Saturday Matinee

Before I saw this show on Broadway, it was hard for me to relate to the story of The Color Purple since I really had nothing in common with the main character – the main character grew up destitutely poor, was molested and abused – but I’m glad that my sister made me go see it. I saw it on Broadway the week after LaChanze won the Tony for Best Actress, and completely fell in love. I’m usually not emotional at shows, but for some reason, this show hits a harmonic on my heart and sets it off in a dangerous way. This show left me in embarrassing body-wracking sobs and moved me in ways that no other show had ever done before. It’s always made me wonder about its effect on me, and my scientist mind makes me think things like, ‘If I listen to the soundtrack, would that also make me cry? What about The Color Purple is sufficient to make me cry?’ And with this viewing, I think I found the answer – what makes me so emotional is that the orchestration and the music is so well written. When Celie has her baby and is singing her first and only song to her newborn baby, the song she sings actually embodies a mother’s cry. You can even see how Celie’s song is affecting her body, as if she is singing with her whole body, heart, and soul.

It also has some of the funniest moments ever staged, thanks to the unbelievable performance of Felicia Fields. From the first moment when she struts across the stage that makes me laugh, she solidified in my mind, that really great supporting actors are the actors that completely inhabit their roles, and are really hard to replace (other examples: Jack on Will and Grace, Jon Gallagher Jr. in Spring Awakening). I’m still upset that she didn’t win the Tony award that year. Her role as Sophia encompasses the funniest lines of the show, as well as the most rousing, as well as the most heartbreaking. It’s a huge journey her character takes at every performance.

And when I saw that Felicia Fields was on tour, I knew I would have to buy a ticket. And I did.

For me, the standouts of the show weren’t the stunt-casted LaToya London (from American Idol) or Michelle Williams (from Destiny’s Child), although both of them were very good. It was Felicia Fields, with her breadth of acting and who always brings down the house with “Hell No!, and Jeannette Bayardelle as Celie. Bayardelle was a bit of a surprise – granted, when I saw LaChanze, I wasn’t particularly moved by her performance (perhaps she was overshadowed by Fields in my mind?), but Bayardelle was really a force to be reckoned with. Her powerhouse voice brought down the house, from the moment she cried to her baby to the moment she stands up to her husband. (It seems a bit unfair to Michelle Williams, but Bayardelle’s voice completely overshadowed Williams’ singing voice during their duets).

Michelle Williams made for a very sexy Shug Avery, and she is an amazing performer; her rendition of “Push Da Button” brought down the house. What was lacking a little lacking was in her quieter singing moments, especially compared to Jeannette Bayardelle during their quieter duets. LaToya London made for a great Nettie, although her part was too small for her to truly shine.

Overall, what a great show. Go see it if, like me, you didn’t really want to see it. And let me know if it has such an emotional impact on you, maybe I’m just an anomaly.

Currently playing at the Orpheum Theater in San Francisco. Check the website below for tickets and the rest of their tour.

The Color Purple Tour

More shows coming up this week: Berkeley Rep’s After the Quake, and either The Tosca Project (which I blogged about previously, a collaboration between ACT and SF Ballet), or the Miami City Ballet, a company that I’ve always wanted to see perform Balanchine. I really can’t decide between the two!

The first time I bought full priced theater tickets in NY: for Les Miserables. It hurt, but it was completely worth it to see Lea Salonga, Gary Beach, and Jenny Galloway

I found a really interesting NY Times article, out of all places, on Perez Hilton’s site. Rising theater costs is an issue that is near and dear to my heart, because that’s the biggest obstacle between me and all the theater that I want to see in this world (with distance/accessibility a distant second, because traveling far to see good theater is hardly an issue for me). And with, for example, The Color Purple tickets selling at $99 a pop if I wanted to see it up close, it’s just all so disheartening as the trend for skyrocketing prices will only get worse with time. However, this article brings up some encouraging observations. In referring to an off-Broadway theater that experimented by discounting its ticket prices: (emphases are mine)

“Normally $45, [tickets] were sold for $15 for every performance of every show of the regular run….

The Signature program was an instant success. Perhaps most significant was the change in the demographic of audiences. After the initiative was put in place, 30 percent of audience members were 35 or under; that may not sound like such a hot number, but if you’ve been to a matinee lately, you will not question its significance… A full half of the audience was new to the Signature.

The Metropolitan Opera has a small subsidy program in place… The Met also reduced its cheapest tickets to $15 from $25 last season. New York City Ballet did the same, halving the price of its cheap seats, to $15 from $30. Sales tripled.”

Wow. It seems dramatic that halving the lowest ticket price will have such a dramatic effect as increasing sales up to three times. Although if I’m going to pay the same price for a movie or a theater show, I would most definitely want to see theater.

Not surprisingly, the impetus in reduced ticket prices started with a desire to reach new audiences. And this research shows that this might actually be a good way to do it.

