Starstruck

I get lights in theater.  Even if I hadn't known that a specific effect existed, I can often figure out how they were done just from experience and reading.  That was not so for Peter and the Starcatcher.  I looked at that show and thought to myself: "I do not know how that was done."  It was awesome.  That ladies and gentlemen is what Tony Award winning lighting design looks like.  Speaking of technical Tonys (which get next to no love during the broadcast), Peter and the Starcatcher swept the "Design for a Play" awards.  Lighting design, costume design, scenic design, and sound design all went to this show.

Now I fully recognize that all that alone is not enough to put most people in seats.  It's enough for me to want to go see a show, but I recognize that that's not so for most people.  But what is enough is the fact that the entire production is amazing.  From the beginning prologue (it's very Henry V) to the final look (which to me becomes even more striking in memory), the play completely immerses the audience in this particular version of Victorian England.  It has basically two major sets - one for the ship The Neverland and one for the island on which they are shipwrecked - and the cast makes them come alive with perfectly in unison motion. If the ship moves, they tilt.  It's genuinely remarkable how they make the docks of Victorian London and the deck of The Neverland come alive simply by moving.  When they get to the island, lighting design takes over to distinguish between the different environments.  With a shift, the stage transforms from a sandy beach to a jungle to a mermaid grotto.  And the show is really freaking funny.  In discussions about the chest around which the plot of the show revolves, Molly (the only female actress) explains that Starstuff (the contents of the box) makes you who you want to be; if you're good it will make you better, but if you're evil and want to take over the world, if you're a person like "Genghis Khan, or Caesar, or Ayn Rand" (quote from the show) it would be devastating if you were to come into contact with the Starstuff.  In short, pretty much everything is that funny.

Go see this show.  If the tech Tonys weren't enough, Christian Borle (who plays Black Stache) won for Best Actor in a Featured Role in A Play.  So there's that...