22 Mar 09 The Secret Garden: Theatre Review
My friend John organized an expedition of the bears to go see The Secret Garden at Illusion Theater tonight. I’ve always wanted to visit the “Masonic Temple” building and finally had a reason! We went to dinner at Atlantic Buffet in Richfield and then headed downtown to see the play.
Now, this is my first musical since I saw “Les Miserables” at Chanhassen Dinner Theater. It was nice to see a ‘pure’ musical, one that has a Broadway reputation: having never seen the Broadway show, though, I entered it without a lot of prejudices and concepts that might have been ingrained into me otherwise. In this sense, the play was innovative and very thought-provoking, especially with the inclusion of a black man as the gardener and Mary’s Indian servant as a continuing figure out of India. Mary’s message of hope entered their own servitude and obseqiousness.
More innovation: spirits of the dead, killed in India during the cholera epidemic, haunt the stage the entire time. At one point, the gardener exclaims that there are more ghosts than living in the old manor. It seemed true, at times, as the spirits were always watching or participating in the scenes–I tended to forget who was alive and who was dead, as both played important parts in the plot. The use of lighting in the play, especially for scenes where people were outside or opening windows, was excellent. Finally, some of the dynamic places on the set–the multi-tiered and multi-levelled platforms as well as the moving panels indicating movement and position, were great. It really utilized the space the play had.
I had a couple callouts with the play though. Despite the piece being about the garden, only two painted panels, overshadowed by the steps and architecture of the set, signified the garden. The garden itself was very metaphorical (secret one might say); it would have been nice for there to be potted plants, or even plastic fake ones, as the play moved from fall and winter into spring and summer. The transformation would have been much more spectacular and visible.
In addition, there were certain scenes that really had magic going on in them, where the cast seemed to put forth extra energy and effort. I felt like this didn’t come through all the time–the travel scene to India, the end of the first act, the scene where Collin stands, and the end of the play–the significant points–all got my heartrate up and were executed flawlessly. The point where Martha, the Indian servant, belts out her song became a dazzling point. But it seemed that some of the melancholy points with her uncle Archibald, as well as with the staff, were just kinda moving along.
Overall, it was these moments, combined with the innovation and application of new techniques, that really impressed me. I think I have the Secret Garden movie on VHS somewhere around here, and now I want to go back and watch it again. Excellent job, I was very pleased with the production!
Grade: B
The Secret Garden is playing at Illusion Theater March 13-29, 2009. Tickets can be purchased online here.
Tags: Broadway, children's theatre, musicals, reviews, Secret Garden, theatre
21 Mar 09 Speech: Melrose Invitational
Today’s Speech meet in Melrose was kind of a grab-bag of both good, ‘late-season-need-improvements’, and funny/serious. For some seniors (like my little sister) this was their last invitational meet ever.
Storytelling: The Two Old Women’s Bet
This story, a mixed morality tale of both the Emperor’s New Clothes and the Overbearing Wife fables tells the story of two competing wives trying to out-wit each other in embarrassing their husbands. One thing I consistently see with Speech students is that once they get their gestures and movements down, they’re done–they don’t try to put consistent energy and enthusiasm into their movements. This particular performer seemed to make every movement natural but also directed and powerful–her gestures marked her transitions, her characters, and walked us through the story.
Poetry: A Wreath for Emmett Till
This performer didn’t have so much of a lilt in his voice as a constantly changing volume level. The young man performed this piece very well–a sober poem on the mutilation and lynching of Emmett Till and the flower arrangement the poet would send–but it seemed that he didn’t understand where the poet was coming from. Flowers, specifically flower arrangements, have very clear-cut meanings in history and it seemed that he only understood that the poet was interested in sending flowers. The concepts of death, mutilation, injustice and terror that the lynching created were to be reflected in the wreath, in the hopes of somehow reaching closure. I didn’t hear that from him at all–just loud parts and soft parts.
Poetry: Tomorrow, by Ally Sheedy
A 1-100 Speech. Ally Sheedy’s Tomorrow poem comes from her time spent in rehab. The former Breakfast Club star wrote this almost-postmodern piece, filled with inconsistent switches and changes throughout. She goes from the highs of an ecstasy to a nervous breakdown outside of a convenience store. This performer had an excellent knowledge of the speech and really transmitted that to the audience. I felt that even though the poem was very hard to follow, pacing and flow was perfectly measured.
Creative Expression: Just Perfect
This Speech, which went from absolute hilarity to dead-seriousness, was hard to classify. I was at first hesitant to give it my top score, but then I realized that the piece itself was very difficult. In talking about her grandfather’s death, the young woman analyzes her own life, looking for the sucesses and developments her grandfather had. She decides to play the piano at his funeral. After going through some hilarious piano lessons and preparing herself for the big day, she utterly fails at her presentation, forgetting her sheet music and instead playing a rambling, on-the-spot score that she wrote. Her last tribute to her grandfather a failure, the young woman can only look ahead and wonder what else life will bring her. In its scope, it covered both the oddly humorous and serious, self-deprecating analysis that mostly only much older adults can appreciate. An excellent job–she got first place.
Tags: Creative Expression, EV-W Speech, High School Speech, Poetry, reviews, Speech, Storytelling
15 Mar 09 Speech: Kimball Empress Invitational, March 14, 2009
The chalkboards and hallways adorned with signs pronouncing “Pi Day”, Kimball was also dressed up for the annual Empress Invitiational Speech Meet on Saturday. There were three speeches of note:
Creative Expression: Vague Forms
Creative Ex is usually the potpourri of speech categories: since these are speeches written and implemented solely by the students, you can oscillate from really hilariously funny to very deep and pensive, or all the way to sob-story. However, this girl’s story about her final confrontation with her co-dependent mother, dying of cancer in a hospital, has improved greatly. There’s a fine line between telling a sad story and whining–and, with her as the supposed main character, she needed to work hard to ensure that the expressed emotion was spot-on. She’s getting better.
Informative: X-Men
While the speech “X-Men” was informing, I guess I was expecting more content and more data. As it was, she told the audience about the various main X-Men and their powers, as well as a quick review of the movie. My excitement for hearing about the cultural and artistic impact of the comic books and in various other media quickly evaporated at the sight of the hand-drawn color pencils of the main X-Men characters. I could only wonder how much time she spent on the shading for Wolverine’s upper lip…
Humorous: Bobby Wilson Can Eat His Own Face
This Speech earned a rare perfect rating from me, a 1-100: the young girl performing this piece was flawless. While it was a character piece, with about 6-8 characters, she had very smooth transitions and excellent variations between the characters. Humorous speeches are normally more ironic than anything else, but she found a way to make this piece (which I’d heard before) hilarious. Well-deserved 1-100, and was very glad when she got first place in her category.
In addition: my little sister got her first place in Information!
Tags: Creative Expression, High School Speech, Humorous, Informative, reviews, Speech
