Comments on The Soft Bigotry of Yuppie Expectations

I couldn't agree with every word of this more, except for "whaling". Whalers whale; saxophonists wail.

Is it racism, or cultural illiteracy?

Mr. FNARF,
Yes. Saxophone players like Lester Young wailed.
Thank you. Fixed it.

On the other hand, it's not like this was an operatic or musical, it was a play.

Plays get to muck around a lot more.

The saxophonist sticks out like a sore thumb, and is certainly not this production's only problem. But since he first appeared in the premiere of this production at the Guthrie this summer, the fault doesn't seem to be in "the Rep’s banal white yuppie audience," but rather in David Esbjornson's staging.

Feit, if you can get me a job at The Stranger, I'll let you write the liner notes for my first CD (death metal done on theremin - Clara Rockmore style), in Ebonics! What's your alias? DJ Gripe?

Hmm...according to someone doing a theater piece on KUOW, there has never been a decent adaptation of Gatsby neither by or film in recent memory. Everyone hates every Great Gatsby performance, apparently. Maybe it just doesn't translate into a performing art at all?

And that saxophone thing sounds totally phony.

24-Year-Old Artist,
Because you see the connection between death metal and Clara Rockmore's theramin hallucinations—please be assured that I will stop at nothing to get you a job at the Stranger.

I'm not sure Lester Young wailed; I think he moaned, and tootled occasionally. He might even have burbled a bit. He definitely sighed, and cried, and nuzzled.

What is "The horn rimmed glasses of Seattle Condominiums" even supposed to mean??

Closeted racism in mainstream theatre isn't that big a surprise given that most of these producers and directors are still living in the 40's, 50's and 60's.

The music and the staging should have been fast and loose instead of the drawn-out, almost ethereal, snoozefest that it was.
The only actor I enjoyed was the mechanic- everyone else took themselves way too seriously.
The rest of the folks should have had some appealing quality regardless of the fact that they're playing mostly shallow characters. Like some modern celebrities, even though you may despise them there should still be something that makes them fascinating, something that makes you want to be them or be with them. As played on the Rep stage however, they were appalingly mundane and exceedingly boring.
Ugh.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

Is there no limit to Josh's self-serving rants about how he loves Jazz, and is therefore a hipster?

Sorry, Josh, you're a short, balding white guy who fears dogs. Get over it! Or at least try this formula: 20 percent about you. 80 percent on the rest of the world.

Nice description of Lester Young, FNARF.

For the record, his first recording was 1936, I think the first recording under his name was 1940 or so. Well said Josh.

Dang, I wish I'd seen this! I am a person of color (that color being pink), and I can sort of play the saxophone. Man, those people from Pleasantville must have been bummed when they read this ad.

Hey there, Is There A Limit On Josh Preening Before The Mirror, you ought to kiss and make nice. Your lips are already puckered from all those sour grapes.

Gatsby is stupid to begin with

Never could get into it - and most of the Reps stuff for a decade has been banal - what is new - suspect most of their season ticket holders are from the East Side beige world, sprinkled with greens and green

NYC experimental theater group Elevator Repair Service adapted The Great Gastby brilliantly to a stage version called GATZ. The entire book is read on stage, in a performance that is set in a crappy office and runs about 6 1/2 hours. It's freakishly awesome. The Fitzgerald estate won't allow it to be performed anywhere this crappy Rep GG plays, or it'd most definitely be seen at On the Boards. Shame.

Theremin!! Someone mentioned the word ... theremin! ! in public! * swoon * You can not beleive how many times I heard "what's that" when I mentioned I was building one/learning to play it ... I started telling people it was a kitchen appliance. 24 year old artist, can I have your babies?