The Frog Restaurant in Hoxton: One of London's Best Vegan Tasting Menusby Randi / August 12, 2019It’s Theatre Thursday! Today’s show is Tree, at the Young Vic until August 24.
In a post-theatre conversation this week, we established that the number of professional stage productions I’ve seen is in the thousands. I can say with all the certainty of someone who is pretty tired and should have taken her contacts out 5 hours ago and has a hard time remembering many of the 1000s of shows (as one would) that I have never been more frustrated by any show than I was with Tree, the creation of (as it says in all the program and marketing material, it was ‘created by’ them, not written by) Idris Elba (yes that one) and Kwame Kwei-Armah, the latter of whom also directed. It’s maddening beyond belief, because there’s so much potential in the story – if you can find the story underneath the noise. Tree shows glimpses of deep, provocative drama, but the creators obscure those little captivating buds with tons (and tons) (and tons) of bells and whistles that are beyond unnecessary, to the point where the entire experience is extraneous.
The most well-known of said bells and/or whistles is the immersive nature of the show. As we saw with the recent productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Bridge Theatre and, in smaller part, with Barber Shop Chronicles at the Roundhouse (at least to start the show), immersive style theatre is this summer’s trend. I’m all for immersion if it works. It works like a dream at Midsummer (I didn’t mean to make that so corny but alas) because the story remains the focal point. Sure the crowd is ushered hither and thither but never in a way that distracts from the actors or the words. This is a lesson in restraint that Tree did not learn. I don’t think Tree even knows the word restraint. The immersion exists here simply for its own sake, simply to make audiences feel like it’s all about them – and it is.
Beginning with most of the crowd in the middle of the stage dancing with the cast to super loud (like too loud) club music (literally my nightmare), the show is ostensibly about a young Londoner who goes to South Africa for the first time to confront his family’s history and learn about the strife that led to his existence and is in his blood. Now that story could be great, and like I said there are moments of almost-greatness. But instead of letting those moments breathe and grow, the play continues to rely on tricks like these dance parties to convince the audience that this was fun. And most of the audience did have fun, because of course they did if it’s a huge dance party. Londoners love clubbing!
The first half hour drags, with little happening to propel a story but LOTS happening to distract you from it – more super loud dance breaks apropos of nothing, staff repeatedly handing out placards to hold up, staff moving you around to set up another effect, staff making you hold sticks (staff have never worked harder in a theatre; they did not stop for a second, which was distracting). There was an inane release of either glitter or dirt – I honestly couldn’t tell the difference, quite the metaphor – over most of the crowd, and lots of Alfred moving through the crowd unnecessarily. (This last one seems just to give everyone the rush of a famous actor walking right by you, because that’s what everyone wants – to feel like they’re a part of whatever is happening, regardless of whether it makes sense. Everyone wanting to be a part of things is already the downfall of theatre, with the rampant videos and snapchatting during it, but more on that at the end.) There was a character we met for less than a minute who performed handstand pushups for no reason other than to show off and have the crowd cheer. There were loud gunshots. There was a character introduction via hip hop performance. And sure she’s a good performer, but WHY? Every inch of this production had me asking why. Nothing was in service of the story, so everything felt exasperating.
As Alfred’s character Kaelo delves deeper into his family’s past, there is a good ten minute chunk that felt like a completely different, compelling play: when modern day demonstrations gave way to a memory play of the protests in 1985, when Kaelo’s parents got together. There were fewer distractions here, fewer dance parties, and it worked. Those ten minutes or so worked. I wish I could see the rest of that play.
But I couldn’t because it was then time for another dance partayyyyyyyy! Wooooooooot!
Without any real commitment to telling this story, the overly dramatic direction – so much melodramatic music, so much slow motion – felt unearned, since any drama took a backseat to the audience’s constant outward enjoyment. There’s a good story (potentially a great story) under all that noise somewhere, and that’s what makes it so infuriating. The issues brought up could be challenging in a novel way, but instead of developing them, they’re tossed in the air like beach balls that you throw out into a crowd, one crowd-loving trick I was shocked that they didn’t use. I couldn’t even watch the climax because the staff was having us set up yet another effect. All of the bells and whistles quickly grew wearisome, and it’s a shame that they took over to become the experience. I have never seen such reliance on spectacle at the expense of storytelling when there is such a good story desperately trying to be heard.
INFORMATION
Tree is at the Young Vic until August 24. You can get discounted tickets to some performances on the TodayTix app.
Beware – or enjoy, I guess, if you’re a monster – that they allow photography and filming of the entire show. People were filming the entire show right in the very front row, standing next to ushers, throughout the entire theatre. People were taking FLASH photography during big moments! People were taking live video and putting it on snapchat or whatever they do! The ENTIRE TIME. And it was fine with the staff, so if you are not a fan of that kind of thing, take a valium, and if you are, wtf is wrong with you.
