The Hobbit was delightful
May. 28th, 2005 12:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pegkerrDelia's stomach settled down this afternoon (thank goodness). She and Fiona had a happy afternoon playing The Prisoner of Azkaban computer game on the laptop, while I made a big pot of Bilbo's Underground Stew. Man, I love that recipe. I am the only one in the family who does. I made a delicious salad for dinner: watercress, mandarin oranges, chicken, toasted pecans, with vinagrette dressing. Delia tried the watercress and wrinkled her nose dubiously. "It tastes sort of like how fireworks smell."
Hmm.
Anyway, she was obviously fit to go out in public, so we went to the Hobbit. I had seen the Children's Theater's previous production (was it sometime in the 80s?) The two things I remember best was that the scene with Gollum took place in the dark, and the only illumination came from the lamp-like eyes in the Gollum mask. And Smaug was represented by an enormous dragon head that rose, unexpectedly, from the orchestra pit.
This production was wonderful. I have seen, oh, I'd say a half a dozen productions at the CTC over the years, and this was definitely one of the best. Only two things were bothersome: Bilbo, inexplicably, wore boots. Well, not inexplicably, of course: naturally the actor would prefer to scramble around the stage for two hours (it was a very physical role) with boots on instead of bare feet with fur glued to them. I understood why, but I still felt oddly cheated. And Elrond was played by a woman. I don't mean a woman dressed as a man, but played as a woman. It was weird, as if Galadriel had somehow wandered into the play and stolen all of Elrond's lines. The twelve dwarfs were cut down to five.
But the lighting design was marvelous. The rotating set/ramp/stairs was perfectly flexible and adaptable. I loved the spray of metal plates, which with a change in lighting could either be the leaves on the tree at the doorway of Bag End or the shimmering gold in the dragon's lair.
Bilbo was lively and engaging. His actions were exaggerated (it is a comedy, and a children's show, after all), but not too much. Gandalf was played by Richard Ooms, who has been in, oh my heavens, maybe 70+ productions at the Guthrie, the premier local theater. Huge amount of experience, a real stage presence. Different from Michael Hordern or Ian McKellan, and yet he made the part his own.
The elf costumes . . . hmm. The costume designer was, um, enjoying being experimental, yes? The wood elves seemed vaguely Polynesian. The Goblin costumes looked like the understructure of hockey chest pads with construction helmets, with blinky-blinky lights over all.
Music was great (hey, the composer, Victor Zupanc, lives just down the alley from us. Fiona has baby-sat his kids).
Smaug was great, a huge puppet head and wings backstage, and a wildly gestulating tail from the trapdoor under the stage.
I even mustered up a tear for Thorin Oakenshield at the end.
Highly recommended.
Hmm.
Anyway, she was obviously fit to go out in public, so we went to the Hobbit. I had seen the Children's Theater's previous production (was it sometime in the 80s?) The two things I remember best was that the scene with Gollum took place in the dark, and the only illumination came from the lamp-like eyes in the Gollum mask. And Smaug was represented by an enormous dragon head that rose, unexpectedly, from the orchestra pit.
This production was wonderful. I have seen, oh, I'd say a half a dozen productions at the CTC over the years, and this was definitely one of the best. Only two things were bothersome: Bilbo, inexplicably, wore boots. Well, not inexplicably, of course: naturally the actor would prefer to scramble around the stage for two hours (it was a very physical role) with boots on instead of bare feet with fur glued to them. I understood why, but I still felt oddly cheated. And Elrond was played by a woman. I don't mean a woman dressed as a man, but played as a woman. It was weird, as if Galadriel had somehow wandered into the play and stolen all of Elrond's lines. The twelve dwarfs were cut down to five.
But the lighting design was marvelous. The rotating set/ramp/stairs was perfectly flexible and adaptable. I loved the spray of metal plates, which with a change in lighting could either be the leaves on the tree at the doorway of Bag End or the shimmering gold in the dragon's lair.
Bilbo was lively and engaging. His actions were exaggerated (it is a comedy, and a children's show, after all), but not too much. Gandalf was played by Richard Ooms, who has been in, oh my heavens, maybe 70+ productions at the Guthrie, the premier local theater. Huge amount of experience, a real stage presence. Different from Michael Hordern or Ian McKellan, and yet he made the part his own.
The elf costumes . . . hmm. The costume designer was, um, enjoying being experimental, yes? The wood elves seemed vaguely Polynesian. The Goblin costumes looked like the understructure of hockey chest pads with construction helmets, with blinky-blinky lights over all.
Music was great (hey, the composer, Victor Zupanc, lives just down the alley from us. Fiona has baby-sat his kids).
Smaug was great, a huge puppet head and wings backstage, and a wildly gestulating tail from the trapdoor under the stage.
I even mustered up a tear for Thorin Oakenshield at the end.
Highly recommended.
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Date: 2005-05-28 07:47 pm (UTC)I saw a production of Jesus Christ Superstar in college (put on by the college). Apparently the best person who auditioned for the Herod role was a woman, so they had Queen Herod.
I'm glad Delia recovered. And that salad sounds wonderful! You might also try: fresh spinach, diced red onion, walnuts and chopped apple with a raspberry vinaigrette.