Weekend Show - Iris

I got so freaking lucky on Saturday night and at the very last minute got a free ticket four rows back from the stage for Cirque du Soleil's Iris. I was so freaking stocked! I have been wanting to see this show since the second I found out about it. Heck, I wanted to work on the show the second I found out about it. And it was everything I imagined it would be. The technology, the acrobatics, everything. Amazing! I grew up going to Cirque shows in Vegas with my parents and brother when my dad had to go to conventions and I recall all of their shows being awesome, especially O. I'm not sure if it was the subject matter of the show or me being older and more appreciate of the show, but I think this one was probably the best. Which is interesting because the guy at the merchandise stand told me that some people walk out because they don't like it and one of my mom's co-workers didn't like it either. The show was just so pretty and to see what the Kodak Theatre is capable of is just awesome. I was in awe. I'm definitely thinking that my background in theatre and my appreciation for film has a lot to do with me liking it so much. Too bad it's is so expensive, otherwise I would go see that thing 100 more times. It's here for like 10 years so maybe the ticket prices will go down. Either way, I will find a way to see the show again!

Weekend Movies and Show - Thor, Bridesmaids and God of Carnage

This weekend was a little jam packed with entertainment, which was a very nice change of pace. My boss gave everyone in our office movie passes for making him look good and he told us to go to the movies during our work time so on Friday, his assistant and I went to see Thor. It was totally not what I expected. I thought it was going to be a total war movie, but it wasn't at all. I mean there was fighting and what not, but not all out war. Basically, there is Thor in his world and he does something bad to get him banished by his father to Earth. There he meets Natalie Portman and her friends and his goal is to get back to his home. Other stuff ensues, but that would just ruin the movie. Natalie Portman has been searching for other life forms her whole life and then this guy comes along and proves her theories right and they fall in love blah blah. There were some very cheesy parts to the movie, but it was entertaining. If you're looking for mind numbing fun, this might be a good movie. I think Natalie Portman needs to pick it back up though. She was in an awesome award winning role and then does stupid movies like Thor.

On Saturday night I saw Bridesmaids because I kept hearing how awesome it was. People get saying it was the female version of The Hangover. I disagree completely. The Hangover was funny and had me laughing a lot, but Bridesmaids just made me sad. People around me were dying of laughter and I was just sad. The stuff that happened in the movie was sad. The main character was losing her best friend and destroying her happy moments and it just wasn't funny. Obviously, everything turns out good in the end. It definitely had me laughing at some points, but for the most part it made me feel bad for the characters. It's not necessarily a chick flick so if you're interested, you should see it.

Finally, last night I saw God of Carnage at the Ahmanson with my mom. I wanted to see it so badly because of Marcia Gay Harden and Jeff Daniels and of course they were both amazing. It's about these 2 couples coming together to discuss the fact that one kid hit the other kid with a stick and knocked 2 teeth out. The rest of the drama ensues from there. The set was destroyed by the end of the show. It had me laughing quite a bit. All the actors were from the original Broadway show and they won some awards so it was an awesome privilege to see them.

Weekend Show - 33 Variations

When I was little, my mom used to do this work out video and sometimes I would do it with her. I remember it being super ridiculous because it was made in the 80’s so everyone looked like Olivia Newton John. Anyway, when I grew up, I learned that the chick in the video was Jane Fonda. I didn’t know she was an actress too and then it just became a joke in my head. I always thought she must have been embarrassed to have done that work out video. Later, I found out she made many more work out videos and even though she’s 73 she’s still makes work out videos. Well, because she was such an integral part in my mom’s work out life, I went with her and the family to see Jane star in 33 Variations at the Ahmanson on Saturday. I went into the play having no idea what it was about. I read a brief article in the playbill and deduced that the 33 variations were Beethoven’s 33 variations so naturally the play was going to be all about his music. Jane Fonda’s character is a music scholar and she travels to Germany to study why Beethoven chose to write 33 variations of a particular Waltz he became obsessed with. It was a very interesting show. There was a pianist on stage right who would play the variations as the characters discovered them. It was awesome.

The play was set in 2 different time periods; the present with Jane Fonda and the past with Beethoven as he wrote these 33 variations. The story lines almost mirrored each other. It was incredible.

The set was incredibly as well.

The proscenium was made out of file boxes and there were rolling pieces that had file boxes on them as well to represent the library in Germany where Beethoven’s music is kept.

There was also video projection on moving set pieces. The projection surface/moving pieces were a bunch of pieces of paper to represent Beethoven’s variations. It was just well thought out and incredible. Of course, Jane Fonda’s character had a freaking disease and died. I thought that was so unnecessary, but I guess there needs to be stakes in the story somewhere.

