ALLEGRO at Classic Stage Company

Thanks for the review. I hope more people write who have seen it, I am sure they will. I saw the APAC production in Astoria and thought it was wonderful. I don't feel like I want to see this CSC production. Why they let John Doyle get away with this gimmick again is beyond me.

I am afraid I disagree. It's totally a gimmick. Yes, it is also an "artistic choice", But, as far as I can see, he is the only director on the planet doing it. I am not trying to argue with you, you are entitled to your opinion. I just disagree. I am curious if he has ever answered the question "WHY" he does it. If someone has a link to that answer I would love to read it.

Was this production using the original book or the revised one?

Also, count me in the class that LOVES "Doylian stagings" on paper, but is mixed with them in production. I've seen ones (directed by him or just in his style) that I've loved, such as his "Company" and also "Once," and then ones that I felt didn't work, such as his "Sweeney Todd."

I suspect that the closer a show's performance (not subject matter) is to realism or naturalism, the less a Doylian staging works. Hence, Sweeney Todd, which has a Brechtian chorus but uses songs primarily as dialogue, didn't quite fit, while shows where the music comments, underlines or coexists with the show rather than propelling it, such as "Company," work better. I have a friend who is performing in a Doylian staging of "The Secret Garden" right now, and that's a show I think would work well in this style too.

Shame on John Tiffany, stealing other people's gimmicks...

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Truth. He popularized it and made it into a trope, but to say he's the only one is a huge exaggeration.

It's at CSC, not Atlantic.

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I haven't seen it, so I can't comment, but I think you should see On The Town as it might not survive until May.

And I always assume if a production off-Broadway is successful it will live on somewhere else, but I guess that's not always true.

I might be the biggest proponent of John Doyle's actor-musician work in the world outside of the people who are actually employed by its existence. So I'm pretty excited about this, and grateful the run falls during a time when I'll be in town.

That being said, the last actor-musician show of his I saw was his Merrily re-boot out in Cincinnati, and I liked it very much. But, I did feel the concept only had moments where it worked as strongly as it has in the past, and that this was a case where it began to show its limits. The strongest storytelling in the production actually had very little to do with the instruments. Perhaps that's the downside to how stunningly it was employed the first two times we saw it.

Instruments or not, John's my favorite director, and I'm eager to see what he does with this show both with and without the instruments, because there's always so much more than that.

I am curious if he has ever answered the question "WHY" he does it. If someone has a link to that answer I would love to read it.

Most of the regulars on this board have heard my response to this a million times, but the search function on BWW still fails. If you're seriously curious, let me get back to you. Or PM me. I have some scans of articles that aren't online on my computer at home that might be of interest to you.

And I always assume if a production off-Broadway is successful it will live on somewhere else, but I guess that's not always true.

That's not even close to always true, for so, so many reasons.

In response to the "should I see it?" question: I think if you're going to go into what he does assuming the point is to get a look at a "novelty," you aren't going to like it. In the nearly nine years he's been directing high-profile work, I find that people's minds aren't easily changed about him, and they tend to see what they tell themselves they're going to see before they've even seen it. If your PoV is more like, let's see how he's going to make it work this time, because yes, every time it works quite differently, then maybe you might want to check it out.

And people need to stop insisting he's the only director who has ever and is ever and will ever do this. Its convenient for complaint but it just isn't true.

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Updated On: 11/6/14 at 10:41 AM

CSC just extending Allegro another week thru December 14th.

Grow, I'd say the center 5 or 6 rows back is ideal. There are a few moments staged that have people standing over a spotlight right around the first row of the center section. That being said, I did TDF and was the second row on the side and did not feel like I missed anything. It is always better in that space to be straight on than on the sides in my opinion.

I would definitely choose center over the sides. So much of the show is directed straight out front and the lead actor sits on the edge of the stage facing the Center section on numerous occasions. I sat on the side and I felt that I was missing a great deal.
Hopefully by the time you see it the musicians will be playing in tune.

I've seen hundreds, if not thousands, of productions of musicals all over the country. I have never seen a production, outside of Mr. Doyle's, where the actors are also the orchestra. Where the actors play the score. Can someone give me other examples?