KC Rep wraps up its 2009-10 season with an ambitious work in progress.
For VENICE (now through May 9 at the Copaken Stage downtown), Artistic Director Eric Rosen calls on rap master Matt Sax to serve up a high-energy vision of a dark, depressing future, then find the ray of hope hiding therein. While the point of this enterprise could use some clarifying, VENICE is chock full of first class performances and a terrific physical production. If you like your graphic novels live! on stage, sung full-out by a great looking (and sounding) cast, by all means check out this one.
Tracy Thomas
I’ve seen this show twice in the first week and agree almost entirely with you, Mark! Had to laugh at your comment about a woman’s role being “less than” the men’s–gee, hasn’t THAT been the case since Shakespeare? Ask any Hollywood actress. The Silkwood parts are few and far between…
Back to Venice:
The visuals ARE awesome–suited to appealing to the younger generation so used to speeding graphics on CNN. Rosen and that darling kohl-eyed Sax have taken on the mission of making live theatre appealing to the new younger audience. Because let’s face it–those tired dinner theatre plays at The New Theatre in OP are s-l-o-w.
And they succeed. This highly stimulating form of theatre is the new way. Rosen –I hope you stay a long time here. You hide your fables in the new genre so well.
There are some cuss words in the play, and one grey haired man seated in my row was so worked up he started talking to his wife DURING the play. Like he was at Ward Parkway Cinema. He told me at intermission he wants to cancel his 35 years of season tickets. As the airline host says, buh bye.
The songs in Venice are great –you’ll sing them all week. “I wanna be great for one instant.” (altho as a metaphysician, I say that is playing pretty small.)
And “I can see the sunrise and I know the dawn is coming!” Broadway class show tunes. Premiered right here in River City at Copaken stage downtown!!
The only bad song was the one about “Willow willow willow put your head upon my pillow, pillow pillow.” 62 times those two words are sung. I counted. That song doesn’t fit, it’s right out of the genre of Oklahoma. Perhaps that’s why Mark felt her part didn’t fit the rest of the play.
Mark, you referenced Obama–and I’d like to point out that Venice’s mother’s name is Anna, as contrasted with Obama’s mother’s name being Ann.
And the actress who plays this part can belt a tune like Ethel Merman!
Maybe Jack Cashill should blog this Obama connection! Did Bill Ayers ghost write this script too, like he did Obama’s Homeric book, Dreams of my Father?!!!???? That would sell some tickets if that got out!!!
Venice is: exhuberant! Take your friends. And tell that grumpy old man to hush.
For someone that cares about whether a photo was real or Photoshopped, you can try Photoshopped Image Killer. This free website maybe can give your answer. By analyzing something like Exif data or so. But it it really bad that the seller is touching op those images? Maybe he just sharpened the image and removed some things from the background.