Friday, December 12, 2014

Dr. Horrible Live: After Comic-Con 2011

Dr. Horrible Live

As Comic-Con slowly faded away Sunday night, and people were seeing a Joker or Sailor Moon walking down the street, some attendees decided to visit the 10th Street Theater to see Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog in a new way: a stage musical
Chinese Pirate Productions put this show together, and had attracted big crowds for more than a week.
Even Zack Whedon, who co-wrote the show, decided to check it out. His brief review on Twitter: "If you are a dr horrible fan the live production is AMAZING. 10th Ave Theater. It runs through the 30th. Go!"

The producers did a wise thing and re-tooled the story to make it a Broadway production. All of the familiar scenes are there, but there are also dancing homeless people, and Captain Hammer groupies. Even his henchman Moist is more involved, as Dr. H spies on Penny's date with the Captain. They even have "special effects" that show how Dr. H is able to take control of the van with the Wonderflonium. It's used several other times, especially when hey re-create the laundromat where Dr. H and Penny Talk.
In "My Eyes" we see Penny and Dr. H sing on opposite sides of the stage, while the homeless are dancing and Captain Hammer tries to get out of the way. We even have a PSA from the
Captain about how we should be vigilant, especially towards science geeks. The climax where Dr. Horrible finally becomes the super-villain he's wanted to be, including membership to the Evil League of Evil, is chilling, especially when he dons his new uniform.

Nathan Turner is great as Dr. Horrible. He's evil but he is sincere about wanting to save the world by ruling it. I also liked Michael Minto as Captain Hammer. He comes across as a Big Man on Campus, but you start to root against him when he confronts Dr. H about his relationship with Penny.
Jane Lui is also wonderful as the love of Dr. Horrible's life. Her voice did remind me of Felicia Day's portrayal, but she made the role her own with her own style of portraying a girl who still had hope for people.

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