Comments for The Arts in New York City

Comment on Gone Missing Assignment by mlevian

mlevian — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 15:35:35 +0000

I, like almost everyone else (excluding Melissa!), don’t think any scene needs to be cut from the play. I feel that every scene fits it really well with the theme of the show. I also agree with Erica that the music adds a lot to the sentiment and our appreciation of the show. It helps us understand more clearly a point of view regarding loss.

Comment on Gone Missing Assignment by jleon

jleon — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 13:39:35 +0000

Yeah, the man actor playing a woman was a little confusing at first, I started off thinking he was just a gay old man.
As for the question of the two songs in different languages, I think they gave the show a cross-cultural feel. It’s not just New Yorkers that experience loss, but Hispanics, Europeans, Caribbean Islanders, etc. The songs in Spanish and German(??) really made the play not just tailor fitted to native New Yorkers (who were more than clearly represented in the NYPD officer talking about DOA’s and the plethora of people with “New York Accents”) but inclusive to everyone who lives in or visits the city.

Comment on Gone Missing Assignment by asonawane

asonawane — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 12:31:44 +0000

I do kind of agree with Audrey. It took me awhile to realize that Damian Baldet was actually telling a woman’s story. But I love how poignant the story is. She only remembers the good. And not only has she lost the platinum necklace but she has lost all of those bad memories.

This really was a fantastic production. The actors were so talented and I loved the very unique New York feel to the monologues. The fleeting mentions of New York landmarks Central Park, the presence of multiple ethnicities and the exploration of several New York accents and stereotypical characters…

But then again the themes of gain and loss are so universal and they are almost synonymous with the concepts of life and death. Thus it is particularly significant when Stephen Plunkett plays a Brooklyn cop in charge of DOA bodies.

Comment on Gone Missing Assignment by afick

afick — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 04:49:29 +0000

One of my few qualms with the production: the guitar-playing, overweight Jeff Goldblum look-a-like’s attempt to relay the elderly woman’s story about losing her mother’s platinum necklace. Why that actor was selected to play this woman, I haven’t a clue. My inner monologue spent half of his time on stage questioning what demographic this person was intended to fall into. While I found the woman’s story interesting in terms of personal parallels regarding her relationship with her mother, the actor’s portrayal of her struck me as an insensitive misstep that lightly trampled the delicacy of her interview.

Comment on Gone Missing Assignment by aahmed

aahmed — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 04:25:16 +0000

I would agree with the overall opinion that no scene or song should be cut because each was unique and added to the overall theme. Even though the story of the Palm Pilot was out of place, I woud have to disagree with Melissa that the scene does not fit the comic flow of the performance. I believe that the entire performance was based on a flow of balance between the funny, the weird, and the moving. The Palm Pilot scene was there to balance out the hilarious stories of the lost phone and a sock doll.

I was amazed at the acting because even though there were only 6 people on stage, i felt as if there were about 20 different people, of all ages, ethnicities, and personalities. How easy it was to forget the character the actor must be portraying and fall into another character but the actors did their job fantastically well. I especially loved the slow moving ending and how the actors walked off the stage one by one.

Comment on Gone Missing Assignment by ssaeed

ssaeed — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 04:14:14 +0000

I loved the show and everything about it, but i did not understand what the two songs in the other languages were about? Does anyone know, because i had no idea what they were saying or the point of those two songs. So I might take them out, however if they had some sort of translation in the packet, it would have been easier to understand. Does anyone know what those two songs were about?

Comment on Gone Missing Assignment by lhorowitz

lhorowitz — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 01:29:40 +0000

So first of all I don’t think any scene should have been taken out or changed–I agree with what everyone is saying thus far –it was entertaining, well acted with each actor truly taking on the form of the person they were portraying, and I thought it was a really original, interesting idea for a show.
As to what everyone is saying about the palm pilot scene, I disagree with everyone. I thought it was placed perfectly. n fact, the one thing I would change in terms of the procession of events leading up to that man’s monologue was that I think they should have ended the three stories with the cellphone guy because that was the funniest of what was being said. I think it was brilliant to put the palm pilot scene after the funny accounts because it makes it that much more poignant. As the actor portrayed, the palm pilot was not the only thing lost that day, and it was certainly not the most important thing lost. By contrasting the humorous stories with the palm pilot story, you really get a sense of the sorrow and depth of the palm pilot situation. The other stories made us laugh and remember all of the stupid things we lost and the funny situations we have been in regarding lost and found things, bu by totally shifting gears to the sadder story, the show made us truly appreciate the scope of the tragedy represented in the palm pilot man’s account. That’s how I felt, at least.

Comment on Gone Missing Assignment by ssaeed

ssaeed — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 01:20:12 +0000

I don’t think i would cut out any scene from “Gone Missing.” Each of the little snippets help enforce one of the universal themes that we do not appreciate things or people until we loose them. The versatility these actors had in playing such different characters were amazing. I liked that this was based on random interviews with different people. The palm pilot scene does take you away from the humor of the play, yet emphasizes the main idea immensely. My favorite scene was the one with the cell phone guy, that had me laughing until tears were coming out of my eyes, especially when he said that it broke right after getting it back. The order the stories were put in also helped to make this play flow smoothly and keep you interested in all of the stories rather then losing interest while hearing about three ring stories individually rather than simultaneously.

Comment on Gone Missing Assignment by Maha

Maha — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 01:06:03 +0000

The first scene that popped into my mind when I read the question was indeed the Palm Pilot one.
Technically, the man’s Palm story does show that loss means gain. However, I still can’t help think that it really did mess up the catchy flow of the cliffhanger comical stories. I mean, he wasn’t sitting on a bench like the rest, and the only times he told the story were as the first part and the last. This idea could’ve undoubtedly been done on purpose, but was not strong enough to pull through.
I disagree with Jesse’s claim that the scene was essential and ground-breaking as the phase into a philosophical state. The stories were still equally hilarious and light afterwards. The former stockbroker lady sitting on the chair still confirmed the humor for example. So I think it wouldn’t have been a gaping issue without having that story.

As for the Spanish song, I don’t think it was confusing for the non-Spanish-speaking audience because, like I expected, they provided a translated version afterwards. However, I am not sure why this was not the same case for the German song…Either way, I loved that they added foreign songs to the mix because it gave it a more universal twist to the theme that we all lose things and gain from our experiences of losing them. The songs in general were eclectic and fitting to the show as well.

Comment on Vertigo assignment by ssaeed

ssaeed — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 01:05:56 +0000

Wow Abigail, that is a very valid argument. The audience can be persuaded in any direction and be directed into believing whatever the director wants them so. Pointing it out with the movie Sixth Sense does make it more obvious that the audience can be oblivious to certain clues handed to us. I also agree with the point that even if the audiences knew that Judy and Madeleine were played the same actress….resemble each other. The audiences can be persuaded anyway that Hitchcock wanted to and he chose to reveal it to the audience in the middle, which gave the audience the upper hand.