Monday, April 23, 2007

They Came From Way Out There

Artists Repertory Theatre
Posted by Frenchglen April 22; closes May 27

An engaging premise of alien infestation, but liftoff sputters. Several memorable inter stellar moments of physical and found object comedy. Show could make much, much more of this material. When not jack-hammering the fourth wall, talented, zany cast fights hard to escape orbital pull of this mostly known, earth-bound script.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Kevin Michael Moore & Miss Mars escaped unscathed. The rest of the cast not so lucky. It's not their fault, as the script and the music are really really bad. What is ART doing with bad dinner theater?

Anonymous said...

the mics need to be louder, or the music softer... it was way too hard to hear the music at some points...

Anonymous said...

Making buckets of money, presumably.

Anonymous said...

Horrible script, bad direction.
Kevin Michael Moore is always funny, even in this sterilized "Paranormal Revue".
Miss Mars and Mr. Blanchard are lovely together and their talent shines through the smog created by a mediocre playwright staying true to her vision.
Lesson learned: Playwrights should not direct their offspring

Anonymous said...

AWFUL!
This project is an embarrasment for ART and all involved.
Didn't ANYONE read this script and see how bad it was at ANYTIME during rehearsals? Having Miss Mars in this production is akin to setting the Hope Diamond in a tin ring. What a waste.

Anonymous said...

Once an artist has committed to a project, all they can do is the best they can with the material.

Unknown said...

I saw this on actors night, and I had a good time. Was it a great show? No. Were all the actors strong? No. Do I love Kevin Michael Moore? YES! It was a nice evening of no thinking theatre, which is only warranted once in a long while. Would I recommend this to friends? Not for ART prices.

Anonymous said...

Kevin hillarious, Susannah perfection even in this, Bruce charming nice voice. The others don't have the chops to overcome bad script. Kids in house LOVED it! makes sense since playwright is childrens author. Will get better during run. Take the kids if you can swing the ticket price.

Anonymous said...

I loved Bruce Blanchard as a chair! And that was the highlight of my night.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone actually remember The Paranormal Review?
I think it was an early Stark Raving show or maybe it was triangle ... I remember seeing it a few times way, way back in the day. I think it was at Theatre Paris.
It was hilarious and had a fun cast. Very late night.
Tony St. Claire, Deb Lund, John Monteverde, Tim Hill, James Lawrence ....
I remember St. Claire was a big red armchair. The earlier posting is what reminded me.
I've heard Way Out There is a musical version of that show. Is that true?
Help me out here Old School Portland. Does anyone remember this show besides me?
If so, how does the musical version stack up against the straight play? I remember liking the play but I really have a hard time imagining it with songs.

Anonymous said...

Kevin Michael Moore was in that one too. I think he may have even directed it. You're not imagining things. THAT show was hilarious. I'm sure that's why Kevin signed on for this one, which sadly is NOT hilarious. (Kevin is still funny though.)

Anonymous said...

Way Out There is, indeed, a musical version of The Paranormal Review, by Eric Brogger. I never saw the former production, so I can't vouch for its comparative funniness or suckitude.

Anonymous said...

I saw this show on the preview night so I’m sure I’ll mention things that have changed during the run already. One of my issues was that some of the transitions between the musical numbers and the dialogue seemed a little awkward. At the time it seemed to me to be a writing issue that the playwright or director could mend easily I’m sure. Also the beginning of the second act took a while to get going and overall I would say the second act was weaker than the first, as is the case with a lot of musicals. Again this seemed to be a writing issue. I have never worked in a production that was directed by the playwright, my question would be, “would the weak spots in a script be doubly enhanced if the writer directed it?” I mean it makes sense that if they had an oversight in writing it they would direct it that way as well, right?
I thought all of the actors did a superb job and it was exciting to see some of our seasoned actors in town take on a musical that is relatively new and untried. Overall I really enjoyed myself and I laughed a lot during the show. If you want a night of fun and entertaining theater I would check it out. The chair bit is pretty dang funny!

followspot said...

Posted by Followspot May 8, 2007; closes May 27, 2007

Oh, my. Imagine the return of Sylvia’s Class Act, but without benefit of dinner or drinks. Sorry guys, but even premise seems out of sync. Material aside, music seemed mixed, vocals uneven, direction/choreography elementary, technical elements skimpy … Audience, while not un-appreciative, seemed to collectively “heh” and shrug its shoulders.

Kimbolily said...

I have no idea what show some of you watched, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I was entertained from start to finish. Yes, this was a step away from what ART normally does but theater has something for everyone. Not everyone wants to go watch a beautifully acted/directed/teched sob story. We all need a bit of humor to lighten the mood, yes this whole show was funny, but many people like that sort of thing.

I also would like to mention, that hokey though the music was it served its purpose. I adored "Mr Big" So sweet! And one of my closest friends and I(along with our entire section) were brought to tears by "Dreamland"

I agree with someone who said that the mics and music were out of balance a bit. However the show rocked my socks off.

I have had "Men in Black" stuck in my head since I saw the show over a month ago!

Kudos to ART for taking a step out of their finely crafted box.

Anonymous said...

Agree completely with Kimbolily!! I had a blast at the preview and again at the closing show. I do think ART missed its mark on geering it towards children. I brought several kids to the show on preview night and they loved it. They still are singing several songs over and over again. I loved all the actors and thought it was very entertaining.