Maggers Wrote:In a brilliant bit of marketing, the producers have offered seats in the jury boxes to paying audience members. I'll be one of them tonight, as will a few friends.

Quote:We have to get their early, ...

Maggers Wrote:Christopher Plummer and Brian Dennehy are appearing on Broadway in "Inherit the Wind," the classic courtroom drama of the "monkey trial" about whether teaching evolution should be allowed in schools. It originally took place in the 20's or 30's and it's become apropos for our time again.

In a brilliant bit of marketing, the producers have offered seats in the jury boxes to paying audience members. I'll be one of them tonight, as will a few friends.

So, instead of having to pay extras to play the jury members night after night, the producers will have audience members pay them for the privilege of appearing on the Broadway stage. How's that for cleverness?

We have to get their early, leave our belongings in a locker, and we won't be given a Playbill. We can't leave to use the facilities, either. I suspect for most of the show we will be seated in darkness, but I don't know for sure.

I do know that we'll have a truncated vision of the show, that is, we'll see the stars from the back or from the side for most of the time. No matter, I'm looking forward to this unique experience. I'll let you know how it goes.

Maggers Wrote:Thanks for all the good wishes, everyone.

I had a blast. There were about 50 or so "jury members" on stage. Mixed among us were members of the cast. It was great fun to get a bird's eye view of things backstage. There was no curtain, and during intermission we all got to walk around the stage. It was interesting to see the audience from the stage. The seats seemed to rise to the heavens.

It was so much fun. Yes, in the beginning, when the Bible thumping orator came to town, a huge "READ YOUR BIBLE DAILY" banner blocked our view. And when the towns folk marched, waving their large placards, I couldn't see through "THIS IS A MONKEY TRIAL!" But those were only momentary issues.

I did see mostly the back of Christopher Plummer's head, but he was far closer to me than he would have been had I been in the audience. In fact, I suspect he has loose dentures, what with so much spittle flying with every sentence. It was backlit from my perspective and so very noticible. Plummer is 78 years old, after all. Brian Dennehy looked OLD, surprising old, older than his 69 years. I recognized several of the town folk as familiar journeymen character actors, but I don't know their names.

While the play itself is excellent, the acting of the junior characters was stiff. Plummer was terrific, but Dennehy was merely OK. He didn't bring the fire and brimstone to the role that I expected. His character undergoes a transition that was not clearly delineated and felt sort of unexpectedly sprung on the audience.

The set design was minimal, mostly we, the jury, were the set. I expect if I were in the audience, I'd have been disappointed by the lighting and set design. But from my vantage point, it was fine.

I did jump out of my seat at play's end and gave a standing ovation. But I really was clapping joyously for my own experience of the show rather than the performers' work. But what the heck, I'm sure the actors enjoyed receiving a standation ovation, regardless of why.

I'd have to say that, overall, the show was good but not excellent, though I bet the play and the players will receive Tony nominations for best revival.