Gory Days are Here Again

Stage West Iowa (you may remember them from my post on Hedwig and the Angry Inch) is currently performing Evil Dead: The Musical.  You should go see it.

I've wanted to go see Evil Dead: The Musical since I first heard about the Canadian production in 2003.  Being a big fan of the Evil Dead movies and musicals in general, it seemed like something made just for me...but also one of those things that is such a strange abomination that it would die shortly after birth (I'm looking at you Lestat).  But it didn't, much like a Kandarian demon infected college student, it would not die.  I remember looking a few years later and being very pleasantly surprised that Evil Dead the Musical (EDTM) was still playing in Canada.  Ah Canada, you are so lucky...hockey, curling, and EDTM.  

I kept trying to find a way to justify a trip to Toronto to see the Evil Dead, but it just wasn't happening...someday Canada, someday I will ride a moose.  Finally in 2007, Evil Dead made the jump to Off-Broadway.  From there, EDTM has had all kinds of productions across the US.   But not Iowa.  I kept hoping but was continually let down by the lack of demon possessed plays.  Finally, this summer...it was announced.  Evil Dead the Musical would be coming to the Stoner Theater.  I was very excited.  Les Mis and the Evil Dead within a month's time...amazing.  I set out to buy tickets as soon as I could...but for which performance?  That is always a tough question for me, but this was easy.  Of course, I would have to see it Halloween!  Oct 31st, what better day to watch the Evil Dead.  

I was sure it was going to be awesome, Angie was not so sure...but willing to give it a try (this is just one of the many things I like about her).  Unfortunately, Angie has some unavoidable business come up and was forced to miss the show at the last minute...luckily my brother Ryan and his wife Hedda were happy to step in.  We had a great time and laughed throughout the show.  I would suggest you check it out within the next week (performances end Nov 11th).  

If you are unfamiliar with the Evil Dead - it is a horror movie about teenagers who stay at a cabin in the woods and inadvertently conjure demons when the find the Necronomicon.  Then it is a fight for survival with shotguns, chainsaws, and lots of blood...your typical, scary stuff right?  Not really.  It does have some scares and creepiness but it has even more campiness (on purpose) and humor.  The musical adaptation expands on the camp and the humor to make it a very fun viewing.  It isn't just sex jokes, foul language, and blood though...it tries to answer the tough questions in life like "How did a housewares employee land the perfect girl?" and "How did the perfect girl land a housewares employee?"  OK, it is mostly just sex jokes, foul language, and blood...but the show knows that is all it is and owns it.  You'll enjoy songs like - What the Fuck Was That?, Bit-Part Demon, and Do the Necronomicon.

Check it out for a laugh, I don't think you will be disappointed...how often do you get to see a singing moose head?  Not enough, in my opinion; so you shouldn't pass up the opportunity.

Les Mis 25th Anniversary Production

Spoilers Below - If you don't know the story of Les Miserables and want to be surprised, you will want to skip this post.

Tuesday night, Angie and I went to opening night of the Des Moines performance of Les Miserables.  I was very excited as this is my favorite musical by far and it had been a long time since I had last seen it (2004 or 2005 I think).  I did make Angie go see the 25th Anniversary Concert at the movie theater last fall, but instead of satisfying my appetite for Les Mis, it just made me want to see it more desperately.  At the time, the 25th Anniversary National Tour was just getting underway and wasn't scheduled for any place close to Iowa.  As I read over the announcement of the Des Moines Civic Center's 2012/2013 schedule a ray of light shone down and choir of angels sang in the background as I read the two words I most wanted to see: Les Mis.  There were also many other great shows - Book of Mormon, War Horse, Beauty & the Beast, etc..., I was a little disappointed in the lack of The Addams Family, but all I really cared about at first was Les Mis.

Actually, I at first thought my brain was just messing with me and I had to read over the list a couple times to make sure that I actually read Les Mis.  After that it was a long month waiting to get my season ticket renewal form, and then another long couple months waiting for tickets to be finalized, another long couple months to receive my tickets, and finally a relatively short wait (only a couple weeks) until the show.  It was a good thing that I was so paranoid because even though I went down and handed the Civic Center my ticket order form and payment information in person - I spent almost 45 minutes that day with the ticket teller making sure that everything was handled and good to go; and they gave me all assurances that it was.  But they ended up losing my information.  Luckily, when they said cards would be charged on a certain date and mine wasn't;I checked back and they confirmed that they started the renewal/order process for me, but it was never completed.  If I hadn't had checked, my tickets would have been released for sale to someone else at the end of the week.  I was a little miffed at the time, but I am glad it was all able to be worked out in the end.  Thanks for the near heart attack!

