redbeanbun goes to the theater: matilda the musical

Okay.

Okay okay okay.

So my favorite part of Matilda (the Musical) was that basically every part (except Miss Honey, pretty much) was a character actor part. Everyone (except Miss Honey) was completely over the top and incredible. Mr. Wormwood sprang around on pliéd legs like some kind of deranged David Tennant-as-Barty Crouch Jr. or gigantic grasshopper, and his floppy peroxide'd hair was - 

Okay wait, so my favorite part of Matilda (the Musical) was how incredibly well the costumers made the characters look like living cartoons from Quentin Blake's hands. From Mrs. Wormwood's voluminous bouffant and breasts to the Trunchbull's massive shoulders to Amanda Thripp's pigtails to the fact that everyone moved in amazing Graham-esque brusque choreography, everything was illustration-perfect - 

Okay wait, so my favorite part of Matilda (the Musical) was the incredible stage effects, from Amanda Thripp being tossed by her hair to Magnus writing on the chalkboard. The sets were completely amazing, and involved a very complicated floor that had many moving sections and changed from flat to desks to a bathroom wall and back again. 

But actually, my favorite part of Matilda (the Musical) was how it was an incredibly true adaptation of the book. I love that book - I've read every Roald Dahl children's book and most of his more adult works, and the last time I read one was maybe two months ago. They're what I remember learning to read more complicated books on, and they're what I remember hiding out in the library stacks with. I'm also an incredibly harsh judge of book-to-[movie/play/musical/avant-garde modern dance production in the woods].  I won't get mad at the Hunger Games for not actually making their young actors starve themselves, but I will get mad over the lack of a cave or the physical notes Katniss got from Haymitch.

What I'm saying is that I get very attached to books, and I get very upset when I see them represented incorrectly. 

Surprise one: the plot of Matilda (the Musical) is, in a way, wildly different from that of Matilda (the Book).

Surprise two: I'm not going to say it was an improvement over the source material, but I may think it kind of aggressively.

Surprise three: I think that if Roald Dahl had watched that musical, he would've been really pleased. 

As pleased as a man with two dogs.

It may have thrown out some plot points and rearranged others to be more thematically useful, but the thing that stayed true was the feeling, the darkness and the subtle humor, that anyone who remembers any Dahl will recognize. The fact that almost all of the music was either choppy and atonal or imbued with quiet sadness or wildly irreverent makes you know just how much the writers (book and music) understand Matilda and her strange powers. 

The only thing I was sort of bleh about was Miss Honey, but then, she's just supposed to be nice and meek. Sooooooo I guess she was on par with what you'd expect. 

The kids were great, the adults were great, the sets and costumes were great, I have one of the songs stuck in my head, Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood were show-stoppingly hilarious. I hope this show runs forever.

OH AND PS: It appears that the casting is largely race-blind. That also made me really happy. Sorry I forgot for a second.

new york event reminder: THIS WEEKEND IS GOOGA MOOGA

OH MY GOD YOU GUYS I AM GOING TO SEE HALL AND OATES LIVE

WITH MY EYES

IN PERSON

OH MY GOD

Commence all-Hall-and-Oates soundtrack... well, like three days ago, but OFFICIALLY now:

OH MY GOD I AM SO EXCITED.

Also, I totally think Daryl Hall is sexier now than when he was in the '80s:

Whereas, Oates... Let's just focus on Hall's glorious mane, shall we? from zimbio

That might just be me.

Anyway you guys, I promise to take really horrible cell phone pictures of the experience and upload them perhaps immediately after I get home Sunday night. I can't believe how excited I am.

AND I'M SEEING THEM FOR FREE.

Dear everyone that doesn't live in New York, this is what you're missing out on - the rent's higher, but there's so much free stuff you can't possibly do it all.

OR CAN YOU?!?!?

Probably not, if you're employed.

I swear to report back on what will certainly be the most wonderful and joyous occasion of my entire life.

confidential to new yorkers

I don't know if you've noticed, but I've been slowly compiling a bunch of cool things to do in this calendar, which you can find on the side of this page somewhere, like

over there --->>>

(scroll until that points to the calendar, it's like magic!)

ANYWAY, it includes things like the free movie screenings in Bryant and Williamsburg Bridge Park, which I never remember and so never get around to, and I'll be throwing in pretty much anything else I can find (the city is lousy with free things to do in the summer). You can subscribe to the calendar, I think? Probably? Maybe. I'm not really sure.

So, if you know of other stuff going on, let me know (I'm aware of the Historical Society's beer tour of NYC thing and that will be going in there, as well as the Governor's Island Guide, and whenever the waterfront stuff comes out, I'll add that too).

Or, also, if you're putting on a show or something, let me know! That kind of thing is what makes the New York world turn, or something.

Or maybe that's old Joe Pulitzer.

occupy the empty space (nyc activity alert)

Sorry for the wonkiness of the pic here, I don't know what I did,
but it was apparently somewhat wrong.

My good friend Sarah is one of the people behind Occupy the Empty Space, which is somehow both theater and political action movement, all at once!

The idea for the festival came from the housing crisis, wherein there is empty living space available but it remains unaffordable to people who need it.

Sarah says: "Space is so valuable these days, and
yet it is often abandoned or wasted. In NYC there is a 'lack of space,' or so it seems--but really, there is
plenty of it. Apartments, parking lots, all sorts of shelter and open areas--but they've been purchased by large corporations who aren't doing anything with their real estate except separating valuable resources from those who need it."

The event will feature FIFTEEN BRAND-SPANKING NEW ten-minute plays and a bunch of teach-ins, which I understand are like a class, but for free, and in public, and for everybody. Or something.

Anyway, it sounds really cool, I think Sarah has a play in it, and it's FREE. The plays could be awesome or they could be terrible, but it's definitely something different and interesting to do with your weekend, AND you even get to feel like you're doing something good by being there. Hot damn, NYCers. That's so many good things!

I'll be there, probably wearing this shirt, so please stop by and let me know if you're a reader! I'd love to meet you and give you the highest of fives for supporting my awesome friend and her awesome co-conspirators and the mammoth juggernaut of a festival that has been eating all of her time and keeping her too busy to hang out with me lately. Also, I'm totally gonna keep score on how many people I manage to get to go to there, and claim that I won (pretty much regardless of how many people I recruit).

Also, sorry for the huge delay in posting! I realized I needed a break from the internet when I made some joke about being a cross between HelloGiggles and The Bloggess, mixed with Dinosaur Comics. I needed some real-life-time. And now you can get that too! With me! And then we can be like, pfft, this isn't just a BLOG, on the INTERNET, it's a community! And we can hug, and talk about the internet.

Hope to see you there!