zvi likes tv

Last night I saw Be More Chill staged by the Monumental Theatre Company.

There are a lot of little theater companies in DC doing very good work, and I would like to go see more of it. I like live theater, and the TodayTix app #notsponsored makes it pretty simple to find something to see, even if there are no guarantees about quality.

Speaking of quality: I liked the feel of the company itself; they were set up in the black box theater of Episcopal High School (a local elite boarding school roughly the size of my tiny liberal arts college), they had cute company t-shirts, they served alcohol and were quite chill.

The show on the other hand…. Since I'm now old enough that I think Benny Was Right (RENT), maybe I should have guessed a high school musical was not going to work for me. Also, this is the original version of script and score from the pre-Broadway run; I hope that it tightened up some off-Broadway.

But the music, lyrics, and characters felt generic and archetypical, rather than specific. They genderflipped the computer (why does the computer have a gender‽) to "look like Buffy the Vampire Slayer" instead of Keanu Reeves, and did some staging adjustments to avert some rape-y implications. A lot of the pop culture stuff felt dated (maybe this will ease into period in the next twenty years? If this show is around in 20 years? Please don't be around in 20 years.) The protagonist was also terrible. His only desire was for Christine, but what was it that the liked about her, specifically? I watched the whole damn musical and I do not know. Jeremy had no interests (except for porn), no wants (except for his dad to put on pants), and no relationships except with his stoner best friend, Mike.

One thing that is weird and frustrating about this show is that Jeremy insists that Christine is the only romantic connection worth having, but since he doesn't articulate* what, specifically, makes her intriguing, it's never clear why the warm and sexy relationship he has with Brooke is not enough to satisfy his romantic aspirations.

If I were younger, I could see projecting myself into these lifeless, feckless, undifferentiated characters, but I'm not and I didn't.

*The music mix was bad. The band drowned out the performers for part of every song. Maybe Jeremy said what Christine special to him in his song about her, but I honestly didn't hear it.

Despite the material and the band mix, most of the actors got a decent glory note moment, just enough energy and face to make me want to watch them in something good. I especially liked Caroline Dubberly as The Squip and Christian Montgomery as Michael. Nigel Rowe as Rich really made the most of his song, but not much else. The only complete snore was Jonathan Helwig as Jake.

I'll keep my eyes out for future Monumental Theatre Company productions, but I'm not going to bother with Be More Chill again.

I saw Roe at Arena Stage on Tuesday night. It was commissioned by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2015/2016 from playwright Lisa Loomer, with whom I am otherwise unfamiliar. ( ”I )

I think the play is worth seeing, but that is not quite the same as recommending it. I thought the writing was a little loose and most of the acting didn’t elevate it, but I can’t decide if the acting was actually bad or the actors doing what the material and the director asked of them. I certainly felt that the roles of the two lead characters were deeply inhabited and well personified, but I don’t think any particular lines or scenes leapt out as well done.

On the other hand, two actors really did catch my eye. Catherine Castellanos as Connie Gonzalez, McCorvey’s long-time lover, played Connie with a pronounced delicacy around McCorvey. There were really visible layers when she talked to McCorvey, and I liked that.

Kenya Alexander played Roxanne, a contemporary pregnant student who doesn’t know what to do and wants to get advice. It’s just the one scene, but she powers through it, and it’s great. She’s local, so I’ll keep my eye out.

So my reaction to this play is mixed-positive, but very, very mixed.

Les Liaisons Dangereuses
In French with English surtitles / This production contains nudity and explicit adult situations.
Dec 06 2012—Dec 09 2012

Acclaimed actor and director John Malkovich (Dangerous Liaisons, Places in the Heart) directs a new French-language revival of Les Liaisons Dangereuses direct from the Théâtre de l’Atelier in Paris. Playing to praise from both critics and audiences in Paris, this version of Les Liaisons Dangereuses incorporates several modern twists in this classic story of sex, revenge and the decadence of the French aristocracy.

Will someone go watch this with me? *makes anime eyes* It is only the best of all possible stories, with a wicked woman, corruptions of innocents, a magnificent rake, an indulgent great aunt, and DRAMA such as a Desperate Housewife could never imagine. Tickets are $55.