I remain grateful however, for the wonderful rush programs and student discounts that are available at many of my favorite venues: San Francisco Symphony, SF Opera, SF Ballet, Cal Performances, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, the Mondavi Center, and more. Otherwise, this blog would be awfully empty.

Read this article, here.

Happy Friday, everyone.

I am not like a lot of people – I get really exhausted towards the end of the week because I usually pack my days and weeknights with activity. Then usually I stay in on Friday (watching TLC’s What Not to Wear in my pajamas), cooking dinner, etc. before I’m up and rearing to go on Saturday morning.

And thank God, theater season is back! The summer doldrums are slowly drying up, and lots to look forward to.

• SF Symphony tickets now on sale! Go get yours now, here. The season opens with the Opening night gala on September 19, with the beautiful Renee Fleming.Ticket prices make it impossible for me to attend (ranging from $130 – 250), but the program is absolutely fabulous, with a good mix of classics and contemporary (Copland, Ravel, Adams, Puccini, and Prokofiev). Galas should be extravantly decadent, not modest! This one is.

• Sweeney Todd opened at ACT yesterday! I’m very excited about this one, I’m really wondering what the San Francisco reception will be for this musical. Already, I believe tickets are selling more than expected, which is great. I’m really curious as to what this show will be, I still don’t know what the twist at the end of this is… I tried to get tickets for this when Patti Lupone and Michael Cerveris were on Broadway, but they didn’t sell student rush tickets until 5 pm. So I popped over to Threepenney Opera and got tickets to that instead. I’m glad I’m getting a chance to see this, so I can experience another Sondheim show aside from Company, which I still miss dearly. Keith Butterbaugh from Company is also in Sweeney Todd, it’ll be nice to see him perform again.
• Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s 40th anniversary season opens in previews today with George Bernard Shaw’s Heartbreak House. Click here to read an article that the SF Chron ran on the Berkeley Rep Theatre, here.

© Berkeley Repertory Theatre. All rights reserved.

And, because it’s a Friday (for no other reason, of course), I’m going to post the following below. Hey, it’s tied to Avenue Q, which is closing at the Orpheum this Sunday. (It also reminded me of a comment Jen made yesterday on this blog.)

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.

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.

Aiko Nakasone, Hanson Tse, Keong Sim and Andrew Pang

Photos of Haruki Murakami’s After the Quake has been posted, coming soon to the Berkeley Repertory Theatre and currently playing at the La Jolla Playhouse. The staging looks really interesting – futuristic, minimalistic, hypnotic – my curiosity about this play is definitely piqued.

Currently playing in San Francisco at the New Conservatory Theatre Center is the successful Off-Broadway show “The Big Voice: God or Merman?”with its original (all two) cast members. What really caught my attention was the great NY Times review of the original off-Broadway show.

“Our contemporary embrace of the memoir is a longing for the true adventures of life. The trick is to make memory art without losing the awkwardness that proves authenticity. Here art is achieved with light hands, and the result is a triumphant and very touching song of praise to everyday love and the funky glories of the show business life.”

Click here for more information.

The Berkeley Repertory Theatre has lined up a special series of plays this year for its 40th anniversary season. I’ve never seen a play with the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, but heard really good things about last year (especially The Pillowman). With my recent viewings of very very good plays on Broadway (beginning with Awake and Sing! starring Mark Ruffalo and Lauren Ambrose, and my experiences with Journey’s End, Coram Boy, History Boys, and Doubt), which is a relatively new area of theater for me, I’m excited to go experience theater in Berkeley for the first time this year.

The series of plays this year is as follows:

• Heartbreak House: by George Bernard Shaw
• After the Quake: by Haruki Murakami
• Argonautika: conceived and directed by Mary Zimmerman
• Wishful Drinking: one woman show by Carrie Fisher (yes, that Carrie Fisher, the actor)
• Figaro: inspired by Mozart and Beaumarchais
• and a new play: by Danny Hoch
• Tragedy: a tragedy: written by Will Eno

Some must sees for me include Argonautika and Figaro. Argonautika - admittedly, mostly because I know Justin Blanchard, from Journey’s End, is going to be in it. An exceptional actor, it’ll be great to see what he can do in this play. Figaro looks intriguing as well, mostly due to its marriage of the music of Mozart, and the fact that it’s a play. It sounds a bit like Coram Boy, which married the music of Handel and the realm of plays really well (Handel even made an appearance in the play). There is also nothing like a Mozart opera, which are my favorite operas, with gentle lush music that never fails to touch me deeply. I’m very excited for this one.

The Murakami piece and Hearbreak House look really interesting as well.

More information here. Subscriptions are available now, which can be made with 3 or more plays. Individual ticket sales go on sale on August 19.

Edited to add: As a subscriber, if you’re Under 30, they have half price discounts, and you can subscribe for as little as $42 for three plays! Think of it as the same price as seeing three or four movies. Click the link above or call for more information.