WSS.12/19 8pm

[phillyactor]

Posted: 12/20/08 at 12:41am

The other thread was really long so I just thought I'd start one with my own review.

I am have a very close bond with this show as I played Baby John two times before. It is one of my favorite musicals of all time, so I was very excited to see this "new" interpretation.

Note: Fire alarm went off in the middle of Act Two, waited outside for 20 minutes, then went right back in and the show picked right up.

Overall, the show was excellent. The singing, dancing, acting was all top notch except for some minor quibbles, more on that later. The strongest links in the show are Karen Olivio as Anita, Josefina as Maria, Curtis as Action, and the guy playing Doc (no playbill right now, sorry) They all had amazing performances and were so natural and real on that stage. Karen is an amazing actress, the "rape" scene is thrilling and there were alot of audible gasps throughout the house. She wasn't the best dancer, but her amazing stage presence made up for it. Great performance. Josefina has a beautiful voice, and her acting throughout was believable, still has more to work out on the final scene, way too rushed moment wise. Curtis Holbrook was explosive! You could just see the rage and anger pouring from his veins. He was the most believable and versatile performer on that stage, his Krupke was great.

The rest of the cast was uniformly good. It is clear that they are all amazing dancers, but that the singing and acting is kind of lacking. The dance numbers are incredible with the book scenes besides "the rape" being a bit flat.

The only weak link per say would be Matt Cavenaugh. We couldn't figure out what we didn't like. His voice is ok, a little too much virbratto for my taste, but pleasant. His acting was serviceable, but he used the same accent from Joe Kennedy in Grey Gardens and it came off kind of cheesy and fake. He overplayed the moments and his last scene was too rushed as with Maria above. I think he is just too old for the part also. I don't know. Something just felt off and wierd.

Other notes: The set was fine, nothing amazing, but good looking. I liked the the set for the rumble sequence, very cool. They can get rid of the projections, they look dumb and not part of the show. Draws your attention away from what is happening.

The spanish was actually really cool and the subtitles didn't take away from the show at all. It was refreshing to hear Spanish text for the different songs and book scenes. I really liked it.

One complaint I do have is the final scene. It needs to be gut wrenching and sob inducing. They rushed everything and I think they need to carry Tony out with Maria following in her shawl rather than a fade out on him just lying there with her crying next to him. The moments were all rushed, the bullet went off and he was dead within 5 seconds and her singing was even quicker than that. It was only scene that needs some serious fixing.

All in all, great show. Go see it! I would give it 4 ouf of 5 stars.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 12/20/08 at 12:44am

I worry that you used the word "amazing" such a limited number of times. I hope this doesn't foreshadow low success potential for the Broadway mounting.

[Pianolin717]

Posted: 12/20/08 at 12:47am

oh no, see i saw this and in comparison to what i've seen before.. it was amazing
i saw a local production twice cuz it was good but thats about it... but this was REALLy good

i do agree, the projections are dumb... although, i think they should stay if they are real or something, like made out of wire or something so they come down or something... i dunno, i thought they were dumb too

and the costumes... eww... but other than that i LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVED this

[blaxx]

Posted: 12/20/08 at 12:52am

and the costumes... eww... but other than that i LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVED this

You should take over Brantley!

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/20/08 at 1:10am

the "rape" scene is thrilling and there were alot of audible gasps throughout the house.

The dance numbers are incredible with the book scenes besides "the rape" being a bit flat.

So was it thrilling or flat?

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 12/20/08 at 1:11am

You should take over Brantley!

That is Brantley, sir.

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 12/20/08 at 1:13am

They're gonna be naming theatres after you, sonny.

[theaterkid1015]

Posted: 12/20/08 at 1:13am

The scary thing is, blaxx, that could be just what the Times looks like in a few years.

Can't you just see the headline for the GREY GARDENS' revival review?

LOL OLD LADIES LOL

[blaxx]

Posted: 12/20/08 at 1:13am

Oh, makes sense.

[theaterkid1015]

Posted: 12/20/08 at 1:18am

We'll call him a "visionary."

