Theater

[Junkyard]

"What DO you know?"
"Food! Eating! The Theater!"
-Oscar Martin as Tommy and Trace Beaulieu as Crow T. Robot as Trumpy, from Mystery Science Theater 3000 Episode #303: Pod People


I gotta admit: I love theater. There are few things as fun to me as watching real people preform real shows to a real audience.... really.
Anyway, what noteworthy experiences have we had here with ther theater? Good stuff, bad stuff, preferences?


I myself have had some of my best experiences with local theater. We have two good ones nearby; The Shorewood Players, and a Cedarburg centered group that I'm gonna have to look up the name for. Saw Fiddler on the Roof and Evita with the Shorewood Players, and Harvey and Dracula in Cedarburg. Their Evita was better, by a fair stretch, than the Madonna version. And Dracula was just plain cool.

When I went to London a couple of years back, I saw their Phantom of the Opera- actually pretty crappy, to be honest. At least, compared to the movie version, and if my sister's description is right, the New York version. But I also was suffering from jet lag and really bad seats at the time.

Also, do musicals count as Theater?

[Tripe]

Absolutely musicals count a theatre.

I really should go and see a play in the Detroit area but the playbills are always so lack-luster. That's one of the things I miss from Stratford.

[RoninFox]

I was a theater performance major in college, and was in two f'ed up versions of Shakespeare before transferring to being a COM major.  First was a "cyber-punk" (directors words not mine) version of Julius Ceasar.  We all wore black leather pants and had weird hair while we praised Ceasar to bad techno music.  The only worthwhile thing to come out of it was the fact that they let me play with a sword.  I had the best swordfight on stage too...that's not really a boast as much as an offshoot of the fact that my fight partner was the choreographer but...

The second one was an attempt at a Comedia del Arte style for Merchant of Venice.  Just kind of "meh" to be honest.  Most fun I've ever had on stage was playing Freddy in my high school production of Noises Off! 

Most fun I've ever had watching theater was when my brother was a set design major and I got to see his college's production of Little Shop of Horrors, knowing my brother made all the plants.

[Bob]

Aside from watching an ex-girl friend in some plays in the Kansas City area (she stunk!   ), the only real play or theater I have seen is Rent in Chicago back in 1997.

I feel culturally deprived.

[YoohooRiffer]

I too quite enjoy the musical theatre.  A few weeks back I saw RENT for the second time.  Since I live in a suburb of Chicago I have seen several Broadway in Chicago shows like Wicked, The Lion King, RENT, Beauty and the Beast, Phantom of the Opera, Harispray, The Producers, Fiddler on the Roof, and Assassins.

I'm kind of a showtunes junkie, too.  

[Junkyard]

Oh, and regarding high school musicals-
STOP CHOOSING CUTE WESTERN COMEDY MUSICALS YOU NUTLESS FREAKS! JUST BECAUSE YOU DIED INSIDE AFTER 2 YEARS OF TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL DRAMA DOESN'T MEAN YOU HAVE TO BE COMPLETELY SPINELESS! WHY NOT "ROPE?" WHY NOT "DEATH OF A SALESMAN?" WHY NOT SOMETHING INTERESTING OR RELEVANT OR CONTROVERSIAL?!!
AAAHHGGG!!!

Well, that's how it is over in my town. Suppose it's not the same all over.

[Tyrant]

Pak and I saw Spamalot in Vegas a few months back. I'd have to say it was extremely entertaining and funny. The musical numbers weren't too shabby either. They had a "Vegas Exclusive" ending so, to this day, Pak and I still don't know how the "official" play ends. We've also caught a few plays over at the Popejoy Hall on the UNM campus (aka High Culture Central in Albuquerque). One of the coolest was a minimalist version of Richard III. They didn't mess with the original play at all, but the props and costumes were of a modern avant-garde motif. Somehow made everything even more intense for the audience.

  

[Tripe]

I too quite enjoy the musical theatre.  A few weeks back I saw RENT for the second time.  Since I live in a suburb of Chicago I have seen several Broadway in Chicago shows like Wicked, The Lion King, RENT, Beauty and the Beast, Phantom of the Opera, Harispray, The Producers, Fiddler on the Roof, and Assassins.

I'm kind of a showtunes junkie, too. 

me too

I love Wicked, not the best parts for male voices however.

[daltysmilth]

I was in a few high school and church youth group productions in my time.  One of my favorite things to do, and I realize this was totally unprofessional and immature of me, but it was fun nonetheless, was to see if I could cause one of my fellow performers to crack up during a performance.  Oh, I never did anything too blatant, it was mostly writing little jokes on pieces of paper, or whispering into their ears, or something like that. 

[Junkyard]

Another thing I like is audience participation theater. "Shear Madness" in DC was a lot of fun, as was "Totally Hollywood Abridged," with the Reduced Shakesphere company.

[AmandaGal]

I love the theater too.  Too bad Arkansas isn't really prime for theater.  Currently we have Cats playing at one of our two big local theaters.  Movin' Up is coming though and I have to admit, even though it sounds cheesy I'm kinda excited to see it.   We have had a few good things like Rent and I actually enjoyed Mamma Mia too.

I was in a few High School productions but I can't really sing.  I was in Little Shop but only as one of the street whores.  I really wanted to be Audrey [sigh].

I was mostly AV / Stagecraft. . .  the perfect thing for those who want to perform but lack the talent.  The thing I loved about stagecraft is my fellow geeks would sit around and talk about how superior they were for doing the lighting.  I love the irony of a bunch of geeks sitting in the rafters and thinking they're superior.

[msmpls]

All the kids who took drama at my high school were jerks, and I was too busy getting underclassmen in trouble to bother with theatre. That said, we have a thriving arts culture in the Twin Cities, and even though you couldn't catch me within 50 feet of a musical I'll attend a taping of Prairie Home Companion or In The Loop now and then...

[mrbasehart]

I love musicals: Return to Forbidden Planet is a great one, Miss Saigon was pretty entertaining, though on the whole, I don't really like Andrew Lloyd Webber.  I really want to see Spamalot (especially after hearing the soundtrack), and there's a great production of the 39 Steps which won a bunch of awards recently. 

[Dim of the Yard]

I've seen Mama Mia in Toronto in 8th grade (as a graduation present from my godmuddah), and I've seen Spamalot and Rent in NYC.  I REALLY wanted to see Evil Dead: The Musical, but I didn't have the necessary funds to make the trip and see the show.  But I do adore the music.

I'm a bit of a theater geek, so I've been in a couple of musicals.  I can't look back on my high school musicals all that fondly, however.  I adored Fiddler on the Roof, but I wasn't so much a fan of Sound of Music.  From then on, we got a new director who had no idea what she was doing and had a horrible style of directing, so I detested working on Sugar and Grease with her.  Now, I can't watch the movie Grease, nor can I watch Some Like It Hot.  Not cool.

And yet, somehow, I still adore theater.  Odd.

[Junkyard]

Wait, they do a 39 Steps show?! Awesome!