reciting the classics

[reverancepavane]

Today [yep, another delayed posting] was the second day of the Fringe, both officially and personally, so to celebrate I made the attempt to locate the refurbished Queen's Theatre on Playhouse Lane. Having readily located the enormous Playhouse Lane Parking Complex, I soon noticed in it's shadow the small pale orange building which gave the location its name. And lo and behold there, for the first time, I discovered the Fringe that I knew and loved. To whit, a queue. And not just any queue. Quite a long one. Which must mean that it was going to be a popular show. And in the way of queues at Arts events, the front grew far faster than the tail, although by the time the house opened, the tail had gone down the block and round the corner. I found myself somewhere in the middle. Still, while it is somewhat boring to be in a queue by oneself [hint], it has the undeniable advantage that a singleton can often find a good seat, and mine was really excellent, even if it did mean I was sitting next to high muckety-mucks in the Arts world (well, actually the wife of a high muckety-muck politician with Artistic leanings). [1] No wonder there was a spare empty seat between them and the rest of the audience. And so I settled down to watch and enjoy the antics of Sian, Jon and Adrian, that ensemble of musicians or comedians or comedic musicians or musical comics (take your pick) more commonly known as Pluck, as they presented The Specialists for their return season at the Adelaide Fringe. Having seen their show at the last Fringe, this was one of the shows that I was guarenteed not to miss, baring acts of FringeTIX, cosmic catastrophe, or imminent hospitalization (and even then they have portable machines that go beep, don't they?). Now Pluck are ostensibly a classical string trio (violin, viola, cello), although they leaven the serious of what is nominally a recital of Vivaldi, Mozart, Brahms, and That Russian One I Can Never Spell So I'm Not Going To But Who Was Famous For That 1812 Piece With Cannons with a fine selection of both musical and physical comedy that turns the whole concept of serious musical recital on it's head. They very much assume the various archetypes of their instruments. That is, the violinist is violent, fussy and autocratic, the violist is somewhat slow (and not in the musical sense) [2] , and the cellist is incredibly cute. [3] How could I possible describe the show? Their fixation on shoes (and lack thereof). The free-range chicks (the full impact which was spoiled by a failure in mechanical FX apparently). The impromptu session during their dinner break. The erotic cello solo. The duo playing a piece written for the trio, and almost pulling it off successfully. The full impact of the climax, including cannonades. Nope. It's something you are really going to have to see for yourselves. Even if you are not familiar with classical music you cannot help but enjoy this recital (although if you are at all vaguely familiar with any of the "classic" classics you'll wince at some of the more subtle musical puns). They are playing the Fringe for almost the entire month and I for one shall probably go again, especially if anyone were to make any loud noises in that general direction. For now it's sleepy-time in the hope that I'll manage to get to Wendy Rule and the Cthulhu Musician tomorrow (having to actually do stuff on the weekend instead of collapse in a mewling heap is seriously wearing me out). Must attempt to locate my Cthulhu Fhtagn wrist band though. I would hate to be improperly dressed if Ol' Squid Chops arrives unannounced at the gig tomorrow too. [1] Although the fun bit was she was located next to me in the queue before she got rescued by her minders and led away to a VIP waiting area and then to the reserved seating after she finished her pre-concert drinkies, only to encounter me again within the theatre. (My only comment about her enquiry about the wait in the queue was "baaaaa!!!") [2] Ob Joke (just to show my years at Marryatville were not totally wasted): Q: Which is the better instrument, the violin or the viola. A:The viola; it burns longer. [3] I have long held the firm belief that all cellists are cute. So far I have yet to be proven wrong in this belief. Although in this case I would have difficulty competing for her affections against her cello (the show did feature one of the most erotic cello solo I've seen for quite a while). [4] [4] Although in this case, as I discovered chatting with her after the show, Sian is far cuter (and much nicer) than her onstage persona. [5] [5] While all cellists are by definition cute, some cellists are far cuter than others... <sigh>

Comments

[shadow-5tails.livejournal.com]

Drat it all - now I want to hear that 'cello solo. Was it an original work, or something I might recognise?

[reverancepavane.livejournal.com]

For some reason The Swan comes to mind, composer unremembered. However hear is probably the wrong verb to describe the best way to appreciate the act. See is the word you want. Definitely see. For the first time in my life I'm jealous of a musical instrument [Alysson Hannigan Band Camp jokes aside] and needing a cold shower after a musical recital. [Needing cold showers after a PCP on the other hand is a totally different matter.]

[maelorin]

i'm hanging out for writer's week.

sad, sad me.