This isn't the performance that toured the country for nearly 20 years.  This is the new reimagined & restaged 25th Anniversary Production.  I had a little trepidation...would they ruin it?  Would they cut or molest a lot of the scenes that I loved?  Would the actors be any good?  Attending a pre-show presentation about the history of Les Mis and it's journey from book to screen, it was mentioned that this production got rid of the stage turntable.  I groaned a little.  I loved the turntable and thought it was unique and a really interesting aspect of the staging of the show.  I was a little bummed but told myself that it is the story and the music that make Les Miserables so great.

There were a lot of changes to the show.  Did the old production need to be retooled?  Emotionally, I don't think so...but intellectually, I know that the old production was big and expensive.  It all just felt heavy (as I am sure it  physically was) and for me that increased the feeling of epicness.  I knew there had to be changes for a new production...I just don't think a current production could easily survive in this economic climate with that type of show...especially a show that is 25 years old.  I am not sure how many semi trailers the old show used, but I am sure it was a lot...the turntable, the barricade devices and the rest all had to be very expensive to transport (and maintain).   Again, I told myself that it would be better to have a stripped down show rather than no show at all.

The new production uses a lot of projected backgrounds which I wasn't thrilled about but I do think it is pretty neat that they used some of Victor Hugo's own artwork in creating the backgrounds.  Also the projected backgrounds did a good job of creating movement in some scenes - like walking through the sewers or down a lane.  I still liked the old turntable better but this did a really good job in certain scenes - Javert's death was also particularly well done with the projected backgrounds.

There was also a lot more color in the new production - costumes, backgrounds, all have a little more color in them.  Cosette doesn't just wear black.  Color is not necessarily a bad thing, but for it can definitely change the tone of a play.  I thought it lightened the tone a little but I think it also diminished some of the dramatic uses of colors...like the student's red flag when they take to the streets.  I also thought some of the colors looked a little too bright and clean - like Jean Valjean's soldier uniform.

I was disappointed at the lack of the turntable being able to show the different sides of a scene (especially the wall scene between Cosette and Marius.  It was a novel way to see both points of view.  But I really missed the mechanical barricade machines that would turn and twist, construct and deconstruct, and show different views of the action.  The first time I saw these amazing machines, I was worried that one of the actors was going to get squished as the machines rapidly transformed while the actors climbed around on them.  I would also have to say that the new production almost completely ruined Gavroche's death scene...hiding it completely behind the barricades.  Yes, you know he is shot, but it doesn't have the impact that it had previously.  Somehow, the stage felt really small...this was the exact opposite of the feeling that I got from the previous production (due to the turntable and awesome barricade mechanics needing room).  It worked well in some scenes...like the barricade where it seemed cluttered and cramped but much of the time I just wanted the cast to spread out a bit.

The performers and the performances were good but not great.  Peter Locklyer was just too slim to be the muscular Valjean of my mind.  Peter had a really strong voice and could nail the loud and forceful parts.  He was decent at the soft parts, but couldn't come close to matching the delicate and heartfelt-ness that Randal Keith was able to achieve.  Andrew Varela as Javert matched my physical image perfectly and he had a good voice...when the song was slower.  However, when the lyrics were fast paced, I thought he was a little mumbled and difficult to understand.  There was also a lot of different stressing of words or changing up styles that I am not used to...for example in one part of a song, I thought Valjean was supposed be more melancholy but in this production he came off as more angry.   Same with the staging...I think they were trying to show that he was working harder than everyone else so should be outraged when offered half the wage, but it kind of came off like he was a dick, taking people's work.  It wasn't necessarily bad...just not the choices that I would have made with the characters.

It sounds like I had a lot of problems with this production...and it is true I didn't find this production as amazing as the previous.  However, I  still think it is a very good show and encourage everyone to go see it.  It plays in Des Moines through Sunday evening.  It is a very epic story and an epic play and well worth your time.  If I had the money right now, I would be going again this week...but for now, I have to console myself with the movie that comes out in December (which looks amazing check out the trailer below) and the  knowledge that Angie and I are planning to go see it at Theater Cedar Rapids in 2014.  Kind of excited for that, I haven't seen anything in person besides the Broadway tours.  I'm interested to see what a small local production can be.


 

An Anatomically Incorrect Rock Odyssey

In a couple weeks, Stage West Iowa will be presenting a run of Hedwig and the Angry Inch at the Stoner Theater.

I'm not even sure how my brother and I first came across Hedwig, I think we might have been flipping through channels and saw the title Hedwig and the Angry Inch and were like "That sounds fucked up."  And it was...but it was also wonderful.  Great music, messed up characters, and a lessons about coming to terms with who you are and about making the best of your situation.  It quickly became one of my favorite movies.  The movie was based off the musical play created by John Cameron Mitchell.

