I had a great time on my recent city visit. I set up a series of “play dates”: “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”, “Passing Strange”, “Macbeth” and “Thurgood”. I enjoyed them all!
Macbeth
My niece, Cybel, and I loved “Macbeth” with Patrick Stewart, (a consummate theater actor, but, perhaps best know from “Star Trek: Next Generation”). This Shakespearian tale of greedy ambition was moved out of Scotland and into an unnamed totalitarian country of 30’s/40’s Europe. It is a rousing, rambunctious, and riveting tale of misdeeds, murder and mayhem. (Yes, I’m showing off- I love alliteration.) Awesome.
The acting was wonderful. Mr. Stewart was appropriately blood thirsty, Kate Fleetwood, as Lady Macbeth, was both ferocious and fragile and the 3 witches, dressed in nurse uniforms, were as creepy as they should be.
Most of the original text remained, even with the modern presentation, but it all worked anyway. (Towards the end of the play when Macbeth, ready to fight to the death, calls out, “Bring me my armor” – instead of a helmet and metal breast plate, he is fitted with an army issue “flak” jacket and machine gun. By this time, the audience is so wrapped up in it all, it didn’t matter.) A definite standing “O” for all. Great fun.
“Macbeth”, William Shakespeare, Directed by Rupert Goold, Lyceum Theater, NYC
Passing Strange
“Passing Strange” is clever and funny, with great music. The terrific band, whose members along with the few actors, tell the story of a young man, “Stew”, trying to look for the “real” by moving from middle class L.A., where he feels he doesn’t fit in and everything is a fraud, to Amsterdam and Germany.
In Europe, he is more “American”, than he was in California. To gain friends and acceptance in the avant garde scene- his new girl friend is only impressed with the oppressed- he “passes” as the stereotype of a ghetto youth and writes songs about the “struggle”. After a few years, he wonders what if the only thing real is your “art” and “reality” is phoney?
He eventually returns to America to pursue his art and just be himself. He is amazed that the direction of his life was decided by the decisions he made as a teenager.
Serious questions, but told with humor and music. Hard to describe – a different type musical, but, very entertaining.
Music by Stew and Heidi Rodewald
http://www.passingstrangeonbroadway.com/
To be continued…
I've always loved Macbeth but have never seen a live performance. When young and attending a all boys junior high school in the south Bronx, our class read and later acted out the entire play. At first we felt forced by our teacher (Mr. Castro) but as time went on it became the highlight of our day.