And as for
Glory Days... Well...
QUASI-SPOILER/REVIEW/OPINION AHEAD
I would say that I didn't "get" it. Alas, I didn't think there was anything there to get. I was sitting there wondering if I had become too cynical, too jaded, too something... I kept trying to pull back, relax and just let the show happen "to" me. Nothing ever happened.
The strongest element of the show is the music - which is played with gusto by a fine band. However, there are way too many obvious - at least to me - moments where musical material was added to help stretch out a dramatic moment that probably would have been more effectively handled with two lines of dialogue rather than two (more) minutes of faux-recitative. I kept thinking that they were laying the groundwork for some sort of MTV-style almost-reality-show long-form music video. -Shot on Super 8, of course.
Bookwise, it's a bit of a mess. Yes, the ages of the characters are established - somewhat unsuccessfully, imho - but the time period is never really specified. Is it the '80s? '90s? '00s? Judging from some of the pop culture references throughout the show, it could have taken place when I was in high school. -Unless teenagers who went to school from 2000-2004 happened to watch all of those 1980's specials on VH-1. I'm guessing the vagueness of the time period - the year in which this one single night is set in - was purposely left vague in order to make it universal. Unfortunately, all it did for me was to lessen any sort of impact of the not-so-dramatic plot points.
As much as I joke with friends about not liking a show - any show - and wondering when it's going to close - I never really do wish that on anyone. -Heck, I was with
Lestat - need I saw more? But unless their PR company does some great spin, and keeps on bringing in the student audiences, this show will be a very hard sell even if it does manage to get some favorable reviews. It also turns out that I have some friends who are with the production, and I've always admired the composer as an actor/singer whenever he's come into auditions. Alas, there's only so much benefit of the doubt I can give to the production.
Fini