On the Boards

Shows I've seen the past couple of weeks:

-Spamalot (Broadway)
-A Midsummer Night's Dream (Shakespeare in the Park by the Public)
-Scarcity (Off-Broadway at the Atlantic)

It seems like there should be more on that list, but perhaps because I saw 'Midsummer' twice (the second time was because I had a friend who wanted to go and wanted company)

Spamalot was enjoyable. It was much better than I'd anticipated, actually. There were some standouts, including Michael McGrath as Patsy (for which he won a Tony) and Tom Deckman as Not Dead Fred (etc). Then again, if the latter doesn't stand out, he'd have to be pretty bad . It's a total fluff piece, for the most part, but had some great theatrical references and spoofs, as well as some good, solid, comic moments.

Midsummer was well done, in my opinion. The concept was creative on some levels and I felt it to be very well directed. Jesse Tyler Ferguson was exceptional as Flute/Thisbee, as was Jay O Sanders as Bottom. Martha Plimpton was also quite good as Helena. Seeing Tim Blake Nelson, while not heavily featured in the role of Quince, was a personal pleasure, having really enjoyed his performance in O Brother, Where Art Thou?, among other things. It was also a beautiful setting for that particular play, being smack in the midst of the nature of Central Park. The set blended well beneath the shining moon and lit trees towering behind the purposely-minimalist set.

Scarcity should have been more of a... well, scarcity. While I can understand why some might enjoy it, I found it uncomfortable, even painful, and far too dark and abusive to be funny. Having grown up with similar characters, I was far more horrified than entertained. I just don't understand why anyone would voluntarily want to spend 2 hours with these people. I'm not even sure what the intent of the show was or even if it was supposed to be dramatic or comedic. If I hadn't had comps, I'd want my money back. Of my two friends who were with me in the audience, one absolutely hated it, the other found it generically "good".