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Animal Crackers
May. 26th, 2011 10:33 amI saw "Animal Crackers" at the Lyric last night. I'm told the performance was comparable to the movie. I followed more of the dialog and got more of the jokes than I'd have expected to, given the speed at which they were delivered, the false accents, and my bad hearing. And I was really impressed by the short actor -- is he new? The plot was minimal but plausible, the costumes were good.
All the pieces seemed to be in place, but somehow they didn't click for me. Through most of the show, I was very conscious that I was watching people playing roles -- the characters didn't come alive for me. This could be because I recognized many of the actors from previous shows, or because I know what the Marx Brothers look like and those weren't them.
I think casting a woman as Harpo was a good decision; I'd have been very uncomfortable with the character otherwise. I guess the line between comedy and sexual assault has shifted a bit since the show was originally performed?
All the pieces seemed to be in place, but somehow they didn't click for me. Through most of the show, I was very conscious that I was watching people playing roles -- the characters didn't come alive for me. This could be because I recognized many of the actors from previous shows, or because I know what the Marx Brothers look like and those weren't them.
I think casting a woman as Harpo was a good decision; I'd have been very uncomfortable with the character otherwise. I guess the line between comedy and sexual assault has shifted a bit since the show was originally performed?
