Who and Why

I began singing opera because of Violetta. Now, I am going meet her.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Thank You Salesmen!

I was one of the fortunate few who was able to see Death of A Salesman, directed by the legendary Mike Nichols, starring the amazing Philip Seymour Hoffman, heart-wrenching Linda Edmond, surprising Alex Garfield  (I only say this because he was in Social Network and next appears in Spider Man), and profound Finn Wittrock. When I immediately stood up to give my standing ovation, I thought to myself- Thank You. Thank you for sharing your amazing gifts.

It's hard to be in the performing arts world. When everyone everywhere talk about the economy and more and more arts education programs are being cut- you begin to drink the Kool-Aid that arts don't really matter. I mean, what do they really bring? Spiderman on Broadway is the Number 1 Broadway show right now. Spiderman.  That's a tough sell on integrity.  We live in a world of American Idol, the Kardashians, really bad movies, BLOGS ;), twitter. The get successful fast formula.  And, the arts admin world, trying to find something ANYTHING hip and cool and edgy because that's what foundations want- what the critics want. No one wants music for the sake of music any more. And if they do, it's just too expensive to take a risk.

So, because of this, I was a bit skeptical. I mean- I read it in high school. Broken Dreams...blah blah blah. Was this another guaranteed get rich scheme by Broadway? Yet another revival? Ugh.

But the critics piqued my interest and I heard good things so..ok, I'll bite...last row though!

And even though I was in the cheap seats- literally, the LAST row, I was completely captivated.  I couldn't see their faces, but I could hear the emotions and  feel their body language. I fell in love with these characters and I was deeply torn apart by the decisions, or lack of decisions, they all made.

No aerial-stunts can do this. No reality TV. Not even the most eloquent blog.

So thank you. I feel like a human being again.


1 comment:

  1. Wonderful review said with style and humor!

    ReplyDelete