shall i abide in this dull world, which in thy absence is no better than a sty?
I saw “Antony and Cleopatra” today and…yeah. It was AWESOME. I had worked myself into such a nervous, anticipatory state that I thought I was gonna throw up by the time the show actually started. I’m surprised I didn’t.
Our seats were amazing - my dad really spoiled me for my birthday by getting me in the second row. It had a thrust stage set up, so the actors were literally RIGHT THERE. At some points, I was like two feet away from Kate Mulgrew. I don’t think I remembered how to breathe in those moments.
The play itself is not one of my favorite works by Shakespeare, but I do love the story of Cleopatra (when I was like 13 I was obsessed with the Elizabeth Taylor movie, and I read several different biographies), so I was pretty stoked. It’s easy to get lost in the language and I will honestly admit that there were times when I spaced out because I was focusing just on KM. :-X (I wish I were kidding). My mom wasn’t familiar with the play, and she kept asking me to explain to her what was going on. (I eventually looked up spark notes for her to read during intermission).
Let’s not beat around the bush now: I went for Kate Mulgrew. It could have been any play and I would have gone. She was brilliant, and I don’t just say that in a fangirly way…she really was excellent in the role. She was passionate and intense at all times - it was obvious how invested in the show she is. She looked gorgeous….my god…there were times where I actually gaped. The costume designer really did her justice. Every dress was incredibly flattering to her figure (those Starfleet uniforms kept so much hidden!). Let’s just be for real - she’s looking pretty damn fine for her age. Each dress displayed a considerable amount of cleavage (thank you god) and the last dress, which she wears in part of act one and all of act two, is EXTREMELY low cut and yeah. (said dress is in most of the publicity photos and the pictures do NOT come anywhere close to how glorious it was) There were times when some dude would be talking and I’d be too focused on her chest to even notice. The bottoms of the dresses were sheer and had a slit up to her waist, so helloooo legs. *clears throat* There were even a few times when she was sitting on her throne in a less-than-lady-like way and her dress sorta drooped open and yeah. IT WAS WONDERFUL.
What was I talking about? I got a little lost there for a moment.
55 year old women have no right looking that good, but I sure am appreciative that she does.
Oh, and the fact that she sported red hair in this show was just the icing on the cake. I have a weakness for redheads.
The rest of the cast was good - the actor who played Antony was excellent, and had lots of chemistry with KM. They made out a lot, which was lovely to watch. I’m sure there were other actors and I’m sure they were perfectly good, but I didn’t pay much attention to them.
One thing that kinda threw me was the concept of the show - the Romans were dressed in pretty modern attire (I’d like to steal a pair of those combat boots, please), but the Egyptians were dressed in more historical clothes. It was sort of a fusion of the two…I wasn’t too sure what they were trying to do there…but I’m not gonna lose sleep over it.
My favorite part of the show came at the end. I’m gonna go ahead and assume that everyone knows the story of Cleopatra and knows her fate…but if you don’t and don’t want to be spoiled, you might want to avert your eyes. So yeah, Cleopatra’s just sorta made up her mind that she’s going to kill herself to make sure that she doesn’t become Octavius Caesar’s pawn (and to be with Antony again), and so she’s got her two female servants with her. And then the heavens parted and angels sang when KM grabbed them each and gave them a “goodbye” kiss. On their mouths. It was so unexpected that I almost didn’t realize what was happening on stage, and when it clicked in my head that KM was kissing girls, I forgot how to think altogether.
Oh! And to hear KM recite one of my favorite Shakespeare quotes (“Shall I abide in this dull world, which in thy absence is no better than a sty?”) made my little heart all a-flutter.
The most horrifying part of the show: Antony pulls off his pants on two separate occasions, and seriously…I was close enough to see the outline of his junk in his lil boxer briefs. My poor little lesbian brain was damaged by that.
I had read somewhere that they were considering using a real snake at the end, but alas they did not. It made her death scene a little humorous, especially when she pressed it to her breast and had a typical lengthy dramatic Shakespearean death.
*happy sigh* I really loved all three hours of it. I would see it again if I could (oh how badly do I want to go again!). I really hope they do a DVD…it would be a shame if so many people didn’t get to see it.
It is entirely possible that I screamed like a fangirl when she took her bow at the end.
I’m not gonna lie…I’m sad that it’s over. Having this play to look forward to was something that got me through a lot of really bad days…and now it’s done. I don’t really have any other bright spots such as this to look forward to now. I did get a little depressed when we drove home and I realized that it was over and wouldn’t happen again.
I’m really glad I got to go. I’m so glad my bff got me obsessed with Star Trek Voyager, which allowed me to fall in love with KM, which made me look at the Totally Kate website at 4 in the morning a few months ago, which allowed me to see completely by chance that she was doing this show. I’m really lucky to have been able to go…I only wish that my friends could have been there with me.
