Introduction

Hello everyone,

I'm starting this blog for ENG 323, but I hope to get more out of it than just the academic credit. I want to try to train myself, through practice, to be a more analytical arts lover. All my life I've been a miserable critic: I usually see the best in everything, and so I rarely have something useful to say about how this or that was appropriate or poorly done or above average. I just enjoy everything. However, here I'm going to try to get more critical, philosophical and expressive in my reviews of theatre productions. Some plays I intend to write about include: "Les Miserables" in London, "Les Miserables" at the Walnut Street Theatre in Philly, "A Streetcar Named Desire" at the Walnut (both of which starred Jeffrey Coon), "Spring Awakening": the straight play and the Broadway musical, "A Long Day's Journey into Night" in Philly, "Hamlet" at the Lantern Theatre in Philly, a New York City neo-futurist creation called "Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind," a Broadway production of "Waiting for Godot" starring Nathan Lane and Bill Irwin, and possibly more.

For some of these reviews, I'll compare and contrast productions, actors, or venues; in others I'll focus on one theme or feeling. Sometimes I'll write a traditional review, and other times I'll write a stream-of-consciousness response. I hope you find them interesting. Thank you in advance for reading!

Sincerely,
Julie Elizabeth Morcate