LIZ SAYS: I bought tickets for this as soon as I heard about it, six months ago. I have been anxiously awaiting the night of the show for so long that the lousy rain and taxi stealers could not deter me. Dick hinted several times as the rain seeped through our pants, that if I didn’t want to go, he wouldn’t mind. But, no way was I going to miss this revolution, mon cherie.
1789 is the stage version of the French Revolution, told from both sides and the middle. I love these ‘rock operas’. They are bold, brash and exciting, the kitchen sink of entertainment. I adore the music which is a cross between Queen, Bowie (all periods) and the Scorpions. Its amusing, heart felt and bombastic.
The set design was fantastic, with a run through the bowels of the prison; the storming of the Bastille by the impassioned feminine forces in brightly colored skirts and stockings; the gorgeous fracturing of Marie Antoinette’s world; and the clandestine meetings through mazes of walls and lights.
There were scrims in front and back of the stage with moving images that, along with the large moving slabs, made the distances and flow of action much larger than the stage itself.
When the show starts Marie Antoinette comes rolling out on a huge skirt of roses that opens to allow her to walk out in yet another huge hipped dress. Ouhhh ahhhhhh.
Unfortunately, that happened before I pulled out my phone and became one of ‘those people’ who take photos on their phones all through the show. In my defense, apparently it is not verboten to take pictures at shows anymore, they just ask that you don’t use a flash. If I’d known that, I would have brought my camera. But, I didn’t, so you will just have to put up with the blurry iPhone pictures. I did try to photoshop out some of the blur and overexposed bits, to some avail. Hope you can make out the figures, especially the king standing in his giant golden armchair, whining like a baby. That was really funny, plus I drew in some shadowing to make him more visible.
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