Warhorse and Spiderman

The October 29 trip to New York was unlike any of the others. This trip focused less on the museum aspect of the class and more on the art of theater. The plays we saw were Warhorse and Spiderman and the outstanding artistic ability was evident in both of the shows. You didn't have to be an artist to appreciate the hard work that was put into both performances.
I thought that the way the horses were designed in Warhorse would make it difficult for me to believe there was actually a horse on stage. I didn't think I would be able to ignore the three people required to control the puppet but after a while they really did just blend into the background. I was amazed at how realistic the puppet felt to the audience. I actually found myself feeling sprry for the horse even though I knew it wasn't real; it was definitely a unique performance and above all, very well executed.
Spiderman's stage setup was amazing! The prop designers went to great extents to make the stage look like an original comic book scene. The stage was hardly ever still because the props were switching so quickly. Just as impressive as the props was the way Spiderman swung through the theater. The mid-air fight with the Green Goblin was incredibly impressive! The fight had to be so well choreographed just so the wires on the two characters didn't tangle! However, I could have done without the musical aspect of the performance. It was an interesting idea to make a comic book into a musical, but this show in particular did not benefit from the singing at all. I don't even think the music would have been any more tolerable if the actors were able to sing better. The only way to improve the music would really be to rewrite all of it.