Macbeth

As promised, my friend and I are seeing Macbeth tonight, but first we had dinner @ Connolly's.

I got there before my firend and as I waited and watched people come in, I saw a guy that looked like Harry Connick, Jr. He's cute! - I thought. He was wearing a ball cap and looking very casual. He and a friend started heading my direction to be seated but they ran into someone else trying to get out so he stepped aside - which meant he stepped right in my eyeline behind the booth I was at. I caught his eye and then I realized that it WAS Harry Connick, Jr!!!! As soon as it clicked you could tell he knew it had cause he smiled. I just said "Hi" and he continued on. Sigh. ;)

The food is presented in a bit more "high class" way than their neighbors @ O'Lunney's. The Guinness pints are a dollar cheaper, too! :)

Next door @ the theatre we got settled into our balcony seats and soon "The Kicker" started in on my chair. Really? Once, I can understand - it's an accident. But several times is a bit much, I did turn to look a few times but basically I was looking @ feet so that didn't do me any good if they were looking out. The show begins and "The Sniffer" starts in beside me. It is so bad that I'm missing lines. I pull a tissue out of my pocket and hand it to him. Then "The Snorer" starts in who apparently is seated near "The Kicker" behind me and then "Knuckles" starts in behind me by cracking their knuckles and I think...maybe a pda couple sitting beside me isn't so bad after all. Ha!

Shakespeare isn't always the easiest for me to follow anyway but these distractions certainly didn't help. However, what I did catch though was brilliant. The updating (of sorts) was well orchestrated. Projections were used again to change set and at one point to create a wall of blood. The end of the 1st act manages to be a great cliffhanger even if you do know the story. Other tricks like blood flowing out of the faucet one moment and then running clear the next and a scene on a train that was created by the movement of the cast made me glad I could observe from above.

The way the witches are portrayed was probably the highlight of the play for me. They weaved in and out as maids, nurses, morgue workers, etc. I found myself always trying to spot them again in each scene. 1, 2, 3. It almost didn't seem right if they weren't lurking....

The most famous lines from the play all managed to be presented in a new way, too. What a challenge that is to make something that is so familiar to people effectively new again.

At the end, the head of Patrick Stewart (Macbeth) is held and at that moment I wished I was sitting closer just to see how detailed it was. Need to remember my binoculars the next time I go to a balcony show!

The cast took several curtain calls but I noticed that none of the kids in the show appeared. It apparently was past their bedtime...

Aside from the distractions around me, I found the show to be fascinating and if time and money allowed, it would be one I'd see again so I could catch what I missed the first time.