It is a difficult decision to take a date to Hedwig.  Hedwig is hard to describe...well hard to describe without scaring people off.  It contains cultural taboos like transsexualism, cross dressing, sex change operations, homosexuality, and rock and roll.   But that all just sets the stage for the story and the characters feelings, motivations and the identity crises that are created.  Long story short - in the late 1980's Hansel, an East German boy, gets a sex change operation to emigrate West through the Berlin Wall with his love, an American soldier.  Hansel becomes Hedwig, but the sex change operation doesn't work as planned (that's the angry inch).  A year later, Hedwig is dumped and the Berlin Wall falls.  Stuck in the middle of nowhere, Hedwig decides to become a rock star but her new young lover takes off with all her songs and then strikes it big.  Bitterness, complex relationships, mental breakdowns, and identity crises ensue and coming to terms with it all is the beauty of Hedwig.

Hedwig (the musical, not the movie) takes place during a single concert at Bilgewaters Family Restaurant in <insert your town>.  I saw Stage West Iowa's previous Hedwig endeavor in 2002.  They did a pretty good job.  Hedwig and Yitzhak both did a great job.  And Hedwig is a difficult character to play (I would imagine...I am not an actor), because although she is outrageous and over the top, you can't go so far over the top to be cartoony.  Hedwig has to be likable and relatable...even when the audience has little in common with her (well, I would hope not that many people have chopped off their wieners to get out of East Berlin).  I expected a little more animation from the backing band...even though they aren't a major part of the show, I expected them to be rocking out more and being more like an actual band.  I know Hedwig is the spotlight hog, but I was hoping for more pep from the band.  I think this may have been at least partially intentional - A) Hedwig doesn't want to be outshone, B) band is supposedly bored with Hedwig...but I thought it detracted somewhat from the performance.  I have seen "real" backing bands go both ways - energetic and laid back.  Energetic is always more fun and exciting to watch.  I don't want them to distract from Hedwig, but they can at least look more like they are in a rock band rather than just standing there and playing their instruments.

I am highly looking forward to seeing what they do with Hedwig this time.  I suggest you all check it out too.  If you are able to keep an open mind about the not quite normal sexuality of the characters, you can really enjoy the music...much like Rocky Horror Picture Show.  When you give the music a chance, you will be amazed, it is really a great story.

Les Miserables - the final post

This past weekend GF-Unit watched the 1998 movie adaptation of Les Misérables...the one with Liam Neeson, Geoffrey Rush, Claire Danes, and Uma Thurman. It is a decent version of the story. So the next few posts will be related to that. If you haven't seen the movie, musical, or read the book there will probably be some spoilers...so you may want to think twice before reading this post.

After much delay due to illness (I think I got the black lung, Pop). Here is the final in my triumvirate of posts on Les Miserables...probably the last forever on this topic.

Les Miserables - The Musical

The musical is by far my favorite version of Les Mis. It has all the epic-ness of the novel without the slow boring parts...the musical seems face paced and interesting throughout. It is amazing at how well they were able to take this meandering novel and condense it's essence down into the 3 hour musical. You don't feel like you are missing sections of the novel, you still get the passage of time, the complexity of characters, the feelings of good and evil in everyone...all in song. The composers just captured the emotions of the characters perfectly - from the prison chain gang singing "Look down, look down, you'll always be a slave. Look down, look down your standing in your grave." to Eponine singing the ballad of the invisible "On my Own" I couldn't help but be drawn into the characters and understanding of their plight. Rarely will you hear better songs about prostitutes, robbing corpses, and revolution. It is truly a musical manly men can enjoy, as well as, the most feminine of women and everyone in between.

Les Miserables is the musical that got me into musical theater. I had seen a few things and they were OK, but Les Mis was the first time I was blown away. I still use Les Mis as my measuring stick on all musicals I see. It is the one musical that I would recommend everyone see at least once...even if you don't like musicals. The entire stage production is amazing, with large scenery objects transforming from one object to the next at an impressive speed. I find the whole thing well done, and well thought out.

A note on the movie - I think I originally saw the movie in a pre-release with employees of the movie theater next to the arcade I once worked. I thought it was OK but not great. But I hated it. Why? In the version, I originally saw, I swear they had Jean Valjean kill Javert. I swear, that Javert basically forced Valjean to kill by telling him that he would never stop chasing him and his daughter...ever. Javert wanted to die that was obvious, but to have Valjean kill him changed the whole story. I didn't like it. In the movie that GF-Unit watched the other weekend, it did not have this scene...Javert committed suicide like was good and proper. I don't know maybe I have been wrong or confusing something else with the movie for 10+ years. I remember it so clearly though...I wonder if they changed it before the official release (I know that happened with other movies we watched pre-release, but it was never anything as important).