Related Posts
The Cast & Cameos of Tick, Tick…Boom! and Why You Know Them (or Should)
By now, you may have recovered normal hydration levels after crying all weekend from the glorious movie musical ‘Tick, Tick…Boom!’, now on Netflix. A musical theatre adaptation for the ages, ‘Tick, Tick…Boom!’, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s directorial debut and a copyeditor’s nightmare (I think it’s official ‘tick, tick…BOOM!’?? nothx), is the rare passion project that is as undeniably compelling for the general public as it is fervent in its appreciation and respect for a relatively niche genre. The lovingly created film paints a fully provocative, engrossing portrait of the late Jonathan Larson, the musical theatre composer who created two incredible lasting works before an untimely death, the devastation of which has threatened to define his legacy more than his brilliant creations. Lin’s (we’re on a first-name basis btw) directorial debut is spellbinding. He treats Larson’s life story, as told through Larson’s painstaking creation of what would eventually be ‘Tick, Tick…Boom’ the stage show, as only another such creator could, fully understanding the desperation, the hope, the single-minded devotion, the heartache.
The resulting film is one so fine that it is generating tons of Oscar buzz, which the fuckers rarely give to deserving movie musicals. Those of us who have known and loved the musical TTB for years are completely satisfied with this careful and meticulous adaptation, and those who are brand-new to it join us as die-hard fans. (At least the ones I know have. Or they know better than to tell me otherwise.) And we are all left adoring this excellent film about the creative process and what artists sacrifice for their craft, about this man and all the brilliance spilling out of him, and above all about our love for musical theatre.
This last part is evidenced in all aspects of the film, and not least by the people onscreen. Lin brought out the big guns for this one. His rolodex is probably the sickest one on the planet. The musical theatre legends, the exciting up and coming talent, and the beloved performers of all ages and bio lengths who fill the screen in roles big and small and miniscule (no small parts!) act as a treat for musical theatre lovers who amid crying over how great Andrew Garfield is and how wonderful the music sounds and how beautifully the story weaving was done can shout ‘OH MY GOD THAT’S _!!!’ over and over to the delight (not delight) of anyone watching with them. In February, when we do our gigantic pre-Oscars movie review roundup, I’ll talk more about this masterpiece, but today I’m here to go through the faces we saw and what we know them from.
Main Cast
Jonathan Larson: Andrew Garfield
What you know him from: Winning a Tony Award for Angels in America, Hacksaw Ridge and other great movies, Spider-Man and other spidery movies. Also he’s Jewish; we love that.
Michael: Robin de Jesus
What you know him from: Originating the role of Sonny in In the Heights on Broadway (‘chillax! you know you lumme’ I DO LUM YOU) (p.s. In the Heights is the other best movie of 2021 these are facts); being the best part of several other Broadway shows like the Douglas Hodge La Cage. Last seen in Ryan Murphy’s Netflix adaptation of The Boys in the Band. He was also Michael in the amazing theatre-kid cult movie Camp, which I hate to tell you is almost 20 years old (gasp!).
Roger: Joshua Henry
What you know him from: Billy Bigelow in the last revival of Carousel; making his name on Broadway in American Idiot, The Scottsboro Boys (ugh talk about crying and deserving more acclaim), being the best part of Violet with Sutton Foster which is saying something since she was perfect, being part of the spellbindingly-cast-but-not-as-strong-as-it-should-have-been Shuffle Along.
Carolyn: MJ Rodriguez
What you know her from: the lead of Pose, baby! How good is Pose! How good is she on it! We cry so much!
Susan: Alexandra Shipp
What you know her from: Straight Outta Compton, the Aaliyah movie.
Karessa: Vanessa Hudgens
What you know her from: being a teen star? Gigi on Broadway (lol), Grease! Live on NBC, Rent Live. She loves doing live stuff! Fun fact: I have never seen High School Musical. I know. Not by choice, I just haven’t gotten around to it in 25 years or whatever. Funner fact: I have watched High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, which I enjoy.
Freddy: Ben Levi Ross
What you know him from: He was one of the Evan Hansen replacements on Broadway.
Ira: Jonathan Marc Sherman
What you know him from: He’s a playwright first and foremost, most recently having written Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, which played off-Broadway and starred Jennifer Damiano and Michael Zegen (we love them).
Diner patrons in the opening number, 30/90 (what a bop right???)
Roger Bart
What you know him from: being the super creepy evil pharmacist on Desperate Housewives (I still remember how scary!), winning a Tony for You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown; The Producers; Young Frankenstein (frahnkenSHTEEN). Currently playing Doc Brown in London’s Back to the Future musical. Fun fact: He’s the singing voice of Hercules in the amazing animated movie. HE CAN GO THE DISTAAAANCE.
James C. Nicola: long (LONG) time artistic director of the New York Theatre Workshop.
Party scene
Scott the finance guy: Ryan Vasquez
What you know him from: Before being absolutely hysterical in this movie (I mean, he is us, those of us not professionally in theatre who geek out over it wholeheartedly), Vasquez was in the original cast of Waitress and has apparently played literally every male role in Hamilton.
Fun fact (this shit is FULL OF FUN FACTS! SO FUN!): The R&B ish song playing on the boom box as Jonathan and Susan go down into the bone zone is ‘Green Green Dress’, a song from the stage version of TTB cut for the film but I believe included on the film soundtrack with a full version by Garfield and Shipp. This version in this scene is sung by Joshua Henry!
Michael’s fancy pants building
I’m sure there are lots more famouses in this scene but I could not make out their faces.
