Avenue Q in Seattle. Hmm.

Turns out Avenue Q is in Seattle next month. It was very cool to see on Broadway and the five of us who went really liked it. And it's far less likely I would have seen it in Seattle. But still ... I wish I'd learned that particular piece of information a little sooner.

Ah well. Here's where you can buy tickets for the show at the Paramount if you're interested.

My thoughts on "Avenue Q"

This raunchy puppet musical was surprisingly funny. I know a few "non-theater" types who greatly enjoyed it, so I was looking forward to it going in.

As we've done in the past, we bought the soundtrack before going. For a show like Spring Awakening, this helps make the show clearer. Sometimes the words get muddled on stage and it's better to know a little bit in advance. With Avenue Q, however, I actually wouldn't recommend it. Some of the joy of the show is its audacious lyrics, and I think maybe I knew too much going into it.

In general, the songs were very funny, the characters and puppets were surprisingly well crafted and acted (with a few notable exceptions). And the Sesame Street style interludes on the two TV monitors were handled well.

If anything really didn't work for me it was the character Christmas Eve, the Japanese therapist. I would even go so far as to call her a failed character. I understand what the creators were going for, but it just didn't work. There are good ways to poke fun at stereotypes, but Christmas Eve was no different that Long Duk Dong from Sixteen Candles, and even not so far apart from Mickey Rooney's horrendous Mr. Yunioshi in Breakfast at Tiffany's. And it's bad when I reference a stereotype from 1961 (which was outdated even then).

It just didn't work. (And I don't think it's the actress. Her voice and songs didn't work on the soundtrack either, which was made by the original Broadway cast.)

But the show is very good and I definitely recommend it if you happen to be in NYC or London's West End. Although I hear now that it's closed at the Wynn in Vegas a national tour has started up too. Just be prepared for "full puppet nudity" and some dirty talk and you'll fine.

Don't be the bunny

Last year Bellarmine did a very good production of Urinetown the Musical. This year, TMP took it on and also landed a very good production. I saw it today at the Narrows Theater and enjoyed it thoroughly.

Local blogger Andrew Fry was a great villain and gets two of the most fun songs in the show (including Don't Be The Bunny, which is quite memorable). It's a bizarre, unusual, but very funny musical that I would certainly recommend.

But it closes tomorrow. Sorry for the late notice.

Want to be in a play written by Brent Hartinger?

I'm directing a 10 minute play for the upcoming Festival of Northwest Plays. Not only that, the play is written by the local novelist and playwright Brent Hartinger!

That said, I'm looking for actors who might want to audition. We'll be doing auditions Sunday and Monday night. Looking for a man (20s - 30s) and a woman (20s - 30s) and a man (20s - ??).

Interested in auditioning or learning more and setting up an audition? E-mail me at erikemery@gmail.com.

No one reads anymore ... but they didn't used to.

At his lecture last week, Michael Chabon was asked about the decline of reading. He didn't believe that there was actually a decline. He said when he was young and bookish that there were only a couple kids in the class who were the same way and that looking at his son's class, the numbers still held pretty true.

And today I see an article in Harper's by the author and literary critic Ursula K. Le Guin who argues the same thing:

I also want to question the assumption—whether gloomy or faintly gloating—that books are on the way out. I think they’re here to stay. It’s just that not all that many people ever did read them. Why should we think everybody ought to now?

Perhaps this is the new spin to stop all the stories about the decline of reading. Unfortunately the article is for subscribers only, and I'm not a subscriber, so I didn't get more than 2 paragraphs into the article for her to lay it out more fully.

But I think that it is safe to say that at one point people did read more. Flash back to pre-radio days and I would venture that they read a good deal more. Radio probably cut into the percentage of Americans who read and television and film probably really cut into it. I'm sure it has leveled off since, although the rise of the Internet has almost certainly got people reading more again, just not books.

What's interesting is that theater and books were probably both hurt by television and film but for different reasons.

Theater was hurt because it suddenly lost on the economies of scale and couldn't compete for a family's "entertainment dollar." Enough people chose not to go to the theater that it closed the theaters, and suddenly no one got to go to the theater.

Books aren't like that. Books are hurt by the fact that reading one takes 10 hours, that they can have dense, confusing parts (unlike television), and that, in contrast to sitcoms, can seem relatively boring.

