living on love

Last night we saw a frothy boisterous comedy at the Asolo... Living On Love... it opened last year on Broadway with Renee Fleming in the Diva role but closed soon after.  I both enjoyed the play and can see why it didn't make it.  This is a perfect play for less expensive venues where a night of entertainment isn't equal to a mortgage payment - such as Broadway shows with star names are.  The play was fun and funny.  Phil declared it "cute and dated" but I liked the "period piece" aspect finding some of the story lines too difficult to really put in the context of today's media diversity.  Who for instance would be the butt of the Leonard Bernstein jokes in 2016? No conductor (Maestro) has the corner on the market of celebrity today in quite the same was as he did in his day.  And no diva of the opera today can equal the acclaim of Maria Callas in her era either....

so I found it completely entertaining and a fun way to pass the evening- all six of the performers were strong but of course the four performances by those who were allotted actual opera pieces won the day. The two "houseboys" were fabulous and really stole the show in their big scene. The Diva and the Maestro were fun - over the top - performances with hers being the stronger by quite a bit but his had its moments for a number of good laughs.

overall- worth an evening of your time (unless you detest opera - in that case you won't find it an amusing diversion)

so a positive review of the night's entertainment from me... next up Forks N Corks wine dinner (South Africa winemaker featured)- stay tuned...

nothing but fun

Last night I saw Miss Buncle's Book at Lifeline Theater.  It was just plain fun. Nothing deep or enlightening just a fun evening of light comedy that almost no one bothers to put on or make (in film) anymore.  I would call the story "Jane Austen light" with more laughs and less judgement.  Very entertaining.  It was fast paced with one brief intermission and lasted roughly two hours and twenty minutes in total- so if you want to just have some fun one night- go check it out - the run is just beginning....

a completely enjoyable evening - and now I am off to finish up my DART photo assignments before we leave for Bulgaria & Romania...

just in time

I finished my China blog posts just in time to start the "critic's corner" LOL- where I spend the time reviewing trips to the theater and concerts etc... well, actually I have already started that with the Haifa Symphony last week and the whole Forks & Corks weekend thing but we are scheduled for at least four more concerts and five plays before I return to Chicago - so there will be plenty to talk about...

but here is the start- last nigh we saw Vanya & Sonia & Masha and Spike at the Asolo - and roared... yes seriously - there were parts I thought I might lose it and others where I made an effort to tone down my response because I thought this play was waaay funnier than some of the audience did-

I have criticisms - but they are nit picky and few- the script could be tighter and shorter - a good editor will solve its issues.  It needs to be paced a bit more quickly for the full element of farce to play to perfection but hey- I got more than tow hours of laughs out of it so who is going to quibble. I thought the casting was just a tad off - Masha wasn't quite STAR enough and Spike wasn't quite handsome enough (despite having a smokin body) but overall - I would give it a positive review.

so next up is a concert on Saturday night in Tampa- for those of you who couldn't tell me frequently enough what a mistake I had made in not seeing the Carolina Chocolate Drops last year at City Winery- well you can stop harping on me about it, because I agreed to go see them this weekend with Phil....