Blind Prophecy

I’m writing this during Ugly Betty and Grey’s Anatomy commercial breaks, so let’s hope I remain coherent.

And, um, yeah, the last 30 seconds of Ugly Betty… wow.

I’m turning into such a girl*. There were tears running down my face from the moment Melchior shoots himself until, well, until the end.

I watched one of the bootleg videos months ago and thought I knew what to expect. I didn’t. Rob has said that the actors have grown in their roles, and I could certainly see that. I almost wish they’d re-record the the official cast album. The order of the songs at the top of act two is different (better) and the pacing of the songs is so much more studied.

I really loved the staging, which made great use of the entire stage space, including the back walls and anything else that could be climbed upon. I’m not the fan of the choreography that Rob is. It’s perfectly appropriate to the score and the show, but I didn’t feel like it really impressed me with technical skill. Rather, I felt like I could have learned and nailed that choreography and dance is far from my on-stage strong points.

But that would be my only quibble.

The performances were amazing, although from the mezzanine seats  Jonathon Groff had this weird Cro-Magnon thing going on whenever he glared with his head tilted forward. But who cares, he’s so cute! He was also a touch off-key and off-beat at the start of “Touch Me” but he recovered nicely. Lea Michele was professional and likable, but I didn’t find her to be particularly exemplary.  had the hardest role to pull off. For all that Melchior is the lead and emotional center of the show, Moritz is the character who will make and break any production. Melchior can be played by any intelligent and talented pretty boy, but finding a character actor with the range to pull off Moritz’s character arc with authenticity would be difficult, especially after the character has been so perfectly defined by Gallager.

The music needs no praise from me. It’s lovely, it’s innovative, it’s exceptional, and it’s fun.

The audience reaction was a new element for me, being already familiar with the story and the music. On the bootleg video I saw, there was a lot of laughter during the Hanschen/Ernst scene that I found a little offensive. Parts of the scene are played for laughs, but it’s dark comedy rather than ha-ha-look-at-the-weird-gay-guys comedy. Luckily, the audience I saw the show with were more appropriate with their response.

I’ve also heard “totally fucked” so many times that I’d forgotten how the opening line is actually a great punchline. After a couple rip-your-heart-out moments in a row (with more to come) it’s an interesting anthem to youth cynicism and frustration.

Suicide, homosexuality, rape, masochism, teen pregnancy, abortion, school and parental pressures on teenagers, class morality, stress, depression… it’s amazing that this play was written in the late 1800s.

So, yes, I loved it and would see it again and again if given the chance.

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* By no means do I wish to reinforce gender stereotypes about the feminity/masculinity of expressing emotion in public or being visibly moved by works of art. It was a tongue-in-cheek comment.

Filed under: livejournal, theatregeekery by Jere Keys