Concierge: Luis Miranda
What you know him from: being Lin’s dad, being my mom’s biggest crush (I know and she has a lot), lots of great political work, also waving to Nina in ‘Breathe’ in In the Heights movie (Lin will put his dad in everything and we’re not mad).
Doorman: Chris Sullivan
What you know him from: One of several members of Freestyle Love Supreme in this movie! He’s the one known as Shockwave. I wish I had a cool nickname. Anyway thanks to the person who corrected me since I got my Chrises Sullivan mixed up!
Parking attendant: Andrew Bancroft
What you know him from: More Freestyle Love Supreme!
Writing workshop
OKAY this is where I started really screaming. EVERYONE sitting in this room is a musical theatre creative, and I LOVE that Lin did that, solidifying that this movie and TTB in general is so much for the people it’s about. I’m not going to pretend I recognized everyone (I’m sorry but I would not know Georgia Stitt by face) but these are the ones I did yell about. If you knew all of them, bravaaa.
Jason Robert Brown: composer of all my faves, like The Bridges of Madison County, The Last Five Years, Parade, Songs for a New World. Also 13 (fun fact I sat in the front row of the first Broadway preview LIKE A NERD) and is friends with Ariana Grande as a result.
Alex Lacamoire: known for being the right-hand man of Lin when it comes to his orchestrations and generally being the best ever. Orchestrator of In the Heights, Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, also this movie!
Shaina Taub: composer of the great musical version of Twelfth Night; friends with my friend from Hebrew school.
Dave Malloy: MY BOY DAVE! Wild & Crazy composer of Natasha, Pierre, & the Great Comet of 1812 and other wild & crazy works like Moby Dick (SO COOL), Ghost Quartet, Octet, Preludes, and of course the f-ing nutty Beardo, which is about Rasputin, don’t forget that one.
Stephen Schwartz: composer of Godspell (which gets a hilarious shoutout later in the film), Wicked, Pippin. What a dude.
Who lives who dies Jeannine Tesori: composer of Fun Home; Caroline or Change; Violet; Thoroughly Modern Millie. A legend.
Tom Kitt: Seems very tall; Tony- and Pulitzer-winning composer of my beloved Next to Normal. Oh man, Next to Normal, guys. Also wrote Bring It On! the musical with Lin, and If/Then, which was good-not-great but has one of my favorite shower singing songs (IF WE’RE ALWAYS! STARTING OVER!)
Quiara Allegria Hudes: book writer of In the Heights the musical, screenwriter for ITH the movie, also is from Philly so COME THROUGH QUIARA.
Richard Kind: Uncle Richard as we call him. I mean, you know him from everything. He’s the greatest ever. Currently being hysterical with every single word he utters as Andrew’s father on Big Mouth.
Bradley Whitford as Stephen Sondheim
What you know him from: The West Wing, being Bradley Whitford, aging amazingly.
Hilarious music video
H.A.W.K. Smooth: Tariq Trotter
What you know him from: He’s Black Thought from The Roots. Yes Philly!
Sunday number at the diner
This is the part where musical theatre lovers wept tears of pure joy, and where everyone else became a musical theatre lover. This. Was. EVERYTHING. Everyone in that diner is a theatre legend. LEDGE.
Line cook: Lin-Manuel Miranda
Yes, the director himself. My husband heard his voice to start the scene and said ‘oh that’s Lin!’ before they showed his face. So proud, so lucky. Can you IMAGINE being in the audience of Les Mis when he did the voice at the barricade that one time?
Patrons:
Joel Grey
What you know him from: originating the emcee role in Cabaret on Broadway and recreating it for the movie, and winning an Oscar for it. The original wizard in Wicked, Moonface Martin in the unmatched 2011 Anything Goes! revival. That one amazing episode of Star Trek Voyager that made me cry.
Howard McGillin
What you know him from: the longest running Phantom in Phantom of the Opera
Chuck Cooper
What you know him from: winning a Tony for The Life. MY SISTER WAS A PROS…
Phylicia Rashad
What you know her from: I mean…do I have to say it.
Beth Malone
What you know her from: originating the role of Big Alison in Fun Home on Broadway — the costume from which she is wearing in this scene!!!! best! You may also know her from the best Best Actress in a Musical announcement at the Tonys that year, when Kelli O’Hara finally won and all the other nominees, shown in their little boxes, were clearly so happy for her, it was the sweetest ever.
Andre de Shields
What you know him from: Hermes in Broadway’s Hadestown, giving one of the best Tony acceptance speeches ever, talking to me about sweet potatoes after one of the London performances and I wish we were best friends.
Brian Stokes Mitchell. STOKES.
What you know him from: having wheels of a dream in Ragtime; Tony Award for Kiss Me, Kate; Man of La Mancha; having THAT FUCKING VOICE.
Bebe Neuwirth
What you know her from: Cheers/Frasier, revival of Chicago. That incredible episode of Will & Grace playing herself.
Renee Elise Goldsberry
What you know her from: Angelica Schuyler in Hamilton; original Nettie in The Color Purple; the final Mimi in Rent on Broadway, so she’s the one in the Rent Live filmed production, which I was in the audience for!!! It was THE BEST! We went nuts after the finale and ovated for like 30 minutes and then they were like ‘we have to do it again!’
