Sunday, August 14, 2005

Day 10 -- 2:30 p.m. Time Slot

Show: A Little Princess

Company: Top Hat Theater

Venue: MCTC Whitney Mainstage

Die Roll: None -- Wendy Choice

We stayed at MCTC for this one. It's nice to have friends and acquaintences in the shows that I take Wendy to. She thinks I'm famous when people say "hi" to me. That strikes me as humorous, seeing as she often sees me in shows, has met the people in the shows with me, but I'm not famous because I know them. She takes the Baldwin sisters in stride. Patty Nieman is someone who she sees as a friend. But, since I've never been in a show with Joe Scrimshaw or Tim Uren, the fact that they say goodbye to me as they walk out of the theatre, and I'm a famous guy! Wild!

So anyway, I knew a few people in A Little Princess, too. And so I've been looking forward to seeing it since the beginning of the Fringe. I hadn't expected to get a chance, so having Wendy with me helped out in that regard.

The show involves a cast of thousands (actually about 40, I think). It was like a community theatre show, in that, if you cast a bunch of kids, you've got a guaranteed audience. Also like a community theatre show, the blocking was sloppy, the staging presentational, and the quality of acting inconsistent.

Some of the adults put on good performances, and a number of them just didn't. The kids were generally pretty good, though. The girl who played the main character, Sara, is very talented and does carry the show.

My daughter enjoyed the show, but she kept asking questions and talking during the show, which normally indicated her full attention isn't on the show itself. The way she works, she was determined to like this show before we went in, so the fact that she says she did doesn't really mean it's true. What she did like was seeing other kids acting in front of her. She can't recount a single part of the story, though. She does say that she thought it was a sad story, and that one actress was playing a character who was mean.

So, there's that.

I don't really want to pan this show, but I guess that's what I'm in the midst of doing. It was slow moving, disjointed, and not fun to watch. I guess it woulsd be if I were related to one of the kids, but that's the only way I can see it being something more than it is.

RATING: "d8 - Not Bad, Not Great"

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