From bk's notes of yesterday:
I was praying we’d get through the show with no technical mishaps, but those hopes were dashed with the very first light cue, which came up but didn’t come up because a moving light was not working. The poor actor (BJ) sat there in low blue light doing the opening of the play – ridiculous..
...
A couple of actors changed things that have always worked, and changed them in a way that rendered them completely unfunny – I just scratch my head.
But if you could see it from my eyes…(a Cabaret reference)
An eerie show about invasions from out space opens with a darken stage; a disembodied voice begins the narration and soon the narrator is reveled in fill light and the action begins. Look perfectly natural to me!
The audience around me was having a hard time keeping up with the jokes they got (their laughs got cut short by the fast pacing which soon yielded another yuk. So, missed opportunities were certainly not evident. The play's' pacing was a marvel at NOT milking the gags. (With one very noteworthy exception - Zubrick milked a comic laugh for ever, and ever, and, ever, and ever, and for so long - but it was really funny, because it was the exception and the audience was laughing at the milking!)
Also, different gags for different folks: I didn't react much to lines which were HHW retreads (Who ever felt a wheezey?) but really got a kick out of the Nurse in uniform appearing on stage because I remember when that actually happened for a film showing a child birthing sequence! I chuckled at some lines that maybe were not meant to be that funny - when the General calls on the Battleships for support, my knowledge of California geography made the line hilarious.
I am pretty sure bk had the wrong flag in the rear projection (it was of the Eisenhower era, but presumably before the-1957 Sputnik launch - that being the case, we would have had only 48 states (the last two were added in 1959) Of course it could have been a picture taken in 1960 and used for the show - there would not be too many anal-retentive nitpickers reviewing such stuff for accuracy. Even if I am right, bk could always "gaslight" me and a shoot another picture with a different flag - so I shan't mention it!
der Brucer
Beware - I am planning on some more extensive comments on the show!
