Erin BroadleyIt was a sad day for adrenaline junkies back in September when the cast and crew of theater production Point Break Live! announced it was packing up its surfboards and ex-presidents masks to head for Las Vegas after nearly a year of sold out shows in Los Angeles. Lucky for us, Point Break Live! has returned to the Dragonfly in Hollywood and you can catch it there every Saturday night from here on out.
For those who aren't in the know (or haven't read Lovell Estell III's review), Point Break Live! is a riotous and interactive, DIY stage adaptation of director Kathryn Bigelow's 1991 blockbuster about a gang of bank-robbing surfers led by Bodhi Sattva (Patrick Swayze) and infiltrated by undercover FBI agent Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves). Remember that scene in the beginning of Point Break where Gary Busey's character (Angelo Pappas) goes diving for bricks at the bottom of the FBI swimming pool? Well, substitute that Olympic sized for an absurd, plastic kiddie pool and a poncho-clad audience getting soaked with every splish, splash of Pappas' shallow swim. That is Point Break Live.
There is fake blood, skydiving sequences, meatball sandwiches (“Utah, get me two!) and, the best part, a new Johnny Utah chosen each night from the audience to reprise Keanu's classic role. Needless to say, now that the show is back, go. It could be the most fun you'll have at the theater — ever — and I know I'm not the only Angeleno guilty of repeat attendance.
L.A. Weekly went backstage with the Point Break Live! cast on November 22 to get a behind-the-scenes look at what really happens when the little hand says it's time to rock and roll. Click the photo below for the entire Point Break Live! slideshow.
Point Break Live! is every Saturday night at the Dragonfly. Go to theatermania.com for tickets.
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