Oregon Shakespeare Festival!

This weekend I spent my time in Ashland, Oregon, for the preview of the 2010 season. I know, I am so special. Anyway, the funny bit is that it’s called the Shakespeare festival and we didn’t even see a Shakespeare play. The only one that opened over the weekend was Hamlet, and both me and my mom were like PASS (we both prefer the comedies). Besides, when we got into town I overheard some lady telling some other lady that there was RAPPING in SHAKESPEARE’S HAMLET. In that moment I knew we made the right decision.

On Saturday we saw Tennessee William’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and I thought it was really good. I am a Williams fan though; A Streetcar Named Desire is one of my favorite plays/movies ever (if you haven’t seen the 1951 film version you should watch it right now because MARLON BRANDO TAKES HIS SHIRT OFF IN IT and it is amazing). The acting in Cat overall was really good, except I didn’t really care for the way the Stephanie Beatriz portrayed Maggie. It was a little too highschool girly when the part should have been played with a more mature feminine fury.

But to make up for that, Big Daddy was played by Michael Winters, aka Taylor from Gilmore Girls:

And Big Mama was played by Catherine E. Coulson, otherwise known as The Log Lady from Twin Peaks!!!!!!!!

"My log has a secret to tell you."

Seeing The Log Lady is probably the coolest thing that has ever happened to me.

On Sunday we saw a stage adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, which wasn’t so great, though it does have a lot to live up to. The novel just didn’t translate very well onto the stage since there are so many locations and characters. I felt like there was too much shuffling about. Not to mention Darcy was very disappointing. Again, big shoes to fill, but he just didn’t even seem like an actor. It was like he was saying words he had memorized, but without understanding what the words meant. Oh well, the squealing teens behind me enjoyed it, so I guess job well done?

If anyone lives near Oregon they should definitely check out the festival because it is always great and the town of Ashland is adorable. Also, if you go during the summer you can see plays in the outside theatre which looks very Shakespearean:

OSF website

A little Spring Awakening, a little Craig from Degrassi

This post is incredibly belated, since I saw a tour production of Spring Awakening about a month ago, and am finally posting about it. I was going to post right away, but then my apartment was dirty and the end of Mogambo was on television and I had to read Hamlet and by and by I forgot.

Anywho, this play is utterly perfect. It is basically my favorite. It won like a million Tonys and shocked the world with it’s sexuality and general badassery. Now, the orginal female lead, Lea Michele, is on Glee, which is also my favorite, and the orginal male lead, Jonathan Groff, was in Woodstock, which neither myself nor anyone else saw, but that’s okay because he is going to be on Glee pretty soon too!

"When I'm on Glee, all your dreams will come true."

The most exciting things about the production that I saw were:

1. I got on stage seats, so I was this close to the actors.
2. Craig from Degrassi was the male lead. That means I was this close to CRAIG FROM DEGRASSI!!!!!!!!!!

If you don’t know who Craig is, he was on a Canadian teen soap called Degrassi (obvs) and he was bascially the best character because he had mental problems and drug problems and he destroyed hotels like a pro and he broke all the girls hearts. This is what he looks like (he is the one being fondled):

And not only was I this close to Craig from Degrassi, but I was this close to Craig from Degrassi’s naked ass! Here is a visual diagram:

There is a sex scene in the play that requires the two leads to get a little naked, and I sat on the side that Craig’s ass was aimed towards. It was quite disturbing actually, and I felt like a creep looking, but I did anyway. Sorry? Anyway, now I can tell people when we’re watching Degrassi reruns (which is basically every minute of every day) that I saw that guy’s ass. And I bet they will be very, very jealous.