It’s not often that I stray from my TV, but once in a while, I do peel myself off the couch and take in a bit of the theatre (pronounced “theee-atttrah”). Case in point: last week, I attended Point Break Live!, the much buzzed-about play which reenacts the famed 1991 action pic, Point Break, live on stage. Long story short: it was hilarious.
To the uninitiated, Point Break Live! is one of those low-rent, interactive performances — the type that mandates the use of a poncho, lest your shirt be soaked with water, beer, and fake blood (all three of which are ultimately flung into the audience — quite liberally). These touches are funny, but what truly separates Point Break Live! from the pack is its genius conceit of having an audience member play Johnny Utah, the lead role originally inhabited by the prototypically monotone Keanu Reeves. Subscribing to the theory that anyone can do just as good a job as Reeves, the play throws its unrehearsed Johnny Utah into the fray, feeding him cue-cards throughout the duration of the show and creating the sort of trainwreck performance that can only be described as perfectly brilliant and brilliantly perfect.
But this isn’t just a one-joke show. The entire cast absolutely tears into the wooden screenplay with campy yet reverential glee, milking all its silly one-liners for maximum comic potential. People who’ve never seen the original may be shocked to know that this dialogue has been taken verbatim from the movie, but rest assured, it’s 98% faithful to the source material. Plus, if anything, this version is better. Creators Jaime Keeling and Jamie Hook cut away some of the unnecessary plot diversions of the film and leave us with a streamlined, if still utterly unbelievable, story. Everyone appears to be having the time of their lives on stage, and as the various actors and actresses galavant throughout the theater (and onto the street outside), the mania becomes infectious. Point Break Live! very easily could have worn out its welcome after thirty minutes, but instead, this hysterical, uproarious production keeps things lively the entire night. My party, which included fellow influential bloggers J-Unit (Half-Black Charisma), Cat Vasko (Gridskipper), and Katherine Spiers (Metromix LA), all agreed: Point Break Live! is definitely worth checking out (buy the poncho at the door).
Tickets for Angelenos can be found at Theatermania.com. And should the production hit the road, be sure to keep up with the schedule at the show’s MySpace page.
(Two more bonus pics after the jump)
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