Look man, I’m pro gay rights, pro gay marriage. I’m all for gays from A-Z, Alan Cumming to Ziggy. So don’t take it the wrong way when I say I’m not the type of dude who intentionally watches a musical. It just ain’t me. If I’m gonna make an exception to that policy it’s gonna take a hell of an extenuating circumstance, something air tight. I haven’t even watched that one with Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin, that’s how strict I am. But for Julie Taymor I went out and got a waiver.
Now, I have been accused of being sweet on Julie Taymor, but nothing could be further from the truth. Actually I’ve seen interviews with her and I’m afraid of her. If I had a chance to hang out with her I don’t think I would do it. About the only scenario where I would feel safe and comfortable would be some sort of puppetry workshop in a neutral public place, but I’m not into puppets so that’s out. Despite these feelings, I also think Taymor is a genius. This is based on TITUS and on a book I read about her. She’s an opera-directing, puppet-carving, globetrotting, volcano-climbing, secret-forest-ritual-witnessing, visionary genius. So even though FRIDA was a mixed bag, and even though this is a musical, and especially even though it’s a musical where the actors sing Beatles songs and are named after Beatles lyrics and their story illustrates the turbulent political climate and cultural shifts of the 1960s (oh for cryin out loud), I decided to give it a try. (read the rest of this shit…)
