Picard and Gandalf in Infinite Loop

While we waited for Godot, Captain Jean-Luc Picard (notable for commanding U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D) and Gandalf (best remembered for leading the Jews out of Egypt) performed a staged version of Groundhog Day for family and friends. Seeing as Godot never arrived, despite his multiple promises, I suppose it was just as well. However, since it turns out I'm not writing an article for The Onion, here's what really happened:

[Professor Plum with the rope in the Ballroom]

Last night I learned that a perk of being friends with Theatre people is that you might occasionally get invited to an invitation-only performance of something you actually want to see. In this case, the dress-rehearsal of Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett, starring Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen, who were periodically interrupted by other actors passing through the set. To be fair, the others were very very good, they just weren't British knights, you might say. Stewart and McKellen staged the same production at a West End theatre in London back in 2009, so clearly it's a love project for these two men in their early to mid-70's, and it shows.

via Ian McKellen's Twitter

My Review

I don't really want to write a review of the play; there will no doubt be plenty of reviews by the time it opens. I enjoyed it very much, thought it had interesting commentary on our relationship with time, and would recommend it to almost anyone, but I'd rather write about the experience.

My Experience

This was only the second Broadway show I'd ever been to. The first was Les Misérables in 2000, which, my god, was amazing and made the 14 year-old Bret realize not all theatre was as terrible as The King and I or A Christmas Carol (apologies if you hold those in high regard as great theatre, and please don't invite me to your favorite Sarah Ruhl play either). I actually asked my dad and Jill if they would just let me stay home alone, to do nothing, instead of going to Les Misérables, but they insisted it would be good for me to experience "culture" or something.

We sat on the balcony level and the 1417 seat Imperial Theatre actually felt small to me, but perhaps that is a reflection of how unsuited the previous venues I had attended were for live theatre. I only specifically remember a few numbers such as Castle on a Cloud, Master of the House, and Do You Hear the People Sing, but it's more about the feeling I came away with, and how it made me more receptive to theatre in general.

Waiting for Godot and Les Misérables are as dissimilar as me and my 14 year old self. I have seen quite a bit of theatre in the last 13 years, but most of it has been either college, or very far off Broadway professional productions. Last night, when Sir Ian McKellen literally climbed on stage, it was magical. He legitimately could have been mistaken as a homeless man on the street, but it was the way he moved that really catches your eye. "Oh, this is what real acting is like," I thought to myself. I kept trying to imagine someone else playing his role, but all I could imagine was a caricature of the part. "You can't help but watch him" seemed to be the general consensus of everyone.

Sir Patrick Stewart is a commanding presence, which I guess ins't surprising considering his history of playing Shakespearean kings. He draws your attention more with his delivery than his physical movements. I will say, I never thought about Captain Picard during his performance, and coming from me, that's a huge compliment. I mean, come on, Star Trek is unquestionably the reason I wanted to see it.

I would be interested in hearing thoughts about the performance from my actor friends, but in much the same way that Les Mis helped me appreciate theatre in general, I might say Waiting for Godot helped me appreciate stage acting. Seeing two masters of their profession interact and perform is refreshing and heart-warming. With their final bow, a little dance, and tip of the hat, perhaps they were cluing the audience in that it's just as magical for them as it is for us.

Post Waiting [for Godot]

Liz and I met up with some friends at a bar afterwards. One person seemed distraught at my suggestion that she should drink something she likes instead of basing her decision on popular opinion, but it was an otherwise normal evening.

More Waiting

I'm convinced the A train knows when I'm waiting for it, and hates me. I'm also starting to suspect hope the subway is run by Ommpa Loompas who use tiny doors to move around and terrorize children. Liz didn't want to, but I made her go stand in front of a door for scale reference.

We came back, bought a frozen pizza on the way to my apartment, and watched Frasier while it cooked. So... after you've waited about 25 minutes for an oven to pre-heat and cook a pizza, pretty much the most disappointing thing you can do is then accidentally flip that pizza over and drop it on the bottom of the oven, and find when you're able to get the pizza flipped back over, all of the cheese, sauce, and pepperonis have detached themselves from the crust, and found a new home in the crack between the oven door.

I mean, we tried to eat it pretending it was a big round breadstick, but it just wasn't very satisfying. So, pizza bites to the rescue!

Unfortunately, patience was running thin, so we microwaved them instead of cleaning and reusing the oven. Microwaved pizza bites just won't make you feel better about life very often. On the other hand, they are technically food, and they will help you acknowledge that it is, indeed, time to cut your losses and go to bed.