Phillipa Soo
What you know her from: breaking Lin’s heart so good in Natasha, Pierre, & the Great Comet of 1812 off-Broadway that he cast her as Elizabeth Schuyler in Hamilton.
Bernadette Peters
What you know her from: Sunday in the Park with George (I mean, if you are IN THE SHOW that the characters are watching in this movie reverently that’s just…everything); Song & Dance; Into the Woods; A Little Night Music; Follies; Hello, Dolly!; being in the best film version of Annie; being Sondheim’s muse? being so lucky? having the best hair? Broadway Barks?
Chita Rivera: I mean, it’s Chita Rivera. Original stage Anita in West Side Story; the chief cook and bottle washer in The Rink; Kiss of the Spider Woman; original Velma Kelly in Chicago; original Rosie in Bye Bye Birdie; scary scary sexy robot lady in the musical adaptation of The Visit; Fosse’s film version of Sweet Charity. Ledge.
The 3 bums:
Daphne Rubin-Vega, Adam Pascal, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, from the original cast of Rent
Jonathan’s workshop cast
Aneesa Folds
What you know her from: another Freestyle Love Supremer! they are so talented I wanna barf.
Kate Rockwell
What you know her from: the best part of Mean Girls the musical (‘My name is Karen. I may not be smart…that’s it.’)
Gizel Jimenez
What you know her from: has been in Wicked, Avenue Q. Really enjoyed her in this I want to see her onstage!
Joel Perez
What you know him from: the original cast of Fun Home. So many of them in this!
In the extended workshop cast shown in the Sextet
Janet Dacal
What you know her from: original Carla in In the Heights! long as he keeps it clean! ay dios mio!
Kenita R. Miller
What you know her from: the best part of the flawless Once on this Island Tony-winning revival. HOT HOLY GODDAMN that show was incredible and she revolutionized her track.
The woman who buys Jonathan’s records for $50 and makes hilarious Godspell jokes
Joanna Adler
What you know her from: lots of off-Broadway work but probably most recognizable as Summer’s mother in School of Rock
The hilarious focus group
Leader: Laura Benanti
What you know her from: Gypsy, My Fair Lady, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, stealing scenes in Sound of Music Live, being hilarious, the name my dad guesses every time a song starts on Sirius Broadway.
Micaela Diamond
What you know her from: The Cher Show on Broadway, playing the youngest Cher
Danielle Ferland
What you know her from: OG Little Red in Into the Woods!!! omg she grew up
Utkarsh Ambudkar
What you know him from: Freestyle Love Supreme, the rapper in the boy group in Pitch Perfect (hey you! with the eeeyes), Mindy’s brother on The Mindy Project
Jonathan’s parents
Danny Burstein
What you know him from: consistently gifting us amazing performances on Broadway. The Drowsy Chaperone, Luther Billis in the Kelli/Szot South Pacific, heartbreaking in Follies, Cabaret, a wonderful Tevye in 2016. Recently winning a Tony for Moulin Rouge. Being king of the adorables.
Judy Kuhn
What you know her from: original Broadway Cosette in Les Mis, Chess, singing voice of Pocahontas so the version of ‘Colors of the Wind’ that isn’t Vanessa Williams, Alison’s mom in Fun Home, Golde in Fiddler last year on the West End.
Jonathan’s agent: Judith Light
What you know her from: You know her from Who’s the Boss?, I know her from spending one summer when I lived in NYC somehow being on the exact same theatre schedule as her with seats always near each other and after a few weeks we were like wtf??? who is stalking who?
Louder than Words cameos
Jelani Alladin, when they cut to Michael the Jesus in the audience at “why so many people bleed”
What you know him from: originating Kristoff in Frozen on Broadway
Chris Jackson making SERIOUS FACE and sitting in front of Sondheim Whitford
What you know him from: original Benny in In the Heights, original George Washington in Hamilton
What my baby nephew knows him from: Mr Softee in the In the Heights movie, whose ‘tuck is boken downnn’; video upon request.
Extra treat: When Jonathan sings “what does it take to wake up a generation/how can you make someone take off and fly’, they show a split-second black & white image of the original cast of Rent. Just in case you weren’t sobbing uncontrollably already.
Obviously I didn’t get everyone and I have poor vision so shout out those I missed in the comments! and your favorite part of the movie!
“Amadeus” at London’s National Theatre: Toxic Masculinity at its Finest
It’s Theatre Thursday! Today we are talking about the revival of “Amadeus” at London’s National Theatre,
The best theatre, in my opinion, comments on society or humanity in a smart or clever or meaningful way. Sometimes it makes you feel things, and sometimes the thing it makes you feel is anger. I haven’t felt truly angry from a play in a long time, but “Amadeus”, a fascinating, provocative, wonderfully staged revival of the Peter Shaffer classic at the National Theatre, made me so angry I couldn’t talk for hours afterwards. Granted I was angry about other things too (hellooooo cops are terrorists and a traitorous turd cheeto runs America and will any lads EVER care that drinking is illegal on the tube?? Ugh my stomach hurts all the time like Chidi) but this show definitely added to my seething yet impotent rage. And overall I’m glad for it, because theatre should do things like that. The depths of evil that man can sink to are well known today, especially in the political and business realms, but it was nice to see that evil men exist in music too! Evil men everywhere!
