Writing Wrongs

Got lots of sleep last night. Yay!
Did nothing useful until about 3, when I headed for PA to be early enough at Starbucks to buy Janice a half price frappuccino, since she might not get there before 5. She got there at 4. That gave us a lot of time to chat.

From there to Lucie Stern Theater, way early, which let me sit in the shade on a park bench far from the screaming children, and read A Box of Oxen, Alan Dean Foster. I always enjoy his writing, and this one starts quickly and is keeping up the pace.

Picked up my ticket and sat in the garden in front of the theater with the others, they did not open the front doors until after 7:30 - odd, because they usually open for concessions at 7, and open the house for seating at 7:30. The show started about 10 minutes late, too.

Miss Saigon by Palo Alto Players was a mixed bag for me, but 90% of the mix was excellent. Teeny tiny Katherine Dela Cruz as Kim was out of this world, a total rock star. Strong voice, all the acting skills a director could want, and she did okay impersonating a Vietnamese. Brain Palac as The Engineer was given many completely over the top assignments, and he was world class in performing those. I did not like those numbers, they were too long, too insane and did not move the show along, but he didn't let that keep him from nailing them.

John was played by Adrien Gleason, who was one of the stars of my last SBMT show, and he was very good, with a stunning solo to lead off Act II. They did the show as a 2-act, but it looks like it was written to be 3. The audience could have used a break before the "3 years later" section.

Ed Hunter's lighting was great, impressive right from the start. There was a lot of scrim work, flys, spotlights and cyc effects in the show and the action was usually weighted to favor stage left.

Costumes were a mess. The People's Republic army uniforms were too ornate, way too much insignia & piping. The bar girls were wearing all the wrong kinds of outfits in both the Saigon and Bangkok bars, but that wasn't nearly as bad as dressing the female Bangkok street vendors in formal Vietnamese gowns. Speaking of women, only two of the bar girls had figures which would be seen in a SE Asian bar. Most were too fat and too tall. I understand more than 200 people auditioned for this show, I bet a lot of women who looked the part were turned away. In some shows, the reason is they need to also be strong singers, but not in this one.

One of the PR things they did early on was hint that they might have a helicopter on stage. They made a mock-up of a cockpit and front door which was "flown" in from stage right, way upstage. It was tacky and fake, but it would have worked for me if they had not put a stuffed dummy's torso & head in the pilot's seat. Hueys in the Saigon evacuation  had heavily tinted windows, you probably would not have seen the pilot.

Danny Gould, playing Chris, had some issues with articulation and staying on key. It's a tough part to play, and I don't think he go enough guidance from the director. Lindsay Stark, playing Ellen, Chris' American wife, was unconvincing in both her acting and looks. This is supposed to be a woman attractive enough to make Chris forget his fantasy wife. She sang well, though.

Enough already. It was a good show, I'm glad I saw it, and am recommending it to others. One more weekend to run.

Plans for tomorrow:

Fremont: Take the camera to Ardenwood Farms in south Fremont, then up to Fremont auto mall to see car dealerships there, starting with an appointment at Chevy.

I cannot believe that a minimal cast, B&W silent movie won Best Picture for 2012. There are so many aspects of movie making which The Artist did not have to deal with. Ditto Best Director. With all the stunning films and directorial triumphs this year, this film at best wins Miss Congeniality. Best actor? Maybe. If you like mimes. Ben Kingsley not even being nominated for Hugo was a travesty.

OTOH I was very surprised at the spontaneous standing ovation and thunderous applause awarded to Meryl Streep. I had no idea that on top of all that talent, her co-workers also sincerely like the person herself. That's good to know.

The memorial segment is when I tuned in, I saw it all, and was very pleased Elizabeth Taylor, who did so much brave and charitable work in her lifetime, was given the final spotlight. Cliff Robertson would have been better served with a clip from Charlie instead of Spiderman. And maybe Peter Falk deserved a second clip, from The Princess Bride. All the images flashed by too quickly. The chorus, however, was wonderful.