day. Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley and and Jerry Lee Lewis all got their start at Sun Records but at this time, Elvis has already moved on to a bigger producer and Cash and Perkins were about to do the same. The owner of Sun Records, Sam Phillips, was one of the few producers that took on performers that were a little out of the mainstream and generally more innovative than the popular acts of the time. Sadly, after he nurtured and grew these talents he was often rewarded with them leaving his studio for more lucrative deals.

All the musicians were incredible but the standout for me was Lance Lipinsky on piano. Holy crap - this kid can play. He has performed extensively with a tribute band and he knows this music intimately. Sean Sullivan as Johnny Cash is a favorite actor of mine and has appeared in several productions at Timeline Theater.. David Lago (best known for his 2005 performance as Raul on The Young and the Restless) does a surprisingly good Elvis. Surprising to me anyway, as I never realized he had any musical talent. Finally, Gabe Bowling as Carl Perkins gave a credible performance, perhaps a bit understated in my opinion. A very fun evening , how can you go wrong with such great music played by stellar musicians.

Hubbard Street Dance  at the Harris Theater

I saw this performance for my birthday with my parents in March. Four very different pieces were performed which showcased the range of talent and dance styles the Hubbard is capable of presenting. First Light, danced by the HS2 members (which are their younger dancers in training ) used lighting and dance together to convey various moods and feelings. And with music by Philip Glass, well I'm a sucker for anything with Phillip Glass.

The second piece, The Kiss - was a visually stunning non-traditional pas de deux with the dancers being suspended on wires. And like a classical  dance partnering, the dancers use each other's weight and momentum to complete difficult movements. 

The third piece At 'em (Atem) Adam was my least favorite. While I admire the muscularity of the dancing as well as the originality of the choreography, the hodgepodge of musical pieces gave the piece a disjointed and unfinished feeling. Hey I like Ella Fitzgerald singing Gershwin, Billie Holiday, and Moondog (along with Sonata for Violins by Luciano berior - not a work I'm familiar with) but not in the same piece.

The final piece, 27'52" (the length of time it takes to perform)  was visually stunning. The themes of giving/taking, pushing/pulling, dependence/independence worked beautifully with the Mahler inspired score.

Billy Elliot at the Oriental Theater

I adored the movie, so I was a bit skeptical seeing this transformed into a musical, especially one written by Elton John. The music for the most part is typical Elton John, in both its good and bad aspects. Good - lively, fun; Bad - gee a lot of this music sounds the same. The standout song for me was Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher cause ...well if you know me at all, then you know where I stand on conservative politicians.

There are four young dancers playing the role of Billy - Cesar Corales danced in our performance and he was amazing.  I would love to see this again with another lead to see what impact if any a different dancer would have on the musical. The supporting cast were great with the exception of a few of those beautiful Welsh vowels making it a little hard to understand a times.

Ok, so now I still have 4 plays to review.  But first a nap is in order.

Yow!  This play rocked!

As part of of my Victory Gardens theater series this year, I got to choose a play from the new Ignition play festival which features emerging playwrights of color.  There wasn't much information on the two plays at the time so I made a blind pick for the above.  All I knew was that it written by a young Latino playwright named Kristoffer Diaz and featured actors from Teatro Vista a well thought of Latino theater group.

Victory Garden is known as the "playwrights theater" in Chicago.  It features new works by up and coming playwrights.  Most of the time, the plays are being produced for the first time, and often the playwright is on hand observing the audience's reaction to the work.

Plot Summary
A young Latino Wrestler, (played by Desmin Borges) with THE Wrestling is destined to spend his career as the fall guy until he discovers a young East Indian hip hop rapper (played by Usman Ally)  with a killer kick.  His dream of an Eastern Mystic wrestler goes off track as the owner of THE Wrestling (played by James Krag) decides to cast him in the role of The Terrorist taking on and beating iconic wrestlers Old Glory (complete with American Flag), Billy Heartland and Joe Jabroni (all played by Cristian Litke). The Latino wrestler (from Puerto Rico) gets cast as his manager, a Sombrero wearing Poncho Villa character whose goal is to flood America with illegal immigrants and steal all the good jobs from Americans.

The plan is for him to then face and be beaten by the champion, Chad Diety, a cocky, charismatic black wrestler who is a combination of the ego of Mohammad Ali and the all American virtues of someone like the late Chicago Bear's running back Walter Payton.

At the last moment, the owner decides that The Terrorist will win the match so that the saga of Chad Diety's eventual triumphal comeback will have greater impact.  I won't give away the ending, but needless to say things don't go according to plan.

My Reaction
Pro wrestling has always featured these types of stories.  Its good versus evil (with the USA always being the good role) and not surprisingly in recent years there have been several story lines revolving around Middle Eastern or Terrorist bad guys.  Beyond a validation of middle America's smug belief in its own superiority, I never understood the appeal of pro-wrestling.  But viewing it as a legitimate theatrical art form brought me a whole new perspective on the medium.

The cast members were uniformly superb.  The standout for me was Desmin Borges as Macedonio Guerra, the mid-ranked fall guy wrestler.  His smart, funny and poignant commentary on pro-wrestling as metaphor for life was pitched at just the right level.  The other individuals are played more like stereotypes of pro-wrestling, you only get the smallest glimpses of the person behind the role.  Macedonio pulls back the curtain on his wresting persona revealing a complex, intelligent, knowing man who is trying to make a living doing something he is increasingly disenchanted with.

I thoroughly enjoyed this play and it gave me a new respect for the people who play the good and bad guy roles in the world of pro-wresting.  But I have to admit that I probably won't be watching pro-wrestling on TV anytime soon.

I was very pleased to read that Mr. Diaz has now been added to Victory Gardens roster of resident playwrights.  The presentation of the stories of those outside of the white middle class establishment have been an increasing focus at Victory Gardens and Mr. Diaz looks to be an important voice in this endeavor.

You can see video clips of the show at:

http://victorygardens.org/content/node/1321

For more information about Teatro Vista:

http://teatrovista.org/home.html