The girl who played the daughter was very awkward. After the show, I found out she was the understudy so that might explain why, but wow she was awful. The guy who played her boyfriend was awful as well. This show gave me a new appreciation for classical music though. If I look past the awkward actors and the stupid storyline of the mother dying, the show was very good.

Weekend Show - HAIR

I saw HAIR with my mom on Friday night. I figured she would be the best person to take because she loves the show and loved the production I did in college.

I’m always skeptical of other HAIR productions because I’ve seen the script and I know that it’s very open to interpretation. Some directors can do good things and some can do bad. I’ve seen both. This one was pretty good. The first act was a little slow, but the second act was definitely better. The guy who played Claude had the most amazing voice!

The thing that bothered me a little was the fact that there was no dancing. Yeah, the tribe members moved around and danced on their own during musical numbers, but there was no choreographed dancing. The production I did had choreographed dancing and it made the first act less boring, I think.

I think everyone should see this show. It’s about the war and being drafted and peace and all that hippie stuff. Don’t see the movie. Don’t ever see the movie. You’re doing yourself a real disservice if you do. See the play. It’s at the Pantages until January 23.

I Wanna Be A Rockette

I'm kind of excited! Tonight my company has invited everyone to see The Rockettes at the Nokia Theatre at L.A. LIVE for our Christmas party. The last few years, the holiday party has been some weird band I don't care much about, but this year I totally care about The Rockettes. I've seen their Christmas show before in New York and it was kind of hokey, but the fact that I was in New York at Radio City Music Hall was all that mattered to me. The show tonight will more than likely be the same show I saw in New York a few years ago, but it will get us all into the spirit of the holidays. Hanukkah ended last night and now it's time to look forward to Christmas and New Years!

This is probably the coolest part of the show:

Weekend Show - The Glass Menagerie

My mom is part of a book club that also has season tickets to the Mark Taper Forum at the Music Center. The Mark Taper is known for doing more of the artsy plays. The Ahmanson does all the big shows and the Mark Taper does the straight plays that tend to be on the weirder side. This past Sunday, they had tickets to see The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams and they had an extra ticket and I really wanted to go. I, of course, learned about Tennessee Williams as a theatre major and all the symbolism in his plays and how they're pretty much all about his messed up family. Well, The Glass Menagerie is probably the closest to an accurate depiction of his family. Usually, he just used his family as inspiration for his plays, but this one was almost spot on. I was a little disappointed though. All of his plays have a major climax, but this one doesn't. Yes, the play is very sad, but there's no huge event that turns your guts, you know.

In real life, Tennessee Williams's father was a traveling salesman who also happened to be an alcoholic, his mother was borderline hysteric and his sister was diagnosed with schizophrenia. This play portrays a father who is a traveling sales man who never returned home, a mother who is kind of nuts and won't leave him the hell alone and a sister who is crippled and super shy. At the end, the Tennessee Williams type character leaves and never returns. Kind of sad, but also kind of boring. I wanted an explosion. I was waiting for an explosion. At intermission I was preparing myself for an explosion between the mother and the son. The son kept talking about a boy he was going to bring home for his sister and I wanted the son tells his mom the boy is his gay lover. After all, Tennessee Williams was gay. But nope. That didn't happen. So all in all, I was bored and disappointed. All of Tennessee Williams's plays have a crazy climax that changes everything. I want to rewrite this one and give it a huge climax.

Weekend Play - The 39 Steps

This past weekend was the weekend of entertainment. I took my mom and grandma to see The 39 Steps at the Ahmanson for Mother’s Day. I knew that it was an Alfred Hitchcock movie, but I had no idea what the play was about. At first, I thought it was a musical, but then my mom told me it was a straight comedy. Straight plays can sometimes be boring. This play was so freaking funny and so well done. Everything was so cleverly done. It’s one of those plays that you have to see to believe. I could never sit here and describe it to you and have you fully understand the awesomeness. The writing was just amazing and the director, who is a female by the way, brought it out so well. Some directors can kill the funny so easily, but she embraced it. The writer had so many Hitchcock references and you didn’t even need to know Hitchcock movies well to understand. Utterly clever.

There was one scene where the main character was trying to escape the police while riding on a train. He jumps out the window and then runs on the top of the train. To represent the wind, he shakes his jacket behind him and it was just amazing. There were only 4 members of the cast and each played a number of parts, except for the main character. He played himself the entire play. All said and done, there were about 100 characters and these 3 actors played all of them. They would wear a different hat or half of a coat and turn to the side to represent each character. Ugh, did I mention how well this play was done? It closes on Sunday, but I would see this play again if it ever comes back. I never heard of it before this and I wish I had. There are way too many bad shows out there and this one definitely made up for it.