Last Night I saw the "Light" and Tonight I'll be Turning it Off

[rusty_armour]

Last night, I came as close as I'm ever likely to get to an evangelical sermon, or a televangelist, for that matter. bakerybard was kind enough to share one of the free tickets she earned through her volunteer work with CanStage, so we went to Fire, which is a very powerful and moving production about two brothers who take very different paths -- the one brother, Cale Blackwell (Ted Dykstra), becoming a rock and roll sensation and the other, Herchel Blackwell (Rick Roberts), choosing to follow in his father's footsteps and become an evangelical minister. The playwrights, Paul Ledoux and David Young, were inspired by real-life cousins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Jimmy Swaggart, when they wrote their play, though Fire is much more than just a semi-biographical look at these controversial figures. It addresses the incredible power religion can have both inside and outside the church and the way it can be manipulated and distorted by evil people. I heard at least a couple of gasps in the audience during one speech by Truman King (John Wright), as it sounded frighteningly like the kind of garbage spouted by certain Bush supporters.

bakerybard was originally attracted to Fire because she had enjoyed Ted Dykstra's performance in Kenneth Welsh's Stand-up Shakespeare. She had also seen him in 2 Pianos, 4 Hands and thought he was brilliant. I'm glad to say that he didn't disappoint in his role as Cale Blackwell. He gave phenomenal performances on the piano, though bakerybard and I both agreed that his strongest moment came when he wasn't channelling Jerry Lee Lewis but singing "Lost Out in Deep Water". In fact, bakerybard said that she would go to see Fire again for that song alone. Well, that and his heart-breaking repentance scene. While I found Ted Dykstra's performance mesmerizing, my eyes kept wandering to Rick Roberts whenever he was on the stage. I'm obviously incredibly dense because I didn't realize that it was the same actor who played D'Arby in Traders until I was studying the theatre programme again this morning! I thought he seemed familiar! *g* Anyway, I was absolutely fascinated by his transformation from a rather shy and timid young man to a fiery, bible-thumping televangelist. In the scene before the intermission, they had Herchel delivering a sermon and Cale playing on the piano, and it was amazing how similar the performances were. At one point, Herchel looks like he's channelling Elvis as he swings his microphone around and practically dances in his evangelical fervour. If you couldn’t hear the sermon he was delivering, you might think he was singing a rock and roll song as well.

Well, any review of this play wouldn't be complete without mentioning Nicole Underhay, the wonderful actress who played Molly King. She transformed from a rather naïve thirteen-year-old (as her character was based on Jerry Lee Lewis' child bride) to a mother and wife in her thirties. While costumes played a big role in the transformation, a lot of it came from the actress herself, in the way she spoke and carried herself. There was this innocent, joyful light in her eyes at the beginning of the play when she described her love of Jesus, but the light disappeared when she realized that her work as a gospel singer and wife of a televangelist was not serving God's will but lining the pockets of corrupt politicians. While I was teary-eyed during Cale's repentance scene, it was Molly's choked up rendition of "Bright Morning Stars" at the end that really got to me. I actually found it hard to speak for a couple of minutes after the curtain went done and stumbled out of the theatre in kind of a daze.

Tonight, the only fire I'm going to be seeing (I hope) will come from candlelight. While I often turn off the lights in my apartment if I'm home on Saturday night, I'm going to make an extra-special effort for Earth Hour and turn off everything, even -- *gulp* -- my computer. I'll just spend the hour between 8 and 9 reading by the light of the DORCY L.E.D. Dynamo flashlight my dad gave me. My goal is to finish reading the last novel in the H. Rider Haggard omnibus that I borrowed from jackycomelately. I'm so sick of H. Rider Haggard, it's not funny. My advice to anyone reading the collective works of Haggard is to take long breaks between King Solomon's Mines, She, and Allan Quatermain, or your sanity is likely to suffer. As it is, Haggard's views on Africa and anyone who isn't a British white male has really started to grate on my nerves. This particular passage from Allan Quatermain really pissed me off when I read it a couple of days ago:

"In fact, he was in a fair way to become her tool -- and no more dreadful fate can befall a man than to become the tool of an unscrupulous woman, or indeed of any woman."

