I just read a review in the L.A. Times that I completely disagree with, so I had to write something. The reviewer objected because it wasn’t “serious” theater. I guess you only have “serious theater” when the audience being lectured and scolded and proselytized about Far Left politics. Apparently, you can’t laugh or enjoy yourself in “serious theater”. Bull****. I enjoyed Peter Pan Goes Wrong tremendously–as did most of the audience. We all laughed and booed Captain Hook which the reviewer thought was terrible because they didn’t share in the humor. IMO, we need more plays like this instead of the crap previously produced at the Music Center theaters–which probably is the reason the Taper is dark for the foreseeable future. I cancelled our subscription because I couldn’t stand the name-calling and abuse of anyone who didn’t share the Left’s extreme worldview. I wasn’t the only one. You want to kill a regional theater? Turn it into a political hobbyhorse. The Left apparently doesn’t buy tickets. And the result is a dark theater. Good job, political extremists.
Anyway, back to Peter Pan Goes Wrong. It’s about an amateur theater group trying to produce Peter Pan. Anyone who’s ever been involved in amateur theatrics can identify with everything that goes wrong. I remember being in The Effect of Gamma Rays in Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds when I was in college. Someone went over my props after I’d checked and moved everything (God knows why). My opening scene started with a phone call and the phone fell off the ledge. Things went downhill from there. The head tech guy didn’t show up. He claimed that he informed everyone that he’d miss the show but nobody remembered him telling anyone. So all the light and sound cues were wrong. Car horns blared in strange places; none of the special spotlights worked, the actors wandered around the stage, hoping for the best. The final miscue was at the end; an atom was supposed to be super-imposed on the actress’s face. There was a corn stalk instead. The director spent the show in the lobby, pulling his hair out. We did our best and the audience was kind. I remember one friend afterward asking me the significance of the cornstalk. I had no good answer. We stayed until one in the morning to train the tech crew on the cues and went on to triumph. I also remember when the girl playing Frumasera in Fiddler on the Roof panicked when one of the lines broke as she flew around ten feet off the stage. She kept waiting for the other line to break but she didn’t lose a beat. Amateur actors are tough. I guess they have to be. But I identified completely with the shenanigans the Peter Pan actors were dealing with. This is an industry town so I know wasn’t alone. It was FUN! I hope the new Director of the Music Center focusses on entertainment instead of pushing his political views. He’ll probably be out of a job if he doesn’t. All the good shows go to the Pantages these days. And the audience pays to see them.
Well, I’ve had my rant. I feel much better.