All that is to say, in the last 50 years, I would venture that Chabon and Le Guin are right: reading has probably not declined substantially. But in the last 150 years, I'm sure it has plummeted.

Behind the Scenes at the Opera

If you haven't seen me blogging here recently, it's because I've been busy creating a podcast about the Tacoma Opera for Exit133.

It's the first time we've tried to tackle a "production" like that--so far we've focused on events and individuals, but this one required a lot of film time, mainly because I didn't quite know what I wanted so I just kept filming everything. Which was great because by the end, little moments I'd captured on film early on were on film to compare to the end result on stage. Even though all I have to show of those first few rehearsals amounts to 10 seconds of film in the final product, it was still worth it.

Pretty quickly, though, I discovered the music. The classic Can Can, and the intro to it, which I mostly recognized from Moulin Rouge (Spectacular, Spectacular, in the words of the vernacular ... ).

Once I heard it, and got it stuck in my head, I knew that was the way to go.

I had a great time at the rehearsals. It's good theater (in English no less!) and done well by Tacoma Opera. If you're around you should see it this weekend. And if you're not, here's the video on Exit133. And if you're here, but not sure you want to see it, watch the video, then decide.

Here's the link to Tacoma Opera if you want more info.

Downtown Working

I spent a few hours Saturday and Sunday down at Suite133 this weekend sprucing things up and moving furniture around. Suite133 is a new co-working space in downtown Tacoma that should be opening by October.

The idea of a co-working space starts with the assumption that small businesses and creative entrepreneurs are usually stuck working out of their homes and coffee shops. Coffee shops are great, but productivity goes down and caffeine intake goes up, because you feel guilty hanging out there without buying things. So the co-working model is to find a cool space, put in a lot of tables and chairs, and then add office necessities like wifi, printing, faxing, and 2 private conference rooms. A space like this would have been very helpful for me last year when I was having a million meetings in coffee shops about the Horatio.

Suite133 will be the first co-working space in Tacoma. Derek at Exit133, Seamus Holman (a local designer), and I are working to get it off the ground. We found a really cool space at 7th & Pacific, kitty corner from Old City Hall, overlooking a small pocket park, and with a slew of great restaurants around.

There's more in the Business Examiner Daily and at Exit133. Also at Suite133.com, of course.

And speaking of the Horatio, things haven't stopped, they've just been slowly moving. But they are moving! I have some good directors and some good plays. We're just looking for some good venues to go with those.

In the meantime, check out the new Studio 21 production, "The Steward of Christendom," which opens this Thursday in the theater at Commencement Bay. The Horatio co-produced "Molly Sweeney" with Studio 21 February so it's great to see them putting more theater up in the space we developed.

Puttin' on the Ritz

I approached "Young Frankenstein," the new big-budget music, with a little bit of trepidation. I had been disappointed by the musical version of "The Producers," even though everyone loved it. And Mary and I last week had just seen "Spring Awakening," which had just won a 2007 Tony.

Well after seeing "Young Frankenstein" at the Paramount in Seattle last night, I'm willing to say that it's got the 2008 Tony sewn up.

"The Producers" failed to get as many laughs as the movie did, and it tacked on a bizarre twist with a courtroom scene. "Young Frankenstein" just seems better suited to being a big musical than "The Producers" did.

Right from the start, the musical gets good solid laughs out of dialog, and out of very clever witty numbers. I can't say that music is necessarily that good, but it is serviceable. I can't think of a single song that would get stuck in my head (save "Putting on the Ritz," of course--the only song here whose music was not written by Mel Brooks). "Spring Awakening," on the other hand, still gets caught there more than a week later.

Unlike a bad experience at "Camelot," no song really dragged, and those that did were lightened up with some great spectacle. Actually, if there's anything that "Young Frankenstein" truly nailed, it was Spectacle. There are a lot of ways to make good theater. And awesome spectacle, when you can afford it, is definitely one of them. As in the movie, the "Puttin' on the Ritz" number was one of the best moments. Actually it was a series of great moments, all spectacular in their own way.

The cast was pretty strong. Megan Mullaly from Will & Grace was surprisingly not on stage that much. Frederick Frankenstein, Igor, Frau Blucher, and the Monster himself stole scenes from each other throughout. The four of them held everything together and were very very good. I must commend the Monster in particular for some incredible footwork in his big big shoes.

