Point Break Live!: If Keanu Reeves Could Surf
OVERVIEW
If Keanu can do, so can you, at Point Break Live! Those of you familiar with the early nineties Keanu classic, Point Break, are bound to enjoy this raucous, bizarre, totally irreverent stage adaptation created by Jamie Hook (director) and New Rock Theater Productions. Together, they’ve managed to put together a wild show complete with killer special effects, suntan oil, action, drama, homoerotic surfers and the ever-popular “Keanu Kam.” There was just one problem: what kind of stage actor could possibly deliver a performance as dramatic and moving as the one Keanu Reeves brought to the movie? The answer, it turns out, was pretty obvious. Instead of casting a professional actor to play Keanu’s groundbreaking role as the washed out college football star turned FBI agent, Johnny Utah, they chose you!
Yes, the lead role in this production is, in fact, a volunteer from the audience. The selection process takes a good ten minutes or so as volunteers are asked to do Keanu impressions and calisthenics until the audience can choose the one who they think can best channel the “Universal Spirit of Keanu.” While the volunteer is in back getting changed, the director will give you an introduction and remind you to don one of the ponchos that can be found on every seat in the theater. Warning: you WILL get wet!
KEANU’S BIG ADVENTURE
The show begins with our hero, Keanu/Johnny Utah/Random Audience Member, going into his first day as a rookie FBI agent in the bank robbery division. But you must be wondering, if he’s just some guy from the audience…how does he know what to say? Not to worry. Our intrepid audience member won’t be alone up there. Throughout the show, he’ll be “assisted” by a cue card lady in kneepads who follows him around prompting him with his lines, and filling in the blanks with a healthy dose of Keanu’s internal monologue. For the most part, you can think of her as Keanu’s brain, only a lot prettier.
Meanwhile, over the course of his adventure, the audience volunteer will infiltrate the aforementioned group of homoerotic surfers, have a comically incoherent relationship with the surfer chick
THE BOTTOM LINE
Tickets cost $23 with service charge from Theatermania.com or you can get tickets at the door for $20. For this you get about twenty minutes of introduction and Keanu selection, ninety minutes of show and a ten minute intermission but I recommend that you also spend some time before and after the show in the lounge adjacent to the theater getting to know your fellow theatergoers. After all, who wouldn’t want to meet the kinds of colorful characters that get excited to see a show like this? If you’re lucky, you might even get a chance to talk to one or two of the actors as well, and to sweeten the deal even more, beer and wine are available in the lounge and you are encouraged to drink and eat meatball sandwiches (available in the second act) during the performance.
All in all, this was a great early evening activity that will keep you entertained for hours and should fit seamlessly into any other plans you may have for your Friday night. I personally saw this show on its extended run, but have no fear! I’m told that due to the shows apparent popularity, they’ve decided to extend the performance dates yet again, so you can (in theory) still get tickets through theatermania.com, or just hop on over to the Milagro Theater on the Lower East Side Friday or Saturday nights to catch all the action!