Saturday Matinee

On my last trip to San Diego, I got amazing front row center seats to see the Haruki Murakami play “after the quake“, directed by Frank Galati. I recently read another Murakami book (South of the Border, West of the Sun), and was completely compelled by his ability to mesmerize a reader while telling an almost infathomable fantasy story. I especially thought Murakami’s ability to put into prose human longing, loneliness and an ache for relationships brilliantly. I was curious to see how this would all present itself in a theater setting, in a play. For the most part, it was successful.

“after the quake” is a story taking place right before and after the large earthquake in Kobe a few years ago. with characters involved, in dreams and in reality morphing together…themes of loneliness, unresolved loves, separations, terror and fear revolve in a wonderful mesh of dreamlike subtlety. Definitely not a linear storyline, as an audience member, you must allow Murakami to lead you through his story and he may answer some questions you have, and leave others to your imagination.

This play was successful in presenting Murakami’s rare ability to present human relationships in a non-cliche, surprisingly compelling way. Slow in the beginning, Murakami begins the story, with characters showing very little emotion and living seemingly ordinary lives. Slowly, as the story unfolds, the emotions bubble up through the story becoming more and more odd and fantasical.

In my mind, the one part where this play fell short was in the delicate balance of combining fantasy and reality onto the stage. It was a great attempt though….but something about it felt a bit forced. I dont’ know what it was yet, but I felt that the human relationships were very compelling on stage, while the fantasy about a super frog was a bit unbelievable at first, but grew on me as the play went on, but still I did not feel it was 100% successful in its jump (excuse the pun) onto the theater stage.

The actors were amazing. Andrew Pang, as the literature jock & ordinary businessman balanced the two extreme characters brilliantly. My favorite, Hanson Tse, was a quiet volcano, awaiting to erupt on stage, and his portrayal of a man timid about reaching for his dreams was quite riveting. This production is touring across the nation, so see if it is coming to your town. I know it’s part of the Berkeley Repertory Season later this year.

Translation: “Since you were crazy enough to buy tickets from us the second our box office opened for last year’s season, we are throwing you a bone in letting you know the second we are open this year…”

Go pick out your must-see programs at the San Francisco Symphony this year, starting here. There are some programs I’m really excited about

I have to admit though, I was really looking forward to seeing Joshua Bell this year (he’s been there for the past two years) but he is not scheduled for this year. Watching him play with Vivaldi’s Four Seasons was probably one of the best concerts I had ever seen. He really played with the music, and it was fun to watch him create like that. But, some amazing musicians are coming (I’m looking forward to seeing Academy St. Martin in the Fields, Lang Lang who’s always fun to watch getting drowned in notes but always manages to keep his head above water), and some great programs are coming.

• I have a soft spot for piano concertos; playing piano for almost 20 years probably contributes to this affinity. It’s odd that some of my favorite piano concertos are “No. 2″ – Saint Saens, Chopin, and Rachmaninoff. Oddly and maybe I’m the only one, but I prefer Rach 2 over Rach 3 – there’s a much tighter flow and emotional impact without being muddied by sheer number of notes. Chopin and Rachmaninoff are being played this year.
• Beethoven symphony No. 7. As I’ve mentioned before, possibly my favorite symphony of all time.

It’s also a goal of mine to see a chamber music concert with the SFS this year. I’m not a huge fan of chamber music, especially string quartets (the range of colors seem really limited) but maybe it’s because I’m not a string player, and I haven’t been exposed to it as much.

San Francisco Symphony website

Happy Friday, everyone.

Summer doldrums have definitely set in. It feels like how 110 in the Shade must have felt like – waiting for the rain to come. And it’s coming soon! Be prepared, here are some important ticket dates:

• John Doyle’s Sweeney Todd tickets currently on sale! Click here to get yours, can’t WAIT for this show.
• Berkeley Repertory Theatre single tickets for its 40th anniversary season go on sale on August 19.
• San Francisco Symphony tickets go on sale on August 30.
• SF Ballet Nutcracker tickets go on sale on September 4. If you haven’t seen Helgi Tomasson’s new production of this magical ballet, you have to see it. It was one of those shows where I was smiling the entire time. It brings back such personal memories for me as well.
• Avenue Q is currently playing at the Orpheum Theater in SF! Press coverage of the tour have come out, with the usual descriptive words of “irreverent”, “hilarious”, and “touching”.