Such a wonderful experience!
Our seats were amazing - my dad really spoiled me for my birthday by getting me in the second row. It had a thrust stage set up, so the actors were literally RIGHT THERE. At some points, I was like two feet away from Kate Mulgrew. I don’t think I remembered how to breathe in those moments.
The play itself is not one of my favorite works by Shakespeare, but I do love the story of Cleopatra (when I was like 13 I was obsessed with the Elizabeth Taylor movie, and I read several different biographies), so I was pretty stoked. It’s easy to get lost in the language and I will honestly admit that there were times when I spaced out because I was focusing just on KM. :-X (I wish I were kidding). My mom wasn’t familiar with the play, and she kept asking me to explain to her what was going on. (I eventually looked up spark notes for her to read during intermission).
Let’s not beat around the bush now: I went for Kate Mulgrew. It could have been any play and I would have gone. She was brilliant, and I don’t just say that in a fangirly way…she really was excellent in the role. She was passionate and intense at all times - it was obvious how invested in the show she is. She looked gorgeous….my god…there were times where I actually gaped. The costume designer really did her justice. Every dress was incredibly flattering to her figure (those Starfleet uniforms kept so much hidden!). Let’s just be for real - she’s looking pretty damn fine for her age. Each dress displayed a considerable amount of cleavage (thank you god) and the last dress, which she wears in part of act one and all of act two, is EXTREMELY low cut and yeah. (said dress is in most of the publicity photos and the pictures do NOT come anywhere close to how glorious it was) There were times when some dude would be talking and I’d be too focused on her chest to even notice. The bottoms of the dresses were sheer and had a slit up to her waist, so helloooo legs. *clears throat* There were even a few times when she was sitting on her throne in a less-than-lady-like way and her dress sorta drooped open and yeah. IT WAS WONDERFUL.
What was I talking about? I got a little lost there for a moment.
55 year old women have no right looking that good, but I sure am appreciative that she does.
Oh, and the fact that she sported red hair in this show was just the icing on the cake. I have a weakness for redheads.
The rest of the cast was good - the actor who played Antony was excellent, and had lots of chemistry with KM. They made out a lot, which was lovely to watch. I’m sure there were other actors and I’m sure they were perfectly good, but I didn’t pay much attention to them.
One thing that kinda threw me was the concept of the show - the Romans were dressed in pretty modern attire (I’d like to steal a pair of those combat boots, please), but the Egyptians were dressed in more historical clothes. It was sort of a fusion of the two…I wasn’t too sure what they were trying to do there…but I’m not gonna lose sleep over it.
My favorite part of the show came at the end. I’m gonna go ahead and assume that everyone knows the story of Cleopatra and knows her fate…but if you don’t and don’t want to be spoiled, you might want to avert your eyes. So yeah, Cleopatra’s just sorta made up her mind that she’s going to kill herself to make sure that she doesn’t become Octavius Caesar’s pawn (and to be with Antony again), and so she’s got her two female servants with her. And then the heavens parted and angels sang when KM grabbed them each and gave them a “goodbye” kiss. On their mouths. It was so unexpected that I almost didn’t realize what was happening on stage, and when it clicked in my head that KM was kissing girls, I forgot how to think altogether.
Oh! And to hear KM recite one of my favorite Shakespeare quotes (“Shall I abide in this dull world, which in thy absence is no better than a sty?”) made my little heart all a-flutter.
The most horrifying part of the show: Antony pulls off his pants on two separate occasions, and seriously…I was close enough to see the outline of his junk in his lil boxer briefs. My poor little lesbian brain was damaged by that.
I had read somewhere that they were considering using a real snake at the end, but alas they did not. It made her death scene a little humorous, especially when she pressed it to her breast and had a typical lengthy dramatic Shakespearean death.
*happy sigh* I really loved all three hours of it. I would see it again if I could (oh how badly do I want to go again!). I really hope they do a DVD…it would be a shame if so many people didn’t get to see it.
It is entirely possible that I screamed like a fangirl when she took her bow at the end.
I’m not gonna lie…I’m sad that it’s over. Having this play to look forward to was something that got me through a lot of really bad days…and now it’s done. I don’t really have any other bright spots such as this to look forward to now. I did get a little depressed when we drove home and I realized that it was over and wouldn’t happen again.
I’m really glad I got to go. I’m so glad my bff got me obsessed with Star Trek Voyager, which allowed me to fall in love with KM, which made me look at the Totally Kate website at 4 in the morning a few months ago, which allowed me to see completely by chance that she was doing this show. I’m really lucky to have been able to go…I only wish that my friends could have been there with me.
Such a wonderful experience!