Posted: 10/11/22 at 11:02pm
Longtime lurker, first time poster. I was at the first preview tonight and figured I’d put my 2 cents in. Overall, it was a strong start that is sure to improve from here.
First off, as you may or may not have heard, the show is now one act, running an hour and 45 minutes (show started around 7:07 and ended around 8:51). I’m not familiar enough with the book to say exactly what was cut. The one song that didn’t make it in was “Art”, which is a cute number, but I will admit that its absence does help with the pacing.
Jim Parsons is… almost there. I feel like there are still some acting beats he has to sharpen, especially at the beginning, but his performance deepened as the show went on. His “Love Who You Love” was quite sweet and effective. His singing voice is perfectly suited for what the role requires.
Mare Winningham is as wonderful as you would expect her to be in this role. She’s funny, moving, and her unique vocal tone meshes well with the Celtic sound of this score. Shereen Ahmed and AJ Shively are also quite lovely, though Shively did struggle with the end of “Streets of Dublin.” Hopefully it was just first preview jitters. Thom Sesma nearly steals the show as the pious and hammy (no pun intended) butcher, and Mary Beth Peil and Alma Cuervo bring so much to what are essentially featured ensemble roles. I must also commend the dialect work all around.
The staging is typical John Doyle: Sparse settings, an overly-decorated back wall, and actors playing instruments. This all serves the piece very well, though. The new orchestrations are absolutely gorgeous. I do hope we get a cast recording for the orchestrations alone.
I was very excited to finally see this show and I was definitely not let down. It’s definitely a lovely swan song for John Doyle’s tenure at CSC. Lynn Ahrens was in the row behind me and she looked quite pleased afterwards.
