Inter Alia

[earlgreytea68]

Lots to discuss, starting with...

ALCS, Game 1: So much fun! It was nice to have a non-stressful playoff game, which doesn't happen in our world very often. Fenway was in high spirits, Beckett is ASTONISHING (he makes it look like it's no work at all; I just don't get it), the seats were fantastic and I didn't get ripped off. The only drawback is that it was freezing, but even that was appropriate for October baseball. And at least I was not at the field until 1 in the morning, as these poor souls at tonight's game are clearly going to be. Reason Why I Love Boston, Second Edition: Baseball at Fenway in October. Party atmosphere, jovial people, magic in the air. What is not to love? Of course, this game has me having a conniption currently, but that's the postseason for you.

I Re-Discover Jens Lekman: I was reviewing documents today (and probably tomorrow, as I am nowhere near done). My first idea was to play TCI/NE in the background. This was a bad idea. I used to be able to leave TCI/NE on as white noise, barely paying attention to them, but it has been too long since I've seen either one of them, and I ended up basically just watching large swaths of them. That snow/ash scene in TCI is quickly becoming one of my favorite scenes in Whodom. Once I finished with TCI/NE, I decided to listen to Jens Lekman, really because he is coming to Boston and I am determined to go see him. Why has it been so long since I listened to Jens? I'd forgotten how much I love him. The words to "A Man Walks into a Bar" just kill me. There are some people, also, that just have a gift for melody. Morrissey has it. Shakira has it. And Lekman just has it. Even when I think his words are silly, there's a delicacy to the notes that makes me feel like if I breathed too hard while listening to the song I might shatter all of the emotions in a messy fashion. Love him. 

Wicked: And then we went to "Wicked." It was fabulous, the leads were phenomenal, and the entire production was just gorgeous: beautiful costumes, beautiful staging. But here's the thing about "Wicked:" Isn't it just, in the end, really good fanfiction? I mean, I appreciated the re-imagining of the tale and all that, but is the musical really anything without playing on our shared heritage of having grown up watching "The Wizard of Oz?" The biggest laughs of the night were the recycled "Wizard of Oz" lines (because let's face it, everybody loves a meta wink). And I was also thinking, while I was watching the play, about why we still go to the theater in the first place. If they filmed this, I could watch it in my house, seeing everything much more clearly. And I have the soundtrack, so I could just listen to it whenever I wanted to. So why go see it? I decided that there is something to be said for the immediacy of the experience (yes, I know I wrote this in the playful letter I wrote on behalf of arctacuda, but I really did mean it). Being in the same room as the person doing the acting, having the music wash over you and just drown you, is an aesthetic that some human beings just crave, me being one of them. And then, of course, when I will be watching David Tennant doing the acting, so close to me that I could be one of those crazy stalker people they arrest and run on stage to give him my business card (because I'm classy like that), well, then, I will really think the theater is the awesomest creation ever.

Comments

[rosa-acicularis.livejournal.com]

Isn't it just, in the end, really good fanfiction? I mean, I appreciated the re-imagining of the tale and all that, but is the musical really anything without playing on our shared heritage of having grown up watching "The Wizard of Oz?"

*begins to twitch violently*

I've got about twenty pages in my thesis about Wicked, both the novel and the musical, and you pretty much just summed up my entire point right there.

When you break down the degrees of separation between the musical and the original source material it's actually kind of disturbing. You start with the original series of books, which were hyper-simplified for the 1939 film, which was entirely twisted and darkened for the novel Wicked, which was then purged of all political allegories, religious tension, and meditations on the nature of evil so it could be transformed into a lush Broadway production.

This is a rather rambling way of saying that I'm really jealous that you got to go see it. ;)

[earlgreytea68.livejournal.com]

Heh. Believe me, I worked very hard to go and see "Wicked," so I understand your jealousy. Why are those tickets still so hard to get?!

But the whole time I was sitting there, with every little plot point that came up (where the ruby slippers came from, where the pointy hat came from, et cetera), I was like, "Oh, what an interesting theory about that! You know, this is just like reading fanfiction..." And I obviously have nothing against fanfiction. My real issue is why "Wicked" is okay, but if you ever told anyone that you write fanfiction, they would look at you askance (unless they were absolutely ace people, which happens). And why would they look at you askance?! What is the difference between fanfiction and something like "Wicked"?! What if, instead of telling people you wrote fanfiction, you told people you re-imagined the "Doctor Who" story with a focus on the Doctor's interpersonal relationships and a meditation on the Doctor's sexuality? Just because something's all dressed up in fancy language doesn't mean it isn't still, at heart, FANFICTION.

Sorry, I am considering writing an article myself on the copyright implications of fanfiction, so this stuff resonates with me.

[jlrpuck.livejournal.com]

If they filmed this, I could watch it in my house, seeing everything much more clearly...So why go see it? I decided that there is something to be said for the immediacy of the experience

arctacuda and I had this very conversation with regards to Elling. It was a phenomenal play on its own merits, and we both agreed we'd love to have the opportunity to go back and re-watch it. But in the end, how much of our love of it is down to the entire experience? Being there, seeing the living, breathing actors not two feet away; interacting not just with the rest of the audience but with the play unfolding on the stage in front of us...watching it again on tv would be fantastic, but it will never again capture the singular experience of being there.

As to Hamlet...well. You know how much I adore Hamlet; and I've told you about my one experience seeing a play in Stratford. I cannot wait to see Hamlet live, in Stratford, performed by Tennant. It's going to be incredible.

[earlgreytea68.livejournal.com]

Ah, yes, I forgot to factor in the audience in the experience of a play. When the audience is engaged with the play, it makes the play a hundred thousand times better. When you watch it on your television, there's no way to get caught up in the communal experience of watching something. That's why sitcoms use laugh tracks, to try to make us feel like we're watching this with everyone else. Human beings need that feeling to process things fully, I think.

"Hamlet" lives and dies with me on the portrayal of Hamlet. I have seen some performances where I loved the play and some where I hated it, all based on the portrayal of Hamlet. On its own, I'm not crazy about the play and much prefer "Macbeth" out of the tragedies, but, in the hands of the right person, I can really like "Hamlet." Which is why it deserves its reputation as one of the best roles in the English language, and why I so can't wait to see DT play it.