No, Mr. Haggard, I think you'll find that it isn't women who are to blame, but your stupid, weak protagonists, who don't think with their brains, but their -- Anywaaaay, I'll be very happy to see the last of H. Rider Haggard. I plan to read Laurie R. King's A Grave Talent next. I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Art of Detection last year and have been meaning to read the other Kate Martinelli books for ages. Thankfully, I was able to pick up three of them in a used bookstore that jackycomelately and I were happily exploring one Saturday night. After H. Rider Haggard, a lesbian detective is going to be extremely refreshing!

Comments

[bakerybard.livejournal.com]

Ahem. While I did see Ted Dykstra in 2 Pianos, 4 Hands a couple of years ago, it was actually his performance in Kenneth Welsh's Stand-up Shakespeare (which I believe I saw on tv nearly 20 years ago, so it was possibly quite soon after he played Cale the first time) that stuck with me. *g*

[rusty-armour.livejournal.com]

Oh, no! I should have remembered that since you mentioned Kenneth Welsh's Stand-up Shakespeare last night! I probably just got confused because you also discussed Ted Dykstra's performance in 2 Pianos, 4 Hands. Apparently my brain can only hold so much information at any given time. *g* In any case, I stand corrected and will fix that particular detail in my review.

[bakerybard.livejournal.com]

One suspects that 'twas not excess information that overwhelmed your brain, but rather the continuous mental loop of Rick Roberts... :)

(I have found my vhs tape with Stand-Up Shakespeare on it, and sadly, it has not weathered the years well and is very snowy. The audio is still salvageable, though, so I might take a stab at that.)

[rusty-armour.livejournal.com]

LOL! Yeah, I'll confess. It probably was the continuous mental loop of Rick Roberts. *g* I hope you're able to transfer your VHS copy of Stand-up Shakespeare. Unfortunately, I don't think it's available on DVD. I was trying to find information on it (so I could provide a link), but I wasn't successful. However, it seems like most things make it on to DVD eventually, so maybe Stand-up Shakespeare will be released in this format.

[bakerybard.livejournal.com]

oh! oh! I have discovered that the tape I was looking at was the dub I had made of my mum's original tape. I have also discovered that I made off with my mum's original tape some years back, and that one is lovely and clear!! You can see people's faces and everything!

[rusty-armour.livejournal.com]

Hooray! That is most excellent news! :-D

[dubghall.livejournal.com]

I ended up participating in Earth Hour (kinda). I'd told Seth about it, and we heard a story about it on the radio while we were doing a massive clean up of the kitchen (we even moved the refrigerator to evict the herds of dust bison that were living there). At 8PM, I said, jokingly, Oh, it's Earth Hour. And Seth went around turning off the lights that we normally leave on, and even turned off the tv. I turned it back on, as it was only "unnecessary" appliances that were to be turned off. We did leave the sound system off and just listen through the tv itself.

At about 8:30, the doorbell rang. I had to turn on lights to go see who it was -- a young man trying to sell newspaper subscriptions to get a college scholarship. I turned him down, since I find the paper stuffed full of things I don't read, and I'd trying to cut down on the amount of waste paper I generate. The kid kept saying, "Don't you want a young man like me to go to school?" I told him I was protecting the future environment for him. And then I discovered it's not very easy to fold clothes by the light of the tv (especially when they show dark scenes).

Have you ever read "Tinker" by Wen Spenser? Someone picked it out for our book club, and I really liked it. It's a mix of tech and magic, with a kick-ass young woman protaganist.

[rusty-armour.livejournal.com]

Well, I think you guys did a good job, especially considering that you had to answer the door (to argue with a kid over a newspaper subscription) and try to fold laundry in the dark. It was a lot easier for me because the only thing I planned to do in that hour was finish reading Allan Quartermain, which I did thank Herne! Oh, and I also kept looking out my window to see how many people had turned out their lights. I was kind of disgusted by how many people couldn't be bothered. I mean, I can understand people not turning off things like the TV, but would it have killed them to have turned off most, if not all, of their lights?

I haven't read "Tinker," but it sounds really good. I'll have to pick up a copy some time. Thanks for the rec. :-)

[pyrateanny.livejournal.com]

Well, I semi-participated in Earth Hour. I was at a Contra dance. We turned most of the lights off at 8 p.m., but left the lights on the stage on, so the musicians could see what they were doing, and some lights in the balcony so that there was enough ambient light that we dancers didn't trip over one another. And of course, we left the sound system on, so that we could hear the band and caller.

