A View About Reviewing

Upfront, to explain this entry you need to know I really like going to the theater. Yes, I spell it theater, not theatre, just because I can and it works for me and my spell-check doesn’t seem to give a damn. Anyway, since I’m an opinionated dude anyway (oh, really), a bud or two suggested I should write reviews of the plays I see.

Here’s the prob: the cost of theater tickets in NYC is outrageous, even off-Broadway, and although I am not exactly a poor man I have pretty much been priced-out of buying tickets at the box office and especially on-line where they add other extremities to the arm and leg you are already forking over. (You should know I wanted to use the word “gouge” in here but couldn’t figure out where to put it.) Anyway, except for special occasions, theater is not in the budget of any low-to-middle-income individual or family. I have responded in several ways. 1) I’ve gotten much pickier in my selections and I don’t go as often as I used to, or would like. 2) I go to the TKTS booth in Times Square for discounts. 3) I go to previews, which can sometimes be cheaper (not always—which is yet another irritation). 4) I utilize the coupons I get in the mail. These coupons are a result of buying tickets on-line and, of course, the purveyors sell your name and address to practically anybody who is after your limited entertainment dollar. But, I digress (yet again)…and, 5) I stay home (or go to the movies) and ostentatiously make rude middle-finger gestures at the entire theater industry.

But (sigh), in spite of all of the above caveats, I do attend theatrical events of various stripes on an average of about once a month and almost always enjoy the experience, even though I don’t always like the play. Does that make sense to you? I still adhere to the philosophy that there is nothing like live theater to thrill the senses.

Here’s the prob about writing reviews: I wouldn’t want my opinion to influence anybody’s decision whether or not to lay out the bucks to see something. Then too, when I like something it’s purely visceral and I can’t bring that thrill down by thinking too much about it and putting it into words. When I dislike something I can’t bring that disgust onto the page either, at least in the detail that seems to be required. Opinions that are limited to “I liked it,” or “ptooey” don’t leave much room for discussion. Also, and here’s the true rub I think, unless I’ve already read some reviews, especially the NY Times (those dudes truly have the handle), I don’t know what to think! It seems I need to be told, in advance, that I should or should not like something. Is that sick or what? It would be good if you could go to the theater and let it wash over you, good and bad, and not try to parse it down to the whys and wherefores of why you are pleased, or not.

But I guess it’s human nature to put it into words. Here are mine over the last couple of months: Grey Gardens, off-Broadway; slick and sometimes entertaining; I was not overly pleased with it. The 25th Annual Putnam Counting Spelling Bee, Broadway, excellent and very funny, I enjoyed myself. So there you go, short and sweet; read ‘em and weep.

The Three Penny Opera, in preview, Broadway, April 22. Uh oh, I’m feeling the pressure already.