Sunday, March 26, 2023
Last night as we left the theater, I mentioned that at My Fair Lady the Ordway guy that comes out and welcomes you at the beginning of the shows asked how many people had never been to the Ordway before. Quite a few people near us raised their hands. I realize the theater holds 2000 people and the greater metro area is 3.1 million people, so there are a LOT of people that have never been there, but I think it is interesting to think that My Fair Lady was the one that did it for them – got ’em into the car and downtown to see a play.
We went to the Phipps Theater in Hudson, WI, to see the musical Something Rotten this afternoon. It is about two brothers putting on plays in London, competing with (or failing to compete with) Shakespeare. One consults a pretty-darned-good soothsayer who gives mostly good advice on the next best things to come in theater. Hilarity ensues, along with quotes from oh-so-many other musicals as well as Shakespeare plays. As we sat down, I said hello to the man sitting next to me. He told me that he and his companion live 8 blocks from the theater and have never been there. This morning, he suggested that they do something, and in searching for that something to do, came across the play and bought the last two tickets. I guess that is how some people end up at a theater for the first time.
They knew nothing about the show. I was able to confirm that it is a comedy, which they were very happy to hear. I confirmed that it is a musical, which made the woman cackle with delight and say to the man, “Your worst nightmare!” (It was hard to know it was a musical, because although there was a hatch door open in the front of the stage for the conductor, there were no musical numbers listed nor were there orchestra members noted in the program. I found that to be pretty rude to the musicians). I asked if they were familiar with any Shakespeare, even just the most passing of knowledge, and they said no. I told them that one of his most famous works is called Hamlet and knowing that was key to some of the play’s main plot. As the lights dimmed, I really hoped they would like the show.
It didn’t take long until I heard the man next to me laugh out loud. Yay! He laughed a lot throughout the show, and I was so glad. There are sooooo many references to other plays that those are the bits that made me laugh, but apparently you don’t even have to get those jokes for the show to work.