I've never been to Mass, and after seeing "The Mass," Friday night with my Patroness of the Arts cousin Phaedra, all others will be completely ruined and will pale in comparison. For anyone not familiar (and I was in that boat before experiencing "Mass: The Musical" three days ago) Bernstein created Mass: A Theater Piece for Singers, Players and Dancers when Jacqueline Kennedy herself asked him to create something for the opening of the Kennedy Center. And what a thing he created.
One word to describe the experience: intense. Maybe two words, so I can also include Wow. And crazy. And amazing. And head-spinning. And Holy crap--did I just see that?! It's singers, dancers, and players, as the title suggests, and it's crazy to think how it all went down together. I will admit that I didn't love it completely, I was a little bored at the beginning, and I think it would've been better if the singers hadn't been acting out their roles, but there was a show-stopping number near the end that was incredible. There were many times I had no idea what was going on (did I mention I'm not Catholic) but luckily found where we were at in the libretto and was able to follow along.
And, on a sidenote of coincidence, Friday would've been JFK's 92nd birthday. A Jewish boy celebrating a Catholic president by putting Mass in musical/stage glory. What a great world we live in.
Monday, June 1, 2009
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1 comments:
I think you summed it up pretty well! Definitely head-spinning! I loved being styled "Patroness of the Arts"
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