As per Biff's request... new topic!
Oooh... I know you bumped this thread up just for me. I now have time for a mini-review. Oh, and there are some spoilers below.
First off... Flans CAN NOT ACT. I loved the show, but it was a case of "One of these actors is not like the others." I mean, there wasn't a lot of serious acting going on, but Flans seemed extremely limited in his expressiveness - he mostly went around with his standard goofy smile. Even to someone who isn't accustomed to watching a lot of plays/musicals, he totally stuck out acting-wise.
Still, he seemed to get better as the play went on, and his part isn't nearly as important as some others.
To the show itself (sorry if some of this is retread from the real reviews): This production was... very different. There wasn't much on the stage. No curtains, the backdrop was a velcro board with arrows & such (which later made sense, in the course of the show... they stuck objects, such as a house on it... as part of the songs), and the stage was relatively bare - there were the instruments for the band, but otherwise, there wasn't much there, outside of the microphones.
Also, this show was very informal - the stage really continued partly out into the audience. Xanthus entered for the "Ponytail" song by sliding down a pole (its incredibly hard to explain this without pictures or models... or something visual) - which was connected to a quasi-extension of the stage (at the level of the the back row). Another bit of informalness... everyone there had a part in the play. The box office kid helped as part of the "crew" (which, basically consisted of cast members and the stage manager), and also helped with some singing in the finale. Really, all this was part of the charm.
Even though I think that the guy who played Xanthus was older than the guy who played his father, I really liked this cast.
Another thing that was very helpful - the show was really easy to follow (I sometimes have a hard time following musicals, when I know nothing about them before I go to the theatre). The "plot" was strange, but it really worked with the whole atmosphere. I think it was basically: city couple gets a home in the "country", but they need to fix up their lawn, so that's its ready for their wedding. So, they head to the Agway to get started, where the workers introduce them to Xanthus - the best landscaper in town (who has a creepy thing with a tree in their lawn). Little do they know that Xanthas (thinks that he) is from another planet, and the Agway workers are his cult. Xanthus gets started on the couple's lawn, and eventually, he decides that he needs to build a rocket, so that he can reach Dimension Six. He builds this on the couples lawn (and they also receive a bill for this all).
Somewhere along the way, we discover that Xanthus was raised by Joyce & Chainsaw Dick. C.D. remembers Xanthus arriving as though from another world, but at the end, Joyce explains that C.D. was on an LSD trip (this was during some outdoor concert). In actuality, she had attempted to abandon her baby, had second thoughts, and when she returned, she found that the baby's father (though he didn't know this until... um, near the end of the show) had found little Xanthus. So, Xanthus now realizes that he is just a normal human (this not long after he discovers that the couple had cut down his creepily beloved tree). But, all is not lost. The wedding planner comes into town, and she has a strange resemblence to the spirit of the tree....
Of course, the actual plot isn't really all that important. The music was GREAT!! I'd like to see PaW continue on - at least long enough to get a full album. Man, if I lived closer to NYC, I'd definately see it a few more times.
One privately amusing part of the play had the couple "playing" guitars while singing. The band was playing, and the guitars weren't hooked up to anything (Flans' even had a broken string), so it just seemed funny that this was essentially acting, when he could have actually played the part.
Those are the main points that I can recall. Great show, and they REALLY need to come out with a full album! My free sampler is great, but I need more!!!! Sigh... if only I had all the bootleg equipment.
Oooh... I know you bumped this thread up just for me. I now have time for a mini-review. Oh, and there are some spoilers below.
First off... Flans CAN NOT ACT. I loved the show, but it was a case of "One of these actors is not like the others." I mean, there wasn't a lot of serious acting going on, but Flans seemed extremely limited in his expressiveness - he mostly went around with his standard goofy smile. Even to someone who isn't accustomed to watching a lot of plays/musicals, he totally stuck out acting-wise.
Still, he seemed to get better as the play went on, and his part isn't nearly as important as some others.
To the show itself (sorry if some of this is retread from the real reviews): This production was... very different. There wasn't much on the stage. No curtains, the backdrop was a velcro board with arrows & such (which later made sense, in the course of the show... they stuck objects, such as a house on it... as part of the songs), and the stage was relatively bare - there were the instruments for the band, but otherwise, there wasn't much there, outside of the microphones.
Also, this show was very informal - the stage really continued partly out into the audience. Xanthus entered for the "Ponytail" song by sliding down a pole (its incredibly hard to explain this without pictures or models... or something visual) - which was connected to a quasi-extension of the stage (at the level of the the back row). Another bit of informalness... everyone there had a part in the play. The box office kid helped as part of the "crew" (which, basically consisted of cast members and the stage manager), and also helped with some singing in the finale. Really, all this was part of the charm.
Even though I think that the guy who played Xanthus was older than the guy who played his father, I really liked this cast.
Another thing that was very helpful - the show was really easy to follow (I sometimes have a hard time following musicals, when I know nothing about them before I go to the theatre). The "plot" was strange, but it really worked with the whole atmosphere. I think it was basically: city couple gets a home in the "country", but they need to fix up their lawn, so that's its ready for their wedding. So, they head to the Agway to get started, where the workers introduce them to Xanthus - the best landscaper in town (who has a creepy thing with a tree in their lawn). Little do they know that Xanthas (thinks that he) is from another planet, and the Agway workers are his cult. Xanthus gets started on the couple's lawn, and eventually, he decides that he needs to build a rocket, so that he can reach Dimension Six. He builds this on the couples lawn (and they also receive a bill for this all).
Somewhere along the way, we discover that Xanthus was raised by Joyce & Chainsaw Dick. C.D. remembers Xanthus arriving as though from another world, but at the end, Joyce explains that C.D. was on an LSD trip (this was during some outdoor concert). In actuality, she had attempted to abandon her baby, had second thoughts, and when she returned, she found that the baby's father (though he didn't know this until... um, near the end of the show) had found little Xanthus. So, Xanthus now realizes that he is just a normal human (this not long after he discovers that the couple had cut down his creepily beloved tree). But, all is not lost. The wedding planner comes into town, and she has a strange resemblence to the spirit of the tree....
Of course, the actual plot isn't really all that important. The music was GREAT!! I'd like to see PaW continue on - at least long enough to get a full album. Man, if I lived closer to NYC, I'd definately see it a few more times.
One privately amusing part of the play had the couple "playing" guitars while singing. The band was playing, and the guitars weren't hooked up to anything (Flans' even had a broken string), so it just seemed funny that this was essentially acting, when he could have actually played the part.
Those are the main points that I can recall. Great show, and they REALLY need to come out with a full album! My free sampler is great, but I need more!!!! Sigh... if only I had all the bootleg equipment.
thanks woodsie! 
Glad you enjoyed the show.
I kinda figured that Flansy's acting would be strictly amateur-level. Aside from that episode of the Cartoon Network's Home Movies, on which he and Linnell guest-starred, he hasn't done much "real" acting. 
I suppose such a performance would play all right on record -- which is why I like the PAW! sampler so much, and why I would be excited about an "original cast recording" 2-CD set of the whole show -- but I can see why it would be weird to watch him onstage trying (and not quite succeeding) to stay in character... 
I've seen that. 
: But Fran...
: It really DID happen! 
(get it? wooden.) 
