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Very briefly:
The Times got it right; Monkey premieres on the 28th. Tonight was the first full dress rehearsal, and they'd decided to do it in public - hence the first public performance *anywhere* :D
Problems with the subtitles meant there were a fair few WTF? moments, especially towards the end; Mandarin & interpretive acrobatics do not a clear story make.
Otherwise, though. Amazing. The set pieces were incredible - acrobatics, martialarts, contortionists, fire poi that the performers threw up before backflipping across the stage & catching each others'... and all mixed in with bridging sections of Jamie Hewlett anime. The costumes were superb (especially the wire-fu singing starfish and the octopi, and the completely pointless-except-for-decoration giant panda), and overall I'm very glad I have a ticket for the final night.
Of course, having Sandy painted green and Pigsy being even more pig-like than in the series got me into a Very Bad Kermit & Miss Piggy place.
The Armies of Heaven really *were* on rollerblades (although the lower ranks fought on unicycles instead), and Tripitaka really was played by a girl (again). Good grief, (s)he's a whining wet blanket!
Monkey himself was superb. Real attitude, including when he came & sat in the audience to watch a section :)
The Times got it right; Monkey premieres on the 28th. Tonight was the first full dress rehearsal, and they'd decided to do it in public - hence the first public performance *anywhere* :D
Problems with the subtitles meant there were a fair few WTF? moments, especially towards the end; Mandarin & interpretive acrobatics do not a clear story make.
Otherwise, though. Amazing. The set pieces were incredible - acrobatics, martialarts, contortionists, fire poi that the performers threw up before backflipping across the stage & catching each others'... and all mixed in with bridging sections of Jamie Hewlett anime. The costumes were superb (especially the wire-fu singing starfish and the octopi, and the completely pointless-except-for-decoration giant panda), and overall I'm very glad I have a ticket for the final night.
Of course, having Sandy painted green and Pigsy being even more pig-like than in the series got me into a Very Bad Kermit & Miss Piggy place.
The Armies of Heaven really *were* on rollerblades (although the lower ranks fought on unicycles instead), and Tripitaka really was played by a girl (again). Good grief, (s)he's a whining wet blanket!
Monkey himself was superb. Real attitude, including when he came & sat in the audience to watch a section :)
