Hey, look, it's my office

[jethrien]

My parents came up for the weekend, so we went to my office. One of those odd things about working in a tourist attraction - I end up there on my days off, too. It was kind of cool, though - we went to one of the special exhibits I never have time to go to.

We also saw a fairly terrible play, Perfect Crime. Apparently it's the longest running non-musical in New York. This says something sad about serious theater. It had been off-Broadway since 1987, and recently moved to the Snapple Theater. We knew there was trouble when at 8:04 the usher started telling us that we could move up if we wanted to. (We were about two-thirds of the way back.) Also, the lead actress originated the role and has been in all but 4 performances since 1987. The first scene was impossible to follow. The second act wrapped what seemed like most of the loose ends, as a good mystery should. Only, I was waiting for one guy to jump out of the curtains at the end. He never did. He just murdered another character for no reason I can figure out, walked off, and never came back. When the lights came up at the end, the usher had to start the clapping. We tried talking it through as we left the theater. As did everyone else around us. No, still didn't quite make sense. When your audience leaves the theater saying "Wait - how many people died again?", you have a problem.

In other news, I finished We {heart} Katamari yesterday. Despite never being able to get more than a small cow. Stupid cow bear level.

Comments

[jeths-mom.livejournal.com]

Wait... how is it "finished" without getting the big cows. Cheater!!

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

I got a little cow, which was enough to get a little planet. I unlocked all the other levels. In all, I had enough planets to roll up the sun without having to make the cowbear planet bigger.

[(Anonymous)]

Even worse is when your audience (after they wake up), mutters, "Why didn't they just kill them ALL and be done with it?" Or as I say to Bob when he wakes up during all Merchant/Ivory films and asks, "What happened?" "Well, they went to town. Then they came back."

[feiran.livejournal.com]

I bet you only think you're done. :)

For example, have you played the cousins level, which appears when you collect all the cousins? Have you rolled up one MILLION roses (have fun with that)? There's more stuff lurking around in the corners of the game.

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

No, I haven't found either, yet. I did find the astronaut with the comet about to hit earth.

Do I get anything cool for finishing the cowbear level? I hate the cowbear level. The fire level's pretty damn annoying, too, but at least they sing to you and give you the firefly level when you beat it.

[fairylane.livejournal.com]

And people wonder why dramaturgs are necessary in theatres...seriously, with a play that's been running long enough to be a college student, you'd think they could have done some revising, particulary if the usher has to start the clapping after every show. That's so demoralizing/embarrassing, and I can't believe your performance was the only one it's happened at.

Bad theatre makes me sad. Unless it's so bad it's funny.

[jeths-mom.livejournal.com]

See, that's what my reaction was. How could this poor woman put all this energy (and she obviously was working hard), night after night, into these same lines, with the same reaction to her work, and not be depressed. It's like working in a factory, but with people watching and judging your every move. I hope it pays well. Her resume listed tons of other stuff including teaching at a decent university in New York, so I guess it's just sort of steady work on the side. If I were one of the actors, I'd be tempted to mess with the lines just to see what happens.

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

How do you know they don't?

Actually--that'd be hysterical, if they subtly changed things every night, just to see if anyone noticed. That would also explain why parts of the play make no sense: They used to.