Defender PicksJEUDIMay 17th
Circle Bar (10:00 PM)
Our resident country starlet returns
NOMA Sculpture Garden (7:00 PM)
Theatre: Shakespeare under the oaks!
Mid-City Theatre (8:00 PM)
Theatre: Camp meets Freud in this tale of deviant sexual awakening
JPAS (8:00 PM)
Theatre: 80s kitsch rollerskating musical. Need we say more?
CAC (8:00 PM)
Theatre: Ricky Graham takes the stage for a one-woman show
Tip's (10:00 PM)
Alt-rock of radio fame, with the Rocket Summer
Rock 'n Bowl (8:30 PM)
Zydeco Night!
Green Project (7:00 PM)
This doc puts the spotlight on metal scavengers Q&A with filmmaker follows.
Gold Mine Saloon (8:00 PM) Weekly reading series, this time with poets Clark Coolidge and Joel Dailey read.
Hi-Ho Lounge (9:00 PM) Weekly Thurs Gig- Brass band of the hour plays their unique mix of hip-hop and jazz.
Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers
Vaughn's (7:00 PM)
Tom McDermott and Aurora Nealand
Buffa's (8:00PM)
I Club (8:30 PM)
Big D Perkins and Cornell Williams team up! VENDREDIMay 18th
Bayou St. John (5:00 PM)
Don't rest, just Fest! Today's music features Kelcy Mae, Papa Grows Funk and more!
Bite the Tail Off Homelessness Crawfish Boil
Lakeview Presbyterian Church (5:30 PM)
Berl for the homeless. Music from hil Melancon, Steve and Sasha Masakowski, John Rankin, Johnny Angel. $10
The Shops at Canal Place (6:00 PM)
The annual Ogden fundraiser and celebration of the South's summer suit of choice.
Howlin' Wolf (9:00 PM)
Hollywood Babylon, featuring NoDef's own Moxie Sazerac
Museum of the American Cocktail (6:00 PM)
The museum's annual fundraiser features great drinks and Meschiya Lake
Historic New Orleans Collection (6:00 PM)
Concerts in the Courtyard goes Cajun!
Tip's (10:00 PM)
featuring Big Daddy O, Waylon Thibodeaux, Ruby Moon, Bart Ramsey, & Lindsey Mendez
d.b.a (10:00 PM)
The one and only roots rock legends, live on Frenchmen
Circle Bar (10:00 PM)
NOLA Indie on Lee Circle
One Eyed Jack's (10:00 PM)
Metal returns to the Quarter
Blue Nile (10:00 PM)
NOLA rock 'n roll on Frenchmen
NOMA Sculpture Garden (7:00 PM)
Theatre: Shakespeare under the oaks!
Mid-City Theatre (8:00 PM)
Theatre: Camp meets Freud in this tale of deviant sexual awakening
JPAS (8:00 PM)
Theatre: 80s kitsch rollerskating musical. Need we say more?
CAC (8:00 PM)
Theatre: Ricky Graham takes the stage for a one-woman show
Allways Lounge (8:00 PM)
Theatre: Cripple Creek's take on this Greek drama about women who denied their warmongering husbands the business.
Greater Tuna
Shadowbox Theatre (8:00 PM)
Theatre: A comedy about Texas' third smallest town
SAMEDIMay 19th
Bayou St. John (All Day)
Don't rest, just Fest! Today's music features Renard Poche Band, Meschiya Lake and Jam-ALL
Audubon Zoo (10:30 AM)
Food, music, fun from the East!
Mahalia Jackson Theatre (8:00 PM)
LPO teams with Symphony Chorus of New Orleans for Gustav Mahler's thrilling career capper!
The New Movement Theatre (8:30 & 10:30 PM)
One of the country's premier funnyman comes to the Marigny!
Octavia Books (2:00 PM)
A booksigning and presentation with photographer West Freeman
Siberia (10:00 PM)
Wear red, don't forget to shake it.
Circle Bar (10:00 PM)
New Orleans' best raspy voice in a very fitting venue
NOMA Sculpture Garden (7:00 PM)
Theatre: Shakespeare under the oaks!
Mid-City Theatre (8:00 PM)
Theatre: Camp meets Freud in this tale of deviant sexual awakening
JPAS (8:00 PM)
Theatre: 80s kitsch rollerskating musical. Need we say more?
CAC (8:00 PM)
Theatre: Ricky Graham takes the stage for a one-woman show
Allways Lounge (8:00 PM)
Theatre: Cripple Creek's take on this Greek drama about women who denied their warmongering husbands the business.
DIMANCHEMay 20th
Bayou St. John (All Day)
Don't rest, just Fest! Today's music features Russell Batiste and Uptown Indians, Feufollet, a tribute to Coco Robicheaux. Plus, the Rubber Duck Derby!
Mahalia Jackson Theatre (7:00 PM)
Stairway to Heaven returns, thanks to the Louisiana Philharmonic
House of Blues (9:00 PM)
Composer and keyboardist extraordinaire comes to the Quarter. Remember the theme from Amelie? That was him.
