![\"Photo](\"http:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/09-AVFTBLA_L.A._02-09-2016_-9669.jpg\")
<\/a>Photo by Jan Versweyveld.<\/p><\/div>\n
In the meantime, I want to tell you about this interesting show at the Ahmanson Theatre in DTLA, whose opening night I just attended.<\/p>\n
No matter what I say here, I\u2019m still recommending A View From The Bridge<\/em>, for many reasons, which I\u2019ll get to along the way. I didn\u2019t hate<\/em> it, as many others have admitted to\u00a0me that they did; it\u2019s just different. And a bit head-scratching. And not my cup of tea, on any level.<\/p>\n But if you just take it on its own merits, I think you\u2019ll appreciate it. No matter which way you go on it, I hope that you at least understand how privileged we Angelenos are to have the opportunity to see an authentic, Tony-winning Broadway production right in our own backyard.<\/p>\n The very first show I saw in my first theatre department (I attended four<\/em> colleges\u2014don\u2019t ask,) was A View From The Bridge<\/em>.\u00a0 As a freshman, I thought that the seniors in the play must be the most grown-up people in the world to be able to portray these sad adults so well.\u00a0 But, even though I had seen many shows a year with my family for my entire seventeen years of life, this one freaked me out a bit.\u00a0 I guess my parents had shielded me from dramas about dysfunctional families. Our forte was musical comedy. (I can practically do My Fair Lady<\/em> word-for-word, different accents included.)<\/p>\n The interesting thing is that, for people who have never seen a production of this play before, (yes\u2014though they\u2019d be wont to admit it, even many cultured peeps have not seen it,) this<\/em> will be the one against which they judge the \u201cnormal\u201d productions they may see in the future! Wow. I would have never recognized this as the same play I saw in college if I had not known the title.<\/p>\n Photo by Jan Versweyveld.<\/p><\/div>\n So, as soon as I knew A View From The Bridge<\/em> was coming here, I was ever so curious to see it again from this side of life.\u00a0 (And also to see the pared-down staging that won a couple of Tony Awards on Broadway earlier this year.)<\/p>\n But I have to admit that I did not love it. I found many annoyances with this staging, by director Ivo van Hove, even though when I reviewed the Tonys earlier this summer, his is one of the very few acceptance speeches I lauded. So, I\u2019m a fan of his<\/em>, but perhaps not of his work. Well, of this<\/em> one, anyway. (Ooo\u2014I\u2019m sure he\u2019s shaking in his boots over that<\/em> revelation.)<\/p>\n And, nothing to do with this particular production, but I\u2019m also not a fan of Arthur Miller\u2019s always-depressing plays. But I totally get that A View From The Bridge<\/em> is a timeless, classic story. I just wish that, when researching it for this review, I had not found-out that it\u2019s a true<\/em> one! Not an upper. The best thing about it, though, is that it reminds each one of us who comes in contact with it just how lucky we are, in general, and how relatively easy we have it in life, no matter our own crosses to bear.<\/p>\n And the show piqued my intellectual curiosity enough for me to have spent many hours researching the play, this perplexing production of it, and the playwright, Arthur Miller, himself, all of them fascinating topics. So, as easy it would have been to dismiss, I\u2019m glad I did not.<\/p>\n And the topic (of immigrants coming into this country illegally for a chance at a better life,) is relevant right now. It could be called The Donald Trump Story<\/em>\u2014the story of a classless douchebag who wants to deport immigrants, and ruin their lives. (I just hope that the real life saga we\u2019re living through right now has a better ending, with a sane woman<\/em> leading our triumph over evil.)<\/p>\n Okay, let\u2019s get to what I did not<\/em> love about this particular production, and then its merits after that.<\/p>\n Most notably, there was a horrible undercurrent of uber-annoying sound, which reminded me of tuvan throat singing. And it played the entire time<\/em>! I would have given-up every secret I\u2019ve ever had to get them to stop it! It was torture. And there was absolutely no need for it; it added nothing, (except discomfort.) It\u2019s basically the ominous music that\u2019s usually played at the end of movies and TV shows, that signals a depressing end is coming. But we did not need that omen this time\u2014it\u2019s Arthur Miller<\/em>! We all know<\/em> a horrible end is coming when we buy our tickets!!!<\/p>\n Photo by Jan Versweyveld.<\/p><\/div>\n Here are the other aspects of the show that I disliked, even though I\u2019m sure other reviewers loved the innovations: the bare set that caused location confusion\u2014we didn\u2019t know if it was inside, outside, or elsewhere; that all the actors are barefoot (athlete’s foot, anybody?); that the two real<\/em> Italian characters, (straight off the boat from Italy,) have no accents<\/em>!, (and it\u2019s weird\u2014main character Eddie is the only one who even has a Brooklyn accent [and I should know\u2014that\u2019s my \u2018hood!,] when they\u2019re all<\/em> from there!); the sound quality is awful\u2014it\u2019s hard to hear the actors, especially the main guy, although I\u2019ve never had trouble hearing in this theatre before, (so I sort-of felt like I was eavesdropping,) and people around me kept asking each other, \u201cWhat did he say?,\u201d which made it even harder to make out what they were saying!; the way-too-dark lighting; that time was portrayed terribly; and the awful posture of the actor who played the lawyer. I get very distracted by bad posture, whether it\u2019s on an actor, an athlete, or a regular person\u2014it\u2019s hard for me to listen to what someone’s saying if I keep wanting to pull their shoulders back the whole time they\u2019re talking. But that could be just me.<\/p>\n On the plus<\/em> side, the staging was interesting, as was the seating of many audience members on both sides of the stage. I think that might have been an attempt to make the cavernous Ahmanson feel a bit more intimate. And on opening night, that entire assemblage was attired in shades of black and gray; there was not even a Steven Spielberg speck of color! It made me wonder if that was a pre-requisite of getting seated there. (That let me<\/em> out\u2014for some reason unknown even to myself, I was dressed like a clown that night! Maybe my ESP told me to do that, so that I would not<\/em> have to sit on the stage.)<\/p>\n Also of note, there was a lot of humor in this version, which I did not remember. That\u2019s always good.<\/p>\n Another surprise element is that it was not done as a period piece. I guess it really could have been of today, if there are still shipyard workers in Red Hook. (I\u2019ve only been to that area to eat. Of course.)<\/p>\n Photo by Jan Versweyveld.<\/p><\/div>\n Having earned my college degree in Speech and Theatre, I feel like the fact that the young girl character\u2019s wardrobe was the only one with some color has some significance, but I have too much else on my mind these days to spend too many brain cells on figuring that one out. I\u2019ll leave it to you.<\/p>\n All in all, though, I recommend that you see this show, and when you do, just try to get used to the strangeness early on, so that you can go with the flow of the story itself. And just enjoy it for what it is. And who knows\u2014if you\u2019re deeper than I am, (which is not hard to be,) you just may love everything that I did not. As for the actual Brooklyn Bridge, which I\u2019ve been in love with my whole life, I enjoy the view of<\/em> it much more than the view from<\/em> it. That just may be why Arthur Miller and I look at life so differently.<\/p>\n A View From The Bridge<\/em> running through October 16, 2016<\/strong> A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE I know\u2014you were expecting to read my thoughts on the Emmys here today.\u00a0 But I seriously needed a day to process it all, (and to rest-up from all the attendant gifting suites,) so I will share my bon mots on the proceedings with you tomorrow.\u00a0 (I hope you all enjoyed<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a>
\n Ahmanson Theatre \u00a0135 N. Grand Ave. \u00a0213-972-4400 www.centertheatregroup.org<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"