The theater is a jealous mistress.
That's what I was told a couple of decades ago by a theater faculty peer of my wife and it has certanly been proven to be true. It (drama, as a discipline) is a labor intensive craft; add in the requirements of academia and the demands strain the hell out of a marriage.
There are side benefits, however. A few, to be sure, but they do exist. One benefit is seeing kids interested in the field struggle through a brazenly subjective arena populated with remarkably bold personalities that often mask equally insecure (bipolar?) personas. Educational theater is uneven at best, and if you're going to get some enjoyment out of it, you have to learn to be charitable with your critiques and revel in the progress you see on stage as freshmen become seniors.
That's why the parody presented below was so enjoyable. I'm not sure the beauty of the end-product will come through to the uninvolved viewer but if you're familiar with the Essential Theatre at Florida A&M University -- well, these kids freakin' nailed it. The writing is crisp, and definitely on the money. The acting is fun and the students bring their faculty to life as they lovingly savage them in this piece.
That's the way I see it anyway. Take a look and see for yourself:
Yes, wifey is the Dean and yes they zapped the hell out of her (Sweetie!). But they got after every single one of their professors and that's what makes the video work so damn well.
I love mementos that serve as snapshots in time and that's exactly what this is. Years from now it could be that one or two of these students (or one of the faculty members they portrayed) will have gone on to bigger and better things on the big screen, scriptwriting, backstage or on Broadway. At that future date we'll forever be able to reflect back on this piece and say with great pride . . . I remember when !!! Which is exactly what I felt a few years ago watching Anika Noni Rose tear it up on Broadway.
Among a cast that included Terrence Howard (Brick), Phylicia Rashad (Big Mama), James Earl Jones (Big Daddy), Lou Myers (Reverend Tooker), and Giancarlo Esposito as Gooper, it was our own Anika in the leading role of Maggie who stole the show, as the New York Times itself admitted.
Anika exhibited Rattler Pride in that Broadway performance and, similarly, these students have done the same. Congratulations to all of them on a job well done, especially Stacy Mosby who played herself in the parody and was the writer / director.
Hi RG! That was fun! Steph
Posted by: StephUF | May 02, 2013 at 08:36 AM