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 12/20/08 at 1:20am

[theaterkid1015]

Posted: 12/20/08 at 1:25am

PULITZER!!!

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 12/20/08 at 1:34am

Stephen Sondheim was there tonight.

[hubee]

Posted: 12/20/08 at 2:10am

and a Hi to Orangeskittles! who I happened to meet there tonight!

Oh, Sondheim doesn't sign playbills apparently (he finally came out after you left).

Arthur Laurents did though.

I pretty much echo most of Phillyactor's review except I would add in that I thought Cody Green was surprisingly amazing as Riff (surprising because I didn't really expect much from someone who was on Step it up and dance).

While Matt's performance didn't bother me as much tonight (I saw it on Wed too), his scenes with Maria alone are still slightly flat as phillyactor might say, but the rest is AMAZING especially any group scenes.

(Matt did kind of use the same accent as Grey Gardens which didn't really fit. He seems to prim and proper to have ever been in a gang which might be why he stands out (and not for the better))

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/20/08 at 2:18am

Did Sondheim acknowledge the crowd (if there was one) or did he just quickly leave?

[hubee]

Posted: 12/20/08 at 2:42am

Sondheim went backstage and addressed the cast (they lifted the curtains again when most of the audience left but we were still there with a few stragglers) and then when he left at the stage door, quickly tried to scoot around the small crowd that was left but when I asked for an autograph on the playbill, he refused politely.

Arthur was very happy to sign though.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 12/20/08 at 2:46am

is Arthur not a publicity slut?

[hubee]

Posted: 12/20/08 at 2:56am

If Arthur is, it didn't seem like it.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 12/20/08 at 3:10am

Seriously, you guys throw the word "amazing" around a little much.

I don't think Cavenaugh is putting on an accent on purpose. I think he just has a rather strange stage voice. I've never heard him speak outside of a play or musical, so I don't have anything to base this on, but I saw him in the Millie tour forever ago and I remember thinking his voice was a bit odd and out of place. While it worked for the time frame of the show, it just wasn't my taste, so it seemed a bit jarring. Same with Grey Gardens. And now this I suppose.

[B3TA07]

Posted: 12/20/08 at 3:20am

http://thesaurus.reference.com/browse/amazing

[dramamama611]

Posted: 12/20/08 at 7:36am

I'm glad to hear positive things about Curtis Holbrook. (here and in other reviews). I've now seen him in two productions (Saved! and Xanadu) and he really has the quite the "it" factor!

[Trekkie2]

Posted: 12/20/08 at 8:56am

I was there last night too. Please, anyone, tell the actor playing Chino that when he's just killed his sister's lover, and she's pointing the gun at him, he should NOT just stand there with his head lowered making no reaction. Otherwise pretty enjoyable, but someone needs to make the sub-title screens bigger. I was toward the top of the the theater, and you could barely see them. So maybe put screens in every section... Also, the fire alarm... I just have to say that the same thing happened when I was at Les Mis at Signature on Wednesday, so if anybody who was outside the National last night during the fire saw a chubby teen guy cracking up... yeah. I have tickets to Next to Normal next week, so think non-fire alarm thoughts for me.

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 12/20/08 at 9:18am

I'm so glad to hear the positive glowing comments about Curtis. I loved him in Xanadu which I saw 15 times, including one of the performances where Curtis played Sonny.

RE: Sondheim and autographs. No, he does not like to do it. I did get it once for the flop play (Getting Away with Murder) he wrote back in the 90's but you could tell he was not happy.

Updated On: 12/20/08 at 09:18 AM

[dramamama611]

Posted: 12/20/08 at 9:24am

Ed -- I'm wicked jealous of you seeing Curtis as Sonny! I was hoping for that to happen when I brought my kids to see it: then they changed the closing date. (I was NOT happy...they were so heartbroken as I had gotten them stage seats!)

[Neverandy]

Posted: 12/20/08 at 11:10am

I've worked with cavenaugh, what you are referring to in regards to his voice is an attempt to cover up his regional dialect. He's from Arkansas.