Just realized I never posted this. I saw On The Town for a second time -- same cast except for a new Ivy and an understudy Ozzy. Loved it. Not much to say. Is it my favorite piece of theater? No. Is it a really awesome revival of a classic? Yes. Is Alysha Umphress a goddess? Yes.
Go back to read my thoughts on the last time I saw the show...
Monday, August 31, 2015
Monday, August 17, 2015
Mercury Fur (The New Group)
I wanted to see a show and I wanted it to be exciting and interesting and new. I chose Mercury Fur because I could get a $25 ticket. I knew nothing about the play -- didn't even watch the trailer on the New Group's website. I simply bought the ticket based on price and figured it would be an experience. And boy was it an experience. After I bought the ticket last week I checked around on the Broadway message boards to see what people were saying. The reactions were extremely divisive -- either love or hate, but mostly hate. And, as you've all come to know, that's my taste in theater -- I tend to be into shows that the majority of the population doesn't like. Mercury Fur was no different.
First let me mention that I'd never seen a show at Signature Center. The space is so cool and it's very reminiscent of theaters in London -- the Off-West End spaces that have multiple venues in one building and a large open sitting area. It's neat to walk into a room where there's a lot of people milling about but ultimately going separate ways to see different shows.
There's no easy way to explain what Mercury Fur is about. Basically a group of young adults have survived (or are currently in the process of surviving?) the apocalypse. It's unclear why everything is falling apart, unclear why there are riots and bombings, and unclear whether or not a sandstorm where it rained butterflies set the whole thing in motion. The butterflies are reminiscent of the milk in A Clockwork Orange, and each different color butterfly has a different effect. Nothing tied together nicely. A cool idea would be touched on during one conversation but then the idea wouldn't be followed through. The play itself was very uneven, but for me that left me wondering what was going to happen next. As the "story" unfolds, you learn very little and that kept me on the edge of my seat. Because the less you know, the more shocked you're going to be at the end -- whether or not anything big happens.
The acting wasn't stellar, but surprisingly that didn't sway my opinion of the piece one way or another. The concept behind what was going on drew me in and I could get past the stiffness of some of the acting. One character I really didn't understand or like was "Duchess" and I think her character could've been cut to trim the fat -- the show was over two hours long with no intermission. There were moments that alluded to her being far more important of a character than she seemed, but that story line was vague and not fleshed out enough to be anything more than a passing thought.
The technical elements were on point -- for example, how the light faded as the sun went down, the change dramatic but realistic. The house lights went out and the audience sat in the dark for a couple of minutes. People coughed, people fidgeted, people laughed. Those uncomfortable moments of silence in the dark just heightened the audience's awareness of the space, which allowed the ending to be even more powerful. The play went from quick and dark to loud and bright, but after the explosion (literally and figuratively) we were bathed in darkness. And the kicker was no one knew if the show was over when the lights went out because it was the same darkness that started the play.
Was I head-over-heels in love with this show? No. Did I find it worth my time? Yes. Do I think it could be tightened up and trimmed? Yes. I think this all boils down to Mercury Fur being "just my kind of thing." But it certainly isn't for everyone. My guess is the reviews won't be positive at all. And The New Group will no doubt lose subscribers over this one.
Two interesting things to note: The playbill is handed out at the end as you're walking to the lobby, and Susan Hilferty did the costumes (which is interesting because everything worn could've been picked out of a random twenty-something's closet -- so very different from Wicked, etc).
First let me mention that I'd never seen a show at Signature Center. The space is so cool and it's very reminiscent of theaters in London -- the Off-West End spaces that have multiple venues in one building and a large open sitting area. It's neat to walk into a room where there's a lot of people milling about but ultimately going separate ways to see different shows.
There's no easy way to explain what Mercury Fur is about. Basically a group of young adults have survived (or are currently in the process of surviving?) the apocalypse. It's unclear why everything is falling apart, unclear why there are riots and bombings, and unclear whether or not a sandstorm where it rained butterflies set the whole thing in motion. The butterflies are reminiscent of the milk in A Clockwork Orange, and each different color butterfly has a different effect. Nothing tied together nicely. A cool idea would be touched on during one conversation but then the idea wouldn't be followed through. The play itself was very uneven, but for me that left me wondering what was going to happen next. As the "story" unfolds, you learn very little and that kept me on the edge of my seat. Because the less you know, the more shocked you're going to be at the end -- whether or not anything big happens.
The acting wasn't stellar, but surprisingly that didn't sway my opinion of the piece one way or another. The concept behind what was going on drew me in and I could get past the stiffness of some of the acting. One character I really didn't understand or like was "Duchess" and I think her character could've been cut to trim the fat -- the show was over two hours long with no intermission. There were moments that alluded to her being far more important of a character than she seemed, but that story line was vague and not fleshed out enough to be anything more than a passing thought.
The technical elements were on point -- for example, how the light faded as the sun went down, the change dramatic but realistic. The house lights went out and the audience sat in the dark for a couple of minutes. People coughed, people fidgeted, people laughed. Those uncomfortable moments of silence in the dark just heightened the audience's awareness of the space, which allowed the ending to be even more powerful. The play went from quick and dark to loud and bright, but after the explosion (literally and figuratively) we were bathed in darkness. And the kicker was no one knew if the show was over when the lights went out because it was the same darkness that started the play.
Was I head-over-heels in love with this show? No. Did I find it worth my time? Yes. Do I think it could be tightened up and trimmed? Yes. I think this all boils down to Mercury Fur being "just my kind of thing." But it certainly isn't for everyone. My guess is the reviews won't be positive at all. And The New Group will no doubt lose subscribers over this one.
Two interesting things to note: The playbill is handed out at the end as you're walking to the lobby, and Susan Hilferty did the costumes (which is interesting because everything worn could've been picked out of a random twenty-something's closet -- so very different from Wicked, etc).
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