What I liked
The story, setting, and acting were all good. By the end of the play, it was clear to me who every charecter was, and how they felt about each other. Some seemed to genuinly love each other, some seemed to hate each other, some seemed in the middle. But it was clear, and thats what was important. Acting-wise, everyone was able to maintain a realitic level of believability. And by the end, everything came together in a pretty brilliant concept that I thought was pretty flawlessly excecuted.
Also, since the transition between act 1 and two is pretty complicated, I did enjoy that one charecter with the Ukelele coming out to entertain us while that happened. It was a nice touch.
What I didn't like
I preface this part because I saw the preview performance of this show. At this point, some of the problems I had might have been fixed.
While the acting was great and believable, the energy was low. I do not know if this was intentional or not. While this can work for film, for a play at the mainstage at the Broadwater, it didn’t translate as well for me. Because the space is so big, and the energy was low, sometimes, I couldn’t hear the actors, which had me lost at times. And considering it is important for us to remember the first act as we watch the 2nd act, that hinders the overall delivery of the show. There were some aspects, like the covering for the unlimited soda’s, that I had to ask about after the show. It probably would have been more appropriate for a smaller stage, if the energy was intentional. Because I couldn’t hear some lines, and the energy was low, it made the play sometimes hard to follow.
Script-wise, there were some charecters that I felt like I didn’t spend enough time with to really care about, such as the guy with the Ukelele or the guy with hat.
My overall impression
A snapshot of 90’s life as told from a group of friends who seem to be going nowhere in life, and are cool with it. Images of Bill and Ted and the cast of Friends are conjured up when watching this show, and in some ways the show reaches those heights, and sometimes it does not. But at the end of the day, I don’t regret seeing this show, and I don’t think you will either. Check it out.
