Evita

I was apprehensive about seeing Evita this past Friday. I had heard a lot of gripes about the production, and about the lead actress's, Elena Roger's, voice. Roger definitely had an Edith Piaf quality, so much that I was yearning for "La Vie en Rose" by the time "Don't Cry for Me" rolled around. I have an even bigger gripe than her voice quality, though, and that is the very strange accent in which she sang. For most of the show, she sounded French to me, and, at some points, her husband sounded Scottish! My friend and I were humming "Where in the World Is Carmen San Diego?" to each other during interludes; those actors did NOT sound like they were in Argentina. My friend, Greg, made a good point about this singing-in-accent ordeal when he noted that Shakesperian productions, though often set in Italy, are written and performed in English not Italian. Isn't that the beauty of them? Thank God Shakespeare wasn't trying to throw in Italian catchphrases or, worse, having Romeo flip his R's. I'm not sure why this director thought otherwise, especially since Roger is Argentinian, and her debut role was as Evita Peron (!!!) in earlier production.

Image c/o googleimages.com

As far as other gripes go, there was a major lack of narrative. They were highlighting moments of Evita's life rather than giving a fluid story, which was confusing (to the point where I thought she was a promiscuous person, not a paid prostitute, for a good portion of the show). Also, I was not at all impressed with Ricky Martin, although Greg was raving about his performance. And, about singing everything, I'm not a huge fan of that, either. Apparently, Evita is marketed as a "rock-musical" (bad bad bad bad idea), which puts the show in the tradition of Rent, Spring Awakening, and Next to Normal. Audiences who are not comprised entirely of angsty, fifteen-year-old girls will probably find the style of all of these shows to be really terrible, as they should. 

Image c/o googleimages.com

Now that I've complained extensively about the show, I guess I should admit that I didn't hate it. In the end, I walked away with an absolute fascination with Eva Peron, who I knew nothing about prior. I've already read her entire Wikipedia page and will probably take out a few books on her life because I'm confused, and intrigued, and amazed. And I think that's exactly what the show was trying to do.

My Favorite Graduate

I am so excited for my brother, who graduated today. He was the handsomest, and the coolest, out of 600+ grads! Congratulations, Nicholas!!!!

Prom Fever

Oh, to think of when prom was cool. Here's hoping that the prommers of 2012  had the best night ever.

Winter Walks

This is well overdue, but I just uploaded some pictures from a walk in the Botanical Garden this December. Serene as they are, I'm still not nostalgic for winter.

A Few Questions

Inappropriate, politically incorrect, and downright offensive, they Key of Awesome's One Direction parody is intended to raise laughs-- and questions. In an in-your-face way, the Key of Awesome encourages us to ask questions such as: Why do the boys of One Direction wear full-length pants while standing in an ocean? Why do all pop songs involve a na-na-na riff??? Which One Direction member is really Justin Timberlake???

Still, I have a question that KoA definitely didn't see coming. That is, why is their parody featured on Time Out: Kuala Lumpur's blog when it has NOTHING to do with Malaysia????? Don't get me wrong-- I'm happy to have laughed my tush off for the past five minutes (even if I am feeling slightly guilty about it now...). But I came to Borak Borak to learn about Malaysia, after all!

Revelations in the Key of R

I am the alphabet backwards

If R didn’t exist, I never could have.

On alliteration homework assignments,

I wrote my name next to generous, genuine, gregarious

All obtuse

R worked in the shadows:

Radiant, reflective, resolute .

Royalty, strangers called me.

I perfected my name’s soft curves,

I referenced a different history altogether.

The rhythm of my family pulses in my middle

It punctuates my symphony with a slow movement

It reminisces of my ancestors’ voice

Now lost under six feet of another country’s dirt

Better they don’t know.

Better they rest in unvisited tombs

Their deaf ears hardened

To crashing waves and thick Italian

Their hardwood caskets

Forever adorned with an immortal Rose.

(Inspired by Mary Karr's "Revelations in the Key of K")

Twenty-Somethings

My thesis in review:

If you're one of the lovely people who helped out by being interviewed, I cannot tell you how much I appreciate it. Thank you so very much.