Well, dear readers, I must write these here notes in a hurry because she of the Evil Eye will be here shortly, and I must hie myself to the Bank of Bur to check on our Deceit videotapes being digitized into the editing system. I haven’t really seen that much of the footage (saw a bit while act one was going on), so it will be fun to see what it looks like and maybe I’ll start making notes on what we need to use from the pickups. Perhaps I’ll bring my handy-dandy laptop with me so that I can post live from the editing facility (the same jernt where I did the Disney promos). I don’t know how long I’ll stay there, but a few hours anyway. Yesterday, for example, I got a great night’s sleep, and then I wrote a page in the morning, then went off to record a Guy Haines vocal. Mr. Haines did his thing in one take, and then Vinnie and I did our thing quickly. It went very well, and then I hurried over to the Hamburger Hamlet, where I met the lovelier than lovely Miss Jessica Skerritt from Seattle. She’s living here now, and we had a fun two-hour lunch, talking about this and that and also that and this. I did my usual thing of prying into every aspect of her life – I always figure if people have a good sense of humor about that then they’re worth knowing and befriending, and she certainly seemed to. I’m sure I seemed quite peculiar, which is all to the good. I then picked up a package (the DVD of Liza With A Z), went home, rewrote most of what I’d written in the morning, and then went off to see Pilgrim, starring Miss Jessica Rush.
What can one say about Pilgrim? Well, one can say it’s just about the worst musical I’ve ever seen. One can say it ran two hours and forty-five minutes (with intermission – apparently cut by a half-hour pre-opening). One can say it was mind-numbingly bad. You know you’re in trouble when you open the program and are greeted by a detailed synopsis of the story. If they have to do that, then the musical isn’t working because it’s not telling its story by itself. They also had a little audience response card – do they think this is a Hollywood Sneak Preview? The first question on the card is: Was there anything confusing about the story, the show, or any characters in the story. The answer is a resounding yes. You know you’re in trouble when on the orchestra page they say: Pilgrim’s driving musical score blends elements of renaissance and rock to create a unique theatrical sound. Who do these people think they’re talking to? That is one of the most high-schoolish and amateur things I’ve ever seen in a program for a professional show. You know you’re in trouble when the ego-ridden creative team’s bio PRECEDE the cast bios, a first, which I’ve never seen before. Director and LA flavor-of-the-month Nick DeGruccio wins awards and garners excellent reviews for his work here in LA. I’ve seen several of his shows, and I’d have to say he doesn’t have an original bone in his body – every piece of staging and lighting and design is ripped off from other shows. This particular show is a lot of Les Miz, mixed with some Harold Prince and other stuff we’ve all seen way too many times. The “choreography” (which actually was praised in almost all the very negative reviews) consisted of Cirque du Soleil type flying in fabric bits – by the third time they did it I just wanted to start screaming. You know you’re in trouble when two of the show’s songs are titled Into The Light and Dare To Dream. Need I say more? The cast is populated with all those pretentious Euro-type musical theater performers. One of the leads is costumed like a refugee from 12 Monkeys. The leading man looks like he escaped from a boy band. Which brings us to the only pleasing part of the evening – our very own Miss Jessica Rush, who was beautiful and did what she could with the excruciatingly trite music and lyrics (not to mention what passed as a book). She sang beautifully, too – she was literally the only good thing in the show. Favorite lyric – a seller sings the following: I handles candles. I kid you not. Someone was able to really pull the wool over some money people’s eyes because it’s a complete vanity production and an expensive one to boot.
What am I, Ben Brantley all of a sudden? And I’m not through – but let’s all click on the Unseemly Button below so I can continue my diatribe in the next section.
And what have they done to my beloved Huntington Hartford Theater? It’s all industrial now. They took one of the most charming and beautiful LA theaters and made it look sickening. Since when can’t you light a show without having scaffolding on all the walls? The theater has turned into a playground for bloated and ridiculous overkill in almost every technical department. There was so much smoke in the theater (even when the audience entered the theater) that it was nausea-inducing. And then there was the sound. Again, the musical theater has been turned into a playground for techno-geek sound designers who should all be run out of town on a rail. These guys are responsible for the ruination of musicals. The sound is so pumped up and amplified in this show (with those awful new mics that go down the side of the cheeks all the way to the mouth – sorry, I’m no longer interested in your musical when I’m taken out of the show like that) that you can never tell who’s actually singing because the sound is coming from the speakers and is all centered. It’s appalling that producers have let this happened, and audiences should be ashamed of themselves for putting up with it. The creators had a mighty little cheering section in the rear of the theater – that was good, because had they not been there, none of us would have known where to applaud. There were also lots of friends and family whooping it up during the curtain call. Thankfully, no standing ovation occurred. The theater was about half full on a Friday night, most of which were probably comps. The show was scheduled to run another four or five weeks but is closing on Sunday.
I did run into my pal Kevin Chamberlin, so that was fun. He’s going into the Broadway company of Chicago this summer, as Amos. I then staggered home and am still a bit dazed from the assault that was Pilgrim.
After I finish at the editing facility, I’ll be coming home to do some stuff, and then I may try to have dinner out, and then watch a DVD or three.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, view tapes being digitized, I must discuss an editing plan, I must hopefully pick up another errant and truant package, and I must try to catch up on some CD listening, before I get too hopelessly behind. Today’s topic of discussion: What is the single worst musical, play, and film you’ve seen. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we? We shall. I kid you not.