WHOOP-UP at the Duplex/FABLES DE LA FONTAINE at Lincoln Center Fest/HAIRSPRAY Film
For an extensive discussion of the flop 50s musical WHOOP-UP, which received an energetic staging earlier this week at the Duplex compliments of Opening Doors Theatre Company, check out Peter Filichia's blog.
WHOOP-UP not only marked the first production by the Opening Doors Company I've seen, but also my first trip to the Triad, an intimate cabaret space on Stonewall near Christopher Street. Opening Doors, which premiered earlier this year with stagings of ITS A BIRD ITS A PLANE ITS SUPERMAN and BRING BACK BIRDIE, of course falls into the tradition of bringing back barely revivable musicals already done by Encores, Musicals Tonight and Musicals in Mufti.
What set's Opening Doors apart? For one, the fact that the actors performed without scripts, though I think Musicals Tonight does that too. However, Opening Doors is the first company to set these revivals in a small cabaret space rather than a theater. This resulted in a kind of intimacy that really aided this kind of small-set piano production. The way its creators described, the objective of Opening Doors is not to create a fully formed concert or new production, but a "living cast album."
In addition was Bill Charlap, son of the show's late composer Moose Charlap, Charlap's widow, and Eddie Lawrence, who wrote the one night flop KELLY with Charlap. Upon introducing these individuals, it was mentioned that KELLY will probably be performed by the company eventually.
I really enjoyed the production, found its humor fresh, and now really want to listen to the show's hard-to-find, out-of-print original cast recording. For more info on the group, visit their website.
Wednesday night I checked out FABLES DE LA FONTAINE, the first show at Lincoln Center Festival I've checked out this year. It marked the second live production I've attended directed by Robert Wilson, though I've seen many recordings of his productions. As is characteristic, it featured slow mass movement and a light scrim behind the actors. As the critics have attested, this dramatization of animal fables is pretty well done. I found it occasionally moving, occasionally boring, but overall very impressive.
My next Festival show: The Ring Cycle! All 16 hours over 4 different nights.
Thursday night I checked out a press preview of the HAIRSPRAY film. Now, I hardly ever go to press film screenings, but I try to organize being able to attend one as theatrically linked as HAIRSPRAY. The security at these events is TOTALLY INSANE. Before entering the theater, a guard had to inspect my bag for over a minute, taking all my books out, I was forced to turn off my cell phone in front of the guards, and finally had to pass through a metal detector.
Anyhow....as has already been reported by those who've seen the film even earlier than I, it's totally, expectedly wonderful. In a way, I think it's the most artistically impressive new millenium movie musical. Why? Because it refuses to apologize for allowing its characters to sing. Barely a minute into the film, as in the stage musical, Tracy Turnblad is singing her heart out to "Good Morning Baltimore." The result is that the songs that follow, most of which are in a non presentational/diegetic manner, are not awkward. And hard to believe now, but back in the movie musical's heyday in the 30s, though social commentary was used, those musicals were about showcasing dance and bright songs. HAIRSPRAY shows that, if done well, we can reharness that kind of positive energy into more new movie musicals.
Adam Shankman, who I had never heard of before, has done a truly great job at adapting the musical for film, far better than a mediocre film like RENT and a total waste like THE PRODUCERS.
