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

[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

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.