“Amadeus” tells the tale of Antonio Salieri, once considered the best musician in Austria, and if you were the best in Austria in the 1700s, you were the best in the world. He’s throwing back champagne and high-kicking it at parties with royals and the best of society in Vienna and eating all the mascarpone cream he can get, and he’s enjoying a considerable amount of power in the court as Kapellmeister, which my computer recognizes as a word yet it has underlined both turd and cheeto so wow bravo to all involved. Soon though, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart arrives on the scene to challenge Salieri’s place as numero uno in music. It’s not really a challenge because Mozart is, well, Mozart and there’s room for everyone in music and their relationship in real life was a lot more amiable than the play depicts. But facts are not what this play cares about, and though it makes me angry how many people might think that it’s a factual retelling of history and thus consider both figures to be sickening in certain ways, it does make for a more interesting play to pit them against each other as lethal rivals. Well, in one direction only.
This play, called “Amadeus” as you can see because that’s Mozart’s middle name and a play called “Wolfgang” would probably draw the wrong crowd (though I’d be there for that play too) (omg it could be an absolutely terrifying crime drama or just about pups) (please let it be about pups), instead of taking notes from history completely rewrites history, so know that before going in or seeing the movie. The characters as depicted are fictionalized entirely except for names and like jobs and things they wrote. Got it? It begins with Salieri as an old man bemoaning his lot in life and how his God betrayed him by making Mozart so talented and also he kind of admits to poisoning Mozart and being responsible for his death and his entire downfall so you’re like hmm this guy is a piece of shit, right? He is, good observation. Old Man Salieri clearly has lost his marbles and is scared of meeting his God that he had denounced and failed by being such a shitty person. Salieri, played by Lucian Msamati, is captivating throughout the play, but it’s a difficult jump into his performance in the beginning. It opens with him talking, and talking, and talking, and you really have to listen and it was kind of exhausting because it’s the most tedious part of the show. And it takes a minute to get used to his enunciation. My mind wandered a little in those first few minutes and I had to remind myself to pay attention, which is not a good sign but it is a result of how this is written. It’s a very big ask to dive straight into endless monologuing. Anyway I got over it in five minutes like Doug Dorsey (omg remind me to check if “The Cutting Edge” is on Netflix prayers up) and then I was in it.
After Salieri’s deathbed confessional/droning, we flashback to his heyday in the Viennese court, as he impresses everyone with his simplistic compositions and stays true to his god. Everything looks peachy keen for him but then he hears about young upstart named Mozart. He goes to a party to hear him play and is riveted, stricken with the realization that the person he is listening to play is beyond earthly talents and gifts. But when he sees that the person bequeathed by god with such gifts is an infantile, idiotic fool of a man, Salieri is disgusted and angry with his god. Salieri is very self-involved, you see. He believes that his god, whom he has been so devoted to his entire life, has betrayed him personally by giving such musical gifts to such a fool. So, naturally, Salieri denounces his god and commits his life to destroying Mozart’s. And destroy it he does, all while making Mozart believe that he’s his friend, which is as cruel and deceptive as you get.
Lucian Msamati’s performance is remarkable and very powerful. However, I was most taken with Adam Gillen’s as Mozart. It’s a bizarre, kind of wacky, unbelievably physical portrayal and a very divisive one. I heard old British farts afterwards talking about how good the show was but how Mozart was just ‘altogether too much,’ with too much going on that it was distracting. But I am HERE for it. or WAS THERE for it. I thought Gillen’s rambunctious physicality and strange mannerisms and truly nutty line readings made for an extraordinary performance. It was overwrought but clearly carefully considered and it worked to convey Mozart’s peculiar, immature, zany, and truly crazy character. (Remember he wasn’t actually an absurd fool.) I’m surprised too because usually I’d be like ENOUGH ALREADY I GET IT YOU ARE KOOKY but he was quite effective. It helps that his role is significantly smaller than Salieri’s; I’m sure that if he were onstage the whole time it would be as exhausting for the audience as it no doubt is for the actor. But as is, it was a great performance, and through all the folly, he really connected emotionally with the audience in Act II so much as to be heart-breaking, which is no small feat.
The other highlight of the production was how the entire thing was staged. Having never seen this show before, I can’t comment on how much is due to director Michael Longhurst’s vision but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t hurt to give him the credit. I loved how the orchestra was part of the show, with all of the musicians and all of their instruments on stage whenever music was playing. The musicians, all dressed in black, were the townspeople, the court, the citizens reacting to gossip about the two famous composers, all while playing the composers’ works. Not only did this staging effectively show how the populace played into the drama, but it was also simply nice to see the orchestra onstage instead of hidden underneath it. A great spark of life came from it.
And we do hear lots of Mozart’s work throughout the show, so even for a play there is still a good deal of music, which is my kind of play. We hear his operas as they are produced and performed for the first time, we hear them with Salieri and react in the same way – in total awe. Well maybe not the same amount of awe, for most of us have heard them before and in better ways but you get what I mean. We get a scene from The Marriage of Figaro and watch Salieri positively aghast at how ingenious it is. We get a snippet from Don Giovanni and are like howww did the rest of the populace not realize they were amongst a genius? We unfortunately get the most famous part of The Magic Flute – the Queen of the Night aria – and yes it’s the best part and yes it’s so famous that they had to do that part but it is also the hardest part to sing and let’s just say it’s not like the greatest opera singers in the world are spending their time doing plays where they have 10 minutes of stage time. Not to be mean not to be mean.
