No Story Without a Spine

I saw Cabaret last night -- the Pittsburgh Public Theater's run ends this weekend, by the way -- and I enjoyed it. My theatre tastes are a bit dodgy, and I'm not always the biggest fan of musicals, but I thought the bulk of the show was well-conceived and well-directed. I even thought some of the minor actors outshone the flashier roles, which is always hard to balance in any show. But, by and large, I felt this version of the play -- although obviously sanitized for the mostly-geriatric Pittsburgh theatregoing crowd -- was true to the play's theme.

Actually, in this case -- as in most successful works -- I could say "themes": lust for life, the frailty of human connection, reluctance to "grow up", the burden of tradition, etc. Despite the play's many criss-crossing storylines, each of them supports one of the themes above, which could all be boiled down to: identity vs. conformity.

STBD Could Use a Little Kit-Kat Klub

FInding a theme for Something to Be Desired has been tricky recently, and is one of the reasons this season's plotlines may seem a bit more scattered than normal. In addition to a lack of scheduling simplicity, there's also been a lack of dramatic focus.

In Season One, everything revolved around Jack Boyd.

In Season Two, everything revolved around WANT FM and Shout! Magazine.

In Season Three, everything revolved around Dean and Caroline's relationship.

In Season Four, everything revolves around... hmm... well, there's the problem.

Marketing Saves the Day

Once upon a time, STBD could be described as "a comedy about a group of DJs at the struggling WANT FM." But that time has passed. In fact, none of the central characters left on the show are DJs by trade, and the station itself has been shut down. This leaves the characters -- and the series' identity -- in flux. What sums us up?

I posed this question to Andrea, our new marketing intern, earlier this week. She agreed, there isn't an easily-digestible "elevator pitch" that allows people to wrap their heads around the concept of the show.

"A comedy about a bunch of people in their twenties and early thirties" is gangly.

"A comedy about a bunch of acquaintances in Pittsburgh" doesn't sound like a hook.

"A comedy about three roommates trying to navigate life after college?" Close, but shades of Three's Company color the verbiage.

How the World Can Change Due to One Little Word

So: what unifying element in the experiences of the central characters ties the series together AND makes for a quick explanation?

I think I found it:

"A comedy about a group of struggling artists in Pittsburgh."

In fact, it's very close to the original summary. The only difference is that the occupations of the central characters have strayed too far from WANT FM to be easily comparable -- except that each of them, in one way or another, is an aspiring artist.

Caroline, Leo and Gloria are writers. Dierdre, Dex and Lloyd are photographers. Rich is an aspiring media mogul. Karl is obviously insane. Add in the few new characters we'll be introducing in the next arc and the through-line becomes even clearer.

Suddenly, I feel like STBD has found its footing once again.

Now all we have to do is follow the path and see where it leads...

(Agree? Disagree? Have a better suggestion? Leave a comment!)

Valentine's Thaw

You may not have noticed, but there's a wicked snowstorm eating most of the eastern half of the United States alive these past couple days. It's mostly passed here in Pittsburgh, even though the forecast includes snow every day this week. But the sun's out, which makes it much easier to celebrate Valentine's Day after chipping your car out of ice for over an hour. (Special thanks to our neighbors for getting us out of our predicament this afternoon.)

On a day of love, joy and candy, it's worth mentioning the obvious flaw in this season of STBD: there's very little love, joy or candy. As many folks both within the cast and beyond have mentioned, far too many of the existing characters are filled with sarcasm and sharp edges. Tim stands out primarily because he's the exact opposite -- innocent and supportive, almost to a fault.

So, on this Valentine's Day during our hiatus, we'll be giving special thought to this puzzling predicament: how do we chip away at the ice around the hearts of the STBD characters?