Comment Archives: Events: 2 Stars
Re: “Skerik's Bandalabra”
Went to see them at the BBR in SF with some friends, big skerik fans here! Honestly, not really one of his best shows I'm sorry to report. It wasn't awful but more of the jazz meandering compared to the drive of critters (our fav) or GaT. You could tell the band was new and learning the music. I still love skerik but with this one we left after 45 minutes in for the independant show.
Re: “The Moon in the Triangle”
Interesting show, the writing needed a lot of work and so did much of the acting. The political message was a bit heavy handed, but I enjoyed the live action Kung fu. The play was in need of some comic relief to lessen the strain of the overt political messages, but I had a good time and thoroughly enjoyed the live band, even though the singer's diatribe against society was trite and forced.
Re: “The Drums and Surfer Blood”
Surfer Blood: Great sound, but they don't have any stage presence.
The Drums: Couldn't see them with the awful lighting, and couldn't make out the vocals in the muddy sound mix. What a waste.
Re: “Sweat: A Sketch Comedy Experience”
Mildly amusing with a couple of laughs. All in all somewhat disappointing.
Re: “Alone In The Unknown”
Acting was great
writing was infantile
a line in the play describes having a seizure as humiliating
Having had epilepsy for 30 years never once did I find a seizure ( and I've had them at school, in playgrounds and in dorm rooms hanging out ) Never have I found them humiliating.
I am not humiliated by who I am.
Chad Mitchel Dickerson glimpses the smallest part of an infinite topic and believes that because he can see the clouds around it he can tackle it and attempt to say anything at all concerning it.
E is a hard subject to tackle with limited exposure and extreme diversity by its nature and quite honestly I agree with the review of the writing. The writer of this play is awkward and amateur at best and just not prepared to adequately take on his subject matter.
He has an incredibly interesting concept- about influencing others with thoughts and mental energy - Its one I agree with and as an Epileptic KNOW there is a reality to.
He is just not equipped to deal with what he is attempting to express and spends way too much time on extraneous scenes that do nothing.
The actors however ...absolutely shone acting an epileptic seizure and doing it convincingly is not easy Jennifer Elkington did unfathomably well considering what she had to deal with
the last thing any epileptic anywhere needs is Epilepsy being used by a poor writer with limited understanding of the complexities of what Epilepsy is or limited time to deal with them. It makes a poor simplistic plot vehicle if you ask me.
It's not simple and strobe lights wont help an audience understand it any more or make me feel that that writer is anything but insensitive to epileptics (I was aghast at the use of the strobes its well known that strobes provoke seizure activity) . Not because he is not trying his skills are simply too feeble to tackle what he wants to
I think the trite nature of his writing leads me to think my condition is being used as something to gain a reaction rather than a topic that is explored in reality for what it is in a respectful sensitive manner it sort of feels to me like he is saying its a novelty, you know like "how fascinating.... One might be able to control a relationship in another room or live in a different world that is unknown". It's not a novelty to me anymore It's just true and sometimes a bother too and painful NOT TRIPPY NOT A NOVELTY - not a fun thought provoking acid trip ....not anymore
It's offensive to be looked at like that.
He takes an impressive monster subject and deals with it like it is fast food.
Re: “The Chosen”
The acting was good. The Chosen is essentially a lesson in Judaism, contrasting two branches of it. I was hoping for a deeper theater experience than that. I bought tickets based on the recommendation by the Portland Mercury. Essentially the play serves to reaffirm the Jewish faith to its believers and falls flat for those wanting a profound experience in the theater. It fails to shed any new light on Zionism or the creation of Israel. This play will have greater appeal to those who are Jewish.
Re: “Desperation”
This is a double feature. The second one act play, Suicide Note from a Cockroach is very good. The first one, Breaching is more than awful. Advice? Get tickets early, go have a martini or two at the Doug Fir and stumble on over to Imago at 7:45 when Suicide starts. It's unfortunate that these two plays have to be together - the first could really turn one off Imago for a lifetime.
Re: “ZooZoo”
My husband and I went to see ZooZoo on Sunday. We paid $28 a ticket and feel ripped off! ZooZoo is nowhere near as cool as I remember Frogz being.
The production was comprised of many different slow and self-indulgent short skits (without words) of performers dressed as animals or strange creatures.
In three shows the animals go up into the audience for what seemed like forever and tried to arouse laughter by continuing the same behavior over and over.
The story lines of the shows were not creative or made sense. The actions of the characters kept repeating in slow-motion. For example in one scene, the frogs all turned to stare at each other but this dragged on for minutes.
It would have been so much more fun if you could see the 'secret lives' of these animals. Perhaps the frogs could have been sitting down for a dinner of live flies? The stories were boring and lasted much too long.
The costumes in some instances just kept reminding me that there were people underneath. My husband said that one of the frog's face was obvious through the whole skit and it was distracting.
This is a very college-like production and I wouldn't have paid $10 much less $28.
The children seem to have enjoyed it but we surely did not.
Re: “Romance”
The play is meant to be a farce, but the actors aren't always up to the task, so there are lots of confusing moments when the dialogue sounds sincere rather than over-the-top. The theater just isn't that good in this town.
Re: “Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!”
Way to loud for comedy.
The first five minutes of the show were the word Diarrhea repeated over and over. Humorous , yes. timeless humor, I think not.Spent 3 hours standing up to see this show.Doubt I would spend the time again...
Re: “Sukiyaki Western Django”
Saw Sukiyaki Western Django there. The film quality was great, but the sound is just terrible. Muddy and broken.
Re: “The Phantom of the Opera”
Attended the Aug 23 evening show. We enjoyed the cast and the set. Some of the effects were a bit silly, such as the aforementioned roman candle. We were also underwhelmed by the "crashing chandelier" which gently glided to the stage as the actors waited patiently for its arrival.
What detracts most from my rating was the sound quality. I've seen junior college productions with better sound. The orchestra sounded fine and solos weren't horrible, but anything more than one hot mic and the whole production might as well have been broadcast on a home-made transistor radio. We thought it might have been an odd acoustic anomaly at our seats, but we heard many similar complaints on the way out.
Re: “Maria Taylor, Johnathan Rice and Nik Freitas”
Johnathan Rice isn't worth the way to small pants he puts on in the morning.
RSSGoing to Seattle?
Re: “The Perfect Storm”
Storm Large has an amazing voice but she inappropriately goes over the line. The song 8miles wide was a very bad choice.