Dave Malloy’s latest: a song revue of Moby Dick at Joe's Pub. If you haven’t read Moby Dick, but really wanted to hear Dave Malloy’s latest and still know what was going on, you were in luck!
Paul Pinto as Reverend Roy G. Biv explained all, but not without ranting on ideas of race and our natural scheme of things. He questioned in a frenetic style of spoken word with an avant-garde girl group accompanying him. His rant was infectious, which seemed to be him challenging difficult ideas, but with an open heart and without too much worry about tradition or correctness. The general spirit suggests we reword and recraft the lens by which we look at people and their situations; I liked this idea.
Next, we met Pip in a dire situation, and what a contrast from the high energy Roy G. Biv. Pip seemed the lonely sort, almost defeated; the kind that seems to teach most when or if you can peer into their world. What a sweet moment as we listened to quiet query on the significance of his life. These questions with lots of time for wonder were filled in by jazz melodies on piano; I was especially fond of these, the silver lining in his dark moment. Were Pip’s questions answered? I don’t know, but he was not entirely alone as he pondered his fate.
I think Malloy may have tricked us. We sat and were caught up in the charisma of these performers, were surprised by nods to various genres, and I think everybody in the audience at some point wanted to shake a tambourine (!), but really, we sat and pondered meaningful life questions. Whether potent and high-energy or sweet and sparing, these two characters each gave us their view of universal questions regarding our fate as well as our place with others.
-Sally, Spring 2014