Purplexed

Went to see The Color Purple at the Civic Center last night. I was actually thinking it was a couple weeks from now but luckily my phone calendar reminded me in the morning. It was the show that I was least looking forward to in this years package...because I really am not one who enjoys going into a play, show, or movie knowing it is going to be a downer. If it ends up that way (like the movie Kids), that is one thing...but if I know it is going to be depressing I have a harder time getting into it. For that reason, I had never watched Schindler's List until a few months ago. I read the book, The Color Purple, about 20 years ago and although I didn't remember a ton of it, I remember that it was pretty much a bummer. I have never seen the movie.

The show did have a little bit of the rape, incest, and beating...all in musical form! but it really didn't seem a huge part of the show. It seemed lacking on the whole point of surviving through hardships but still learning to see the beautiful parts of life. The message was still there but it didn't seem as important. Celie's whole struggle seemed not as horrible as I remember, it often seemed like she was putting up with minor inconveniences than life shaping violence. It was a decent show but it didn't have the gravity that I remember in the book. It left me a little bit perplexed.

I also didn't get the sense of time. The book covers like 40+ years. The play didn't give nearly that sense of time frame. It seemed most of it could have been 5 years at the most. It just didn't give me the sweeping epic feeling like Les Miserables does.

A good show though, I would recommend it to people. I kind of wanted to get a "Hell No" t-shirt, just so I would have a t-shirt that said "Hell No" but I didn't care for the TCP logo on the sleeve...and $25 was a little spendy for a black t-shirt. Now, if it said "Hells Yeah!", I would be in.

A Strange Week

This week has been very strange and varied for me.

Roughing It

It started off camping at Acorn Valley over the weekend. Why camping? I am still not quite sure, but it was something different to do and probably the last really nice weekend to do it. It was a good time...nothing special but nice to get away from hectic pace of normal life. Plus a little naughtyness in the woods is always fun. We were at campsite 61 which was far enough away from most other people yet close to bathrooms, forest trails, and the playground. Our tent was a little smaller and a little more rustic than the one pictured above.

High Culture

Tuesday was the first show in this year's Civic Center season ticket package. It was a play called Frost/Nixon, about the way that the admittance of wrongdoing and subsequent apology came about years after he resigned. It was entertaining but I wouldn't call it engrossing. It didn't really make me think much or enlighten me in some way, it just filled a couple hours with something besides TV or video games. Would I have paid to see it if it wasn't part of the season ticket package? No, but I don't feel that it was a waste of time either. Elvis was not mentioned. Looking forward to Spamalot (again)!

A Journey to the Past

Wednesday, we (me, GF-Unit, Kinda-Kid) went to WFA to see Walking with Dinosaurs Live. It was a really good show. I thought it seemed a little short but it was a very entertaining show (if you have any interest in dinosaurs). The dinos looked pretty realistic and cool. The Kinda-Kid knew the big dinos were fake right away because there was a car thing between their legs that drove them around (although it was disguised so it wasn't completely distracting). The smaller dinos (raptors, baby t-rex, etc...) that were people in suits had him fooled for about half the show. He finally realized that you could see the actor's legs about halfway through the show. They all did a very good job, the dinosaurs moved very realistically and if you used a little imagination you could pretend they were real. We got the cheaper tickets (around $25/ea) and it was well worth that price. I don't know if it is worth the higher $60 ticket price - to me probably not, but I felt I got my money's worth for what I paid. I had a good time and I don't think the Kinda-Kid will forget the show any time soon. If you have young-ish children, I would suggest giving it a shot.

Familial Stupidity Part 1 (vicariously)

Tonight (Thursday), I am going with Hetero-Life Pal CT to Billy Joes to see Step Brothers. I think it looks hilarious and need a good laugh after the past few weeks of crappy movies. Also there is the added plus of bar food. I am not sure if the mini-corn dogs are calling my name or if I am hungry for something else this week...it will have to be a game time decision.

A Literary Event

Borders bookshop is haveing their Educator's Appreciation Weekend. There is a reception Friday night. I am not an educator but GF-Unit is (or is studying to be), so she really wants to check it out...me? I just find it hard to turn down going to a bookstore for any reason.

Familial Stupidity Part 2 (in person)

Sunday morning, my brother is gathering a bunch of friends together for a golf tournament...I think it is basically his bachelor party since it is opposite his fiance's bridal shower. I suck at golf, but I always have fun. Noonan.

Slap Shot

The Iowa Chops first pre-season game takes place at the Buccaneer Arena. It technically has free admission but I think they are asking for a $7 donation to Youth Hockey. I am excited to see the Chops in action. I am looking forward to a winning season for once. You should go...it will be fun.