NoCopOutMo

Ok, so today's posts have been lamer than lame, and I apologize. Let me explain...no, there is too much. Let me sum up. For those of you unfamiliar with the theatrical process, preproduction for a play is fairly low key until the two weeks prior to opening. Then the pace of construction goes plaid. The normal 8 hour work day balloons to 'however long you can safely wield power tools' and sleep is a rare commodity. The final week before opening, known as Tech Week, is the most frantic. You work all day, from the wee smalls til around 6ish when the tech rehearsals begin. That's when the disparate aspects of the show; actors, sound, lights, scenery, costumes, etc. are all blended together. Then, after the rehearsal, painting happens. It is a very exhausting time, but when the curtain rises on opening night it's all worth it. The downside is that the day after a show opens the technical director, who must coordinate all this madness, and who would be yours truly, is usually beyond exhausted. Such is the case with me today. I kept hoping that inspiration would strike, but after writing an entire entry about why I like breasts I had enough brain cells still firing to make the decision to scrap it. For the record it was very tasteful, but totally pointless and irrelevant. So I posted a silly picture, and then a stupid question. I tried to get excited about Congress overturning our asshole president's latest veto, but it was over something so banal and uninteresting...an unfunded increasing of the multi-billion dollar backlog of the Army Corps of Engineers...that it wasn't even worth mentioning. Then I scanned my usual news sources, but nothing suitably weird or outrageous has happened lately. So, I'll pounce on Turtle's question.
Turtle asked what my favorite play is, regardless of whether I'd worked on them or not. If I had to pick one, it would be Jesus Christ: Superstar. I saw a professional tour of the show once and it totally blew me away. The crappy 70's movie does not do the show justice. I don't know if I would survive the show, as it is HUGE, but it would be totally worth it. And I would do my damnedest to weasel myself into the part of Pilate.
A very close second would be The Importance of Being Earnest, by Oscar Wilde. I have never had the chance to do that show, but I love the way Wilde wielded sarcasm like a Sith lord. Simply brilliant.
Finally in the category of plays I'd love to do is Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. It is a wonderful slice of absurdism wrapped around two minor characters from Hamlet. There is a delightful movie starring Gary Oldman and Richard Dreyfuss that you simply must watch someday.

{aside: Thank goodness for the auto-draft function of blogger. I just accidentally shut down my browser at this point. you probably felt the disturbance in the Force}

As for plays I've done before that I'd love to revisit, Noises Off is top of the list. It is a spoof of British Farce that we did while I was an undergrad, and I never got bored with the show.
And Turtle's follow-up was what show do I absolutely dread. Again that is a wide field, but there are two that really make me want to go fetal under the bed. The first is a dreadful musical I had the misfortune to run follow-spot for one Summer called Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. The songs are annoying, the music trite, and the plot tenuous to the point of wispy. It is about seven men who need wives in the Wild West, and that's about all I remember. It was just annoying.
And the all time worst show, and most theatre professionals agree with me, is Cats. I had free tickets to see that show at the Broward Center many years ago. My date and I left at intermission. What a litter box of theatrical poop! To call it a musical is an insult to Cop Rock. It's more of a concert in cat suits. The plot is about as coherent as a porn flick, giving the weakest of transitions from one song to another. I think I'd rather work the drive-through at Taco Viva again than work that crap-fest.

Wow. I guess I had some aggression pent up there. Anyway, if a theatre goer ye be, share your favorite, or most dismal experiences.

Hasta manana,
Marius