Lately The Colbert Report hasn't been as sharp as it once was, and I haven't been watching as regularly. But their sendoff to the Bush Administration was sublime. Not least because it gave us all another reason to worship Christine Ebersole. In case you missed it:
While we're sharing videos, I suppose I ought to link you to this frightening (yet unsurprising) Patti LuPone freakout, caught on (audio) tape by, apparently, some other scofflaw Gypsy audience member who is lucky not to have been caught in the act by La LuPone. I've come across this a number of places, but my favorite writeup was by J. Kelly Nestruck of Canada's Globe and Mail, who joked that the picture-taker had been "Patti Lu-Pwned." Hee.
As for my thoughts, well: no sympathy for the picture-taker, obviously. But I do feel sorry for the rest of the audience (even if I doubt Patti's assertion that "every single one" of them was exhibiting "respect" -- come on, I've been in Broadway audiences before). If I pay a lot of money to see a Highly Acclaimed Performance, and the star breaks character in the middle of a solo number that happens to be the emotional and dramatic climax of the show, and it's not a medical emergency, I'm going to be annoyed. Of course, that's exactly why I never did pay money to see this particular Highly Acclaimed Performance on Broadway. And at least some of the people in that audience (including whoever was taping the audio) probably felt they got exactly what they came to see. "This is the theatre!!" You know, on second thought, I'm not sure she did break character. Doesn't that just sound like Momma Rose?
No comments:
Post a Comment