Theatre Review- The Object Lesson

The Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City is responsible for some of the most exciting and ambitious theatre that I've ever experienced. Nothing that I have seen at the Douglas could quite prepare me for The Object Lesson, the most unusual show that I've ever seen.

The blurb describing The Object Lesson, does not do it justice. However, this show might be impossible to explain. It's an onslaught to all of the senses. There is just no way to prepare for the experience.

I attended the show with my in-laws, all three of us intrigued by the concept. Honestly, I thought that this would be a show attacking the culture of clutter and consumerism. I thought that I would see the show and that it would make me take a hard look at the crap in my house.  The Object Lesson touches on these subjects, but it's so much more.

As we waited in the lobby, we were given instructions. As soon as the theatre doors opened, we were told to touch all of the props and mingle. This is not a show for wallflowers, it's highly interactive.

The doors opened and we walked inside. Boxes and junk filled the space, all of the way to the ceiling. The traditional theatre seats had been torn out, replaced with a mix of old furniture and more boxes. Remember Shel Silverstein's poem Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take The Garbage Out? We had walked into an episode of Hoarders. It was a marvel.

We quickly noticed that several of the cardboard boxes were labeled with "This is a seat" and they were actually reinforced with wood. We were encouraged to grab a seat anywhere that we could find it, there was no actual stage, and move the boxes to anywhere that we would like. We took our "seats" up the stairs, to have an overview, looking down on where the stage would traditionally sit. We didn't know it at the time, but these were fabulous seats. The action moves around the entire space and rarely was our view blocked.

After securing our spot, I walked around the space, opening boxes and drawers. This was magical and delightful, although it is a contrived environment, it was like having permission to be nosy. I relished it!

 I picked up one box to find the interior written with instructions to hand the box to someone who looks nice and say, "Here, I think this is yours". I should have done it, but I chickened out. I did look through an old apothecary chest that had dozens of drawers. One drawer was filled with dolls dresses, another with old buttons, one with a handful of dirt. It was delightful. I had a big grin the whole time, and I could have spent the whole evening just poking around the set. I wish that they had opened the house earlier. 

The actor/illusionist/creator of the show, Geoff Sobelle, started his performance by walking into the center of the space and turning on a record player. He walked through the space, opening boxes and unpacking, until he had an entire living room set up. He set the tone for the show immediately, by enlisting the help of audience members, having them carry furniture and passing them boxes. No one was safe for keeping their seat during the entire show, as Sobelle often evicted people from their seats and space to fit the needs of the show. 

I don't want to give away any key moments, as the mystery of "where the heck is this thing heading" was a big part of the delight. In a general sense, the heart of the show deals with the objects that we cling to in our lives. Objects that hold powerful memories and emotions, objects that we struggle to give away, objects that we use every day, objects that drive us crazy...how we relate to these inanimate things in our lives.  Sobelle balances the poignant moments with heavy doses of comedy and wonder. The last part of the show is incredible, with Sobelle using objects and illusions to tell the story of a man going through his life. It was spell-binding. 

The Object Lesson is marvelous, a truly magical and affecting experience. Unforgettable. If you have the opportunity, don't miss it. Did I mention that the show involves salad making with ice skates? That's not even the craziest thing that happens. Intrigued? Buy tickets now!!!

Theatre Review- The Book of Mormon

Some couples exchange jewelry or monogramed trinkets on their wedding day. My husband thought that the perfect wedding gift for ourselves was a pair of tickets to a musical! We bought our tickets for,The Book of Mormon, just before our wedding and bought an additional two for Dan's parents when we learned they would be visiting us. We were lucky to snag the last few tickets for them, as the show sold out fast!

I was a little unsure about seeing The Book of Mormon. In fact, I had zero desire to see it when it first hit Broadway. This is a huge statement, because I love theatre and I generally want to see every production. Hell, I even saw the musical adaptation of Bring it On. I'm a tough critic, but I'll see it all.

My paternal Grandparents were Mormon. I went to church with them frequently and I was even baptized into their faith, which was a bit of a scandal with the rest of my family who had baptized me Episcopalian as a baby. I'm not Mormon now or religious at all, but I was afraid that the musical might be mocking their faith or be mean spirited. I have little patience for religious intolerance whether it comes from those of a particular faith or those with no faith at all. For my grandparents, who I loved so much and for my many friends who are practicing Mormons, I was apprehensive that this show might be offensive.

I listened to the cast recording to get a better idea. The songs are catchy and often hilarious. In particular, I loved All American Prophet and Turn It Off. I still wasn't completely sold, but with all of the great reviews and awards, I decided to take a chance.

We saw it at the Historic Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. The theatre is gorgeous. I could just stare at the elaborate ceilings and feel like I've gotten my money's worth for the ticket price. It's  small enough that there really isn't a bad seat in the house. We were in the front/middle of the mezzanine and had a perfect view.

The story follows two young men on their two year mission to Uganda. Elder Price is a golden boy, ready to take on the world and prove himself by making a difference. Price's mission partner is Elder Cunningham, a socially awkward man who has a colorful flair for making up stories. Cunningham is eager to become Price's friend and sidekick, hoping that a successful mission will make his parent's proud. When they arrive in Uganda, they quickly learn that bringing the locals into the Mormon faith will not be an easy task.

Yes, the show is often very crude. It's not for anyone who is put off by sexual content or pervasive swearing. It's from the creators of South Park, so this aspect of the show is not surprising. The crudeness usually wasn't without a purpose and often provided the biggest laughs of the show. 

