Gleeam (Fringe Festival 2011)

Karen Tortora-Lee — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 12:06:06 +0000

There was so much to be excited about before heading into Gleeam – the Glee / Scream Mash-up Musical written by Andrew Lloyd Baughman with lyrics by Phil Close and directed by Emily Jablonski. First of all, the advanced artwork was fun and clever. The iconic loser “L” now holds a menacing knife! How cunning! Secondly, the idea was how-can-you-miss?-perfect: two well-recognized, well-received high school memes thrown together to create one fantastic pot of crazy zaniness. Hilarious! Thirdly, the venue (Le Poisson Rouge) is sexy and spooky all at the same time, glowing red against oceans of black. “This is gonna be good,” I thought to myself as I took my seat and waited – I’ll say it – gleefully … while taking in the gorgeous backdrop done by talented artist Jared Davis.

It didn’t take long, however, to realize that Gleeam was actually not going to live up to its advanced hype.

Backdrop by Jared Davis

The story is thin, but that’s not really the worst part. Basically we find the Glee kids (their names removed, their stereotypes inserted, so we’re left with characters called “Slutty Slut”, “Wheelchair Kid”, “Gay Kid” etc.) going about their business in the Scream world, where one by one they start getting picked off in gruesome and bloody ways. It’s predictable. Okay … I’ve seen flimsier plots.

There were some technical difficulties and some characters had to deal with terrible static coming through their head mics, but the actors gamely navigated around those issues – at least during the performance I attended. So that wasn’t really the worst thing either.

A number of jokes either fell flat or were so steeped in fan-lore that it required too much dot-connecting, leaving the audience feeling left out. How do I know? Because the venue is cabaret-style seating and it was easy enough to read the faces of fellow audience members. Throughout the short show I saw many people who looked confused, or far too happy (by contrast) to see the waitress arrive with their soup. Food should not be the highlight of your theatre experience.

Gleeam didn’t actually make much use of the synergy you’d expect would be at its disposal by combining two hugely popular franchises, which is a shame. There was so much potential here and much of what could have been brilliant parody was left to flounder in the shallow end of head-scratching mockery.

But here’s my real problem with Gleeam. There were two particularly polished moments in the show that elevated the entire production to a level which it just couldn’t maintain – one, the duet “Gay Enough For Love” between Sensitive Jock (Harv Lester) and Gay Kid (Jase Parker) and the show-stopping “Black Don’t Crack” sung by Black Girl (Justine Hall backed up by Phillip McLeod, Patrick Prebula and Brad Rakushin) which brought down the house. Moments like this made it clear that the team behind Gleeam had the goods to deliver … so why did the rest of the show look like it was trying to catch up to those two breakout moments?

It’s unnerving to know that a show could be better than what it is. It’s disappointing to watch a cast of extremely talented people working with material that’s not giving them enough to shine. It’s frustrating to know that a theatre company which already brought one mash-up to the 2010 Capital Fringe (Carrie Potter at the New Moon Prom) wouldn’t have arrived on the NYC Fringe scene this year with a tightly produced show worthy of its namesakes.

Personally I’d love to see this show go through a few more tweaks – there’s way too much potential in the material for it to not rise to the height it deserves. That the cast is talented is undeniable, and the songs by Phil Close were clever, funny and thoroughly enjoyable. Plus, all the begging-to-be-mocked plot lines are there. In the end, however, rather than pop and sizzle the whole thing ran sadly and slowly down the wall like a carelessly tossed Slushie. To quote Gleeam itself: “Sometimes a mash-up combines two great tastes into something downright awful … and everyone hates it.”

~~~

Gleeam
The Landless Theatre Company
Writer: Andrew Lloyd Baughman, with Lyrics by Phil Close
Director: Emily Jablonski

1h 15m
VENUE #15: Le Poisson Rouge
Fri 26 @ 3:45

NBC’s Trauma, Best New Show?

K. B. Abele — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 03:51:08 +0000

Every Fall the networks begin their usual marketing announcements of “Best New Show This Season” and “Most Exciting Drama.” As audiences, we have grown accustomed to tuning it out. They say it every year about every show. One would think that after over 50 years of television the marketing professionals would finally figure out new creative strategies. This season was no different and with large campaigns from Glee, Mercy, Flash Forward and yes, even Cougar Town–it’s come to be that really, there is a best new show of the season and it’s NBC’s Trauma.

Don’t get me wrong, Glee certainly has actually given every network show a good run for its money with its upbeat sing-a-longs and downright hilarious social commentaries but when it comes down to it, the best is usually a tad underrated at first. Like House, MD was six years ago.

Trauma follows the lives of six paramedics in San Francisco and the drama that comes along with it. The first few episodes were a bit shaky, focusing mainly on the formulas given to most medical-related dramas: Accident, blood, doctors, surgery, saving the day–with a dash of sexual tension thrown in for good measure. But a few short weeks later and the show has begun to map out its path in the world of prime-time television.

The shows two notables are hands down Anastasia Griffith and Cliff Curtis. Griffith who plays the show’s protagonist Nancy Carnahan–an ex MD who after an as-yet-undiscussed event became a paramedic and whose boyfriend dies in a helicopter crash in the pilot–carries most of the show with her banter and tough-girl demeanor that is both believable and pitiable. You feel for her, her losses–and recognize that this chick has more gall than most men in Manhattan. Curtis plays Rabbit, an “Angel Rescue” paramedic whose blatant disregard for rules and sultry seduction skills make him the would-be child of Don Draper and Gregory House. The New Zealand native owns every scene and has an interesting chemistry with Griffith on screen that keeps you wanting more.

Most medical and crime dramas tend to follow the ‘introduce problem–solve problem’ formula each episode. This is a bit frustrating as we, the audience, are aware that whatever side characters come in will simply be healed and set on their merry ways with the 2 episodes maximum a year where the writers feel diabolical and actually kill someone. Trauma’s writers, though, seem to be interested in telling good stories at the forefront. Two episodes already within the six episodes that have aired have been beautifully written and uniquely moving. “Bad Day at Work” is surprisingly dark and frightening–it tells the story of a disgruntled ex-employee who shoots up an entire office building. The writing does not allow for a g-rated portrayal of the event. You see people hiding under their desks, where the killer looks at them slowly, and then shoots then point blank. There also was no foreshadowing, we as the audience were caught just as unawares as the characters. To bring it back to the main characters, one’s wife is stuck in the building and the man cowering next to her is shot, she is missed by centimeters. Also, in an attempt to save the wounded–Nancy and Rabbit put their lives in serious jeopardy.

A second great episode puts Nancy and her partner in a severe car accident, where their co-workers are forced to make the moral decision whether to save their friends or the rest of the 20 plus people injured in the wreckage.

The show is still young but it has plenty of room to grow and I am certain that it will. Each episode is an exciting thrill-ride complete with blood, guts, gross injuries and crazy scenarios.

Gleeam (Fringe Festival 2011)

The Happiest Medium » Glee

Gleeam (Fringe Festival 2011)

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NBC’s Trauma, Best New Show?

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