Three shows in three days. Hardly my record (and certainly no match for the boys who are in a show showdown) but it sure was a fun weekend. It started wtih Matthew Bourne's Edward Scissorhands. Not to put a fine point on it, the music sucked. Starting off from the movie theme and building a full ballet around it was not particularly musically interesting. But oh, the density of the dancing. 
With so many characters so fully realized as individuals, so richly costumed to capture that individuality, there was so much going on onstage at any given moment it was dizzying and delicious. Add to that the fine male forms on display in the pool party scene and it was great fun all around. Seeing ES at BAM brought back to mind Morris' Hard Nut, which similarly took an old story and gave it great depth and resonance by recasting many of the characters and costumes. Of course, he also had the exquisite music of the Nutcracker Suite. Bourne only had Elfman's score and new material from other composers to fill out the music. But that's the only place it failed for me.
Then there was the Propeller Company. They come every year and perform Shakespeare in fabulously low comedy without sacrificing high art. Consider James Baughan as Sir Toby Belch in 12th Night — first he vomits from drinking too much, and then takes a pratfall slipping in his own spew. Disgustingly funny. For those of you who have never seen this company you should know that the players are all men. The women's parts are done in drag, but more along the lines of good old-fashioned 70s gender-fuck: if a man has a beard, he plays the woman's role with a beard. If there's a low cut dress and the man has a hairy chest, well then, that's what we see. And any opportunity to use a bare butt for a laugh was fully taken advantage of.
I was also happy to have another chance to see scary-sexy Simon Scardifield — both as Katherine in Shrew, and Sir Andrew Aguecheek in 12th Night. I've rarely seen an actor have such a good time. As Katherine, he could shoot killing looks at his Petruchio with just a glance. 
And to watch Dugald Bruce-Lockhart as Petruchio go from the frighteningly violent Petruchio to the high style Olivia the next night — this is great acting. It's one reason I live in NYC — you can be sure to see work like this. There was one scene in 12th Night where the actor switches from Viola to Sebastian's character in mid-step with simply body language. This is truly embodying character. If you ever have the chance to see these actors, don't miss them.
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