I rather liked H. Rider Haggard's _She_, but then I tended to view Ayesha as the heroine despite the author's intentions. *g* Haggard's writing certainly seems dated, but indicative of his era. Indeed, there's some similar prejudices that pop up in Arthur Conan Doyle's work too. For instance, the portrayal of Tonga in _The Sign of Four_ made me feel quite uncomfortable. Definitely a difficulty for modern readers.

It sounds like _Fire_ was quite a spectacle!

[rusty-armour.livejournal.com]

Well, I semi-participated in Earth Hour. I was at a Contra dance. We turned most of the lights off at 8 p.m., but left the lights on the stage on, so the musicians could see what they were doing, and some lights in the balcony so that there was enough ambient light that we dancers didn't trip over one another. And of course, we left the sound system on, so that we could hear the band and caller.

It's great that the organizers of the Contra dance did what they could to observe Earth Hour. I know I read about one woman who had organized a charity event for Saturday and panicked when she realized that Earth Hour was taking place on the same night. However, she decided to push back the charity auction that was going to be held at 8:00 and have everyone eat by candlelight.

I rather liked H. Rider Haggard's _She_, but then I tended to view Ayesha as the heroine despite the author's intentions. *g* Haggard's writing certainly seems dated, but indicative of his era. Indeed, there's some similar prejudices that pop up in Arthur Conan Doyle's work too. For instance, the portrayal of Tonga in _The Sign of Four_ made me feel quite uncomfortable. Definitely a difficulty for modern readers.

To be honest, She was my least favourite of the three novels. Other than her vast knowledge, it seems as if her only redeeming quality was that she was so beautiful. Ergo, it was fine for her to commit murder and be forgiven because of her beauty and the fact that she could bewitch any man who looked at her face. And, yes, obviously there's always been this belief that the ideal woman is beautiful above all else, so I'm not sure why I'm picking on H. Rider Haggard. I guess I just couldn't warm to Ayesha or any of the characters in that novel.

There are definitely prejudices that pop up in Doyle's work, including his unfortunate portrayl of Tonga in The Sign of Four. However, with Doyle, I don't think the prejudice is as pervasive. With H. Rider Haggard, I felt like I was constantly being whacked on the head with it.

It sounds like _Fire_ was quite a spectacle!

Yes, it was quite the spectacle! The musical performances were fabulous, though I enjoyed other elements of the production as well. :-)

[kimberlyfdr.livejournal.com]

Hey, I just found your entry when I was posting my LJ entry for tonight (http://kimberlyfdr.livejournal.com/324306.html) because I watched this play as my birthday present to myself today. It was FANTASTIC! I loved it so much. Great way to spend a birthday :)

[rusty-armour.livejournal.com]

I already said this on your LJ, but Happy Belated Birthday, kimberlyfdr! :-) I think watching Fire was a great way to celebrate your birthday! I'm happy you enjoyed it!

If you don't mind me asking, how did you manage to stumble across this entry? I know by some very strange twist of fate, Kelly Nestruck included a link to this post in his blog (http://fence.blogspot.com/2008_03_01_archive.html), but I'm assuming you found this some other way. Sorry if I sound nosy. I'm just curious.

[kimberlyfdr.livejournal.com]

I could be all mysterious and say "I have ways" but that just sounds weird ;) Actually, I run awesomehewletts and I randomly do SGA and Hewlett searches across LJ to find any interesting related news that might be community-relevant. I was doing a similar search for Rick Roberts and Fire since I thought one of my LJ friends had done a post about him being in the play, so I was gonna link it to my review. Alas I did not find the entry in question, but I did find yours! Small LJ world :D I already followed your In the Family Way ongoing story, so I was all happy to see that you had also seen Fire and enjoyed it.

[rusty-armour.livejournal.com]

Oh, cool! I often visit awesomehewletts to see what's new with those awesome Hewletts. :-) I usually visit when the link is posted by sga_newsletter, but I should really join the community. I'll try to do that today.

I'm sorry you weren't able to find the entry you were looking for, though I'm obviously happy that you found mine. And, hey, I'm thrilled that you've been reading In the Family Way (http://rusty-armour.livejournal.com/8022.html)! It really is a small LJ world! :-)

You may have come across these already, but, in case you haven't, I wrote reviews for Noble Parasites (http://rusty-armour.livejournal.com/12070.html) and Don't Wake Me (http://rusty-armour.livejournal.com/20585.html).