Profile for beagle

I'm emerging from lurkerdom to thank you for posting my review, rawrali!

I also want to add that, as for the Post-Dispatch, they sent out an email a while back to local arts organizations announcing that they will not be publishing arts reviews anymore, apparently because they don't generate a lot of traffic on their site. They will still be posting feature articles about arts topics, however, including theatre. Here's a story about it:

https://www.riverfronttimes.com/news/post-dispatch-to-end-arts-reviews-as-the-rft-restarts-them-37679452

I'm not particularly fond of this decision, and neither are a lot of theatre people in St. Louis, but sadly there isn't much we can do about it. 

I was sitting in Terrace A.

 

 

I saw the show on opening night (my review is linked in the other thread), and although I don't think it was the best show I've seen at the Muny this year, and especially in the past 4 years (since Mike Isaacson took over as Executive Director and everything go noticeably better), I enjoyed it a lot. It's not a groundbreaking production, but I don't expect those at the Muny. Aside from a few relatively minor timing issues (that I mentioned in my review), I thought it was good.

As f

I saw the show on opening night, and loved it! Here's my blog review:

Into the Woods at the Muny

Thank you, rawrali! I appreciate the nice comments!

 

And gleek4114, you can find my blog at www.snoopstheatrethoughts.com. I review productions from many St. Louis theatre companies in addition to the Muny.

Editing to answer the question about the weather.

It has been unusually rainy in St. Louis this summer, and I'm fairly sure the Muny has had to cancel a few times, more than usual. For the most part, though, they try not to cancel and will delay the show for an hour to an hour and a half in hopes that the weather will clear up. They only cancel if they absolutely have to.

 

 

The stage door/gate is easy to spot because of all the people standing around it after shows. In addition to regular audience members there to meet the cast, the crowd seems to be made up largely of family/friends of ensemble members, many of whom are from the area. For shows that have the Muny Kids/Teens in them, the stage door crowd is noticeably bigger, as well, because their families are often waiting for them there.

I've only actually "stage doored" once at the Muny,

Tari Kelly as Reno and Robert Creighton as Moonface Martin in ANYTHING GOES (Broadway)

Lisa Karlin as Leading Player in PIPPIN (National Tour)

Pearl Sun as Diana in NEXT TO NORMAL (National Tour)

I've never walked out of a show in the middle, when I've paid or with comps. As a reviewer, I feel it's my duty to stay and watch the whole show even when I don't like it. The only case I could see of leaving a show early when I'm there to review it is if there is an extreme emergency, and in that case I would probably write to the producers and explain what happened, and then not review the show unless I'm able to see it on another date.

Also, even when I pay to see the show, I c

I saw the show opening night in St. Louis, and loved it. I didn't see the Broadway production, although I wished I could have. I'm glad I was able to see the tour. It's a very impressive production.

Here's my review:

I've seen the clips of McFarlane singing, and I agree he has a good voice, but I also agree with those on this thread who think he doesn't project the likability and vulnerability that Harold Hill should have. Jimmy Fallon would be an interesting idea if he can sing (also Harold doesn't have to be a great singer).

I also think that as great as Kelli O'Hara is, she's too old at this point to be ideal as Marian. I've noticed in her recent TV appearances (the Carousel concert and Peter Pan

Today, and for the past few days, mine have been "How 'Bout a Dance" from BONNIE AND CLYDE (because I just saw a regional production of it) and "The Worst Pies In London" from SWEENEY TODD (because of the PBS broadcast).

I don't know about a total re-imagining, like changing the time or place (in fact, I think that would be silly), but after having seen so many different productions that are all staged essentially the same way, it would be interesting to see one that's allowed to change the staging and choreography. As great at the original Jerome Robbins choreography is, every professional production is required to use it, and if you've seen enough productions it's easy to sit in the audience and zone out a lit

The photos of this production don't really do it justice. I think it looks a lot better from the audience. I actually loved this production. I never saw the Broadway show, but I loved the TV show and liked the movies. I thought the casting was great, and it's a very entertaining show if not a masterpiece writing-wise. It's very, very funny, though, and I'm glad I saw it. Here's my review:

I have also seen this show with a male Peter Pan--Francis Jue at the Muny in 2007. He was fine in the role, but whenever he sang I kept thinking the songs work much better with a female voice. It also seemed stranger for some reason to see an adult male in the role rather than an adult female. Maybe if a teenage boy played Peter, it could work but I doubt it. These songs were written to be sung by a woman, and I think they sound best that way.

For other versions of the story, a boy pl

If they wanted to cast the closest present-day equivalent to Mary Martin in the role, I think Chenoweth would be the best option in terms of ability, physical type and name recognition. I don't think that's what today's TV audiences are looking for, though (why cast another "Mary Martin" when you can just re-watch Martin's version?) I'm guessing they'll cast it younger.

Also to clarify, I'm not saying Kristin Chenoweth is exactly like Mary Martin, but in terms of thinking about their

There's a production of CAROUSEL currently running in London that changes the setting to during the Great Depression. It's been getting good reviews. There are photos from the production on the website.

Theatregeek6, if you are able to get to St. Louis in August, you'll get your HELLO DOLLY wish. Beth Leavel is scheduled to play Dolly at the Muny from August 11-17.

The title song from SHE LOVES ME.

I've been going to Muny shows for 10 years now, and I would say that in the past two years since the new Executive Producer took over, the quality of productions is a vast improvement over the previous years. The general air of the Muny before was of sloppy technical productions with rented costumes and sometimes good performances. I saw some good shows, but not in comparison to the past two years, in which the quality has steadily improved. It's still a mixed bag to a degree, because there ar

Excellent comments, best12bars! I agree. Her acting was more non-existent than bad, but she did have a few moments that made me think that, with training and without all the pressure and hype of an event like this, she might become a good actress someday.