Dragon's Den (10:00 PM)
The originator of dubstep, live in New Orleans!
One Eyed Jack's (10:00 PM)
Noise and bounce unite
Los Po-Boy-Citos
d.b.a. (10:00 PM)
LatiNOLA
NOMA Sculpture Garden (7:00 PM)
Theatre: Shakespeare under the oaks!
Tom McDermott and Kevin Clark
Mojito's (9:00 AM)
Jazz brunch at one of the finest Quarter courtyards
Buffa's (10:00 AM)
Jazz Brunch, local style!
Mid-City Theatre (8:00 PM)
Theatre: Camp meets Freud in this tale of deviant sexual awakening
JPAS (8:00 PM)
Theatre: 80s kitsch rollerskating musical. Need we say more?
CAC (8:00 PM)
Theatre: Ricky Graham takes the stage for a one-woman show
Allways Lounge (8:00 PM)
Theatre: Cripple Creek's take on this Greek drama about women who denied their warmongering husbands the business.
Hot 8 Brass Band Howlin' Wolf Den (9:00 PM) Keep the weekend feet movin' to that brass band beat. |
A Fancy-ful EndThe Future is a Fancyland Place: A Review NoDef Drama Writer Helen Jaksch heads to the Allways Lounge for the doomsday-minded collaboration between Goat in the Road Productions and Cripple Creek Players, "The Future is a Fancyland Place."
Harold Camping announced that the world would end on May 21, 2011.
And then, of course, the world did not end.
In Tanapeka Valley, the town lab has exploded. Cows that have been artificially fattened and turned red by sonic technology have stomped flat every building in the town, save one. The townspeople are sure of impending doom. They believe that the world will soon end.
And then, of course, it does not.
Playing at the Allways Lounge, Goat in the Road and Cripple Creek’s production of The Future is a Fancyland Place, co-written by Andrew Vaught and Chris Kaminstein, tackles two very common themes in contemporary art and theatre: failure and utopia.
What happens after the world does not end?
The piece is ambitious. It weaves together intricate choreography, acapella kitchen harmonies, and puppetry with cows made of wood, stretched canvas and red paint. It also boasts a multi-focal narrative made of 27 scenes. Jarville may or may not be hearing voices in radio static that may or may not be coming from a red cow outside his window. An old woman named Beulah has prophesied an impending apocalypse and the only hope of salvation the townspeople of Tanapeka Valley have is to find the red and holy cow that can speak. Throw in the comedic story of Randy and Slim, two backwoods boys trying to watch the sacred cows and cleanse themselves for the future utopia that is upon them, and the play is only at intermission.
The Future is a Fancyland Place
Where: Allways Lounge, 2240 St. Claude Ave.
When: Sept. 23-25, 30, Oct. 1-2, 8 p.m.
Tickets: $15
The zero hour comes and goes in the second half without so much as a hiccup, and the townspeople must grapple with the questions and doubts that come with building a new utopia when the old dystopia has not quite yet disappeared. At almost three hours, with each scene marked by a well-designed and beautiful (but somewhat ineffective) hand-cranked scroll, the play is simply too long. Transitions were slow and not always well executed, allowing the audience time to leave the world so carefully crafted by designer and performer alike. The piece would be served by thoughtful cuts that focus on questions like: what is truly important? Whose story must we hear? Which moments serve the story versus which moments do we just really like a lot? The devil is often in the details, but the reverse is true for this piece. Despite small moments that were finely crafted and beats that were specific and polished, the overall play felt inconsistent and disjointed. Ian Hoch’s performance of Jarville often stopped a foot from his face; he was not grounded and the words did not quite reach me.
Vaught stormed in as Ovit, and his performance was under control. As Juniper, Francesca McKenzie’s voice was earthy and raw, but her long cross to Jarville’s porch did not captivate me. McKenzie's voice had my ears but her body and movement did not have my eyes or attention. The relationship between characters was not always well established. This leads to moments, though expertly acted, that seem unearned and insincere.
Selena Poznak’s lighting design and Eric Gremillion and Will Bowling’s sound design of echo and reverb and static/radio station/static were aimed at drawing my eye and ear to the next part of the story, but the performers were not always ready to pass it on or to pick it up. And sometimes the performers were ready, but the technical elements were not. There was skill on both sides of the curtain, but rarely did the two meet at the right place and time.
This is not to say that there are not some fancy things going on in Fancyland. There are tiny miracles galore. The music, composed by Bowling with assistance from Emilie Whelan, is haunting and lovely. They effectively play with tropes of traditional spirituals, dissonant chords, and folkloric lyrics. The music winds its way through the story as part soundtrack and part evocation. Fancyland does a terrific job of creating rituals of food and ceremonies of dirt and hay and beer that repeat and repeat and repeat. Until they begin to fail, and no longer bring comfort or hope. In repetition, the rituals lose all meaning. Poznak does a nice job of helping us navigate multiple stories and places with lights and colors that are almost as active as the performers themselves. The strong display of cool colors shot through with vibrant reds and shadows helps illustrate the tension of the story. Often utilizing the clicking and clinking wooden cow puppets, Rachel Carrico’s rhythmic and patterned-based choreography was delightful. I do not know who to credit for the fight choreography in the piece, but it is some of the best I have ever seen. It was clean, crisp, and completely spot-on.
