"Without stories we are just eating machines with shoes." That's a very Roald Dahlsy phrase that is being used in the PR for Matilda the Musical that is now in previews on Broadway. We went and saw it tonight and liked it. The songs collectively capture Dahl's balance of irreverence and sweetness, and any scene with the Trunchbull is gold. Unfortunately, unlike Dahl's work, there wasn't a good sense of restraint in the dialogue. While his humor is often audacious and overblown and sophomoric, it is just as often dry and subtle. A play that is trying to maintain high-energy while being bright and magical probably can't also work in subtlety or nuance, but it made me cringe that its high-strung efforts often pushed the play into something that Dahl managed to not just sidestep, but actually mocked: shrillness. But you know what? That's coming from a lady who had MORE dental work done this morning. Perhaps butterflies flapping their wings would have sounded shrill to me. Maybe I'm just getting old and crotchety... Though the kids did say that the lights were crazy and even thought it was too loud, they still couldn't hear a lot of the words. But they liked it; it's definitely worth seeing. Here's a short youtube clip about the play.
Out of fear that this close relationship that I've developed with my dentist could fall into sad neglect, we did participate in the annual macaron day on our way home from writing workshop.
And now for your moment of hen:
