Hamlet at PBSF

So, my darling Chuck took me to see "Hamlet" at Carlin Park. The Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival was performing and it was all outside...people brought chairs and blankets and coolers and dogs...it was a nice evening.
Chuck and I brought our own table and chairs and I packed a picnic basket of food and drinks. The show started at 8 and we settled in fora  modern-day Hamlet. My props to the light and set designers...the stage was set in one place, no changes, and it totally worked for every place the play was set! The light changes really helped the different moods of the show.
Props to Kyle Schnack who played Hamlet. When his microphone was messing up on stage, he played it really well - he spoke into other actors' microphones and he projected into the audience. I'm glad that the stage managers, Liz Matos, Gladys Zola and Lindsey O'Neill switched out his mic during intermission. It's a headache for an actor to try to perform outside with a mic that goes out on them. But Klye was professional, and he did well.
My surprise came with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern....hilarious!!!! And women, at that! They were just too funny and played their parts well!
Although she was only in Act II, I really enjoyed Laertes, played by Krys Parker. I liked the pose of a strong woman, ready to avenge her father, and then her sister. She played that MORE than well!

The weather was hot and muggy but the show took a bit of that worry away. I did, however, wonder two things from the audience:

1. Why did the audience applaud at EVERY scene change??? Even the really, really short ones? My thought from my theater background is that applause is only needed when the scene is deserved. And especially no applause after a beloved character dies. It was just ...odd.

2. The little girl with the pig-tails sitting in front of us video-recording the show on her phone. Really?? I thought her friends might have poked her or something since they looked at each other and shook their heads at one point. So, i video-taped her each time she video-taped the show. I'd love to find her one day and ask her how in the world she could applaud after the show since her hands were on her phone.
smh
Maybe it's the generation...that's possible.

But for the actors, the people who put the work in...congrats. You did a great job on Saturday night and you all should be commended.

I recommend this troupe to all my friends in Palm Beach County!

Motown

I got a chance to see a wonderful Broadway show called "Motown the Musical" today. I thought it was a celebration of all kinds of Motown hits, but it turned out to be the story of Berry Gordy, or "Junior", as he was called by family members, and "Black" as he was called by his ex-wife, Diana Ross. The Broward Center for the Arts was host to this fantastic show that started 3 minutes late (much props to Production Stage Manager Anna R. Kaltenbach for that one) and lasted roughly 2 and 1/2 hours. It was fun, it was lively and it was what this very lazy Sunday needed.

Clifton Oliver did a great job at Berry Gordy - showing his struggles from the very beginning, always dealing with money problems that balanced out the top hits of the day and his relationship with Diana Ross, whom, I had No Idea he had married. Very good voices of Jarran Muse as Marvin Gaye and Leon Outlaw or Reed Shannon (whichever one sang this afternoon) for singing as the wonderfully talented Michael Jackson.

I have to compliment the Design team for working together for this production. It was obvious that the Lighting Designer listened to the Costume Designer who listened to the Set Designer. It was true harmony to a set that can travel very easily.

The second act was much more lively than the first act, and mad props to Allison Semmes, the lovely lady who portrayed Diana Ross! She got the audience going with participation and laughter and smiles!

I was re-introduced to some fantastic music from Jackie Wilson, Stevie Wonder, Martha Reeves, Gladys Knight, Teena Marie, the Contours, the Commadores, Mary Wilson, the Four Tops and the Marvelettes. It was a fun time for all and definitely a history lesson worth seeing again!