"Young Frankenstein" is big budget theater done right. Loud, bright, funny, and solid the whole way through. I'm glad I caught it at a 1/4 of the price (I'm guessing even a Row R seat would have been pretty expensive on Broadway). Great fun last night.

Spring Awakening

Spring Awakening has been called a lot of great things by a lot of critics, but back in Tacoma I was only hearing mixed reviews.

Before going I downloaded the soundtrack, because it's always easier to see a musical if you have some idea of the music ahead of time, and I wasn't too impressed. It sounded like a Rent ripoff, and I wasn't such a fan of Rent, either. After not-so-stellar reviews and the soundtrack sounding not so great on my speakers, we were both a little tentative, but we had our tickets purchased.

We were feeling much better about it even just a few minutes in.

The musical is based on a scandalous-for-the-time German play from the 1890's about horny teenagers discovering a world hidden from them by their parents and teachers (a parentocracy, one calls it). It's not exactly what you think of when you think of source material for Tony-winning plays, but it manages to work pretty well.

The first act is high energy, the music is great, the story generally moves along save for a few slow scenes. Then there's a rather surprising scene of a beating with a switch followed by the end of Act I climax of two teens really discovering things, complete with some scandalous-for-our-times nudity.

Unfortunately, you could spend half of the 15 minute intermission writing down what's going to happen in the second act and you'd probably be right. The play loses steam, there's a bit too much preaching about issues that it seems like we've moved past already, but it's biggest flaw is just being cliche and predictable.

The second act does have the most high octane song performance in the show, Totally F***ed, although I find The Bitch of Living is in my head more often (those titles should tell you something about the show).

I left feeling generally positive about the show, and I would say that it's execution was quite good. But the story needed some extra creative spark to get its way through the second act and keep it interesting.

Hedwig - Two Shows left!

We've got two shows left of Hedwig, tonight and Saturday. 8:00 each night at the SOTA Theater. Bring your gummi bears.

Here's a link to the Horatio page for Hedwig with a short clip and photos.

Rosemary Ponnekanti reviewed the show for the Trib. Steve Dunkelberger has his review in the Volcano and wanted more "pep," but also said, "Overall, the show was entertaining. It’s worth a look if you are scoping out something different."

Hope to see you there!

Short "Hedwig" Video Clip!

During the packed showed of "Hedwig" in Seattle on Sunday night, I caught a short clip from the back of the room. It's not the greatest sound or video quality but it's pretty cool.

We still have tickets available for Friday and Saturday's shows at the SOTA Theater in downtown Tacoma! Come check it out!

The BCPA

If you haven't seen Rosemary Ponnekanti's feature on David Fischer and the Broadway Center in today's Trib (and it's on the front page, so I hope you've seen it) check it out.

They're doing some very cool things down there.

All Over The Sound

Happily, I was all over this weekend.

Friday we journeyed west and spent the evening at Mason Lake, which is always nice. Saturday it was lunch with the family and then a trip across the water from Bremerton to Seattle by ferry, followed by seats with friends to see Griffey and the Reds lose to Seattle 9-1 (clearly I chose a better day to go than Friday night's 16-1 loss).

And today it was breakfast at PSP where we bumped into the good folks at ZestyEnterprise. And this evening, it's off to Seattle again for the Hedwig show at Neumo's! Hedwig will be back in T-town Friday and Saturday night down at the SOTA Theater, so hopefully I'll see you there for that!

The Big Show: Hedwig

If you're in the mood for a good glam rock musical, check out Hedwig tonight! It's going to be pretty dang awesome. Downtown Tacoma at 1118 Commerce (the SOTA theater). $16/person, $11 for members of the Horatio.

There's some other fun summer projects coming up too. I'll keep you in the loop.

Hedwig ... and the Prisoner of Azkaban?

Just kidding.

The title, of course, is Hedwig and the Angry Inch, a glam rock musical about Hedwig (previously Hansel) whose attempt at a sex change operation in East Berlin was botched (as many East Germany operations probably tended to). It's got awesome music and crazy makeup and costumes.

