Goldstar

• 3.0
• Written on May 16 2008

I will acknowledge that this production is not for everyone. The clue of this being for a mature audience will tell you this is not a production to bring the whole family to. I enjoyed it, but I knew if I asked a certain friend to go, she would not have liked it. This one is hard to place as to who the target audience is and how to find the audience to see this production. I'll only say I was surprised at the ending! This is a character study of a conductor who is let's say is very consumed by his art to the point of madness. We hear the thoughts of the characters as they speak out loud what they are thinking. About half way through the production, the conductor starts talking about events that even he isn't sure are real or imagined and you realize this guy is losing it right before your eyes!

All the actors were wonderful and the timing of this piece is very important, therefore kudos goes out to the directors! The conductor not only has most of the lines to speak, but must be constantly conducting an orchestra as well as the concertmaster having to continually saw his bow across his violin as if he were playing in the concert.

This is an edgy piece. I would say that one would not necessarily have to know much about classical music to enjoy this play. People that like psychological thrillers would enjoy this as long as they aren't squeamish. I'll even throw out that Alice Cooper fans that have seen his live concerts and a particular long piece about a character's descent into madness might enjoy this, especially from the front row.

• 2.0
• Written on May 12 2008

Boring, boring, boring.

• 2.0
• Written on May 12 2008

The play is entertaining to those who have read Leonard Bernstein biographies and enjoy Wagner's music but may bewilder those who haven't. As always, McNally's stream-of-consciousness dialogue is both a challenge and a pleasure.