Ji and I went to watch “Chicago ” in Hudson Theatre. Winter is the raining season in LA and here it was, almost pouring . . . Although there are only 100 seats in this small theatre, it was not full.
有一天看 LA Weekly, 發現一個網站, 提供一些劇場的半價票; 上星期再查詢時, 知道 Hudson 劇場正在上演音樂劇 “芝加哥,”眉頭不皺一下, 馬上問 Ji 要不要看。
結果天公真是合作呀! 雨一直下, 果然不出所料, 雖然是小劇場, 只有一百個座位, 還是沒坐滿。

It appears that Hudson Theatre was not built as a theatre to start with but was converted into a theatre. It is proscenium style; one side is auditorium and the other is stage with orchestra. You can see many thin pillars that support the structure and block a little of view.

The ceiling is somewhat low and creates challenges in lighting as could be expected in “Chicago .” Sometimes you couldn’t see the faces of the actors while they were singing. The set design was simple: a rectangular platform was situated upstage, 3 steps high, and the center was used as an entrance / exit. Behind the platform was orchestra. Props were brought up by performers as needed.

小小劇場裡一邊是觀眾席一邊是舞台, 舞台設計很簡單, 只有一個長方形的台子,三個台階高, 樂團在長方形台子後方, 隔著半透明的簾子, 剩下的空間並沒有佈景, 專讓演員跳舞用, 有時有簡單的道具, 根據劇情需要, 由演員搬上搬下。

To enter Hudson Theatre, you have to walk through a Café. As you can see in the photos, there are many paintings hung on the wall – a nice, arty place. I met a coworker from the Getty and she said there is another theatre on the 2nd floor and still another one on the 1st floor. In this complex, there are 3 theatres in total, all surrounding this Café. I guess the Café must have good business.
要進去Hudson劇場要先經過一家小 Café, 可以看到它的牆上有很多畫有種另類藝術的感覺; 中場休息時到外面的 Café 跟人聊天, 才知道樓上有一間小劇場, 一樓另一邊還有一間小劇場, 小小的建築裡擠了不少東西! 我想這間 Café 應該還蠻賺的吧!

* Walking through the door in the back can get you into Hudson Theatre.
Café 後門走過去就是 Hudson Theatre.


This is a very intimate theatre. The auditorium is made of 5 to 6 rows of seats. Sometimes the performers stood right in front of the first row. The actor who played Amos stood very close, directly addressing some of the audience. He also constantly leaned forward. I sat in the second to the last row and still felt very close to them.
因為劇場不大, 有時候演員直接站在第一排觀眾前方; 我坐在倒數第二排, 還是覺得離演員很近; 演 Amos 的演員, 不但站得近, 身體還常常往前傾, 不知道那幾位觀眾有沒有被到噴口水?

When I was in NY a long time ago, I didn’t see Chicago. And then I saw the film version and fell in love with this show, always wanting to watch a live production. Ji did not see movie and it turned out that she loved the show very much, too. I especially liked the one who played Velma – she performed with ease, quite a character!
之前在紐約沒去看, 後來看了電影版後, 深深愛上這齣戲, 便一直很想看舞台版。今天看了, 非常喜歡他們的表演。 Ji 沒看過電影版, 可是她也很喜歡這齣戲; 我最喜歡演 Velma 的演員, 聲音不錯, 演得也很自然。


Other than Amos, who loves his wife no matter what, everyone else in Chicago is immoral – they love fame, or money and will use every means to get what they want. Affair, greedy, violence, murder . . . all these make Amos pathetic.
除了一直深愛老婆的Amos, 芝加哥裡的人都沒啥道德感; 有的重名, 有的重錢,角色個性分明, 外遇, 出軌, 貪婪, 暴力, 謀殺都有, 這些都讓Amos 變成一個可笑又可憐的人物。 這些是芝加哥這個城市的特色呢? 還是到處都有?

今晚的洛杉磯濕答答的, 有雨, 有血, 還有口水!

If you are interested in watching theatre performances in LA, you can check out www.musicaltheatrela.com & http://www.plays411.com/newsite/discount/discounttix.asp


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