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Hairspritz
San Diego is something of a wasteland when it comes to musical theater. To paraphrase the Wizard of Oz's Dorothy, shows come and go so quickly around here. Typically, shows run one to two weeks before moving on. And so, if you want to catch a performance, you need to buy a season subscription as I did this year.
Which all leads to Hairspray on Friday evening at the Civic Theater. I've seen the show 2.75 times before (the .75 time was the Vegas slimmed down version with Harvey Fierstein reprising his Broadway Edna) and enjoy it's light "we're here to have fun" style. So how did this performance match up? Only fair, I'd say. Brooklynn (gotta love that name!) Pulver's Tracy Turnblad was a kinder, gentler iteration of the role with less explosive energy than I'd seen previously. Her sweet singing style did, ultimately carry the show along. I'm not sure what I can say about Jerry O'Boyle's Edna. For me, half the fun of the role is masculine spin given by the actor ("It's just us girls in the Big Doll House" would be dull if the role was played by a woman). If anything, though, this Edna was a bit too feminine. Heck, I needed to check the program to make certain that the actor was a guy!
However, the most memorable aspect of the evening wasn't the show itself (or the three young gals in the second row wearing identical iridescent blue wigs) but the Civic Theater itself. Possibly the worst acoustics of any hall in existence. It echoes like an empty aircraft hanger. From my row F seat, it should have been easy to hear the actors without amplification. Not at the Civic. The orchestra should have been nearly deafening but somehow the sound got lost in the barnlike rafters. I can't say if the Civic is the cause of San Diego's lack of interest in Broadway, but it's definitely on the most wanted list.
Next up, Avenue Q on July 5th, thankfully at the Spreckels Theater.
Which all leads to Hairspray on Friday evening at the Civic Theater. I've seen the show 2.75 times before (the .75 time was the Vegas slimmed down version with Harvey Fierstein reprising his Broadway Edna) and enjoy it's light "we're here to have fun" style. So how did this performance match up? Only fair, I'd say. Brooklynn (gotta love that name!) Pulver's Tracy Turnblad was a kinder, gentler iteration of the role with less explosive energy than I'd seen previously. Her sweet singing style did, ultimately carry the show along. I'm not sure what I can say about Jerry O'Boyle's Edna. For me, half the fun of the role is masculine spin given by the actor ("It's just us girls in the Big Doll House" would be dull if the role was played by a woman). If anything, though, this Edna was a bit too feminine. Heck, I needed to check the program to make certain that the actor was a guy!
However, the most memorable aspect of the evening wasn't the show itself (or the three young gals in the second row wearing identical iridescent blue wigs) but the Civic Theater itself. Possibly the worst acoustics of any hall in existence. It echoes like an empty aircraft hanger. From my row F seat, it should have been easy to hear the actors without amplification. Not at the Civic. The orchestra should have been nearly deafening but somehow the sound got lost in the barnlike rafters. I can't say if the Civic is the cause of San Diego's lack of interest in Broadway, but it's definitely on the most wanted list.
Next up, Avenue Q on July 5th, thankfully at the Spreckels Theater.
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Either from misuse or disuse, it was abandoned and torn down about 1981 as a total loss. It was the home of the NM Symphony, and hosted such events as the Grateful Dead in 1971 and a lecture by Nixon.
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I have to wonder why the acoustics are so abysmal. It would seem to make no sense to design a venue for musical theater without considering such topics but it's clear they didn't or they simply failed.
Interestingly, I've been told that the theater had a backstage fire a year or two back and many had hoped that the theater would be destroyed. Hopes dashed, sad to say.
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