An Evening With Spidey

It’s the show that has made headlines in both the theatre and pop culture world. It’s the butt of every joke and for a while no one knew when it would actually open. They went through cast changes, on stage injuries and over 100 previews until it finally opened last June at Foxwoods theatre. Yup, I’m talking about Spiderman. I’ll admit, I was hesitant about this show and skeptical about purchasing a ticket once I had learned of all the mishaps that were happening at the theatre. But, a few weeks ago, I finally broke down and bought a ticket.  It’s one of the few shows that I have yet to see and my friend and I thought that it would be interesting to just go and give it a try.

That evening we went to the theatre wondering what the show would be like, how would the effects be etc. When the show started, I wasn’t exactly blown away to start.

The book isn’t so great. It’s hard to tell if they were trying to write it like a comic book or if it just flat out sucked. But, I’m not going to be a Brantley so I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt and say that they were trying to capture the essence of comic book writing.

I really wasn’t a fan of the music either as I felt that it didn’t reach it’s full potential and at times I felt that it was too loud. I felt that at times there was no volume control. Some of the songs were in fact pretty good, like “Bullying By Numbers” but love songs between Peter and MJ seemed too forced. The actors seemed tense and it really didn’t feel like a love song, as there was no passion or emotion in their voices.

The costumes were nothing absolutely spectacular with the exception of Arachne and the Sinister Six. Their costumes were amazing and they really brought out the essence of the characters.

Visually, it was spectacular. The sets are very reminiscent of a comic book but at times there is just too much going on that it would drive me crazy. If I was working backstage on that show I don’t know how I could make it through it 8 times a week. The video sequences in the second act were really interesting.

I wasn’t very impressed with the some of the casting however there were a few standouts. Patrick Page who played The Green Goblin, T.V. Carpio who plays Arachne and one of the bullies Matt Caplan were incredible! I love T.V. and Matt’s voices as I was so drawn to them when they were onstage. Patrick Page is just incredible, he not only has a great voice but he has good comedic timing and made an awesome villain!

Of course you can’t talk about Spiderman without mentioning the flying. It’s incredible and a spectacle in and of itself! It was really interesting to see the characters actually flying and having a battle over the audience!

All in all, I feel that Spiderman is more of a tourist show/attraction as is seemed that was the majority of the audience. But it was a successful night as no one was injured during the show!

Glee Season 3

This September marked the return of the FOX’s smash Glee for its third season! Seeing as some of our favorite glee clubbers are seniors and are graduating at the end of the season, we have been promised an amazing season! It’s only been three episodes in and I’m eagerly awaiting episode four in November. The creative team was right, this season Glee is going back to basics. It’s all about the New Directions and their struggles than focusing more on big-name guest stars and lavish(although amazing) tribute episodes.

Season 3 began with the episode The Purple Piano Project. We find out who’s a senior, junior etc as well as some other things that happened over the summer. Finn and Rachel are back together, Kurt and Blaine as well as mike and Tina are still going strong. Puck and Lauren and Mercedes and Sam(he moved to a different state) have broken up but Mercedes has a new boyfriend now, football player Shane. Quinn has left New Directions and the Cheerios joining a group of girls called the Skanks. Will places purple pianos around the school for the kids to play and sing as a way to recruit new members. Sue announces that she is running for congress and her platform is to cut arts education. Kurt convinces Blaine to transfer to McKinley and he and Rachel to a mixer for Ohio students interested in applying for a top-notch arts school in NYC. While they are shocked at the talent, they vow to persevere. In the end, Santana is banned from New Directions as she and a bunch of other Cheerios throw lighter fluid on a purple piano that bursts into flames once Quinn flicks her cigarette on it.

The second episode titled I Am Unicorn focused on auditions for the school musical(directed by Emma Beiste and Artie), West Side Story as well as the return of Shelby Corcoran(Idina Menzel). Rachel and Kurt audition for the lead roles and Kurt announces that he is running for class president. He accepts help from Brittany, who wants to highlight his sexuality by comparing him to a unicorn in every poster. Kurt, irritated, “fires” Brittany than after a talk with his dad changes his mind only to discover that Brittany is running for president now too.  Meanwhile, Shelby returns(remember her!?) to coach a rival glee club at McKinley because Will rejected wealthy girl Sugar Motta because she can’t sing for the life of her. Shelby reaches out to Rachel, Quinn and Puck who sees his daughter for the first time since her birth. Quinn, recruited by Sue, stars in an anti-arts ad her campaign in which she blames Will for her bad girl image. He tells her how the glee club has been there for her as well as to grow up. Quinn also decides that she is going to seek full custody of her child after seeing a picture of a happy Puck and Beth. The episode ends with Blaine auditioning for a supporting role in the musical so he won’t have to go up against Kurt only to be asked to read for Tony instead.

The third episode Asian F focuses on Mike Chang who receives an A- on a chemistry test. His father upset that his son is getting too distracted and it will hurt him at getting into Harvard. He insists that Mike give up glee and his girlfriend Tina. After begging for another chance with a tutor, Mike decides to skip tutoring and follow dreams by auditioning for the part of Riff in the musical. He is confronted by his mother and admits to her that he wants to be a dancer. She confides to her son that she too gave up dreams of being a dancer and does not want him to do the same. In order to promote her campaign Brittany performs the song “Run the World (Girls).”  Will meets Emma’s parents who mock her OCD and their extreme obsession for red hair causing Emma to relapse a bit. Rachel and Mercedes get a call back for the part of Maria and after an amazing diva-off the two are offered to split the role, each doing half of the performances. Mercedes, angry and upset, thinking that she deserved to win the part for herself quits the musical. After quitting glee earlier in the week because of what she views as favoritism for Rachel she goes and joins Shelby’s glee club. Rachel begins a last minute campaign for class president to improve her chances at college leaving Kurt and Finn angry and upset. The episode ends with the posting of the cast list. Rachel as Maria, Blaine as Tony, Santana as Anita, Mike as Riff, and Kurt as Officer Krupke.

Hope you are all enjoying the new season of Glee as much as I am! Till next time Gleeks!

New Posts...finally!

Hello, my lovlies! I know this is long overdue but I have been working on a bunch of new posts for the blog over the past few months! I'm so sorry for such the long wait! Over the next week, look for new posts on here or through my twitter about Glee, shows and other happenings here in the New York theatre world!