Point Break Live!

Ok, I'm actually not Johnny Utah, or Keanu Reeves, but for nearly two hours last night I got to play the wooden-actor in a send up of the movie in a Vegas stage production of Point Break Live! 

About four months ago my wife was watching E! and there was a story about Point Break Live! She told me that Los Angeles and San Francisco had these shows and that the audience chose who would play the lead role of Johnny Utah. I was in from the begin (no need to edit, I meant to write that sentence like that). So we booked our trip to San Francisco in June with the main event being our attendance at the show. But such is my life, our flight from Vegas was delayed, then cancelled, then re-booked and we wound up missing the show. I was a bit disappointed but the fabulous San Fran weekend more than made up for it. Fast forward this past Tuesday.

I need to give you a little background before I go much further. First of all, I saw Point Break at the movies in 1991 when I was about to enter high school. This was also the summer that I decided to take up surfing. The two may have been related, since Point Break is a movie about FBI Special Agent, Johnny Utah, who is hunting bank robbers who happen to be surfers, and also his new friends. Shortly after the movie came out I was scared out of the water almost permanently by a shark while waiting to catch a wave. I have ventured back into the ocean exactly three times since. But the movie is a classic, if not for the two cool skydiving scenes in which Patrick Swayze, as guru-surf-zen master "Bodhi," and Reeve's wet behind the ears freshman FBI agent, then for Keanu's terribly boring acting. And it is because of his hollow performance that somebody smarter than I decided to stage a live production of the movie with every role played by real actors, save for that of Johnny Utah.

On Tuesday I was at a lunch function for work when I came across an advertisement for Point Break Live! starting the 1^st of October at the Planet Hollywood Casino. Yes! Ching-ching, tickets booked. So last night on our way to the very first show I was getting very excited. My wife cautioned me that there was a chance I would not be picked. After all the audience had the final say, by method of applause, as to who would stand center stage and stare that vacant Keanu stare. I responded to my wife's warning with, "Uh huh. So after they pick me..."

The show started at 10pm and about 10 minutes later I was right. The audience picked me over two other loveable losers to lead the surfing charade for the next few hours.

I was immediately whisked backstage where I quickly met everyone and slipped into a wet-suit and over sized business suit. I was briefed as to my role...just read the cards when the cards are in front of me. Perfect. Who need's Julliard? And two minutes later I was center stage, starring in a bona fide Las Vegas show on the Strip.

The first scene went smoothly as my character was introduced in the story. I shed my suit before the second scene and was in my wet-suit the rest of the way, surfing, running, jumping, fighting, tripping, skydiving, and being carted around the stage and theater like a set piece. I was in my element despite not having any formal acting experience, though I did play the only non-singing role in The Music Man in high school.

Now to be fair to the rest of the actors, they were fantastic. There were no cue cards for them. The guy who played Bodhi had a lot of gnarly monologues describing the search and discovery of the ultimate wave, and the supporting cast did their homework, too. The props were fun, but not over the top, and the staging made for an enjoyable evening, though seeing it through my eyes was tops. The live show is easily ten times more appealing than the movie, which at its debut was as exciting a cinematic thrill-ride as there had been.

So that is my Point Break Live! experience. I get no money, no kick-backs to say these things, but it's just a whole lot of fun for everyone because of how interactive the players are with the audience. If you're in Vegas before the end of November come check it out. Maybe you'll get your Keanu on, too.

*Sadly no photography is allowed during the show so I can't include any shots of me on stage, but they did give me a tape of the performance which I am converting to DVD soon.