When I was in 9th grade in Alabama, my 60 year old history teacher -- Mrs. Stone, a devout Presbyterian -- told the class that she never believed that dinosaurs had ever existed until she took a trip to Arizona in her late 40s and saw giant dinosaur fossils being excavated. Until that trip, she believed that dinosaurs had been a hoax created by scientists in a continuing effort to upset creationists and disprove the existence of God.
But, she couldn't deny dinosaurs' existence after seeing remnants of them up-close-and-personal -- and had to re-read the Bible to figure out which passages people must have overlooking that referred to dinosaurs roaming the earth. For her, being able to believe in the existence of dinosaurs was a matter of re-positioning her faith about how, when and why God had created them.
Bless her heart, Mrs. Stone would have loved Jurassic Parq The Broadway Musical! It's a hilarious re-imagining of the novel / blockbuster Spielberg film, re-worked -- with the addition of song and dance numbers -- and re-told through the voices and perspectives of the dinosaurs themselves who are trying to understand how and when they were created and why some members of this all-female dinosaur faction are suddenly growing male parts and getting their groove on in musical numbers like "Dick Fix."
The gender-bending musical promises singing and dancing dinosaurs, and it delivers bigtime. There's T-Rexes; a baby Velociraptor, a Dilophosaurus...um....a Mime-a-saurus....a Pianosaurus....several Chorusasaurus members. And competing for the role of leader of this pre-historic pack are the Velociraptor of Faith, a sort of preacher man figure, and her exiled twin sister, the Velociraptor of Science.
There's also "Morgan Freeman" who narrates the tale!
The show is uber clever, laugh out-loud, and accomplishes a lot even on a low-budget (it is a part of NY International Fringe Festival Encore Series). All-in-all Jurassic Parq was a delightful show #2 for my 365 shows in 365 days adventure.
Next up for me tonight is show #3: "Brief Encounter"! More soon....
I am a whore for gadgets. So, I'm in tech heaven with www.foursquare.com that let's me use my Blackberry to "check in" to the various places I'm visiting around the city and simultaneously 'shout out' to my peeps on twitter. Waste not, want not.
Yesterday, I foursquare checked into HK for martinis with Farris pre-theater and tweeted that "American Idiot" in T minus 40 minutes was my first show of 365 over the next 12 months.
Thanks to Erica in NYC for spreading the word to her fans on twitter: "@ezmac99 Follow along with @bigappleshows as he attempts to 365 shows in 365 days." Erica works at TKTS, so get your butts over to the booth and see some shows!
As for my tale, 2 martinis each and 40 minutes later, Farris and I were in our seats for the start of American Idiot. 90 minutes later--without an intermission--we were 2 more cocktails into drinking (thanks to the sippy cups from the bar that we took to our seats). Now, here's a 140 character or less review that Farris put on his facebook page: "Green Day is the most racist, homophobic, and inarticulate Broadway cross over...ever. Piss poor adaptation...they should take some tips from Dolly."
Indeed, American Idiot is an unusual show. It's a punk rock concert, sung and performed by a broadway cast. There is no real book, or storyline, and I'd have to consult my playbill to find out if the characters in the show actually have names -- because no one talks to anyone in American Idiot in any significant way.
That said, visually the show is stunning and sounds amazing -- the set is cool, the actors are hot and often in various degrees of undress -- and there's a spectacular flying scene a la American Idiot du Soleil. Without question, the show is attracting people to Broadway who probably have never been to the theatre and are here via Green Day's lure. Boo ya!
Look what god hath wrought. I've been lured into seeing the show too, and with this idiot under my belt, I only have 364 more shows to see in the next 364 days.
September 8, 2010. Last week, I took a vacation from work, my first break away from the office in a year and half. I was at a point in time that I had to start using or losing my accrued vacation, and since a trip to Europe wasn't in the cards--I planned a stay-cation with this itinerary: 9 Broadway/off-Broadway shows in 7 days.
I live in the heart of Manhattan with my boyfriend in an apartment that's a 10-minute walk to Times Square. The theatre district is our backdoor, and I heart theatre, so a 9-show week was truly a dream getaway for me.
Unplugged, de-blackberry-ied, wifi-free, and laptop-less--from all things work related I filled the week with a hodgepodge of musicals, comedies, dramas--and kept my friends and boyfriend posted about my whereabouts via facebook, twitter, and text-messaging.
Somewhere around the 6th show of the week (Freud's Last Session) while the characters onstage (Freud and C.S. Lewis) debated the existence of God--summoning the words of a brilliantly constructed script--the notion occurred to me that I didn't want this intense theatre adventure to end at the end of a week. When I exited after the show, the usher handed me a "I just had a session with Freud" button which I tucked in my back pocket, along with this idea: Would it be possible for me to devote an entire year to see 365 shows in New York City?
I've been sitting on this idea for a few days--post-return to work from vacation. The new Broadway and off-Broadway season line-ups, alone, are making me shiver with anticipation. I've checked in with my peeps--Rachel and Debbie--to get their advice. I've talked with my boyfriend, Farris, about how I could feasibly accomplish the goal. And, now I'm diving into this theatre challenge.
This blog entry shares the ground rules (for myself and for whoever you may be reading this) about what lies ahead:
1. 365 shows in 365 days.
2. Any theatrical event counts, as long as it takes place in New York City, e.g. Broadway, off-Broadway, off off-Broadway, fringe, staged readings, theater festivals, etc.).
3. I'll need to see an average of 7 shows a week, and www.bigappleshows.blogspot.com will be my confession booth.
4. I have until September 7, 2011 to finish the 365, and......tonight begins my first: American Idiot on Broadway.
Sometimes, there's God so quickly.
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