Monday, February 5, 2018

Weekly Margin, 2018 W5: Jerry Springer - the Opera, The Chekhov Dreams

1/31/18: Jerry Springer - the Opera
What: Jerry Springer's show is going normally - full of broken angry people telling terrible secrets and riling up the audience - when a disgruntled ex-employee shoots him dead. When Jerry arrives in Hell, Satan requests he hosts one last show, featuring Jesus, Adam, Eve, Mary, and possibly the big man himself.
And? The first half, pre-murder, was basically the same joke, over and over: people saying horrible things but singing them operatically (including the recurring refrain "What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fucking fuck"). The second half also felt pretty labored, honestly, and the fact that after the parade of awfulness, the show seemed to be shooting for an actual moral message, felt unearned. The cast is talented, but it wasn't enough. That being said, to quote Michael Bluth, I don't know what I expected.

Will Swenson and Terrence Mann with company as Satan and Jerry Springer.
Photo by Monique Carboni.


2/02/18: The Chekhov Dreams
What: A depressed Jeremy is shaken from his three-year stupor by his hedonistic brother, who prompts him to join an acting class. Now he no longer dreams of his dead fiancee Kate; Anton Chekhov is there, too.
And? Some problematic stuff, but I had a mostly fun time watching it. Full review here.

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