oooooookay.

final review, final show seen at ‘Rogue,’
–and dontchaknowit, -but the final resting place of what was left of a handful of flyers (the cheapie black and white ones (tri-fold)
to ’splain what was playing at Rogue this evening.

This was a Rogue show.
This was, quite possibly the most expensive Rogue show to attend.
Ever.

Was it a ‘real,’ Rogue show.
Sure…
If you want to call it that?,
-yeah it was a ‘Rogue,’ show.

No Blah-Blah
No Beg-Bucket
No mention of the Rogue Performance Festival whatsoever.. (like at ALL.)
If there was any table or any information regarding Rogue, I didn’t see it, -and I think the black and white tri-folds I put on a table (for something else,) were the only ‘Rogue,’ mentions.

And if this is a BYOV, lemme tell ya, the Saroyan is a beautiful place.

Kinda.

Why I loved it:

First orchestra with the g.f. and her kids…
They had a blast, (though the younger one was pretty squirmy during some of the long talking and awards given…
–As I caught the 2:30 show, (and was surrounded with other families catching this with their kids? The sentiment of
‘…okay, get on with it.’ was echoed in a lot of faces belonging to those who were three to five ft. tall.
(…I’m just over six ft. and me and the guy equally as old sitting next to me were having a hard time sitting still.)
But it’s cool, the main animator and director of Bugs Bunny has a grandson who is married to somebody from Fresno… so, okay. )

The good:
It’s Bugs, Elmer, Daffy, RoadRunner, Wile-E, and and even the ‘talian guy who finds the singing frog…
(yep, some of the cartoons were a little obscure,)
–but it was a complete gas to be sitting there cracking up to such beauts as the ‘Barber of Seville,’
–and the whole audience laughing at a small child laughing when nobody else did?, reminded us how the smallest things in the cartoon, were brilliant, hysterical, and, um… brilliant.
This was one stoked and dialed in audience.
I personally had been waiting for this show since, jeeze, since last fall, and really regret missing it when it did play on broadway a few years ago, (’Bugs Bunny on Broadway’ has been running for 18 years.)

The musicianship?
Fresno Phil. is an excellent bunch of folks, (dang friendly too, we walked in with a few of them, chatted ‘em up a bit, very very chummy indeed,
–And for tackling some of the more difficult scores ever blended together
(as well as capturing the visual humor with the music, synchronizing to all the nuance, body language, and pratfalls?
These guys (and girls,) totally rock.
I’d go see the Fresno Phil. again, (seriously.)
THEY were excellent.

What was not so excellent?
Let me rephrase that:

What sucked?

Well,
how about going three quarters of the way through the production (there were two numbers left ‘What’s Opera, Doc,’ and an encore (William Tell overture to a montage,)
-when suddenly the ‘house sound,’ comes on or something.

???

Yeah.

At first I thought it was just:
‘Okay, old footage being used for the film shorts, and the soundtrack was subpar or something…
-or maybe the acoustics to the place weren’t so hot, which is why it sounded like the orchestra wasn playing ‘with mittens,’ on, (not very lush, not very full, not all that loud…)

(-But, you know what? you really can hear a pin drop at Carnegie Hall, or nearly any well designed music hall,
-an orchestra going full tilt WILL knock you against a wall,
AND these folks were mic’d.

‘What’s Opera,’ launched?,
-and suddenly you were swallowed in sound,
-the film shown was suddenly loud enough that you could hear it AND it ran prominant (and equal,) as there were singing parts to the live orchestra.

-I thought (as well,) that maybe they were working with a different source for ‘What’s Opera’ that maybe it was a restored or enhanced piece
–but the final song after that (or two,) suddenly were also swallowing you up (as any live orch. should,)

Basically, at the end of the show, it was like somebody ‘finally turned’ the main speakers on.
(That noticable.)

-Why do I mention this?

Well,
In all other ‘Rogue’ venues, even if the sound or lighting has had issues here and there,
usually the venue master is on top of it (almost immediately,)
–and even the ’sparsest,’ of soundsystems are still at least adequate to put out what the performers are doing.

–And, not as an backhanded compliment or anything, but Rogue is still a performance arts festival, and some of the equipment, performance spaces, (etc.) are donated and sometimes improvised,
—Yet STILL yeilds top quality.
-They also usually charge only three to (at the most) ten bucks a ticket.

(Long and the short of it?,

the average Rogue venue, no matter how ‘MASH Unit,’
–still is a very professionally presented deal, the bands are presented very well, the sound quality is excellent, and the staff and performers all take pride in that.

The Saroyan presentation of this performance was actually sub-par to any of the other Rogue venues.
Sorry, but true.

also?
(And this is the kicker.)

‘Bugs Bunny over Broadway’ at the Saroyan for the 2:30 show, (not a shabby joint, by all means DEDICATED to performance,)
-Decent Seats (Balcony, low towards center?)
Cost?:
212.00 for two adults and two kids (who had half fare.)

(…yeah.)

In all honesty? I can get decent nosebleeds, (you don’t sit real close, but the sound is amazing,) in the balcony at Carnegie Hall for less, (actually.)
-And that’s Carnegie freakin’ Hall. (Yes, Virginia, regular folk’ can afford to attend serious music in excellent halls pretty regular in NY, Phila, etc. –sometimes you need opera glasses, -but the performance is still excellent when everybody does their job.

This was enough money laid out for this event, and to what looked like a pretty full house,
–At worst?, treat it like a bar-band situation, and you loose the first song or two while getting things sussed out,
-but at nearly the END?

I felt kinda ripped off.

This was my first time at the Saroyan, but I’ve been told that there have been sound problems before.

At those prices, (with seven clams for parking too,) I really can’t just brush it off as
‘…well, it’s a festival show,’
(or)
‘well it’s Fresno, what do you expect?’

For me?,
the g.f. and the kids had a great time and enjoyed it, (which is what mattered, in the long run.)

But for me,
the guy who’s shelling out so that I can introduce people I care about, to a ‘real,’ orch. and a ‘real performance?’
(As someone who has grown up in performance spaces and everything from solo to barbershop to festivals, full on orchestra and opera gigs (from both sides of the stage?)

I really wish it had gone better.

If it was ten and fifteen bucks a pop? Well, I’d still be sort of disappointed, but, okay, stuff happens.

At nearly two and a quarter?

Lets just hope that they had their act together for the evening show.

There are other advertised shows at the Saroyan coming up this year that I was considering.
-But after this?
I dunno.

That’s a lot of money for ‘problems’ affecting the performance this severely.