The Animals and Children Took to the Streets

The hubby and I went to DC yesterday to see a new play at Studio Theater, "The Animals and Children Took to the Streets".  It was a bit of a journey.  We parked in Crystal City and took the metro.  We were planning to ride the yellow line to U Street but the train stopped running two stops before that.  The intercom was bad and/or the driver mumbled so we, and half the other passengers, did not hear "Last Stop".

What happened next was a bit frightening.  We thought we were headed further up the line and technically we were, only the train stopped in the middle of the tunnel a few hundred yards past the last stop.  I didn't think much of it at first, the Metro has been known to have a few problems, but my husband was more realistic and realized something was wrong.  After a few minutes, the driver walked from one end of the train to the other not saying a word to any of the confused passengers.  I think we all assumed he was going to check on something and didn't want to bother him with a question.

Then we sat there.  The Metro sometimes breaks down.  Occasionally, passengers have to get out and walk to a platform.  That's really quite rare but I started to wonder if that was our fate.  Our train kept turning on and off so I thought we had engine troubles.  Nope.  It turns out the driver was walking to the other end of the train so he could drive us back the other way (each metro train can be driven from either end).  Had he just said something when he passed us, it would have been fine, but no, he said nothing.  I wouldn't mind except that if you announce "Last Stop" and over half the train stays on, it's a good indication that no one heard you or understood you and maybe you should take two seconds to explain in each car.  But okay, whatever.

15 minutes pass and we're in danger of missing the play.  We pull back into the stop we just left and the hubby and I haul buttcheeks to the theater.  We ran the whole way and just made it before the curtain went up.  I sat next to a lady that had to wonder why I was so sweaty (I pour sweat when I exercise) but she was far too polite to say anything.

Now, on to the play.  It was remarkable in many ways.  The story wasn't that amazing and the characters were mostly caricatures.  However, the storytelling was fabulous.  It was a mixture of animation, live action, and song.  The actors interacted with the animation on the screen behind them in a performance that was all about timing.  For instance, a little bird landed on the shutter of a woman's window, the actress hit the shutter and the animated bird flew up into the fan and was decimated (in a very non-gory way).  That should also tell you the tone of the play.

I don't like musicals as a rule, though there are exceptions.  I loved the music in this story.  It was fast paced, clever, great lyrics and set the mood for the entire piece.  Each song had a genuine purpose in the story, which is one of my beefs with most musicals.  There were few instruments, I believe only a piano, and the voices are what I would describe as sardonic.  There was more or less an entire song dedicated to the perverts in their building, one of whom sniffed bicycle seats.

Okay, I want very much to go on and on and on about this but I'm late.  I'm driving 1.5 hours to take my dad out for a belated Father's Day lunch.  So I have to run.  Please excuse any grammar/spelling mistakes, no time to edit.  If you have a moment, please take the time to pretend this entry was as awesome as I planned to make because I simply ran out of time to do it myself.  I'll love you forever if you do.  :)

Yay!!  I just checked 1927's website (they're the troupe that created and performed the piece) and they have a video I can embed!  Here, check it out.