On a random note: broadwaysecrets was particularly good this week. Some of my favorites:

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I just finished the 7th Harry Potter book two nights ago, staying up til 3 am reading it. I don’t know about having a musical about it, but I love the casting choices made by whoever made this.

A young Suzanne Farrell with director/choreographer George Balanchine

Here’s another interesting article in the NY Times about how women dominate the field of ballet, but never really are in leadership positions.

“None of America’s most prominent ballet companies are run by women…. Ballet may be a woman: starring, teaching, directing smaller companies, even serving in vital support positions at big companies. But a man is making the major artistic decisions.

Ms. Moore was one of several people to suggest that ballerinas’ very roles — from cookie-cutter corps parts to male-supported partnering — influence offstage power relations.

As Dorothy Gunther Pugh, founder of Ballet Memphis, put it, “Is it fabulous, or is it not, that women get picked up and supported and lifted all the time in classical ballet?”

Meanwhile men’s workloads are typically lighter (there are no male swans) and their careers less competitive, allowing more time and energy to devote to experimenting with choreography, an extracurricular activity that boards value highly when weighing candidates for artistic director.”

(Often on Point but Rarely in Charge)

Tradition has a lot to do with it, where ballet was created in a time where women were viewed very differently by society, and change has been slow. Change is always slow in fields that are strongly rooted in tradition, medicine being one of them. It has taken (how many years?) a long time for people to realize that in medicine, staying up and working for 60 hours straight can NOT be healthy for the doctor, as well as the patients they oversee. How much longer does it take for people to change tradition in fields where lives are not at stake, when it has taken medicine this long to even begin to change?

I thought the male swan comment was flippantly funny, but I have doubts on how true that statement is. Any thoughts? (Matt? )

On a random note, our small town ballet studio would collaborate with the Westside Ballet company in Los Angeles, where Melissa Barak used to dance. It was amazing to see her in Dance magazine as one of the choreographers to watch.

In the evening of 8/5/07 (after catching a matinee performance of Jersey Boys at the AHmanson), Liz and I went to watch my grandmother perform w choir group for a special Korean Independence Day concert at the Walt Disney Hall, who performed along with some distinguished Korean-American artists, including David Kim (concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra).

This was my first time at the prestigious Walt Disney Hall, and it is such a beautiful concert hall, perfect for classical music. I couldn’t help but think that this hall is so much better than the Avery Fisher hall at Lincoln Center, the home of the NY Phil. Walt Disney hall is much newer of course. So minimal, the seating arrangement is extremely intimate & creative… Quite impressive!
I was impressed that they got such a star like David Kim to come to Los Angeles to perform, but you know, it’s the Walt Disney hall…I’ll try not to say anything bad about the accompanying orchestra but you know it’s bad when the conductor doesn’t ever look at the soloist, but instead focuses on the orchestra 100% of the time. I saw the soloist trying to follow the orchestra, not the other way around. David Kim showed extreme professionalism and experience, especially since he is used to being surrounded by the world-class musicians at the Philadelphia Orchestra. My grandmother’s choir (250 women, 150 men) was quite impressive, and sounded amazing. So glad to have musical genes in my family….and proud that she made her Walt Disney Hall debut and I got to be there!

Another bit of news: I also have very talented friends as well; my friend Mavis Pan will make her Carnegie Hall debut in September. Congrats!

