Viral Do-Re-Mi

If you haven't seen this non-hostile, musical takeover of a train station in Belgium, watch it. I challenge you not to be amused.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EYAUazLI9k

Why does a video like this go viral, with millions of views on the internet? Is it because "The Sound of Music" brings back childhood memories of which we are fond? Is it the natural "feel-good" nature of the song itself? Is it the idea of 200 hundred people cleverly plotting four minutes of less-than-random dance moves? The answer to all these questions is the same, but they can be woven together to answer the bigger question. Is this genius? I believe the answer is a resounding "yes!"

Of course, I am extremely biased in that I grew up on musicals and there's a secret part of me that wants to burst out in to song and dance routines on a fairly regular basis. Naturally, something like this is right up my alley, but I'm only one person, a solitary droplet in the vast ocean of viewers this video has attracted.

So, what's the mass appeal? First off, the tense, hurried feeling of people in travel motion (we've all been there) is the perfect representation for the seeming disconnectedness of modern persons, thus making our busy train station an ideal setting for an out-of-the-ordinary incident. Secondly, the continued growth of the performance from one person to 200 baffles and delights us. Are all these people joining because they planned to from the start, or because they are moved to get involved? We keep asking the question as the line there is often blurred by smart editing. Third, human appeal. At some time or another, we all want to vacate our idle selves to be part of something different, unrestrained, and plain old fun. What better departure from the norm than spontaneous choreographed dance in a supposed inappropriate place?

I have read a few other cases of random organized takeovers of public places, and I encourage the purveyors of these plans to keep up the good work. Keep shaking up the public and challenging the boundaries of restrictive social normalcy. Remind us that we are more than a population of hard-working stiffs scraping our way through a struggling economy. Remind us we are alive, and life is supposed to be fun.

The Demon Yawner of Fleet Street

Imagine a group of ten respectably talented actor/musicians sitting around in a basement full of random artifacts collected throughout the owner's life. As the actors share cocktails and commiserate on how they were unable to secure a leading role on Broadway, despite a lifetime of musical education (and a string of successful regional performances), one of them hops up from his seat and says, "I have an idea! Let's act out Sweeney Todd!"

I just saved you the pain and monetary depletion of seeing the production of Sweeney Todd currently touring the nation. You're welcome.

I have read a number of reviews of this production, including this one http://theater2.nytimes.com/2005/11/04/theater/reviews/04swee.html?_r=1 which I find the most amusing, and I discovered that theater patrons are either in total agreement with me or are playing the "you're not an artist, so you just don't get it," card, which is, by all accounts, a lame sluff trying to pass itself off as trump.

While it is true, I am not an artist by profession, I am an admirer, nay, a lover of art in many mediums, with a particular fondness for musical theater. Fancying myself a bit of a renaissance woman, I am always fascinated by unique productions and creative styles of presentation. In short, I'm not a biased traditionalist who wants nothing but facsimile revivals. As such, I can sum up this production of ST in two words, "not good."

When I first read about this "innovative" production, I learned that the whole of the stage population consisted of ten people, each would play a role, an instrument, and be part of the company, there would be no set changes, and no one would leave the stage save for intermission. My greatest fear was that instead of having truly strong voices carry the narrative or amazingly talented musicians draw the audience in, there would be instead a group of people who would be simply"okay" at doing both, and that fear was realized. As musicians, the group was average, at best, and I could feel myself blush with embarrassment as Mrs. Lovett went oompa-ing across the stage with her tuba at an inappropriate moment. "Wah, wah, oompa in a bloody, murdersome play is ironic and comical." No, it's really not.

With the exception of Mrs. Lovett, the singing was weak, and the words were difficult to understand. I felt that Mrs. Lovett was actually held back as Sweeney was unable to hit the notes that she could have harmonized with which would have allowed her to reach her obvious potential in the duets. The parts of Toby, Pirelli, and Joanna were the most noticeable poor casting choices. The rest of the cast may have been decent, but their performances, good or bad, went under the radar every time Joanna lost her breath or Toby's voice cracked. Ouch, my ears!

Distracting is the only term I can conjure to explain the scenery. Not only were the actors responsible for the music and song, they also had to move the set around which, to me, still looked like a basement with a ladder, a big black wooden box, and random junk on shelves no matter what they did. Being consistently distracted, I was unable to forget my annoyed-ness long enough to appreciate the artistic attempts (every now and then a spotlight would single out one of the items on the wall to represent an action on stage).

In sum, I've read the praise, I've heard the whining, and I'm sure the person who came up with this scheme of actors being responsible for the gamut of the production is a very intelligent guy, but this more than missed the mark. By the end, the responsibility was clearly too heavy a burden--for the actors and the audience alike.

I Don't Know What I'm Doing

First off, I'd like to welcome anyone who has heard my previous blasting of blogging to go ahead and chastise me for starting my own. I will humbly subject myself to judgment...Now that we have that out of the way, let's move on.

You may look at my blog title and wonder, "WTF is Hoffmanovich?" Before my husband and I were married, the topic of last names was often brought up (and more often shut down). The usual vocabulary surfaced--tradition, custom, whatever. My reasons for keeping my last name were immaterial, as my husband was more concerned about what name our children would have (he also rejected the idea of changing his surname to mine...I'm still trying to wear him down on that one). Jokingly, I suggested a hybrid last name for our children, Hoffmanovich. Having the prefix Hoffman- would surely satisfy his need to acquiesce to male tradition, it is his entire surname after all, and the suffix -ovich would almost certainly improve our children's jump shots. As is quite common in my life, my joke was not appreciated, but rather, it was met with a stern look and string of unproductive personal jabs.

Long story over. I now use Hoffmanovich, comically and affectionately, to describe our family of (presently) two. My husband made the very generous offer of allowing me to pick all the first and middle names of future spawn as long as they get his last name. We'll see...