Completed: Andrew Lloyd Webber's New Production The Wizard of Oz

Rai that cant possibly be the title...
really?

So...
A little back story.

My brother, who is autistic, really loves theater... musical theater specifically but really he just enjoys going out.

When Wicked came to town h badgered us for months to buy tickets.
When Joseph and the Amazing technicolour dreamcoat came to town he asked every day till we caved.
same thing with Cats.

SO when this was announced having the two things he really likes in a play (ALW and Oz) we were surprised that he didn't make a peep.
however one day my mother got an email from the theater and he saw it and he siddenly wanted tickets.

so even though we knew it was probably just a retelling of the film we figured some things would have to be added for Andrew Lloyd Webber to be claiming it at his new production.

So this is my third ALW show... and yeah.... i notice he has a very distinc style...
that.... i'm kinda sorta not a huge fan of.
i don't dislike anything he does.
well... cept Cats..... Cats was terrible and time that was wasted i will never get back.... but i already wrote a review on that...
anyways i don't hate on him cause he's super popular i just don't tend to like his stuff.
Jesus Christ Superstar is pretty much forever my favorite musical.... but other then that they all seem to be lacking something.
This is no different.

Also fun fact this was in the exact same theater that Wicked was in so yeah.... i will be compairing the two and i don't care if it's unfair.

super short Story description because everyone has seen the movie.
Dorothy Gale is a girl who just wants more in life, more attention, more validation and most importantly more colour.
then she gets all that and she suddenly wants to go back to her quiet life in Kansas... well at least she goes back a better person.
oversimplification? hell yes but again... i don't need to tell you the story... you knwo it.

This play is that story with a few more songs and a few lyrics added to old songs. nothing is different.

but thats what you expect i guess.

The good:
The costumes were lovely, my favorite being Glinda's though the wicked witch's second dress was pretty spectacular as well.
The sets had a pretty cool style, they did a good job of sepia Kansas vs super colourful and glittery Oz. also there was neat use of perspective.
The singing was pretty spectacular... apparently there was a TV show to pick who Dorothy would be played by... i can see why she won.
The acting was well done.... for the most part.

The not so good.
ALW's added songs... none of them added to the story except the first one which did work a little.... but as the play goes on his added songs get more and more tedious... the worst one being just before she leaves oz.... i was praying for it to just end so we could get it over with... it was just too much.... him and didn't fit in with the rest of the songs at all.
The modernization is kinda.... random... and i really just mean how lines were dilivered.... like they were so close to the original film but changed ever so slightly to make sure every moron in the place got it... and some scenes really dragged thanks to it.

The Bad:
We tend to get the cheapest seats possible when we go to plays simply because even the cheapest seats can cost around 100 bucks in town... for all four of us to go it can get really expensive. Also my brother tends to have reallybad taste and the things he wants to see the most tend to be the worst so if we are wasting our life... we don't wanna burn a hole in our wallet.

We were in the very back row for this play (which had half the theater curtained off which is just a way to make false Sold out sales) and despite being as far back as we possibly could it still cost 120 per person.
120 to see something that is essentially the play version of a film.
All because ALW name is attached to it?
.... yeah
Hey.... hey theater industry? hey you know how no one goes to see plays anymore? yeah it's cause your tickets are an arm and a leg.
to be fair... like i said before that exact theater the previous year for wicked was cheaper... we were a few rows back still  it was a more decent price.


Which did i like better? Wicked or this?
Wicked, Wicked kicked so much ass. if you have a chance to see it in theater take it. it's funny, it's moving and the songs are just so clever.

This is by no means a bad play.... it's really well done but unless you're a super wizard of oz fan or you maybe want to see the film told in a slightly different don't bother.
unless you can get tickets from 30-80 bucks... then i would say it's probably worth it just for the spectacle.

But seriously it is kinda silly that ALW can simply add a couple of songs and suddenly it's his play? i mean he gives credit to the original song writers but he still claims it as his own.

oh well...
Les Mis is coming to town apparently.... maybe i'll check that out? (probably not cause i am cheap)

but yeah seriously i want Glinda's outfit and i would just wear it all the time... sequence would be everywhere and i wouldn't care...

Completed: Cats

alright.... so i just got back from a one night (it is technically 2 nights nows but it was one night when the tickets were bought) performance of Andrew Lloyd Webers' Cats.

The plot is....
um....
uh....
....
look i'm sorry but this play made no sense so i'll just explain what i THINK happened in those 190 mins.... so i guess it might contain spoilers? maybe?