What a glorious evening! I drove to Hollywood last night, and with brilliant parking tips thanks to Art , I got to pass by the Mann Chinese Theater (never seen it before) and save lots on parking. I power walked up to the hill to the Hollywood Bowl, my NYC walk sped past the laid back LA-walkers. haha. And unlike my sister, I am hopelessly in love with “old-fashioned” musicals…their simplicity, sappy love stories never fail to entertain me. Standard songs like “There’s Nothing Like a Dame” and “Cockeyed Optimist” are so fun to listen to. Rodgers and Hammerstein are musical geniuses…listening to South Pacific reminded me of Adam Guettel’s work (Light in the Piazza). Guettel is the grandson of Richard Rodgers…the musical talent definitely runs in the genes.

The bowl is so beautiful; it’s been a few years since I’ve seen a concert here. I’ve spent many of nights during my high school years here, sitting in the $1 seats (our parking cost more!) so it was great to be back. The acoustics are amazing in the theater, even though the stage seems so far, it doesn’t really matter. The stage was so tropical; combined with the cool breeze…the partial staging of the musical was done so seamlessly, I forgot I wasn’t watching a full musical. The conductor wearing a tropical Hawaiian shirt was a nice touch.

I missed last year’s performance of South Pacific at Carnegie Hall last year so I was so excited to have the same chance to see Brian Stokes Mitchell and Reba McEntire (the “star” name to bring in the audience), along with new cast addition Aaron Lazar. My two reasons to watch this was Brian Stokes Mitchell and Aaron Lazar. And boy, they did not disappoint.

I fell in love with Brian Stokes Mitchell’s voice immediately. I used to think that the sexiest voice I’d ever heard was Michael Cerveris, and while he still is amazing to watch…I think the love affair with Cerveris’ voice would be more of a one-night stand variety, while Mitchell’s voice would be a lifelong romance. I could spend the rest of my life listening to Mitchell singing “Some Enchanted Evening” (excerpt above).

OK, to be honest, I was expecting Reba to be the usual “stunt-casted” role in a musical to bring in the crowds. Contrary to my expectations, Reba was charming and pitch-perfect as the “hick from the stick”…although I’m not convinced that’s her “acting” or just being herself…she was charming as Nellie. And you know, when a girl sings “I’m going to wash that man right out of my hair”…that man is so up in her hair she doesn’t even know it. It’s fun to watch her sing it though…even though no one believes she is over him.

Her voice wasn’t as strong as a Broadway female lead…but pleasantly surprised by her performance.

Dreamy, dreamy Aaron Lazar….ok, this man is romance personified with his soaring tenor voice! Previously on Broadway as the Italian lover Fabrizio in “Light in the Piazza”, the passionate revolutionary student Enjolras in “Les Mis”… Aaron did a great job of playing the Lieutenant who unexpectedly falls in love in the South Pacific.

Since this was my first time watching “South Pacific”, the general storyline is a typical love story. I thought that the racial undertones (Nellie & Lieutenant doubting their loves due to ingrained racism), was completely off-the-wall and unexpected. I guess it speaks volumes to the changing views of audiences when Nellie turns away from Emile (Mitchell) when she finds that he used to be married to a Polynesian woman…ironic since Mitchell is African American. I suppose it wasn’t meant to be thought too deeply, as a lot of plotlines are. I felt sorry for Liat too, whose storyline just drops completely out of the musical once her love story ends. We can only hope she is able to move on with her life.

If you’re in the neighborhood, you can’t miss this! It’s an amazing experience.

Thank God it’s Friday! Here’s a little something to entertain while we’re all websurfing at work. hehe. It’s very Trockadero.

Nureyev and Miss Piggy in Swan Lake. A classic to go down in the history books, for sure.

Omigod you guys, I can’t stand the song “Omigod you guys” from Legally Blonde. If you want to hear it, you can download it for free from iTunes in the newly released Broadway soundtrack Click here.

When it first opened in San Francisco, I vowed I’d never see it. What’s interesting though is that some people actually liked it (yes, including people whose opinions I consider). Here’s one theory behind its popular success and why it was brought to the Broadway stage.

