Much Ado About Nothing (Fourth Show of the 2011 Season)

Oh my gosh, it was so hot today. In the 90s is a rare occasion for Portland, Oregon. So we arrived to the venue, weighted down with picnic foods, water bottles, chairs, and sunglasses. Oh, and a whole bottle of sunscreen. We arrived early enough (about an hour and fifteen minutes) to scored prime seats right in the front of the "tall chair section". As we waited for the show to start we ate, drank, and were all around being merry.

Much Ado About Nothing is a show that Amanda and Wendy are very familiar with, having helped directed a seventh-grade version of it two years ago. Over all, we were both pleased with this production, though it was a lot different seeing seventh graders kiss on the cheek (once) as opposed to seeing grownups make out on stage. All the characters in this production were developed well and the actors had clearly settled into their roles much better than when Amanda went to the same production on opening weekend. She says that between then and now, the show has changed a lot and has gotten much better. She says that at opening weekend the actors were very "flat" but today they seemed to be more comfortable with their roles and with each other.  In particular, the woman playing the role of Dogberry, who on opening weekend was a caricature, but today was "very funny". Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the actor who was playing the uncle. He had decided to play his character somewhere between an enraged Scot and a pirate. He played his scenes for laughs, when his lines indicated a more serious intent.

Amanda would rate the venue to be an 8, because when it was apparent that during the entire second act, the audience would be in full sun, the company decided that at intermission they would trade places with the audience, so the crowd could be in the shade. Amanda thought that this was a very considerate gesture, that the company saved a lot of people in the audience from dying of heat stroke. Amanda also thought that it was lovely that people up and moved when the company told them to, "without a lot of bitching and moaning about it."

Amanda would rate the production a 6.5 because she was slightly disappointed with the lack of chemistry between Hero and Claudio. She feels that Claudio was "too ramped up all the time, there was no subtlety." She also thought that Beatrice spent too much time "gnashing her teeth", and did not seem to appreciate everyone falling in love. Instead of looking feisty, she just looked angry.

Wendy would rate the production to be a 6, because there was too much bad singing. Amanda agrees, the singing was just awful. Both Wendy and Amanda enjoy music, but when it is good and tasteful. The actors clearly didn't know anything about choral music or how to sing with a group. There was no blending what so ever and it was very off key. Wendy would like to point out that just because you're standing in the middle of the group, does not mean that you have to sing the loudest. Wendy also felt that the actors had problems with projecting (Claudio in particular). She felt like the actors were shouting instead of projecting; we get it there are a lot of people here but actors, you don't need to shout, that is how you lose your voice. Wendy felt that they could have done more with costumes, they were a bit bland. But she supposes that that could be mended with the fact that she won a t-shirt from The Portland Actors Ensemble.

Wendy would rate the venue to be an 8.5, just because it was so hot. She also felt bad for all the little (so cute!!) babies and puppies that were in the audience. She was very uncomfortable in the heat and could only imagine how they were feeling. Wendy liked that Gabriel Park was practically in her back yard, and was very thankful when the company and the audience switched places. The bathrooms were pretty close and there weren't any drunk angry people around, what more could you ask for?

Finally, a word about The Watch. Amanda and Wendy were both very disappointed by The Watch. Traditionally The Watch has been the comic relief for what can be a very heavy show. In this production, this was not the case. This Watch had one piece of shtick; crossing themselves holding plastic police batons, every time the word "God" was mentioned. That was it. It's sad when a group of seventh-grade boys can out slapstick a group of professional actors.

Extra credit to Rachel for providing the awesome photos.  You're the best stalker ever!