The recession

Yesterday, I saw Evita at my college. It was a bus and truck tour that basically replicated the original Broadway production. So for that I was grateful. The staging of the show is sort of amazing. The way people move and such. The lady who played Eva got a home run when she sang "A New Argentina", but more or less struck out when she had to play a woman on the verge of death.

The funniest part of the show took place in the audience. For the first fifteen minutes this old woman came in and refused to sit down and started screaming, "Don't touch me and tell me what to do!!!" And when the manager came to help her find a seat, she shined her flashlight in the old lady's face and she screamed, "Don't shine that light in my face you damned fool!" All during the quiet part of "On This Night of 1000 Stars". I enjoyed the show enough not to hate it. It was all I expected of a Bus and Truck tour.

In other news. Is there other news? School is school. I'm getting through it one day at a time, with as little homework as possible. It will be a miracle if I get through next year, which I shall.

And The Band Played On is over half finished. Saddening still and annoying at seeing how ignorant the world can be. I've said before that I understand the fear that people had for this mysterious epidemic. The terror is put into people's minds and with that they don't think rationally.

I am also very glad that August: Osage County won the Pulitzer Prize. It truly deserved it!

Because even in China...

My love for Patti doesn't cease. I may be 13 hours ahead, but it only means I'll get the information sooner...

Sometimes I wonder...

A gray and rainy day in China and I'm in room finishing up all my homework. Taking a small mental break and catching up on my musicals...

In 1981 a show called Merrily We Roll Along ran for two weeks and then closed to scathing reviews. The book, it was the books fault. It was too confusing. The music is brilliant of course because it's by Sondheim, and to this I agree! I couldn't agree anymore. It's weird because it's about Franklin Shepard, so for all the years I have been listening to it I always kept in my mind, "This is Franklin's music."

Not until this moment, when I finally got to see the bootleg of Merrily, that I'll admit DOES skip the opening Act II number. I find this show absolutely fascinating. I remember when I was 15, using the Elliptical machine and listening to this recording and trying to figure out what happened in between each song. The CD was so short. As I got older I read how the fault was the book. So I expected it to be horrendous, but it hardly was. I know over the years they have revamped the show, but so say that the show is too confusing is just plain stupid. It's like saying Days Of Our Lives is too confusing because there's too much going on.

The story moves backwards, starts from the end and movies to the beginning. Showing how a good thing can go so wrong. How refreshing to see. Why are shows like this not embraced? I am going to watch the Kennedy Center performance to see how it's changed from it's premiere in 1981 to the 2000s.

It's probably one of my favorite Sondheim scores. That's a lie, but it's one of my top picks. Surprisingly, though my favorite song from the show is Bobby and Jackie and Jack. It's so clever, the words he rhymes are so intense. True, it's a charm song, yet that's the point. It's Franklin and Charlie's first show. A Musical Revue. Showing the brilliant music and lyrics, but the simplicity of the talent. Stunning.

Now for the bad. I admit the costumes are a strange idea. Why did they choose the sweaters with the titles? Did they not trust the audience? They took that bit of advice, didn't they? Moving backwards is too difficult for a Broadway tourist audience to understand. They need shirts with titles. Yet, Gussies top in act two...no title. Why not? Why does Mary have to wear a Best Friend Sweater the entire show, granted she's in almost every scene. Never changing.

Hal Prince is also recycling. Which is normal of directors. I see the group movement that I saw from Evita, that I watched last night. By the way, while we are on the subject. It may not have been a great recording, but WOW. That was a show to remember.

Seeing it just blew me away. Patti is amazing. Let's get that out of the way, shall we? Patti is amazing, I'll say for a second time. My favorite non-Patti moment was probably The Art of the Possible, where the Commanders of Argentina took each other out in a rousing version of musical chairs. I never pictured it that way, but the simplicity of it, though it may sound stupid was brilliant.

Some of my favorite moments that involved Patti were in no particular order:

• Goodnight and Thank You. Where Eva works her way up to the top and the scene is played out with a revolving door. Every time Patti is shown, she gets more and more glamorous.
• I'd Be Surprisingly Good For You. Where Eva meets Peron and she says, "I don't normally rush in this way...fifteen minutes after saying hello." She looks directly at the audience and they eat it up!
• A New Argentina. "I'll...You'll be handed power on a plate..."
  
• Don't Cry For Me Argentina. All of that song is amazing. Her dress, her voice, her acting. In watching it I could see the Tony Committee shaking hands on a job well done.
  
• Rainbow High/Rainbow Tour. She looks fabulous, even in shitty VHS recording.
  

That's enough, back to homework and perhaps a little discovering of the city...shall we?