My weekend
Jun. 30th, 2010 10:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pedantherThe two big local theatrical productions this year, by the two local community theatres, are The Sound of Music and Cabaret, both set against a background of the rise of the Nazis; an interesting coincidence, and as far as I know an entirely accidental one.
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On Saturday, I went to see The Sound of Music. I wasn't sure I'd like it, since my reaction to the film version was kind of meh, but in the event I enjoyed it a lot. This might actually have something to do with the bits that got trimmed out of the film, both humourous ("How Can Love Survive?" = my new favourite song from the show) and otherwise (of which more in a moment). I shouldn't shortchange the production itself, though: good sets, good costumes, an excellent Maria (not entirely a surprise, since it's well-known that she was the seed this production crystallised around) who had a good rapport with the children, who were quite charming. In all, I'm very glad I went.
I keep getting ambushed by Rodgers and Hammerstein, because they've got this reputation for bright fluffy musicals, but when you actually watch them there's actually strands of darker and more serious material. The King and I has all the stuff about the King's authoritarianism, and the plight of Tuptim and Lun Tha. Oklahoma! has sexual predation and some really dark moments surrounding Pore Jud. By the time I got around to seeing South Pacific, I knew not to expect just fluffiness, both from experience and because this time I already knew how the main plot went, but the B plot still got me when I wasn't expecting it.
And then of course there's The Sound of Music, which I think the film was the first Rodgers and Hammerstein musical I saw. And it was kind of stupid of me not to be expecting Nazis, because I knew that it was based on a family who fled Austria to get away from them, but still I was surprised when they showed up. I suppose I assumed the musical stopped before things got to that point, because the reputation is all about sunny alpine meadows and singing moppets and Maria And The Captain Doing Romance. And I was kind of surprised again on Saturday, because in the stage version the whole Nazi thing is somewhat more complex and starts creeping in earlier than in the film (I should add: as far as I recall, and it's been a while since I saw the film).
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Cabaret rehearsals continue. On Sunday, we did a run-through of the first act, for the first time with the orchestra and all the songs in place, which really lifted it up.
And then I completely ruined the atmosphere in a very emotional scene by entering two lines early, twice, because I couldn't quite remember which line was my cue and figured that must be it because nobody on stage had said anything for a very long time. (They say it was a dramatic pause, but I'm convinced they'd forgotten the next line too.)
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Also this weekend, there was family stuff which I don't think I'll go into specifically, but it was all good. My brother and sister who live out of town came down for it, and we went to see The Sound of Music together while they were here, and also I got to play Lego Star Wars with my brother. He's the gamer of the family, and I've been thinking since I played through Lego Star Wars by myself that it was probably a game that would be fun to play with him, and it was. (Even the not-used-to-two-player bits where I accidentally shot him in the back because he got between me and the enemy, or he accidentally chopped me up with his lightsaber, or one of us forgot about having to stay within screen-width of each other and accidentally dragged the other off a ledge to his doom.) We played the Original Trilogy up to the point where the Millenium Falcon leaves Tatooine, which meant I got to show him the bit where Han Solo finds a hat-dispensing machine and obtains Indiana Jones's fedora. He liked that bit, too, and we both agreed that Chewie looks very stylish in a top hat.
----
On Saturday, I went to see The Sound of Music. I wasn't sure I'd like it, since my reaction to the film version was kind of meh, but in the event I enjoyed it a lot. This might actually have something to do with the bits that got trimmed out of the film, both humourous ("How Can Love Survive?" = my new favourite song from the show) and otherwise (of which more in a moment). I shouldn't shortchange the production itself, though: good sets, good costumes, an excellent Maria (not entirely a surprise, since it's well-known that she was the seed this production crystallised around) who had a good rapport with the children, who were quite charming. In all, I'm very glad I went.
I keep getting ambushed by Rodgers and Hammerstein, because they've got this reputation for bright fluffy musicals, but when you actually watch them there's actually strands of darker and more serious material. The King and I has all the stuff about the King's authoritarianism, and the plight of Tuptim and Lun Tha. Oklahoma! has sexual predation and some really dark moments surrounding Pore Jud. By the time I got around to seeing South Pacific, I knew not to expect just fluffiness, both from experience and because this time I already knew how the main plot went, but the B plot still got me when I wasn't expecting it.
And then of course there's The Sound of Music, which I think the film was the first Rodgers and Hammerstein musical I saw. And it was kind of stupid of me not to be expecting Nazis, because I knew that it was based on a family who fled Austria to get away from them, but still I was surprised when they showed up. I suppose I assumed the musical stopped before things got to that point, because the reputation is all about sunny alpine meadows and singing moppets and Maria And The Captain Doing Romance. And I was kind of surprised again on Saturday, because in the stage version the whole Nazi thing is somewhat more complex and starts creeping in earlier than in the film (I should add: as far as I recall, and it's been a while since I saw the film).
----
Cabaret rehearsals continue. On Sunday, we did a run-through of the first act, for the first time with the orchestra and all the songs in place, which really lifted it up.
And then I completely ruined the atmosphere in a very emotional scene by entering two lines early, twice, because I couldn't quite remember which line was my cue and figured that must be it because nobody on stage had said anything for a very long time. (They say it was a dramatic pause, but I'm convinced they'd forgotten the next line too.)
----
Also this weekend, there was family stuff which I don't think I'll go into specifically, but it was all good. My brother and sister who live out of town came down for it, and we went to see The Sound of Music together while they were here, and also I got to play Lego Star Wars with my brother. He's the gamer of the family, and I've been thinking since I played through Lego Star Wars by myself that it was probably a game that would be fun to play with him, and it was. (Even the not-used-to-two-player bits where I accidentally shot him in the back because he got between me and the enemy, or he accidentally chopped me up with his lightsaber, or one of us forgot about having to stay within screen-width of each other and accidentally dragged the other off a ledge to his doom.) We played the Original Trilogy up to the point where the Millenium Falcon leaves Tatooine, which meant I got to show him the bit where Han Solo finds a hat-dispensing machine and obtains Indiana Jones's fedora. He liked that bit, too, and we both agreed that Chewie looks very stylish in a top hat.
