Just back from dinner and a play with Alice. Brian (her husband) directed the show, Brighton Beach Memoirs, at his high school. In the middle of the week I spoke with Brian and he recommended that we skip the show and do something fun. He said the show was not good and he'd rather we have fun with Alice than see it and ruin a nice night out.
We had dinner with Alice, Madelyn and Alice's brother William. Pizza all around (note to self: update "my last pizza" on the home page). After dinner William took Madelyn home and Alice, Jean and I went to Trinity to see the show.
It wasn't as bad as Brian had made it seem. He's directed the show once before (I was a member of that cast), and the earlier production (which was essentially a professional production) received critical acclaim and popular acceptance here in Richmond. This was not that show. It was a high school production, one not even up to Brian's usual standards (he's done some shows at Trinity that were better than most college productions), but it wasn't bad.
The young man playing the lead character (Eugene) was a ninth grader, and he had the style of the part down. Sure, he struggled with his lines (he's got a ton of them), but he had everyone laughing and paying attention. I found myself looking forward to his entrances.
Most of the other performances were so-so. The young man playing the older brother had the sense of his character down, but he seemed to get caught up with his New York accent.
The show received a standing ovation which it had not earned. I thought that was a bit disappointing, since it had to have been parents of cast members who got the ovation started. I spoke with Brian again after the show, and he was still judging it harder than he should have. I told him as much, but I know that when Brian gets to a certain point with a show, he's not likely to change his mind about it.
© 1999 Kevin J.T. Creamer