meg o’connor

But Go See Spring Awakening! Rush seats are $50, and they are worth it. I was in the upper balcony, but that show is so big, so alive, that no matter where you sit, you are in this show. It lives up to all the hype.

The music surprised me, since the show takes place in, what I assume, is mid-19th century, early 20th. And the costuming is all period, so when these teenagers from long ago start belting out rock-pop ballads and jams, it catches you off guard, but it worked so perfectly. You see these kids in school, with their family, with each other, and they are so quiet, or polite, or nervous, but the mind of an adolescent is in such a hectic frenzy that this music is like a window into the teenage psyche. Fast, loud, angry, sad- I had always liked that one song by Duncan Sheik, but I love this entire soundtrack. If you can’t come see the show, I suggest taking a listen.

I thought all the acting was great. There was camp and there was subtlety, and there was the kind of acting you find in most good musicals- a little bit exaggerated, but with heart. I couldn’t find one actor I thought was miscast or over-acting. 

The choreography was interesting, and I generally liked it, though there was a bit they did with the arms, and sometimes it made me wonder ‘why are they touching themselves like that during this song?’ But the show in its entirety is truly a show to go see. It is beautiful, and sad, and hilarious, and relevant.

There is a good story line, but what I think the show is really about is that you can’t stop humans from being human. There are these teenagers who are trying to figure things out and have very few people to talk to. Wendla, the female lead, was dying for her mother to explain how babies are made, and the mother couldn’t do it. Moritz, the tragic character in the show, doesn’t know how to cope with his vivid sexual dreams, and it drives him mad. It shows the audience that with or without help, teenagers will become sexual beings, and in this case, the less they knew, the more it hurt them. There is unwanted pregnancy, death, sexual abuse, and the parents can’t seem to find why their children are acting out, behaving this way. They just didn’t know any better. (I think those who believe in Abstinence-Only Education should see this show…the less people know, the more pain it can cause.)

Well, now I guess the cat is out of the bag…I’m liberal (go figure, a girl living in the Bay Area), and don’t get me started on the election, but PLEASE learn everything you can about the opponent’s issues, figure out what you want, and make an educated vote this November. Don’t vote for the candidate your parents are voting for, don’t vote for the candidate who seems like the cool candidate to vote for, but vote for the candidate who you think will make the world the kind of place you want to live in. 

Back to work.

I write this in the third day of my neighbor’s 60’s-70’s hits marathon. I have heard my share of BeeGee’s, Gloria Gaynor, and luckily The Four Tops. Not the soundtrack I would pick for writing up a Chekov show, but perhaps some revelations will come out of this…(as Wild Cherry comes on…)

I had the pleasure of seeing the highly acclaimed CalShakes’ Uncle Vanya. I had read the play while in school, and remember reading it with the doom and gloom I associated with Chekov, thanks to Stanislavski. I didn’t know I was supposed to laugh at the jokes- this performance taught me how to read and enjoy Chekov.

It is not to say that all Chekov is an episode of Friends. Even Uncle Vanya has a tragic end, but it had so many levels that when you arrived at the sad ending for the family in the country, it was poetic.

Uncle Vanya is about a family that has been turned upside down by the presence of the Professor and his stunning wife, throwing the men in a frenzy over the wife, and the family in a frenzy with constant worry for the Professor’s comfort. Vanya is fed up with his unrequited feelings for the beauty, and the Professor’s demands, that he can’t take it anymore, and attempts to kill the Professor. The play ends as the Professor and his wife leave, and the family gets back to their life before ‘the occupation’, and they find they are very, very unhappy.

It was my first show at CalShakes. Their lovely outdoor theater, with the rolling hills as the back drop was already charming, but for this show, they released cows to graze on the hills. It was funny, and helped put us in the environment of Russian country-side. And the set was a clever, ever-changing, labrynth house, perfectly suiting each scene. Even the costumes were done in perfect taste.

And the acting was superb. The title character was played with such humanity, even when he is attempting to kill the professor, you are still sympathetic towards him. And poor Sonya, played so innocently, yet strong, I’m sure every woman, if not every person in the audience, felt they had been Sonya at some point in their life. Even the sad schmuck who never gets paid attention to was played so child-like, desperately seeking approval and acceptance, you just wanted to rush the stage and hug him.

The only strange acting or directing choice was that of the country Doctor, Astroff. Everyone else had a straight American accent, and the doctor had an English accent. It was not very distracting, and it added to his charm, but in the end, it was the one choice I did not follow completely.

The adaptation by Emily Mann was beautiful and funny, and I look forward to reading her other adaptations of Chekov works, as well as hoping to see more of Chekov plays being performed with his original intentions in mind: to laugh, to cry, to get angry. To have the audience inspect themselves as they left the theater, finding similarities with characters, and discovering what that means.

I also look forward to see CalShakes’  next show, Twelfth Night…disco style.

In the immortal works of Kool and the Gang- “get down on it!”

-This blog may cause interest in theater, music, new plays, and may complicate current opinions.
-Quitting this blog may greatly reduce your risk of seeing good performances in the Bay Area.
-Reading this blog by pregnant women may result in super-genius children.
-This blog contains your daily serving of iron.

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