Weekend Movie and The Book of Mormon

[kybearfuzz]

It's a very entertaining weekend so far.

Saturday afternoon, the Cincinnati MovieBears met up to see "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit." The story involves a young Jack Ryan (Chris Pine) being drafted into the CIA under the guise of being a financial analyst, only to find himself involved in an international plot to wreck the US economy and a terrorist attack. It had quite a bit of actions and some really tense scenes. Normally, I'm not a huge fan of political thrillers, but this was a good movie. I was especially impressed by Kenneth Branagh, who both directed the movie and plays the Russian mastermind. I admit that I've always had a crush on the man. Everyone seemed to enjoy the movie.

We had nine guys show for the outing, the most in a long while. Most of us hit dinner at a nearby bar and grill called "Brothers," where were served by a young, bearded cubby named David. I laughed at this, because it felt like we were somehow being ironically rewarded by having cute, bearded guy wait on us. We tipped him well.

I got home relatively early, but these outings tend to wear me out a little, coordinating everything and trying to make sure everyone is relatively happy. The pint of Guinness also added to the sleepy feeling I usually have. Before going to bed, I got online to see if any tickets were available for the US tour of "The Book of Mormon" for the next day. I lucked out getting one of three available seats.

So today, I saw the matinee show. I admit I had purposefully avoided learning the storyline for the show. I wanted to see it relatively cold to the story and songs, even though I had figured it was very satirical given it was written by the South Park creators. I wasn't disappointed. It was a very fun story, biting in some places, but entertaining.

Somewhere in the middle of the first half, a young couple left. At first I figured that they went to the restroom, but couldn't understand why they left as a pair. They never came back, so I assume that they had been completely and utterly aghast at what they'd seen and heard. I suspect it was the song regarding "F*ç< You, God" that may have sent them over the edge, but it likely could have been any other. I've heard this is not unusual for this show, for people to get upset and leave, but I can't imagine paying out the ticket price and not knowing ANYTHING about the show. The left with such an awkward gait, I can only guess it had something to do with the sticks they were clenching in their rectums.

Anyway, for those of us with stronger constitutions, I think the show was wonderful. My seat had an incredible view of the stage for being up the loge area (the lower tier balcony), so I didn't miss anything. I don't see me singing the songs or anything after, but it was definitely worth the money.

So, I'm off tomorrow and I'll use the day to catch up on things. Work is about to get really busy, so I'm happy for the three-day weekend.

Comments

[changeling72.livejournal.com]

Both sound good. I usually opt for sitting in the dress circle of the theatre, as then one looks across and down at the stage.

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

Glad you got to take in "Book of Morman". As you've said, I can't imagine attending a musical like this without some prep. It's way too expensive in most cities to go unless you think you can handle the satire.

By chance, was there an actor named Ron Boehmer in the cast? If so, I worked with Ron in the early 90's on tour and he's married to a good friend of mine from Phantom:)

[ricksf.livejournal.com]

What a great show to catch! Book of Mormon is one of those landmark shows. No big sets, hum-able songs, or big name stars but it's fun and manages to offend everyone at some point and have them laugh about it (most of the audience anyway). It always surprises me when people leave early from a show. Ticket prices being something of an investment these days and that many folks wait weeks to see a particular show (Mormon's apparently been sold out just about everywhere), you have to wonder...

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed the view from where I was, so I lucked out.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

Well, I know for a fact that there are no refunds on tickets, so they spent a lot of money to leave early in a huff. Oh well...

And, I checked my playbill and Ron Boehmer was in the cast. He played Elder Price's father as well as Joseph Smith. I didn't realize he'd played multiple parts as he wears wigs in the different parts.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

I thought the sets they had were pretty cool, I loved the versatility of different pieces -- doors that moved, couches that slid on and off stage, etc.

One of the reasons I saw it this past weekend was because it's starting its last week here. I figured that everyone who hasn't seen it yet will scramble to watch it and tickets would be impossible to get.

[dendren.livejournal.com]

awesome, I'm glad you got to see, and enjoyed, the show. The hasa ebowei song is probably the biggest sore spot for a lot of folks, but if you listen to the whole context and stay for the entire show, it's all pretty rewarding in the end. I would love to take my Mom to see it, but I don't know that she would be able to get through that one song LOL

Oh... and as far as not wanting to know much about it beforehand... I used to do that all the time but as I've gotten older I tend to read up on the plot summary before I go more and more often. There were too many shows that I didn't really "get" until I read the summary after the show. I try to avoid spoilers around them but at least like to have an idea of what it's all about so I can at least understand it all LOL

[mikiedoggie.livejournal.com]

I love that musical and was also able to see it without prior knowledge. In a strange way, I think the musical is actually very sweet to people of religion; the leads are both sincere (if naive) and very good hearted. It is about as nice as you can get to religion while skewering it through the heart. lol.