I'm glad you enjoyed it muscle, and I wish I could say the same for myself. I pretty much hated the entire production-Lansbury included.
And as PJ said, hating Sondheim or Lansbury is basically saying "I think homosexuality is a sin" on these boards. But I do love Sondheim, I especially love Night Music as I think it joins Guys and Dolls and other classics as a pretty much fool-proof show, as evident from the shows reaction when I saw it.
Lansbury and Erin Davie received generous laughter because what they were saying was funny (Hugh Wheeler's book is filled with brilliant one liners), but HOW they said it wasn't exactly my cup of tea. Davie was indeed playing the part sad and hysterical, which is not her fault as that was how the actress in London played it as well. Nunn wanted Charlotte to have her heart on her sleeve, and to me, that just didn't work. There were brief, fleeting moments of line delivery when Davie had Charlotte nailed, and I assume this was something she added in after Nunn left, as they really are brief moments and Davie really just sneaks them in there, rather than incorporate them into her portrayal.
Everyone in the cast can sing, Lansbury included, although at 84, you can't expect her to sing "Soon" or "The Miller's Son" like the actresses in this production are. The voices are indeed better than in London. MUCH BETTER. But no one, and I mean no one, seems to understand the light, elegant, frothiness of the piece. And if they do, then perhaps it's Nunn's strong grip on the entire production that masks it, as every action, every line reading, and every lyric is done with the elegance and frothiness of a clumsy elephant: tripping and stomping all over.
This is extremely true of Ramona Mallory, Hunter Herdlicka, and Catherine Zeta Jones. Ms. Mallory is quite beautiful with a voice that equals her looks, and she is obviously quite talented. But she plays Anne on the brink of a retard. I know that sounds vulgar, but then again, so is this production. The performance is more in the right direction than the London counterpart, who played Anne similar to Charlotte: always crying and DEEPLY emotional, as if it were a Lifetime movie and not a comedy. It's as if Sondheim gave the tiniest note to Nunn "Um, anne should be a little more...fluttery" and Nunn took it and pushed it to the extreme, and poor Ms. Mallory has to endeavor this on stage.
Herdlicka has a pleasant enough voice and he's handsome, but his Henrik is all over the place. Mugging for laughs at one moment and dead-panning "Later" the next. Speaking of his "Later", Nunn should be hit with a stick for having him walk all over the place. And without purpose, I might add. It's literally just wandering, and when he goes back to the cello, it's completely ridiculous, too. He just stands there, blankly, and randomly walks back like a robot. Herdlicka's Act 2 is better, as is Mallory's but both are just so incredibly misdirected. And whoever told Herdlicka to belt the high note in "Later" should be punished somehow.
Ms. Jones, while beautiful, and not at all nervous on the stage plays Desiree with the elegance and grace of Velma Kelly. I know that joke has been made beofre but it's really true. She belts all of her lyrics ("The Glamorous Life", "You Must Meet My Wife" and yes, even "Send in the Clowns"), and basically looks out at the audience or up to the ceiling during all of her line deliveries. She never connects with anyone on stage, even Fredrika played well enough by Keaton Whittaker, and it makes you not care for her Desiree AT ALL. I recall during "Send in the Clowns" I was wondering to myself, "Why should I care? You've been recklessly destroying one marriage and trying to ruin another." Her Desiree had no heart, no style, and no grace. What made Hannah Waddingham a very likable Desiree, was that she had those three elements in spades.
Alexander Hanson pretty much walks through the part of Frederik until the last scene. This may be a director and actor choice, trying to portray how Frederik has been unhappy all this time and is finally woken up from his dull life, but it didn't work for me. It was not just his scenes he was walking through but his songs. Of course, the incredibly slow tempos helped not one bit. In London they were rushed too much and the scenes dragged too long. Now the songs are dragged out too long as well. Making the show clock in at just under 3 hours. Trevor Nunn's ideal running time.
Leigh Ann Larkin sang well enough but her performance was very...selfish. That sounds odd but it really was. Every scene she was in she was trying to steal focus. You could hear the eagerness in her line readings to maintain the audiences attention. Milking laughs from doing odd vocal inflections on her lines and lyrics, especially during "The Miller's Son", which Brantley was actually right on when he said it played more like an audition for a strip club. There was also an odd moment when Larkin had a moment with Davie after, pulling up a bench for her and offering her the bottle of alcohol. It was very forced and just...odd.
Now Lansbury. She's a legend and Broadway's sweetheart, and for good reason. At 84 she's still got the stamina of an ox and good for her for that. But I did not like her performance at all. Blasphemy, I know, and every vulcher on here will swoop in and pick me apart but I don't care. Lansbury played Armfeldt the same way she played Madame Arcati: batty, daffy, buggy eyed and twitchy. It did not vibe well with me at all. It also didn't gel with Armfeldt's lines, saying how wise she is and acting as if she were holding on to her last two marbles. Lansbury's Armfeldt was the typical grandmother. As opposed to Regina Resnik or Maureen Lipman, who played her as the unconventional grandmother. Of course, there was a great deal of love between Lansbury and Whittaker, which was needed since Whittaker wasn't getting any love from Zeta-Jones.
Yes, I took this opportunity to post my thoughts, and they're very very negative, which doesn't go over very well with people on these boards. But alas, that's my opinion. The night wasn't entirely painful because, as I said, I think that Night Music is pretty much fool proof. It's gorgeous music with wonderful lyrics that are very funny at times and a hysterical book with one-liners that are guaranteed to get laughter simply because they're THAT good. The good news is that Night Music is back on Broadway for people to appreciate. The bad news is that THIS is the production we're given. What this production needs is Michael Blakemore's comedic timing, Bartlett Sher's style and NONE of Trevor Nunn's "elegance."
"Sing the words, Patti!!!!" Stephen Sondheim to Patti LuPone.
