The Black Rider (no, not a Nazgul...)

[lizziebith]

Whoo-hoo! For once I convinced hubby to go out AND remembered to buy tickets to something I wanted to see! We're going to see the Waits/Wilson/Burroughs production The Black Rider (http://www.theblackrider.org)this Friday night at the Ahmanson! :cool: Has anyone seen it yet?

[Not Afraid]

Not yet, but we have tickets to see it June 4th in the afternoon. I'm excited!

[blueerica]

That's awesome! I should go see that... Get me some culture!

[Ghoulish Delight]

We've got tickets for the 10th. So no spoilers! :p

[SzczerbiakManiac]

I'm going Wednesday (5/24) night.

I'll be honest, I'm concerned it may be a little to "out there" for my taste, but I am looking forward to seeing it.

[mousepod]

Saw it the first time around at BAM in 1992. What a cool show.

[SzczerbiakManiac]

It was definitely out there!

I can't say I liked it, but I wouldn't say I disliked it either. The fact that John Vickery was it it did help a lot though.

If you're going to see it, do yourself a big favor and read the synopsis in the program before the show starts! I can't imagine anyone being able to follow the story otherwise.

[Not Afraid]

We saw it this afernoon.

LOVED it. But, everything about it was rightup my alley. Great Expressionist sets, fantastic caberet-inspired music by the please-freeze-his-head-when-he's-gone Tom Waits and, of course, text by William Burroughs who never disappoints.

People walked out. We overheard someone say "Quelle Bizarre" at one point, and the people behind us were talking about the lack of linear storytelling.

I wasn't aware that all stories needed to be linear and I didn't know speaking faux French in a Los Angeles theaer was normal, but I'm pretty out there myself.

This was one of the most satisfying theater productions I've seen in a while - but I'm certainly not your run of the mill theater goer. I don't usually flock to "Broadway" style productions and tend to go for the more unusual pieces. Lots of disclaimers there, I know. I highly recommend it, but wouldn't recommend it for everyone. How's that for nothing?

[€uroMeinke]

This was definately a work where I was the target audience - Homages to German expressionist cinema like Caligari, or Metropolis, A faustian tale, cabaret staging with homages to Brecht & Weil. I smilled through the whole thing.

I particularly loved Robert Wilson's staging, his use of lighting, slow movements across the stage - I think this is the best production I've seen these devices used (though admittedly it's hard to see many Robert Wilson works in LA).

But yeah, I'd pick and choose who I'd recommend this one to - there are but a few people that share my quirks that were indulged in this one.

[flippyshark]

Well, I already have and enjoy the BLACK RIDER album from Waits, so I'm sure this would be my cup of tea as well. Who knows if I will ever have a chance to catch it...

[Ghoulish Delight]

Saw it Saturday...loved it, loved it, loved it. Everything NA and € said.

If you're going to see it, do yourself a big favor and read the synopsis in the program before the show starts!
and the people behind us were talking about the lack of linear storytelling See, I find that very odd, 'cause I thought it was very straightforward, and very linear. Almost simplistic. Which is why I loved the use of body language and motion so much. Just as the story was stripped down to the very basics (guy meets girl, dad doesn't like guy, guy tries to prove his worth by making a deal with a devil, guy gest screwed by devil), the characters' actions and movements were equally stripped down, posessing just enough coordination to get them from point A to point B. Which of course went right along with Burroughs razor sharp verse. Brilliant through and through.

I loved floating around the lobby during intermission, eavesdropping on people. "Forget the acting, it's just so...interesting". "When they sing with such intensity, it's so hard to understand what they're saying!" And the pair of couples infront of us (I'd guess they were mid-50s, maybe early 60s) manifested their inability to handle the avante-gard nature of the shwo by reverting to jr. high school students, giggling and talking for most of the first 2 acts.

I was highly impressed with all the vocal talent. The bride's voice control was nothing short of spectacular. And it's amazing just how many guys they found that can sing like Tom Waits. Hard to pick a favorite performance, they were all awesome, but ya' gotta love John Vickery as the narrator/Duke, and Nigel Richards as the hunter. I loved when Richards went all Beavis at one point :D

My only issue with the show is that I only got to see it once. Oh well. That's the way the whip lashes.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

That's the way the potato mashes.
That's the way the pan flashes.
That's the way the market crashes.

My God, I've never seen such a dynamic presentation of poetry, poetry that I would have been knocked out by on paper, never mind with spectactular movement, lighting, backdrop, vocalization...

My only complaint is that there was an intermission. I think the last big would have had more oomph if we went right into it. Even so it was a home run and pretty mindblowing.

I feel like THIS is how you do abstract, THIS is how you do arty, without being stupid. This is how you show the art in things - by including the drama and ridiculousness side by side, with equal footing. The basic storyline is a perfect line to walk on the journey towards stripping down human interaction, emotion, and temptation to their cores.

Awesome.