The Horatio is working with a great cast, and we'll open the show this Friday, June 15, at 8:00 pm at the SOTA Theater off Commerce. We'll have three more shows (June 16, and then June 29 & 30) in Tacoma, as well as a show in Seattle at Neumo's Sunday, June 24.

That's right, baby, the Horatio is producing in Seattle! Get tickets on-line and rock out with Hedwig.

Bob Newhart in Tacoma

Journeyed this evening to Bob Newhart down at the Pantages.

First, it's been awhile since I've been to a sell-out at the Pantages, so that was particularly cool.

Second, there was a pretty great moment of Tacoma pride. A large swing band played a few numbers before Bob Newhart came out. After their first little ditty, the band leader made the colossal mistake of telling the audience, "It's great to be here in Seattle." All 1,169 people in the audience shouted back in something close to unison: "Tacoma!" Awesome.

Third, Bob himself was good fun. I've listened to a number of his routines with my dad on car trips and enjoy his comedy. Perhaps the loudest and longest laugh came when he was complaining about country-western music. He told people he didn't want to denigrate country-western music, and then "for those of you who like country-western, 'denigrate' means to put down or make fun of ..."

I can already see that it's not as funny here, but that's OK. Fun night at the theater. Things seem to be running very well down there these days. I'm officially impressed.

Go Lions!

My high school alma mater (Bellarmine, for the uninitiated) just won "Outstanding Overall Musical Production" for its spring musical "Urinetown."

After working on all four musicals (including a dancing gig in My Fair Lady my senior year) when I was at Bellarmine, this is pretty cool. Congrats, guys!

More at Exit133.

Jubilee

Last night Mary and I crossed another "Vegas experience" off the list -- the Jubilee topless revue that has been running 25 years now.

This was one of those "classic" Vegas showgirl numbers with--as the ads say--hundreds of thousands of rhinestones covering hardly anything.

It would be hard to overstate how utterly ridiculous this production was. How much time and money and thought went into something so ... bad. Admittedly, at the beginning there was a certain kitch factor. There were lots of scantily-clad dancers (the topless dancers were expected, but the men in thongs and cod pieces were a surprise to this theater-goer) parading around in funny hats.

(My favorite hat was about 3 feet in diameter and about 4 feet tall. It looked like they created the hat by cutting off 4 foot sections of Mr. Snuffleupagus' trunk, dying the sections either pink or yellow, and then attaching them to the poor head of a dancer who must have had 10 pounds of Muppet trunk on her head.)

With all that, the show started kind of fun but it quickly got boring and incredulously bad.

The second act was a "lesson in ancient history" when we revisited Samson and Delilah. It took awhile for what I was actually sinking but, but at some point when Samson is fawning over Delilah, I couldn't help but think, "Did the producers really think that staging a Bible story with topless dancers was a good idea?" They must have figured that out of the number of people who could tell you that Samson and Delilah is a Bible story, most of them wouldn't be at a topless revue to start with.

It went from weird to worse.

Act IV was their take on the sinking of the Titanic. The story ended, inexplicably, with a full chorus line doing high kicks and singing Yankee Doodle Dandy. Because that made a lot of sense. Fellas, it was a British ship!

Mary and I quickly scooted after that.

What a very odd theatrical experience. Next time I'm here, I'm going to skip the Vintage Vegas thing and just go to "O" at the Bellagio.

Doubleshot Again

I haven't updated the Doubleshot Festival, but Friday was a lot of fun. My ten minute play got a fun cast and a good reception from the audience. I am amazed that they were able to take a play and make it work between 8:30 am and the first curtain at 7:00 that night. My hat is definitely off.

The event was well attended and I was very happy to have been a part. Looking forward to next year!

That was quick

Well, not that quick. I was pretty pleased to get most of the play I had to write finished by 1:00 am last night and I zonked out immediately after. I still have until 8:00 to e-mail it in, so I'm still doing a little bit of tweaking and work as needed.

Last night I was assigned a director--one Marilyn Bennett--as well as a number of cast members (4) and then we drew names out of a hat for who would be in the cast.

And then we were given a "prompt" which was Take Me To The Water, something that I wrestled with for a good long time. I think if you watch my play tonight (shows start tonight at 7 and 9 at Rausch Auditorium at UPS!) you'll have to imagine a very metaphorical water.

The play is complete! Hope to see you tonight!