Phil Cramer’s set design was simple yet full of character. The little details of an uncovered outlet, a dirty window, plank board porch, and rough-hewn fences spoke volumes about time and place. What we discover behind a blue tarp in the second act was one of the play’s truly stunning moments. But I must question the extreme proximity of the audience to the stage as well as the alley setup where the audience watches one another as they watch the play. It begs the question: what are we gaining/losing as audience members by watching the show this way?
Ultimately an ensemble piece, the performances in Fancyland were consistent overall, but there are a few individual performances that are worth noting. Vaught’s Ovit was grounded, sincere, and incredibly funny. He threatened to steal the show despite being onstage for less than 15 minutes total. Likewise, Matt Standley and Dave Davis as Randy and Slim were an absolute joy to watch. Their physical score and comedic timing were impeccable. Cecile Monteyne, with her fierce eyes and red hair, was engaging and powerful as Beulah and the holy cow Esther. She brought the intense energy and precision needed to not only portray two characters but to convey story and meaning with very few words.
The Future is a Fancyland Place is a timely and fascinating endeavor of failed prophesies, failed rituals, and failed utopia. It jams in discussions of God and destiny, sound waves, mass-consumption, history, community, and family - all spoken by people with ambiguously Southern accents. When I think of Friday night’s performance, I cannot help but think of performance artist William Pope L. who said that “collaboration, which is a process, [is] not clean and well defined.” I believe very strongly in the joyful mess that is collaboration, but Fancyland, a multi-company collaborative project, may be a situation where the process is the thing more than the play itself. What I saw was more like a workshop or a work-in-progress than a complete and finished product.
The performance left me thinking about the months of its creation, about how it was made. It had me humming those lingering lyrics and harmonies of Bowling and Whelan. But it failed to hit me where it hurts: in the guts, the groin and, ultimately, in the heart.
If I sound cynical, it is because I see the unfulfilled potential of this piece created by a large group of talented and thoughtful artists. It is, despite its shortcomings, an evening of theatre worth being a part of. I truly believe that if spirited and enthusiastic collaborative adventures such as these continue to be undertaken, the future of theatre is a fancyland place indeed.
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Contributors:Dead Huey Long, Mary-Devon Dupuy, Cas Mcloughlin, Sara Staff WritersShay Sokol, Ryan Sparks, Helen Jaksch Listings Kermit M. Mudgely Editor for Uptown: Brad Rhines Editors at Large: Laine Kaplan-Levenson Art Director: Michael Weber, B.A. Managing EditorLevi Bruce Editor: B. E. Mintz Published Daily byMinced Media, Inc. |
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I have been torn. I agree
I have been torn. I agree with you thoroughly on much you have written, but as someone who came from a pro-apocalypse household it really did hit me in the guts and in the heart. Having known some of these people and having suffered ostracization at the hands of the church for having doubts regarding faith, I especially related to Ms. Whelan's character and thought she played the role beautifully. As an artist who revels in collaboration I found the process to be an engaging part of the play, although I am not sure how I might have felt going into it not knowing of it's beginnings. All in all, though, I must say that I left fulfilled with the contemplative mood it created within me, how it made me look at my life post-zealism and see that though some of my relationships with those who were once close to me have suffered, I am happier and more satisfied with the hopefulness I have found in life.
Thank you for your thoughtful
Thank you for your thoughtful reply, Jon. I appreciate your insight into the play from your experiences and am glad to hear that the piece had such a strong impact on you. The fact that we can both such a complex relationship to the show...this is the mark of a great piece of theatre.
Really? I'm no professional
Really? I'm no professional and I'll agree that there were some not-so-polished bits, but, as of tonight's performance, this was easily the best play I've seen all year--including the awesome 'midsummer' at NOMA--the difference is this one is going to stick with me much longer. Very thought-provoking, interesting premise, great script, terrific acting. Also, it couldnt have been 3 hours--I was omw home by 10:30.
Your review brings to mind so
Your review brings to mind so many questions I have myself about theater's goals - is it to have a product that is aimed at being satisfying to an audience and easily watched or maybe a place of freedom and experimentation leading to moments of wonder in the audience is all that we can ask for or expect. What should the audience be looking for and why do they watch in the first place? I come about writing this comment at a point of exhaustion, just as many audience members come to the theater- tired from the day and wondering what gifts this thing, theatre, will give. Or maybe the goal is just to see some communication of humanity that makes sense. It is brave to be honest and admirable for creators to put themselves on display to their communities.
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