MsMaxwell
Posts 98
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5/8/2006 11:19 AM
posted awhile ago
LIVE May Musicals
Attention, musical lovers:
If you live in Grand Rapids, Michigan, May is a great month for live musicals. Here's a little review:
Grand Rapids Civic Theatre (at East Grand Rapids High School, since they're renovating) presents Always...Patsy Cline.
It's showing May 10-14. I've never seen this show, but it's been
described to me as a "feel-good" musical. Personally, I sometimes
need a show like this to pat me on the back and make me love life a
little more.
Circle Theatre presents Oliver May 11-13, 17-20, and 24-27. Oliver
was the first "real" show I was ever in, so it's close to my heart,
even though I was only a bar maid and had to create my own costume. (It
was a low-budget theatre.) I also know quite a few of the actors
playing in it. If you've never read Dickens' Oliver Twist,
don't worry. You'll understand the story (and, in fact, it may help you
to understand it for future reads.) There are some catchy songs in this
show: "Food, Glorious Food," "You've Got to Pick A Pocket or Two," and
"Oom-Pah-Pah," as well as some powerful tear-jerkers: "Boy For Sale,"
and "Who Will Buy?" (The latter being a personal favorite.)
Finally--and I really hope I'm saving the best for last--is the Actors' Theatre production of Urinetown. Here's the little blurb from the website:
Urinetown by Mark Hollman and Greg Kotis
May 18-27, 2006
"Actors’
has finally secured the rights to this 2002 Tony Award winner for Best
Original Score and Best Book, and winner of the Outer Critics Circle
and Lucille Lortel awards for Outstanding Musical. The creators
describe the show as a neo-Brechtian absurdist melodrama about a
Gotham-like city in the midst of a drought so devastating that a
malevolent corporation has been able to take control of all the toilet
facilities. Time magazine says Urinetown is one of
those “adventurous and groundbreaking musicals that can provoke us,
engage us in fresh new ways, push the boundaries of the form, and make
a real emotional connection with the people on stage."
Ah... "neo-Brechtian" brilliance!
Though I've never seen the show, I do love the original cast
recording. Plus, the storyline is dark. And (of course) I have friends
in it. I'm looking forward to seeing this show! Spectrum Theatre (where
Actors' performs) is a great, semi-intimate space. There are really no
bad seats, but still I'd recommend getting your tickets early! This
show will sell out!
So, folks, see a few of these shows, and then let's discuss them!
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pippin06
Posts 578
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5/8/2006 11:58 AM
posted awhile ago
Re: LIVE May Musicals
Hi group - just supporting this post by saying yes! Go see some shows. I'm personally working on Patsy Cline (backstage), which I also did the first time Civic put it on. It is such a wonderful show. The person playing Patsy - her voice is REMARKABLE. It is hard to duplicate Patsy Cline with her emotional inflections and deeply soulful voice, but Mary comes extremely close (not perfectly but I challenge you all to find a closer one). The story is told from the perspective of Louise, Patsy's real-life fan friend, in such a heartwarming and funny way. And Patsy, of course, sings 20 of her hits.
If you're thinking, "But I don't like country music!" fear not. Patsy was more blues than country, and the show itself is by no means a waste of money! You won't be annoyed by the appearance of a few country riffs and a slide guitar.
I also plan on seeing Oliver! and Urinetown, but just wanted to get my plug in for the other. Enjoy the shows!
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