{"id":93860,"date":"2025-05-25T23:50:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-26T06:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/?p=93860"},"modified":"2025-05-25T23:50:00","modified_gmt":"2025-05-26T06:50:00","slug":"everything-old-is-new-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/blog\/2025\/05\/25\/everything-old-is-new-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything Old is New Again"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cAs I got older, I lost my virginity to both a boy and
\na girl within six months.  And I liked both of those experiences.<\/em><\/span>”
\n<\/em><\/span> – <\/em><\/span>Kevin McHale <\/strong>shares tales of his sexual awakening.  By the by, he is currently in
\nLondon appearing in Sondheim<\/strong>\u2019s The Frogs<\/em><\/strong> at the Southwark Playhouse
\n<\/em>through June 28th<\/sup>.  Who he\u2019ll sleep with there remains to be seen!<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In terms of theatre, the Brits have it all over us \u2013 and I\u2019m not just saying that because they serve ice cream.  It\u2019s because their theatre tickets are affordable.  You want to bring the kids to see Wicked<\/em><\/strong>?  You won\u2019t have to take out a second mortgage on your house.  You want the best seat?  Maybe you\u2019ll pay the equivalent of $150 for the center orchestra.  My sister and her kids went to see Hugh Jackman <\/strong>at Radio City Music Hall<\/em>.  They paid $350 each to sit in the back of the mezzanine!  Life is much more civilized in Merry Old England.<\/p>\n

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Most of the shows I saw were adaptations of other works.  I\u2019ve never seen the film House of Games<\/em><\/strong>.  The David Mamet <\/strong>movie has been adapted for the stage by Richard Bean <\/strong>and was playing at the Hampstead Theatre<\/em>.  From what I gather, the second half of the play varies from the screen version.  But I can\u2019t imagine the film is better than the taut, 90-minute thriller I saw \u2013 and that goes for the writing, the acting, and even the set.  While I completely followed it, I suspect I was in the minority.  I heard many patrons trying to unravel the various twists and turns after the performance.  Of course, I was at a matinee!<\/p>\n

Then there was Stranger Things: The First Shadow<\/em><\/strong>.  While I could appreciate the stagecraft and performances, I left the play complete baffled \u2013 probably because I\u2019ve never seen the series.  I knew I was in trouble when the person sitting next to me showed up in full Star Trek<\/em><\/strong> regalia!  While there is no connection between the two series, they do inspire the same rabid loyalty.  The play was entertaining, and I bet if I had a clue what was happening, I would have loved it.<\/p>\n

\"colorbar1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

People regularly adapt Ibsen<\/strong>, and that goes for The Master Builder<\/em><\/strong>.  And now London is dissecting My Master Builder<\/em><\/strong> by Lila Raicek<\/strong>.  It\u2019s not exactly an adaptation, but more inspired by.  And it\u2019s ideal for Ewan McGregor<\/strong>, who is using it as a vehicle for his return to the West End<\/em> after 17 years.  He\u2019s been brought back by frequent collaborator, director Michael Grandage<\/strong>.  This version takes place in the Hamptons and uses most of Ibsen\u2019s themes \u2013 with updates to include #MeToo, office politics, and other modern-day issues.  McGregor has an ease about him which makes him generally charming, but he lacks some of the brazen swagger that is typically part of the lead\u2019s makeup.  Whether it was his approach or the writing, the balance ultimately shifts to his wife \u2013 played brilliantly by Kate Fleetwood<\/strong>.  She all but steals the play right out from under him; she\u2019s virtually impossible to take your eyes off whenever she\u2019s onstage.  The smart sets and fluid direction add to a great night of theatre.<\/p>\n

I wonder who thought a great idea for a musical would be The Curious Case of Benjamin Button<\/em><\/strong>.  Again, this is not exactly an adaptation of the F. Scott Fitzgerald <\/strong>short story or the film starring Brad Pitt<\/strong>.  Instead, this is a retelling set in a fishing village near Cornwall.  Benjamin is not the son of a rich button manufacturer; he\u2019s the son of a poor man with the last name Button.  The music reflects the time and the locale.  This is one of those shows where the actors play numerous characters as well as the musical instruments (kudos to Little Jack, who\u2019s also quite a looker and a hoofer).  I am typically able to suspend my disbelief whenever I go to the theatre.  But with this story, I have enormous trouble getting past the conceit of a full-grown elderly man coming out of a petite woman\u2019s vagina \u2013 in a three-piece suit, bowler hat, and carrying a walking stick.  No wonder she didn\u2019t survive!  But if you get past that, this is really a magical show with a very talented cast in an inventive production.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cAs I got older, I lost my virginity to both a boy and a girl within six months.  And I liked both of those experiences.” – Kevin McHale shares tales of his sexual awakening.  By the by, he is currently in London appearing in Sondheim\u2019s The Frogs at the Southwark Playhouse through June 28th.  Who<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-breaking"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93860"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93860\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93869,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93860\/revisions\/93869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}