The show does a decent job at explaining some of the History of the Mormon's and their set of beliefs that set them apart from other Christian groups. You don't need prior knowledge of Mormonism to understand the show. It's done in a fairly lighthearted way which is mostly innocuous. I kept wondering if my grandparents had been sitting next to me, if they would have enjoyed the show. I think that they may have cringed at the language, but as artists themselves, I think that they would have praised the spirit of the show.

The show delivers solid moral lessons on friendship, faith and believing in yourself.

On faith, I was left with the take-away that having faith is a powerful and personal thing. All of the main characters are questioning their faith. The missionaries are questioning the faith they have had since childhood and the Ugandans are questioning this new faith that has been brought into their lives. The result is questioning faith leads to important growth and a deeper, more personal relationship with an individuals belief system and a sense of self. This is not an anti-mormon or anti-religion story, but one where the characters take a more active role in their faith.

In the second half of the show, Elder Cunningham is left on his own to bring the Africans into the church. The villagers are experiencing a major crisis and Cunningham uses his imagination to develop a ersatz version of Mormonism to help them. Until this moment, Cunningham has been a follower and has had very little faith in himself. When he is the only one left in charge, he rises to the occasion and shines. 

At first, I thought that the portrayal of the African Villagers was offensive, almost showing them in need of rescuing by the white male missionaries. However, as the show continued, the villagers are shown as smart and capable. The mocking that is done regarding the villagers early on in the show, is on par with the mocking that is done to all of the characters. No one is safe in the show and that levels the playing field. 

On a whole, I really enjoyed The Book of Mormon. It's probably the most genuinely funny musical that I have ever seen and it has a lot of heart. The touring cast had a ton of energy and it felt like we were there on an opening night, rather than one of hundreds of performances. The three lead actors (David Larsen, Cody Jamison Strand and Denee Benton) were fantastic and I'm sure that they will have long Broadway careers. If you are able to catch this production, I highly recommend it. I'm eager to see it again!

Dan and I at the Pantages.

David Copperfield at MGM Grand

We have just returned from a weekend in Las Vegas with Dan's parents. The trip had been planned for several months and we had purchased tickets to see Le Reve at the Wynn on Saturday night. Just before lunch on Saturday, we headed over to the box office to pick up our tickets to discover that the performance was canceled due to technical difficulties.

Disappointed, we took a full refund and raced across the street to the Tix-4-Tonight booth at the Fashion Show Mall. Most of the shows that we wanted to see were not currently running, so we ended up getting tickets to see David Copperfield at the MGM Grand.

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I love magic shows and I was very excited that we were able to get tickets for David Copperfield. He's a legend and this was my first time seeing him live. In our group, Dan was the only one who had already seen his show.

Our first clue should have been the unenthusiastic faces of the people exiting the early show. They spilled out from the show room and into the casino with bored faces. We watched them pass as we had pre-show drinks in Whiskey Down.  I didn't let it throw me off, I was still hyped to see Copperfield.

Our seats were located in the front of the second half of the theatre and at the discount Tix-4-Tonight rate, they were approximately sixty-five a piece. Far cheaper than what we had paid to see Le Reve at the Wynn rate and that assuaged some of the disappointment we felt towards the canceled show. We had a clear view of the stage, even if we were a bit far back. The seating was on a padded bench with a table in front for cocktails. We were fine, but we saw some larger audience members having trouble with the seating arrangement. It's a tight squeeze.

No doubt, Copperfield is a great illusionist. Many of his tricks were mind boggling and astonishing.

However, overall, I didn't enjoy the show. 

I'm hoping that we caught him on an off-night and that this was not indicative of his normal demeanor, but he came across as a complete jerk. Many of his tricks involve a random selection of audience members to participate and several times he mocked or made disparaging remarks towards those selected. He meanly made fun of a guy who didn't speak English and he told an overweight female to "suck it in". 

Dan is convinced that the audience members were actually plants and that it was all part of the prearranged script. Maybe. I'm not sure. Even so, it wasn't very funny and didn't give me a very good impression of Copperfield. If it was completely scripted, he needs better writers. 

Beyond his mean spirited comments, he didn't have a lot of stage presence. He seemed bored and as though he was going through the motions. He didn't command the stage and often mumbled. He didn't seem to be enjoying himself, which as an audience member, made me not enjoy myself.

Most of the tricks were very impressive, especially if you go along with the idea that the audience members were selected at random. In particular, I really enjoyed one of the earlier bits where he took a number and fact selection from three different audience members and then their answers appeared on a piece of paper that was locked in a box that had been on stage from the beginning of the show. 

He used a live duck for a trick and even though the trick was really cool, I cringed seeing the duck being manhandled. He must have enough tricks in his repertoire that he should not need to have to resort to using a live animal in his show. It was uncomfortable to watch and I would imagine it would be upsetting to most animal lovers.

He tried out a new trick on us and made the audience vow to not reveal it or review/blog about it. Fair enough. Although, I think that I can say, since it doesn't give away specifics, that it was the worst part of the show. He obviously spent a lot of money on it, but it had a bizarre theme and a weird bit of over-the-top sentimentality that came across as extremely cheesy. We were trying not to laugh, as were many people sitting near us. It just didn't work with the show. As it was a bonus piece and a work in progress, I need to look at it as something extra and in that respect, it's always cool to see something experimental. I hope that he doesn't include it as a regular piece in the show until he has the kinks worked out, not so much with the magic aspect, but with the story and scripting.

I wouldn't pay money to see Copperfield again. I enjoy him better when he has his hour long television specials. If anyone reading this is looking for a great magic show in Vegas, I highly recommend Penn and Teller. They are far more entertaining and they know how to engage the audience. They also have better tricks!