- Broke two lightbulbs
-- One of them on my bed
--- My waterbed, which means it's a big bag of water which can be punctured and leak. We'll see if the vacuuming was successful.

+ 1, 2, 3 social occasions this weekend, which I enjoyed.
- Missed occasion 4, which was to be hanging out with Zana.
+ Meeting for dinner on Thursday.

Okay, that was actually a pretty sucky summary of the weekend. But really, all I did this weekend was go see Twelfth Night in Russian with neotoma on Friday (A+ Would LOL again.), then go to book group on Saturday, then give blood on Sunday morning and to shinetheway's good-bye party in the evening.

And break ALL of the lightbulbs, and get chided by an unexpected cable guy.

Anyway, in reaction, next weekend, I am staying in, doing ALL of the laundry, and packing for Bascon.

Speaking of Bascon, I don't leave until midnight Sunday, so I will be in San Francisco on Sunday. Presuming I don't spend the afternoon napping in my room, what should I do Sunday afternoon in San Francisco, dear readers?

Also, in further, I need you to plan my life queries: I don't need a second EVO battery for my ordinary use of it, which is "schlep to work, plug it in, schlep home, plug it in" However, I am going on a really long plane/ride to get to San Francisco, stopping at the Atlanta airport on my way to SF, and the Milwaukee airport on my way from SF. Should I get a second battery for the trip? The EVO eats battery life, and I want to work on my nano on the trip.

(Aside: You know Scrivener offers a NaNoWriMo preview, and this year it includes the Windows public beta version, yes? I grabbed Scrivener, but I'm not sure if I will be using it (see 'writing on phone', below.) I think LitLift may be my solution, since I don't see a straightforward way to make my beloved SuperNoteCard run on my phone. (Does anyone know how to run a JAR archive on Android? Can it be done?))

Oh, yes, NaNoWriMo. I was totally not going to do it, but now I have this awesome phone which means I can write during my commute. So, it is a week before NaNo and I'm registered, but I have NO PLANS. Help me plan my NaNo novel.

( please tell me what to write for NaNo )

1. My parents left town Sunday and left me:
   1. A watermelon that split and leaked all over the kitchen floor, so I had to mop it up. :(
   2. So much cooked food that I don't expect to have to do anything except microwave before they get back on Tuesday
2. I have managed to injure my wrist. I think I did it by unhooking my bra.
3. Sara taught me how to crochet squares. Now, I can almost make a blanket! (I still need to learn how to sew the squares together.)
4. Project Runway is wasting the additional half hour of television they have. What they should have presented us with was more working on clothes, more runway, more Tim Gunn feedback, more judging. Instead, we appear to be getting a lot of gossipy backbiting. Look, if I wanted to watch The Real World, Bunim/Murray, I would watch The Real World. Competition reality is not nearly as much about the sniping, and what sniping there is should be squarely focused on the artistry, as opposed to people's irritating personal habits.
5. Drop Dead Diva is really awesome except for the Grayson bits. Why is Grayson such a wet blanket?
6. Pretty Little Lesbians Liars makes me so happy. It's a show all about GIRLS! And SECRETS! And DEATH! And wildly improbable soap opera-esque lifestyles. I can't wait for it to come back.
7. Last weekend was very busy and sociable, where I:
   1. Saw Inception (verdict: amazing thought experiment type science-fiction movie, gorgeous cinematography, not recommended for viewers who watch movies for characters instead of plot or visuals
   2. ate at Jaleo with caorann (verdict: I will marry the woman who can make me those deep fried mussel balls. I would consider monogamy for the woman who could make me those deep fried mussel balls. Also, the sangria is awesome. Also, also, it's just delicious.
   3. saw Avenue Q with caorann (verdict, pretty good, but from the talk up, I sort of expected it to be astounding? Also, distinctly underwhelmed by everything the production had to say about race in any way and at all times)
   4. lunch at Friendly's the next day (verdict: still Friendly's, but I didn't particularly enjoy having calorie counts on everything on the menu)
   5. Stitch & Bitch, where there were many people, with delicious chocolate brownies, and laughing at cats (verdict: I have conquered the crochet square! Whee!)

This weekend I get to spend in luxurious solitude. :)