I do enjoy Jerry Mitchell’s choreography though. Even though in the previous entry I waxed poetically about Bill T. Jones’ choreography and how it pushed the boundaries of Broadway dance, Jerry Mitchell is quintessential Broadway, and so much fun to watch. I can even see the brilliance of his choreography in musicals where he wasn’t really acclaimed for it, such as Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (which I recently revisited in the national tour). I also saw Legally Blonde on the Today show, where the choreography sparkled. (I’m sure you can Youtube it.)

This article about crazy fangirls scares me though. I’m hoping that girls will find better heroes than Elle Woods overdosed in pink. I get it – pretty blonde girls shouldn’t be stereotyped and discriminated against. But what I find a bit off putting is what was stated in the NY Times review: “Among Elle’s Harvard classmates is a dowdy lesbian (played by Natalie Joy Johnson), who is routinely the object of the show’s most unsavory jokes. Which makes you wonder uneasily if the message of Legally Blonde isn’t just that it’s O.K. to be pretty, but that it’s not O.K. not to be.”

I was trying to describe Spring Awakening to someone today who had never heard of it (in the real world, many of these people exist, which always surprises me ), and I ran across a Youtube music video of this show. I was reminded of how mesmerizing certain aspects of this show is.

I know how this show has been on Broadway (and off) for a very long time and it comes after a Tony sweeps which includes one for Best Choreography, so it’s not exactly cutting edge news, but it brought back old thoughts. Admittedly, I’m not the biggest fan of this show, but I hold the unpopular opinion that the choreography made the show for me. After the Broadway show, Jen asked me if I liked it, and I replied that I thought the choreography really brought the show to another level. Choreographed by Bill T. Jones, a modern dance choreographer and definitely not “Broadway”, he really brought a deeper level of artistry that extended beyond what is normally seen on a Broadway stage. This complemented the highly charged emotions and angst that permeates onstage.

The genius of his choreography is more striking in my situation – I’ve been listening to the Spring Awakening soundtrack in my car stereo or on my ipod, and to all of a sudden watch the choreography that complements this music I know so well, I was able to appreciate the raw emotional impact of the dancing.

I only say this in my defense because during the show, a lot of people actually laugh out loud when the boys would burst out into what may look like interpretive dance, and many have vocally opposed the choreography. But I think people laugh at the same reason why people laugh in the Melchior/Wendla cane scene. I can only chalk it up to the fact that some people can’t see what others can see, or people handle emotions differently.

The NY Times review states, “Unobtrusive choreography by Bill T. Jones is neatly woven into the show’s texture, allowing us to see how children can develop a physical language to channel urges they do not have the words to express.” Isn’t this one of the many definitions of dance? It is to me – channeling emotions that words cannot express.

I always see things in a different light when I read about how things were created, and why. “Before starting to choreograph to the music, Mr. Jones worked with the actors to develop movement that would feel natural to them. “For the song ‘The Bitch of Living,’ Bill asked us what the word bitch meant to us as young men,” Mr. Groff said. “He made us say it over and over, stand up and scream the word into his face, and see what it was doing to our bodies. Then that became the basis for the choreography. As nondancers it was so exciting to be able to express ourselves clearly in a nonverbal way.”” (Rest of the article titled, “It Takes a Rule Breaker to Create Dance for Rebels“) If you click here for an audio slide show of Jones and the show, you can hear his internal struggle at the fear of having sold out in doing Broadway (as he says, “step ball change”), and almost trying to convince himself that this was a lofty endeavor, which is considered by many a lower art form than dance.

I hope that the same flavor of the choreography – the intensity, the commitment to movement, which is probably a direct result of working directly with the choreographer who choreographed it – carries over in its touring form. It’s always scary to see a show when I’ve already seen the original Broadway cast, I just hope that the general heart of the show remains with its different actors. This show will come to San Francisco next year at the SHN series. Click here for more info.

On a different note, I would have loved to have seen this off-Broadway, to see it performed inside a church. I’m glad I got to see it when I did though, before too much of the Tony hype.

Gosh I hate this preview picture of Skylar Astin in the video, but I have no idea how to change it. If anyone knows how, drop me a line.

[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6707962513653613980&hl=en]