TOW #13 - Visual- Fish in the dark

On a recent trip into New York City, the train pulled up next to an advertisement that was strangely compelling and even provoked my friend to put a reminder in her phone to see the show. I took a picture of it as a reminder as well. The imagery was strangely captivating, the placement of the ad is clever, and the more detailed version of the show's poster is even more intriguing.

Why was this poster so eye catching? The contrasting coloring of blue and orange definitely added to the initial grabbing of the viewer's eye. The colors usually aren't seen together and make the poster something different than its surroundings. At first glance your eye is pulled to the seemingly glowing lit up bulb that contains a fish. Once again, the poster is striking in its originality. In font just as large and loopy as the title of the new comedy itself is the name Larry David. David wrote the show and plans to star in it, which brings a whole different audience to the theater world. Many would deem Larry David a household name, and to connect the lovable actor to a new show on broadway brings a whole different crowd to the production. Finally, the title itself is captivating. The image of a fish, more specifically the crazy looking fish positioned at the top of the poster sitting in the dark is quite hilarious. This not only makes the poster memorable but the title of the show sticks with you as a comedy.

What was also interesting about the advertisement was its placement. Where better to put the poster for a show that will be in New York City on Broadway, than on the very route to the city itself. Not only will it give city goers an activity idea, but those who are frequently going into the city are constantly reminded of the show's existence. Being at one of the middle stops along the ride, people from Trenton up to NYc may see this show's poster and fall suit to its provoking design.

Finally, when I looked up the show itself online, the poster was more detailed. Surrounding the fish was praise for Larry David that was easy to see on a small screen. The poster on the way to New York cleverly avoided including overwhelming text as it would be distracting and take away from the impact of the title and Larry David's name.

TOW #12- IRB Part 1- The Fervent Years

The Fervent Years is written somewhat dryly, it appeals to those who care about the subject matter. Written by Harold Clurman, the book reveals what it was like during one of the most influential times of American theater. Clurman has directed a plethora of plays including those by Arthur Miller and Eugene O'Neill.

For a gifted member of the theater society, Clurman is absurdly wordy. The man can really stretch out a subject. Despite some exaggerations and hypocritical tendencies, he works to stress what is important and delivers his message efficiently enough. The quality of confusion that ensues following a reading almost reflects what sorting out an approach to theater may have also possessed.

The difficulty in following Clurman's thoughts may also pertain to the reflective aspect of the piece. Yes, there is plenty of historical background information. But there is also the development of his friendship with the Lee Strasberg and Sanford Meisner. Clurman divulges into the process of his career. All of his personal growths, as well as those in the field, are clearly important pieces to his viewpoint of how theater should be.

That viewpoint is that theater should be valuable to people because it connects to them and opens their eyes to new or different things in life. Clurman consistently comes back to this idea. Without a solid purpose for revealing everything about his life, nothing he goes into such detail about would be so fascinating. Even his relationship with his love-interest, another big name, Stella Adler, plays into the development of Group Theater and its influence of a changed perspective.

An important part of how Clurman explains his process is his connection to the relationship between actor and director. In the first chapter, Clurman explains a lesson learned from Strasberg that how a play is portrayed is just as important as what is written in the play. Later, when developing their own shows, each director chose their own actors, in order to be sure they fit the show. So while some ideas may conflict with one another, there are consistencies in Clurman's actions.