Friday Night Escapade

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I just got back from Dominican University, and let me just say this: Broken Bride was a BLAST!

It was by no stretch of the imagination the best play I've ever seen. The singing was "meh" at best, due to frequent mistakes made by both the director and the actors, and many of the roles were cast poorly (i.e. having a female play "The Boy," assembling a group of primarily tone-deaf singers, etc.) And, while I recognize and appreciate the traditional, minimalist approach to scenery and props, I think the rock opera called for somewhat more than what the stage delivered.

But that's not what I want to focus on. Regardless of any technical errors, the play was not only enjoyable, but actually a really fun time! The zombies marching through the aisles, the dragon wheeling in from stage right, The Traveler spinning wildly in his time machine, even the spotlight pterodactyls made me smile! And I was also impressed by the Mayor's performance, albeit short, especially the part where he killed himself. The use of moveable, stackable cubes as scenery was also a good idea given the various fantastic locations of the play.

All in all, it was a great experience for myself and all the other Ludo fans who attended. It was really heartwarming to see that these people created something not for money or profit of any kind, but for the sheer love of creation and the desire to share that creation with others. Everyone in the audience loved hearing the zombies sing, and you could hear a pin drop when The Traveler was singing "Morning in May": the fans enjoyed every minute of the performance, and all of us had a really fantastic time... for no cost. We didn't have to pay to get in, it was the performers' treat to us! It was so nice to walk in, sit down, and feel like I'm watching something that someone else made because they really, really wanted to do it, not because they wanted to take my money and get on with the show.

Well, that and, "BROKEN BRIDE BROKEN BRIDE BROKEN BRIIIIIDE!!"

Everyone has their own vision of what Broken Bride is supposed to be... like whether "Save Our City" is a part of the plot or just an extra song added to the album, or what The Traveler and his wife are supposed to look like. I think when you get down to a really emotional level, those sort of things become very personal. I guess what made Broken Bride special was that, no matter who you are or where you're from, Ludo is giving you the story and the music, but the rest is up to the individual, and a lot of the appeal of this play is giving life to that aspect of Broken Bride.

Of course, giving life to the dragon was somewhat difficult, but I had a good laugh, so when all's said and done I had a fabulous evening! This is the perfect warm-up for the Chicago leg of the Broken Bride tour, coming to town on October 23rd! (Everyone got your tickets?)

I'd really like to personally thank the directors, Katie Moss and Ian Watts, for putting together such a great performance, and Anthony Patryn, for playing the best damn Traveler we'll ever see! I love what you did with the hair, by the way; channeling Andrew Volpe, I assume? (Of course, they're never going to read this... actually, I really only think 4 or 5 people will ever see this, and only one of them is a Ludo fan.) Anyway, great job!!