Yahoo! News: "The Chicago premiere of Yeast Nation (The Triumph of Life), the musical from the Tony Award-winning authors of Urinetown, begins brewing in Chicago on Sept. 17.
American Theater Company (ATC)'s production of the quirky show, with music and lyrics by Mark Hollmann and book and lyrics by Greg Kotis, is directed by artistic director PJ Paparelli."
6 comments:
This show sounds like a bit of a letdown after Urinetown. Urinetown has some of the greatest messages about human nature and the concept of justice that I have encountered in a modern musical. This show seems like it tailors more to the comedy of the situation than the message underneath. Urinetown was great because it was super dark but it also had the comedy and romantic qualities. Yeast Nation, although it might be good, doesn't seem to live up to its predecessor.
I'm really excited about what can be done with this show. I've been realizing lately that the best shows are the ones that sound utterly ridiculous when you try to tell someone the plot in one sentence (i.e. Its a musical about a guy trapped in a cave). I'm interested in a musical about yeast cells. It's better than another musical about a chorus girl from Little Rock. Plus it sounds like it will probably be political or educational. Why not promote learning through art.
When one reads the desciprtion in the article, it seems like a ridculous and outlandish comcept to be followed. But as someone who has experienced a range of theater, I realize that it is in fact some of the most ridiculous sounding shows that often have someone of the most innovative and enlightening concepts. This is because as a whole they company must create a new medium or style of presenting a relatively common storyline.
I really hope that this can live up to what I experienced with Urinetown. It had everything that a theatre lover could want in a show, the dark secrets, the budding young romance, the cheesy dance sequences and a deep political stab at the height of all of the action (premeditated homicide anyone?).
What will be good about Yeast Nation is that it seems to carry the came tone as Urinetown: things are good, things are bad, one character fights to correct society by beating down the man. I just hope that they can continue tastefully breaking down the fourth wall, keeping even the darker moments comedic and never letting the moment die. I wasn't bored for a second in Urinetown, and I wish that I could say that for more shows; maybe Yeast Nation will be next.
This show looks like it could either be hilarious, or poignant. Everything will rely on the execution in terms of the acting and design of the show. I'd love to see how the costumes and sets are going to work for this. I can't imagine how they could costume a single-celled yeast organism without it looking like a 2nd grade art project. (But maybe that will be the look they're going for?)I hope they end up with the show being more poignant than hilarious, but either way, it will be entertaining.
It sounds like the writers of Yeast Nation just said to themselves, "Well, Urinetown was pretty ridiculous, and then it was very successful...so if we make something even MORE ridiculous, it will be even MORE successful!" I don't want to make the judgment without seeing the show first, but it sounds like the story isn't as compelling as the story of Urinetown. However, I don't doubt that it's probably very goofy and witty. It just takes more than a little silliness to get me to spend money to see a show.
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