[SKRIVA] Sf-pjäsen på Broadway som floppade

From: Ahrvid Engholm <ahrvid@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <skriva@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 2 Jan 2011 20:54:22 +0100
Idag talar alla om uppsättningen av "Spiderman" på Broadway, New York, som lär 
vara den dyraste någonsin (20 milj dollar!), är tekniskt avancerad, stötts av 
U2-Bono, råkat ut för olyckor (en skådis föll från en flygkabelkontraption och 
skadades), osv.
  Men det fanns en *annan* pjäs, "Via Galactica", som var sin tids teknisk 
avancerade. En sf-uppsättning, som dock floppade och bara gick i sju 
föreställningar. New York Times skriver om det (artikeln är av dottern till 
skaparna):
 
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/02/opinion/02george.html?_r=3&pagewanted=1&hp

Denna pjäs sattes upp 1972, och det var ju en smula modigt - innan Star Wars, 
eller att Star Trek hunnit bli kult.
 
"I will never forget the opening night party at Sardi’s. My father, the 
producer George W. George, was waiting for the reviews in a shadowy corner of 
the restaurant. Champagne was flowing, and spirits were high. We were in the 
dark ages of communication — pre-Internet, pre-blogs, pre-Twitter — and reviews 
dictated the fate of a show. At around 12:30, the first notices came in. The 
New York Times review would make or break you. And break us, it did. 
I say “us,” even though I was a child, because from as early as I can remember, 
“Via Galactica” was in the air. It was part of my DNA. From the vantage of our 
den on Central Park West, where my mother, Judith Ross, co-wrote the book, or 
the living room, where my parents held readings of the script to attract 
investors, or the dining room, where they debated every aspect of the show, I 
watched them build the perfect beast. A spectacle like no one had ever seen. 
It was going to be fantastic! Flying spaceships! Flying people! A stage made of 
interconnecting walkways and trampolines — with a backdrop of thousands of 
Ping-Pong balls strung together, floor to ceiling, upon which gorgeous images 
would be projected. The cast was multicolored — Raul Julia, the lead, was blue; 
Virginia Vestoff, his leading lady, was painted gold; and the other actors on 
stage were every color in between. Peter Hall, former head of the Royal 
Shakespeare Company, would make his American directorial debut. Galt McDermott, 
who composed the score for “Hair,” wrote the music. My mother, a relative 
newcomer, wrote the book with Christopher Gore, who also wrote the lyrics. And 
as producer, my dad put all the pieces together. ...
In the show, Raul Julia played a man who falls in love with a rebel woman who’s 
leaving earth for good. Finally he has to choose: stay in the place he knows, 
the home he loves, or go with her to the stars. In the race toward opening 
night, despite the talent and the spectacle, too many of the human elements of 
“Via Galactica” got stripped away, and the show fell flat. None of the special 
effects could make up for the lack of what draws us to the theater in the first 
place: story, characters we care for, pathos. 
It took my father a long time to learn this lesson — and with a lifetime of 
experience he conceived the more down-to-earth musical “Memphis.” Sadly, he 
didn’t live to see it win last year’s Tony Award for best musical. 
Last week I went to a preview performance of “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.” 
Three hours and one mechanical glitch later, I left the theater feeling uneasy, 
my long-dormant “Via Galactica” synapses firing."
 
Bilder från "Via Galactica" finns bl här (tyvärr i svartvitt):
 
http://broadwayworld.com/board/readmessage.php?thread=1021407
 
--Ahrvid

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[SKRIVA] Sf-pjäsen på Broadway som floppade

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