So we start in the Trash dump/alleyway and a bunch of stray(?) cats are in an alleyway dancing... but these aren't any old cats.... these are Jellicle cats.....
now what pray tell is a Jellicle cat? that's a very good question.... what you want an answer? ok... *goes to look online* ok... according to wikipedia...

The Jellicle cats, or simple Jellicles, are a type of feline mentioned in T.S. Eliot's book that cats the musical is based on

you have got to be kidding me.... whatever 

So these cats apparently meet once a year and dance under the moon till Kitty Moses decides on which cat gets to be reborn...

um.... okay...

so now we are introduced to some of the cats... as they dance in this Jellicle ball.

Theres a cat that seems to teahc mice and cockroaches things.... i would love to tell you what but i couldn't understand a single word of this song.... but more on that later.

There is Rum Tug Tugger.... the elvis cat that all the girls cats swoon over.... what is it with ALW and elvis.... i have seen two of his plays now and this is the second time there has been an elvis character....

Grizzabell the glamour cat... who for some reason is hated/feared by the other cats cause she's old?

Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer.... who are troublemakers and from the dounss of it not strays since they talk about making a mess in the kitchen... ug i don't know...

and then moses cat comes and everyone is happy as he sits on the stage watching the other cats...
then they sing more about the ball.... it feels like the 3rd or 4th time we've heard this damn song...

then Memory.... the only thing anyone who has seen this play seems to remember....

Intermission-- wait what? nothing has happened.... all that's has happened is they've talked about candidates for the cat that gets to be reborn.... ugh.... okay...

so we come back... more about the ball.... more about the fact that kitty moses will pick one of them and there will be tension and silence apaprently...

then it sais here there is a song about happyness..... nope don't remember it at all...

The theres a theater cat names Gus and this chunk was actually fun... he relives an old play he did when he was much younger and how stageplays today have changed and other then it was a little... hm.... i can't say racist cause they were all cats but i don't know what else it could be called... oh well... it was a lot of fun.... and mostly in another language.... yay Opera... (i do like opera for the record it was just an odd place for it)

then a cat names skimbleshanks.... hm.... nope that memory is gone too.... oh unless it;s the cat on the train.... yeah that was odd... but fun i guess..

Macavity is next.... he steals moses kitty and apparently is the crime lord and therefor the bad guy? um... apparently whenever a crime is committed he's not there, has an alibi... and can levitate.... okay~

Mr. Mistoffelees is here to save the day, a black cat and an illusionist and he changes the siamese cat into kitty moses.... yay solving things i guess?

ah.... memory again, trying to tug at your heartstrings as this sad old former glmour cat sings to kitty moses.... isn't it sad.... well not really sicne all we know about her is that she is all alone in the moonlight.... but the other cats are touched andthey like her now...

now things get strange....

Kitty moses decided glamour cat will be reborn, they go on a platform which is lifted up and i kid you not a UFO comes and picks her up to be reborn... uh... WHAT? ok i know in other versions it's been a cage or a tire but this really looked like a UFO.... the cats are all aliens... maybe thast what a jellicle cat is?

anyways then we get the true message of the story.... Cats are not dogs...

THE END....

What the hell did i just sit through.... this marks the second ALW play i've seen in person and the 4th(?) thing of his i've seen through film....
Jesus christ superstar was amazing... the plot made sense the songs made sense and it's just so good
 Evita was really well done, i'll put it on occasionally just to be serenaded by Antonio Bandaras....
Joseph and the amazing technicolour dreamcoat was strange as all hell but fun.... even if they sing the whole damn thing twice.... and yeah there were plot holes but it was his first kick at the can.

now i may be wrong about this but cats was after all of those.... maybe not Evita.... but still.. and it wasn't very good....

why? why was it not enjoyable.... i can hardly remember any of it an i just sat through it.... i couldn't make head or tails of the plot yet i can follow something like ballet which has no words....

but was it all bad? no.... the lighting was cool.... and.... um..... the cats going into the audience was fun? the singing.... hit and miss.... the theater seems to have some sound issues and half the time the music just overpowered the singing.... most of the dancing was good but..... only good.... not amazing.... not 80 bucks a head worth... but it was a gift from my brother so i can't complain about price.

ugh.... alright.... i'm not saying it's bad.... it just makes no sense at all.... maybe if i could hear the words it would have been better.... but what i did hear was just.... ridiculous

i did like the glowing cat eyes.... kinda want a pair... oh well...