Work all day

I have two academic papers and a midterm in the next two weeks. Either expect the blogging level to reach new lows or hit new highs, depending on whether I choose to work or procrastinate.

Saw RAGTIME in Musical Theatre West's production at CSU Long Beach last night. MTW is a pretty strong regional company that puts on decent-sized productions of classic musicals; they're very good regional/community theatre. This "Ragtime" was pretty well sung and danced; more lacking were characterizations (none of them could hold a candle to the detailed interpretations of the Original Broadway company - portrayals forever etched into my mind for these roles). Also very lacking was the sound design: it was distractingly uneven and tinny sounding.

The show holds up well when everyone is singing, thanks to the gorgeous score by Stephen Flaherty (music) and Lynn Ahrens (lyrics). Flaherty composed beautiful, layered music that perfectly captures the turn-of-the-centery/changing times theme of the show. Ahrens lyrics, though, tend to be overly bombastic and preachy: every song is an ode to a new social issue. Which makes for an exhausting evening, but enjoyable nonetheless. The staging retained the original direction/choreography of the original Broadway production - which is good, because that staging was brilliant.

Still, though, as masterful a score as "Ragtime" is, it doesn't approach the depth or the moving power of "Caroline, or Change". My theatre-watching landscape has changed, as they say.

Anyway, I don't expect to see many performances for the next two weeks. Much reading and writing to do, as stated above. Spring break comes immediately after though, and that looks mighty fun: Martha Graham Dance Company in San Diego and a trip to San Fracisco for the San Francisco Ballet and God knows what else...