With a beautiful autumn breeze gracing my early Friday evening, I made my way to the building my friends have dubbed "Big Blue." By this of course, they mean the Guthrie. I rolled in at about 7:00pm to find the lobby abuzz. After all, it was opening night! Much ado indeed.

I have never attended an opening night performance in the tenure of my relationship with Big Blue, and now that I have, there's no going back. I am hooked. Maybe it is due to the eager atmosphere where people take to their seats much earlier than normal, or the feeling of privilege that comes from being among the first to see the performance, or maybe it is simply the fact that fewer people are wearing jeans... either way it is intoxicating.

The only disappointment? I appeared to be the only representative of my age demographic. Twentysomethings... where were you?! As I took to my seat and commenced people watching until curtain call, I saw very few "youngsters" in the crowd. This surprised me because everyone knows that the Guthrie makes for the perfect date night, is a great friends night... hell! It's good any night! Especially opening night. Step it up people! You know who you are, and we should be coming out in hordes. Living in a city that has more theaters per capita than New York, you'd think there would be more of us. Tisk, tisk.

Alas, back to the experience. Cue lights.

I learn in this letter that Don Peter of Arragon
comes this night to Messina.

The play began and laughter shortly followed. For those of you who have studied or simply read Shakespeare know... Much Ado About Nothing is funny, and here the Guthrie excelled. Now, while I do not pretend to know the first thing about acting, I wholeheartedly admit to admiring it. And let me tell you, Daniel Gerroll (Benedick) and Dearbhla Molloy (Beatrice) do not disappoint. God they're good! I suppose I should have known I was in for a treat when Joe Dowling expressed his excitement for Molloy's involvement when he first introduced the play this past April. Silly me. In all honesty, the play is worth seeing just for the banter. See for yourself:



Let's put it this way... between Benedick, Beatrice and Dogberry they had me roaring with laughter to the point where I was the awkwardly loud audience member whose chuckles lasted just a bit too long to be socially acceptable. It felt so natural that it was almost as if I were watching old friends verbally jest over beers at my kitchen table - a sensation I have never before experienced with Shakespeare, but which I thoroughly enjoyed.

I also admittedly have never seen Much Ado outside of high school or college productions, so seeing the characters cast older was a new experience for me. It's amazing how much better it works that way! The dynamics between the characters flow more naturally, and it creates an entirely different set of provocative undertones that left me with a much richer appreciation for the prose.

The only fault I found was the set. The green marble was much too Emerald City for my liking, and at times distracting. While I know I can't always expect to be wowed by moving floors circa Peer Gynt 2007, I always hope for something fitting. This one, not so much. Maybe next time.

As they say... man is a giddy thing, and this is my conclusion.

Later days, valiant dust.