The music was used very effectively to match the drama, as Salieri realizes how great it is and how bad he is in comparison and the music grows along with his horror. At the end of the first act the music of the performance builds into a giant dramatic ‘boom’ of an ending as Salieri cowers in insignificance and I thought HOLY CRAP that is a KILLER way to end an act! It was that kind of act break that totally pumps you up with its drama and its success in making you feel all kinds of emotions and then…it wasn’t actually the act break. It should have been, but instead Salieri talks to the audience for 5 or 10 more minutes, putting words to what we just witnessed kind of unnecessarily. This monologue after what I thought was a great button to the entire act was like letting air out of a balloon. Just so unsatisfying when the most incredible alternative was so close within reach. Salieri talks about how Mozart is so good despite being a fool, and he’s so angry that his god has given such gifts to such a fool so now he will turn against god and destroy Mozart as a way to get back at god. And you’re like a) we kind of just saw that with your good acting show don’t tell and all that and b) you couldn’t have explained anything left unclear at the beginning of the next act? I just really loved that button that wasn’t meant to be.
The build-up of how Mozart’s unmatched musical genius destroys Salieri’s sense of self and sense of how he himself fits into the world occurs dramatically and believably, but the problem for me was that Salieri is such a piece of shit that there is no chance of feeling any empathy for him, and if you don’t feel empathy for the main character it’s kind of hard to care. All the caring, at least on my part, came for poor sad Mozart, unwittingly destroyed by another man’s jealousy. But Salieri made me furious because he was a monster, and I realized how that’s the most realistic part of the whole show – that some people really truly are horrible monsters with zero capacity for empathy themselves and so they give no reason for you to have any empathy for them. With two lead actors in the play (and one black even though it’s a white historical figure so yay because that’s just common now and that’s great) I couldn’t help but think of Hamilton, and how we have a historical villain and our hero. But Hamilton blurs the lines between good and bad, and although Burr makes some pretty significant mistakes, he ends the show aware of his failures and remorseful of his mistakes. He regrets thinking that because Hamilton was better than him at certain things that that meant he had to destroy him. Whereas Salieri is like shit this idiotic fool is better than me I must destroy him, and even on his deathbed he regrets nothing. Even then, he bellows about how his deplorable actions ensured that he will be remembered forever, because history will always remember Mozart and his incredible talent, but it otherwise would have forgotten about ordinary old Salieri, so by linking himself with Mozart’s destruction and death he will always be remembered too. He doesn’t care one bit that it will be in infamy; he’s glad for it lest it mean he would be forgotten. The comparison to Hamilton is clear, in that Burr is forever linked to Hamilton’s name, but at least in that fictionalized account of things he didn’t aim for that. Salieri thinks the desire to be remembered excuses his actions, and that is despicable and infuriating. And that’s what was so provocative about this play, the questions it raises about legacies and about being appreciated in your own time. It is never a question to me that it is better to be a good person and do good deeds in real life than worry about how history will treat you but I’m not a psychopath now am I.
“Amadeus” obviously makes for a very in-depth discussion of various issues. I haven’t even talked about how mind-numbingly clichéd its treatment of women is but chances are I’ll have plenty more opportunities to broach that subject in the future. The real dramatic element here is yet again the toxic male ego and I can’t think of anything I’ve seen recently that does a better job at exploring that.
INFORMATION
Okay I just looked it up and it closed on Tuesday! I had NO IDEA we were seeing it on its final weekend! Eek sorry. It had a super short run (3 months) for such a huge production. I wonder why! Okay I looked it up again and apparently this was just a sweet little revival of the revival, which had its real run over a year ago! It was so beloved that they brought it back for a 3-month hey-thanks-for-loving-us farewell tour. Can’t believe I wasn’t aware of any of this ahhh.
AUDIENCE
The audience at the National skews older so they are usually more whispery than phone-y. Honestly whisperers are harder to deal with because you look like a jerk if you say omgggg stop whispering so much but you are a hero for reporting people who use their phones well at least that’s how I think of it. I report phone users ALL DAY ALL DAY.
NATIONAL THEATRE
If you guys are reading this, know that my fury after the show was like 40% from the questions raised by the play as intentioned and eleventy billion percent because of your incompetence. There was NO STAFF in the circle (the mezzanine, which is the only upper level in this theatre). There were no ushers or guards or anything during the interval or after the show ended. And there was zero personnel at the start except for ticket-takers, but they were not acting as ushers. No one told people to shut their phones off, and more glaringly no one told the people in the front row of the circle not to put their shit on the overhang. The ledge – where speakers are attached – was lined with drinks because British people can’t go an hour without alcohol. In every single theatre in the world, an usher would come down and remind those patrons that you cannot put anything on that rim, let alone liquid, because if it tips, it falls on people sitting below. Or into the speakers. But no one apparently works there and so the drinks stayed there. I wanted to report something at intermission but couldn’t find anyone to report it to. It’s a good thing it wasn’t a very serious problem but I guess this means that that National Theatre is a-ok with anything you might think of doing since there’s no need for ushers or managers up there. I talked to a representative about this on twitter and they basically said ‘eh we don’t really need anyone up there and after the show there was a security guard by the FRONT DOOR’ (meaning down 5 flights of stairs) so I guess that is blanket permission to take pictures and film whatever performances that you want to so have fun! (Theatres here must do better, in case you haven’t picked up on that yet.)
