Saturday, April 01, 2006

Watched A Language of Their Own, followed by RENT, last night. What a coincidence, both shows have patients with AIDS in them.

ALTO is by Checkpoint Theatre, of Atomic Jaya credentials. I expected a strong script, with intense acting and minimal design. I was not disappointed. This also means I wondered aloud where my $35 went to, since it obviously did not go to the set, props, costumes, etc ... nevertheless, the fast-paced dialogues and word-plays kept the audience glued to their seats. The clever and sharp lighting kept me fascinated for a while, before it got a little tiring by halfway of the play ... Phin and Peter did not disappoint, although they did not need to stray far away from their own personality. I had problems adjusting to Mark's character, and even my companion said so too ... All in all a decent piece of theatre production, which would be a pat to the theatre company's shoulders, and not much more.

RENT the movie. Now, my biggest impression, after watching it, is that ... the music was too loud. This means, the sound system in the new Cathay cinema was too awesome, and that the film's sound engineer did a fantastic job balancing ALL the songs in the film, such that the ballets sounded as loud as the rock numbers ... Now, it was great to see some of the scenes staged in real location. On the other hand, as the director kept more or less faithful to the stage script, many of the scenes, as they were faded out and in from scene to scene, felt disjointed and disconnected, and hence, a little short ... the ensemble of 7 or 8 leads were great, everybody had distinct characters, they had their moments, and we love all of them. Rosario Dawson made for a very sexy and gorgeous Mimi. Everybody did not look a day older than they were when they took the show to the stage a decade ago, hah hah hah ... Strongly recommended over the current crop of films screening now, except before The Producers open, BUT BRING YOUR EAR PLUGS!

♥ 8:54 pm