Losanjealous Reviews The Black Rider
By Jeannette - Wednesday May 10th 2006 |
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Let me explain to you in a nutshell what’s going on in The Black Rider: The Casting of the Magic Bullets at the Taper Ahmanson. I’m going to need to explain it to you, because unless you’ve recently read Faust, are currently studying German Expressionism and are enrolled in Cirque Du Soleil’s Academy of Morbid Clowns, you probably aren’t going to get it.
A clerk or accountant or maybe Benny from Benny and Joon (Matt McGrath) is forced to broker a deal with the devil (Vance Avery as “Peglegâ€) in order to win a marksmanship contest and the hand of his sweetheart (Mary Margaret O’Hara). Apparently, this guy can’t hit the broad side of a barn and wastes his devil bullets on impressing his sweetheart and her family by killing a bunch of deer and leaving the carcasses (stuffed animals) in their home. By now, the marksmanship contest is drawing near and homeslice is out of bullets. Instead of actually practicing (who knows…it may be hopeless), he goes to the devil and asks for a couple more bullets. Pegleg is happy to oblige him, but warns that some bullets will hit the clerk’s target while some will hit the devil’s. Oh brother. At this point, you know things are going to go south quickly.
Although you probably can guess what’s going to happen, the final scene is played out in extreme slow motion….like you’re watching a stop-frame animated film slowed down to one frame per second. The performance ends with McGrath being hauled off presumably to a lunatic asylum because he’s gone stark raving mad! … kind of like I felt like I was going to as the final scene dragged on and on.
I don’t know if this is a musical, an opera, a rock opera, a musical fable or Nosferatu meets Beetlejuice the musical. Whatever it is, it’s confusing, vague and at times too long. That being said, it’s visually stunning with music that fits seamlessly with the mood and Woah! Who knew William S. Burroughs could sound so much like a sinister Dr. Seuss. It’s definitely an experience worth seeing, but know what you’re getting into.
Take the following little test to rate your predicted enjoyment level. Anyone scoring over a 20 should run (not walk) to the Ahmanson:
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The Black Rider: The Casting of the Magic Bullets
Through June 11
Ahmanson Theatre
Get Tickets Now
The Black Rider Soundtrack (1993 Studio Cast)
Actually, the storyline as described above also fits pretty well Carl Maria von Weber’s 1830′s German Romantic Opera, “Der Freischutz”. The lead’s name in that is Max, his sweetheat is Agathe, and the ‘friend’ who helps him make the devil’s ammo is Caspar. Max doesn’t get hauled off to the asylum in the end, but put on probation so to speak (although given modern opera director’s current trend to re-write storylines, this sounds like a better alternative ending!) Weber’s music is fun if you can sit through the goofy story! What’s old is new again, it seems!
I try like once a year to appreciate THE BLACK RIDER and I never make it past the train part.
The best part was when Tom Waits showed up! WAIT THAT NEVER HAPPENED.
I did enjoy seeing this live because hearing that music live is something else. HELLO MUSICAL SAW? When’s the last time you saw some of that stuff?
We walked out at intermission last night. I wished I had my own magic bullet to put this “show” out of my misery. It was the biggest piece of dreck I’ve ever seen/heard/experienced. Theatre of the absurd, indeed. It’s absurd that they’d charge $100 a pop for tickets. They should’ve paid me $100 for enduring that bloated 90 minutes first act.
I swear, it gets WAY better after the intermission. Still…you should have taken the quiz beforehand.
Never, never, never move out of your range of comfort, or understanding for that matter. Stick to stuff you know, like The Phantom of the Opera or Blue Man Group. No one would blink to splink down $120 bucks to see Evita. The Black Rider is not ‘entertainment.’ It’s art and like all good art throughout history it’s challenging.
[...] much. Outcome. Carolyn played it safe – probably wise – and served up a straightforward review. I thought Jeannette’s was funnier; either way, I dug the [...]