This play, called “Amadeus” as you can see because that’s Mozart’s middle name and a play called “Wolfgang” would probably draw the wrong crowd (though I’d be there for that play too) (omg it could be an absolutely terrifying crime drama or just about pups) (please let it be about pups), instead of taking notes from history completely rewrites history, so know that before going in or seeing the movie. The characters as depicted are fictionalized entirely except for names and like jobs and things they wrote. Got it? It begins with Salieri as an old man bemoaning his lot in life and how his God betrayed him by making Mozart so talented and also he kind of admits to poisoning Mozart and being responsible for his death and his entire downfall so you’re like hmm this guy is a piece of shit, right? He is, good observation. Old Man Salieri clearly has lost his marbles and is scared of meeting his God that he had denounced and failed by being such a shitty person. Salieri, played by Lucian Msamati, is captivating throughout the play, but it’s a difficult jump into his performance in the beginning. It opens with him talking, and talking, and talking, and you really have to listen and it was kind of exhausting because it’s the most tedious part of the show. And it takes a minute to get used to his enunciation. My mind wandered a little in those first few minutes and I had to remind myself to pay attention, which is not a good sign but it is a result of how this is written. It’s a very big ask to dive straight into endless monologuing. Anyway I got over it in five minutes like Doug Dorsey (omg remind me to check if “The Cutting Edge” is on Netflix prayers up) and then I was in it.
After Salieri’s deathbed confessional/droning, we flashback to his heyday in the Viennese court, as he impresses everyone with his simplistic compositions and stays true to his god. Everything looks peachy keen for him but then he hears about young upstart named Mozart. He goes to a party to hear him play and is riveted, stricken with the realization that the person he is listening to play is beyond earthly talents and gifts. But when he sees that the person bequeathed by god with such gifts is an infantile, idiotic fool of a man, Salieri is disgusted and angry with his god. Salieri is very self-involved, you see. He believes that his god, whom he has been so devoted to his entire life, has betrayed him personally by giving such musical gifts to such a fool. So, naturally, Salieri denounces his god and commits his life to destroying Mozart’s. And destroy it he does, all while making Mozart believe that he’s his friend, which is as cruel and deceptive as you get.
Lucian Msamati’s performance is remarkable and very powerful. However, I was most taken with Adam Gillen’s as Mozart. It’s a bizarre, kind of wacky, unbelievably physical portrayal and a very divisive one. I heard old British farts afterwards talking about how good the show was but how Mozart was just ‘altogether too much,’ with too much going on that it was distracting. But I am HERE for it. or WAS THERE for it. I thought Gillen’s rambunctious physicality and strange mannerisms and truly nutty line readings made for an extraordinary performance. It was overwrought but clearly carefully considered and it worked to convey Mozart’s peculiar, immature, zany, and truly crazy character. (Remember he wasn’t actually an absurd fool.) I’m surprised too because usually I’d be like ENOUGH ALREADY I GET IT YOU ARE KOOKY but he was quite effective. It helps that his role is significantly smaller than Salieri’s; I’m sure that if he were onstage the whole time it would be as exhausting for the audience as it no doubt is for the actor. But as is, it was a great performance, and through all the folly, he really connected emotionally with the audience in Act II so much as to be heart-breaking, which is no small feat.
The other highlight of the production was how the entire thing was staged. Having never seen this show before, I can’t comment on how much is due to director Michael Longhurst’s vision but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t hurt to give him the credit. I loved how the orchestra was part of the show, with all of the musicians and all of their instruments on stage whenever music was playing. The musicians, all dressed in black, were the townspeople, the court, the citizens reacting to gossip about the two famous composers, all while playing the composers’ works. Not only did this staging effectively show how the populace played into the drama, but it was also simply nice to see the orchestra onstage instead of hidden underneath it. A great spark of life came from it.
And we do hear lots of Mozart’s work throughout the show, so even for a play there is still a good deal of music, which is my kind of play. We hear his operas as they are produced and performed for the first time, we hear them with Salieri and react in the same way – in total awe. Well maybe not the same amount of awe, for most of us have heard them before and in better ways but you get what I mean. We get a scene from The Marriage of Figaro and watch Salieri positively aghast at how ingenious it is. We get a snippet from Don Giovanni and are like howww did the rest of the populace not realize they were amongst a genius? We unfortunately get the most famous part of The Magic Flute – the Queen of the Night aria – and yes it’s the best part and yes it’s so famous that they had to do that part but it is also the hardest part to sing and let’s just say it’s not like the greatest opera singers in the world are spending their time doing plays where they have 10 minutes of stage time. Not to be mean not to be mean.
