by Sarah Abdallah
When I think of theater in New York City, I think of Broadway. When I came to Egypt, I knew that there was no theater district and that seeing theater was uncommon. To my pleasant surprise, while on a bus, I came across a huge poster that read “Broadway Comes to Egypt”. “Broadway comes to Egypt?” I asked myself with plenty of doubt. I wanted the bus to go backwards to give me a chance to reread the poster, but it kept moving. I did some research and found out that excerpts from the Broadway shows Grease and West Side Story were going to be presented at the Roman Amphitheatre. I was so excited and I purchased tickets from the box office. Yes, there is a box office in Egypt.
Once I entered the theater, they checked my ticket and looked through my bag. I waited for an usher to guide me to my seat, but then I realized that I was not at a Broadway theater. Here I could sit wherever I wanted. Without a second thought, I headed straight to the front of the theater. I had never seen either Grease or West Side Story before, so I was excited to learn a little about both shows.
Unfortunately, these performances did not encourage me to see either! The music was fine, and I must give credit to the actors for their hard work, but I was hoping for a story or at least a summary of the show. I actually couldn’t even understand the story behind each song. After referencing what seemed to be a playbill, a few aspects of the performance became clear to me. I realized that the Jets were a New York City gang in West Side Story and that one of the props was a hairdresser because one of the characters from Grease was a beauty school dropout.
After seeing this dull show, I don’t know if I am too crazy about seeing Grease or West Side Story. On the other hand, I think it’s important for me to see both shows and give them a chance. I ought to assure myself that this was simply a bad representation of the songs.
Oh well. At least I got to see some theatre in Egypt!
Sarah Abdallah was a writer for PxP when she attended high school in New York and is currently a foreign correspondent while continuing her studies in Egypt.
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3 comments:
Wow, I actually didn't know there was a lack of theatre in Egypt. But it's really cool that you saw this and I encourage you to do what you said--give them both a chance!
Yes, I agree with Sabrina. From what you wrote and my understanding of it, this show wasn't a full respresentation of both Grease and The West Side story. I dont think this show as meant to be a clone of these two plays but it was meant to have the viewers think and become more interested because there is something they can relate to.
Its so amazing that there is even theatre in Egypt! For some reason I feel like i have been living in this bubble where i thought theatre belonged only exclusively to New York City. I guess I was wrong. This really makes me want to find out where else this is going on in the world. Is India reproducing its version of Spring Awakening? Is Italy doing Legally Blonde? Is Japan doing Reasons to be Pretty....hmmmmmm...Really great article.
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