Molière in the Park (the park being Prospect Park in Brooklyn, at the LeFrak Center)
This is the first time I've ever seen a Molière play. The seven actors (two of whom played multiple roles) did a wonderful job of presenting this French farce in an English translation. All of the speaking actors are members of Actors' Equity Association. Whether a waiver was involved, I do not know. The choreographer danced in the performance, and the composer/cellist also took part in the live performance. I wasn't overwhelmed with the dancing (hip-hop, pop-lock) but it was done well.
OK, I'm going to make this all about me for a few sentences. When I was a kid, we did plagiarized versions of folk tales (Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel) and Disney movie musicals (Alice in Wonderland, Sleeping Beauty) at a playhouse in a park with a covered audience area. This, though, in Brooklyn, was our Playhouse in the Pines on steroids. The set, while minimal, was very effective. The lighting seemed to be effective (I attended a matinee). The audience (about 250 of us) sat in a squared off horseshoe, though all of us could see all of the action.
It was very funny, without veering into slapstick. It turns out that the Imaginary Invalid eventually learns that he really is not an invalid. There are also philosophical agents at work that change the minds of more than one character. Other characters learn to view themselves from other vantage points. Seeing an open-air theater performance was a lot of fun and also brought back a lot of memories.
The organization is called Molière in the Park, and they've been doing this for quite some while (nineteen years?). I'm glad I stumbled upon them this spring. I'll be on the lookout for other presentations of theirs. I am a lucky fellow, indeed.
ConcertMeister
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