The music was used very effectively to match the drama, as Salieri realizes how great it is and how bad he is in comparison and the music grows along with his horror. At the end of the first act the music of the performance builds into a giant dramatic ‘boom’ of an ending as Salieri cowers in insignificance and I thought HOLY CRAP that is a KILLER way to end an act! It was that kind of act break that totally pumps you up with its drama and its success in making you feel all kinds of emotions and then…it wasn’t actually the act break. It should have been, but instead Salieri talks to the audience for 5 or 10 more minutes, putting words to what we just witnessed kind of unnecessarily. This monologue after what I thought was a great button to the entire act was like letting air out of a balloon. Just so unsatisfying when the most incredible alternative was so close within reach. Salieri talks about how Mozart is so good despite being a fool, and he’s so angry that his god has given such gifts to such a fool so now he will turn against god and destroy Mozart as a way to get back at god. And you’re like a) we kind of just saw that with your good acting show don’t tell and all that and b) you couldn’t have explained anything left unclear at the beginning of the next act? I just really loved that button that wasn’t meant to be.
The build-up of how Mozart’s unmatched musical genius destroys Salieri’s sense of self and sense of how he himself fits into the world occurs dramatically and believably, but the problem for me was that Salieri is such a piece of shit that there is no chance of feeling any empathy for him, and if you don’t feel empathy for the main character it’s kind of hard to care. All the caring, at least on my part, came for poor sad Mozart, unwittingly destroyed by another man’s jealousy. But Salieri made me furious because he was a monster, and I realized how that’s the most realistic part of the whole show – that some people really truly are horrible monsters with zero capacity for empathy themselves and so they give no reason for you to have any empathy for them. With two lead actors in the play (and one black even though it’s a white historical figure so yay because that’s just common now and that’s great) I couldn’t help but think of Hamilton, and how we have a historical villain and our hero. But Hamilton blurs the lines between good and bad, and although Burr makes some pretty significant mistakes, he ends the show aware of his failures and remorseful of his mistakes. He regrets thinking that because Hamilton was better than him at certain things that that meant he had to destroy him. Whereas Salieri is like shit this idiotic fool is better than me I must destroy him, and even on his deathbed he regrets nothing. Even then, he bellows about how his deplorable actions ensured that he will be remembered forever, because history will always remember Mozart and his incredible talent, but it otherwise would have forgotten about ordinary old Salieri, so by linking himself with Mozart’s destruction and death he will always be remembered too. He doesn’t care one bit that it will be in infamy; he’s glad for it lest it mean he would be forgotten. The comparison to Hamilton is clear, in that Burr is forever linked to Hamilton’s name, but at least in that fictionalized account of things he didn’t aim for that. Salieri thinks the desire to be remembered excuses his actions, and that is despicable and infuriating. And that’s what was so provocative about this play, the questions it raises about legacies and about being appreciated in your own time. It is never a question to me that it is better to be a good person and do good deeds in real life than worry about how history will treat you but I’m not a psychopath now am I.
“Amadeus” obviously makes for a very in-depth discussion of various issues. I haven’t even talked about how mind-numbingly clichéd its treatment of women is but chances are I’ll have plenty more opportunities to broach that subject in the future. The real dramatic element here is yet again the toxic male ego and I can’t think of anything I’ve seen recently that does a better job at exploring that.
INFORMATION
Okay I just looked it up and it closed on Tuesday! I had NO IDEA we were seeing it on its final weekend! Eek sorry. It had a super short run (3 months) for such a huge production. I wonder why! Okay I looked it up again and apparently this was just a sweet little revival of the revival, which had its real run over a year ago! It was so beloved that they brought it back for a 3-month hey-thanks-for-loving-us farewell tour. Can’t believe I wasn’t aware of any of this ahhh.
AUDIENCE
The audience at the National skews older so they are usually more whispery than phone-y. Honestly whisperers are harder to deal with because you look like a jerk if you say omgggg stop whispering so much but you are a hero for reporting people who use their phones well at least that’s how I think of it. I report phone users ALL DAY ALL DAY.
NATIONAL THEATRE
If you guys are reading this, know that my fury after the show was like 40% from the questions raised by the play as intentioned and eleventy billion percent because of your incompetence. There was NO STAFF in the circle (the mezzanine, which is the only upper level in this theatre). There were no ushers or guards or anything during the interval or after the show ended. And there was zero personnel at the start except for ticket-takers, but they were not acting as ushers. No one told people to shut their phones off, and more glaringly no one told the people in the front row of the circle not to put their shit on the overhang. The ledge – where speakers are attached – was lined with drinks because British people can’t go an hour without alcohol. In every single theatre in the world, an usher would come down and remind those patrons that you cannot put anything on that rim, let alone liquid, because if it tips, it falls on people sitting below. Or into the speakers. But no one apparently works there and so the drinks stayed there. I wanted to report something at intermission but couldn’t find anyone to report it to. It’s a good thing it wasn’t a very serious problem but I guess this means that that National Theatre is a-ok with anything you might think of doing since there’s no need for ushers or managers up there. I talked to a representative about this on twitter and they basically said ‘eh we don’t really need anyone up there and after the show there was a security guard by the FRONT DOOR’ (meaning down 5 flights of stairs) so I guess that is blanket permission to take pictures and film whatever performances that you want to so have fun! (Theatres here must do better, in case you haven’t picked up on that yet.)
