Point Break...LIVE!

It seems blogging has changed my cultural life. Last night Pooteewheet and I had our friends come over to sit Eryn after 9:00 p.m. so we could run downtown to catch a performance of "Point Break Live" at the Bryant Lake Bowl, which was not so much recommended, as it was just mentioned, by PlanetDan. I have to admit, we had a wonderful time and my wife is actually thinking of going back next week with a friend. Point Break Live is exactly what it purports to be, the classic Keanu Reeves/Patrick Swayze movie adapted for the stage. There is no pretense at fine acting, and one of the main characters, specifically Reeve's character, Special Agent Utah (former quarterback for the Ohio Buckeyes turned FBI agent), is actually pulled from the audience, bedecked in a wetsuit, and forcefed lines by a cuecard girl (who doubles as a wave, wearing a blue scarf and tackling Keanu now and then while screaming "Wave!") throughout the entirety of the play. Our particular Keanu was great, and even did some of the appropriate gestures (rubbing the chest, arms outspread with head bobbing slightly forward, etc.) and really came into his own during the argument scenes.

The highlights include:

• The skidiving scenes are great - with the characters actually hung from clips in the ceiling, which was apparently so crotch-wise uncomfortable that Keanu could only mutter his lines. It was fun to watch him ride Swayze down at the end, when he's supposed to have jumped without a parachute, and they're basically just wrestling on stage as Swayze yells, "We're gonna be meat waffles in six fuckin' seconds!"
• Raincoats for the entire audience because of the wind and surf emanating from the super soakers during the storm of the half century. Other props added to the realism as well, including ear plugs (for the in-audience robbery scenes), sun tan lotion and bank money (see picture below).
• Mooning - yes, real butts, on stage.
• Extensive use of the outside of the theater. Chase scenes looped through the Bryant Lake Bowl, outside, and back in, many times over, and spectators outside stopped to watch Keanu in a wet suit chasing Bodhi Satva through the snow at approximately 11 p.m. The recent snow actually made it particularly funny, as they opened up the wall to show the window which was supposed to be the beach, so the actors were wandering around outside in their wetsuits in the drifts trailing surfboards and various beach paraphenalia.
• All stress on the "subtext" part of the "gay subtext" of Point Break was dropped. Bodhi's buddies hammed it up pretty good.
• Particularly appropriate to where I work, it was noted that "Lawyer's don't surf."
• Bryant Lake Bowl has one of the best tap beer selections in the Cities - you can get Bell's Two Hearted Ale for the same price as a Summit - Bell's is an immaculately brewed ale - your Summit almost tastes like swill after a glass.