David MacDowell Blue

My Janis

david macdowell blue · June 19, 2017 uncertified reviewer
A startling, beautiful and powerful moment in the life of a great artist. Usually one-person shows try and tell a subject's biography. This took a different turn, which startled then entranced. ... full review

The Tempest: All Women Cast

david macdowell blue · June 14, 2017 uncertified reviewer
Shakespeare's major works end up done so often the challenge lies in making them not only good but fresh. This company and production achieved both (although I suspect some jokes went over my head, not being a regular fan of OITNB)! In particular the really difficult roles--Miranda, Ferdinand, Sebastian and Antonio--ended up engaging and real. ... full review

The Physicists

david macdowell blue · June 12, 2017 certified reviewer
A wonderful show--sharp, thought-provoking, horrifying and funny at the same time for the same reasons. I sometimes talk about what I call "Theatre of Dreams" in which a performance has the logic of a dream, as if one were actually watching a dream. This is about when life becomes like a dream. Well, after all where do dreams come from if not here, the so-called real world? What a powerful piece of theatre, in which the emotions of the characters genuinely spill out into the audience like fog... full review

NORMAL

david macdowell blue · June 11, 2017 certified reviewer
A friend of mine once said those of us who like the darkness are not ourselves dark or cruel--but we don't flee from the shadows in our lives. We face them, seek to explore them. I've mentioned this to some, and gotten a blank look of bafflement in reply. But this show proves a shining (heh) example of what my friend understood. NORMAL lets us into the darkest, most terrible and yet strangely attractive aspect of human life, inviting us to at least imagine what it would be like to live there.... full review

Nosferatu, A Symphony in Terror.

david macdowell blue · June 11, 2017 uncertified reviewer
This was a lovely show and I liked it a lot. But--and this is curious--it changed a lot once Count Orlock appeared. Gone was the dance, almost entirely. And by then I expected a wonderful interpretation of the classic silent movie AS dance. So my reaction is to still desire that dance piece, interspersed with scenes more about movement. And yet--and a lot of this springs directly from the lead actors--I never lost interest, never stopped caring at least some for those lead characters, especi... full review

The Rise and Fall of Dracula

david macdowell blue · June 10, 2017 uncertified reviewer
An entertaining and intriguing theatrical version of a gothic classic (well, actually two). Kudos to Dracula, Lucy, Harker, Van Helsing, Mina and Seward in particular for bring so much nuance on stage. I have seen so many DRACULAs on stage so that am forever looking for an original, intriguing one. This production certainly qualifies on so many levels. Bravo! ... full review

Loves Adventures

david macdowell blue · June 04, 2017 uncertified reviewer
A delightful find, from a playwright of whom I knew nothing, full of delightful characters and wit, plot twists you see coming and still enjoy, the strange way the plot makes perfect sense coming from these characters. Brava!... full review

Three Can Keep A Secret

david macdowell blue · June 04, 2017 uncertified reviewer
A delightful interactive show that had me laughing out loud again and again! Then again! I"m tempted to go see it again to see different variations (I did the same in NYC to see variations of "The Mystery of Edwin Drood").... full review

The Spidey Project

david macdowell blue · June 04, 2017 uncertified reviewer
This is what musicals are often best at, and this may be the single best adaptation of SPIDERMAN I've ever seen.... full review

The Little Mermaid: A Movement Piece

david macdowell blue · June 04, 2017 uncertified reviewer
Mixed. The good proved to vary between good and very good. The not-so-good (nothing qualified as bad) hovered around below average, especially at the very start. But by the end I felt moved by an adaptation of a genuinely powerful piece, faithful to the original (not Disney) and performed by clearly talented people. But then, I went in hoping for more of a 'dance' (having a background there) so my expectations got in the way.... full review