April, 18 2009
By: stacey_in_ma
Edited by: Marcy

First things first. I liked the play. I didn't necessarily like everything about it and I think some things don't necessarily work but overall I enjoyed it. And the three hours went by very quickly.

I sat in F2. The view was good. Not too far away.

The set is great! It's a lot of moveable pieces that they rearrange when the scenes change. And the actors do a lot of the set placement.

I thought the actors were all quite good.

The nude scene with Jonathan Groff and Louis Cancelmi in the bathhouse is pretty gratuitous. I really don't blame Groff for covering his cock with a legal pas (and despite complaints I've heard that it makes no sense, in that scene I thought it did. Cancelmi actually shows the goods for anybody who might care about such things, lol. But the scene could easily have been cut, imo.

I really enjoyed Randy's performance. Laszlo made me laugh.

The rape scene has apparently been lengthened (that's according to Karyn). And, honestly, I had a difficult time getting over the fact that it's Zeitzler and the older Loe, not the younger one. I understand why it's the way it is but I was just kind of detached from the scene. Part of that might have also had to do with the fact that Randy kept making me think of QAF with all his, um, vocalizing during the rape.

I can definitely see where this play would not be everybody's cup of tea. However, the audience tonight was really responsive and seemed to be into it, laughing a lot. There was very nice applause at the curtain call.

I'll add some additional comments tomorrow but I'm SO tired right now so I'm just going to skip after the play.

Karyn, Lex and I got downstairs and waited for Randy right after the play ended. Oh, and they held the doors closed right after the play ended so we couldn't get out. Not sure if that was to allow Olympia Dukakis to escape or what, lol. Then they opened the doors and we got downstairs. Randy came down after maybe five minutes. He hadn't showered. He wasn't wearing a hat today (what a HUGE difference a week makes) and his hair looked like it did in the play. Anyway, he saw me and came over (well, he couldn't avoid walking past us :p) and I said hello and went to give him and stepped toward him. He put his hand out like to shake my hand (maybe he was being polite because he hadn't showered or whatever but I just leaned in for a quick hug anyway. I told him how much I enjoyed the play and he seemed happy to hear it. I actually brought him a gift this time which I gave to him. It was a vintage Baedecker guide to Paris from 1904. So I handed him the gift bag and said "I got you a gift" and he said "Oh, thank you" or something. I said "Don't be freaked out by the price because that's not what I paid. It's a Baedecker guide to Paris from 1904". When I told him what it was, he got the most adorable look on his face, sort of surprised and said "Oh wow, thank you". He seemed quite touched by it. I hope he really likes it. He sort of lit up when I mentioned Paris so I think he'll enjoy it. I then introduced Lex and he immediately knew who she was once he heard her name and asked if she got her package (the signed things for the fundraiser that were such a nightmare coordinating because of the stupid post office). So she and Randy talked for a minute and then Randy said he was meeting a friend and had to go. Lex asked if she could get a picture with him and he said sure and posed. And then a couple of other people stopped him on the way out and he left.




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Written by Stacey edited by Marcy