To the editors:
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“Abysmal,” “loutish,” “dreary”? Come on, Jack. Our past work (whose past work, by the way, Jack? Maestro Subgum and the Whole’s? Jeff Dorchen’s? The Curious Theatre Branch’s? It wasn’t clear who you were critiquing) was described as always in the past “dancing on the edge of self-indulgence . . . until now, by plan or plain dumb luck . . . didn’t fall off.” Well which is it, Jack? If by “plain dumb luck” you might do well to reconsider your past support of Curious and Jeff Dorchen, and your oft-repeated praise and interest. Perhaps you’ve been fooled all along into thinking our work is “exceptional.” If as you alternatively suggest, a “plan” on our part, a “plan” suggests that we actually know what we are doing and have earned the respect of our audience and peers (of which you in the past have been an enthusiastic member) and that “respect” allows us to experiment and reinvent ourselves. Monster was a chance for the Magnuses and myself (the Curious writers) to collaborate with Jeff Dorchen and the talented eight musicians and performers that make up Maestro Subgum & the Whole. It was Maestro Subgum that produced the show, not the Curious Theatre Branch, which your review never makes clear. We wrote a funny, goofy, silly, late-night musical comedy. There were songs (good songs, by my reckoning) and a cast (good cast, too). Neither of which your review bothered to mention. I enjoy the show, by the way, and am thankfully not alone.
Which leads me to what I consider your job is in the theater. I think it’s only fair that if you expect me to do my job well, and improve over time, from show to show, that I expect the same from you. Your job is to critique the play, not something Jeff Dorchen, Curious, or Maestro might or might not have done in the past. Where did we lose you? In the opening monologue? You were seemingly not able to follow the plot (which was consciously simple to follow), your plot summary was inaccurate at least six times. We know you found something “loutish,” what was it? You thought it “too long,” what should have been cut? Which performances needed work? You didn’t talk about any of them. Which characters did you like? Hate? It was a musical by a musical unit (which is what Maestro is), what songs did you like? How could we have used them better? And on and on. It’s these kind of “notes” that help a playwright, that we rarely hear from you or your peers.
