ASSASSINS at Encores Off-Center- Page 8

[Glittergrrl]

Posted: 7/15/17 at 7:44pm

I really enjoyed this today. I thought some of the speaking bits lagged, but I really enjoyed the music. I wanted more musical in my musical! The cast was great. It's amazing how topical it seemed at times.  And in "Hamilton" fashion, I walked out of the theatre a little more knowledgeable than when I walked in. 

[BroadwayBeebe]

Posted: 7/15/17 at 9:31pm

I also was there this afternoon and I really loved every minute of it. It probably helped that I was in the front row and have never seen a production of the show before, but I still think this would be my reaction. I've had admiration for a lot of this cast for a while but I felt I saw new shades of them and grew to love them even more through this production. I'd love to see it have a further life, even if just to see Victoria Clark in that role again. 

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 7/15/17 at 9:56pm

I thought that I would jump back to the Victoria Clark appreciation party.  She's really an incredible performer and I would love to see her replace Carolee Carmello off Broadway in Sweeney Todd.  I think her and Shuler Hensley would be remarkable in that show together.  It would be a missed opportunity if that production doesn't try to court the two of them.

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 7/15/17 at 9:59pm

GeorgeandDot said: "She's really an incredible performer and I would love to see her replace Carolee Carmello off Broadway in Sweeney Todd."

GeorgeandDot, have you ever considered a career in casting? Most dreamcasts on these boards make me roll my eyes, but every time I see one from you, I say YES.

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 7/15/17 at 10:02pm

BroadwayConcierge said: "GeorgeandDot said: "She's really an incredible performer and I would love to see her replace Carolee Carmello off Broadway in Sweeney Todd."

GeorgeandDot, have you ever considered a career in casting? Most dreamcasts on these boards make me roll my eyes, but every time I see one from you, I say YES.

Maybe I already do.............. *wink, wink*

 

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 7/15/17 at 10:03pm

GeorgeandDot said: "*wink, wink*"

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 7/15/17 at 10:05pm

I already miss Jeanine Tesori as AD of this program. 

[Robbie2]

Posted: 7/15/17 at 10:06pm

GeorgeandDot said: "I thought that I would jump back to the Victoria Clark appreciation party.  She's really an incredible performer and I would love to see her replace Carolee Carmello off Broadway in Sweeney Todd.  I think her and Shuler Hensley would be remarkable in that show together.  It would be a missed opportunity if that production doesn't try to court the two of them.

 

"Here ~ http://www.broadway.com/videos/156320/sweeney-todds-my-friends-by-shuler-hensley-nancy-opel-from-prince-of-broadway/?page=124&sort=newest//title/The%20Broadway.com%20Show:%20Stars%20in%20Puppy%20Love!%20Beggin

https://www.atlantaopera.org/performance/sweeney-todd-demon-barber-fleet-street/

Tony Award winner and Broadway sensation Shuler Hensley makes his company debut as Sweeney Todd at the Atlanta Opera next June 2018.

 

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 7/15/17 at 10:25pm

^Hmm.  Good to see that he'll be playing the role.  Maybe he should take Sweeney for a test drive at the Barrow Street theatre.

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 7/15/17 at 11:18pm

I quite liked this, with a few major problems. I genuinely didn't understand what Ethan Lipton was doing and why he was there and neither, it seems, did he. He was by far the weakest point, which is disappointing as my first exposure to the show was the 2004 recording and Marc Kudisch's impeccable baritone. I also was mystified by the choice to split the Balladeer and Lee Harvey Oswald into two separate tracks, as I think it does a severe disservice to the last 15 minutes of the show and dilutes the impact of "Another National Anthem." Overall I thought the performances of the assassins were very polished, with the standouts being Steven Pasquale, John Ellison Conlee, Victoria Clark, and Erin Markey. 

 

And GeorgeandDot, HARD YES to Vicki Clark and Shuler Hensley playing Lovett/Sweeney. I'm seeing the production tomorrow night and I'm very excited to see Carolee and Norm but DAMN the thought of those two singing that score together...just...yes. 

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/16/17 at 12:02am

I understand the powerful impact of casting the same actor as the Balladeer and Oswald, but they followed the original production's lead by casting two separate actors in this version. So it seems like it's been done both ways, which are equally valid choices. With two separate actors, I found it powerful to not have seen the face of the most important Assassin until the last fifteen minutes of the show. 

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 7/16/17 at 12:18am

I guess my issue with it comes from the fact that I think the most unsettling thing about the show, and the thing that ultimately riles people, is that it makes these people relatable and forces us as the audience to identify with them. The beauty of the choice to take the Balladeer and turn all the darkness he sees inwards lies in the idea that the American dream as we see it is corruptible and penetrable; we all have the capacity for that kind of rage, even if it doesn't end in attempting to kill the president. For me, that's the whole point of the show, and I think combining the Balladeer/Lee Harvey Oswald tracks only drives it home. The show works this way too, but I still think it's ultimately a weaker ending and there's a reason a lot of productions now choose to do it the way it was done in 2004. 

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 7/16/17 at 12:26am

ljay889 said: "Ethan Lipton as the proprietor gives one of the strangest performances in a sondheim musicial since denis O'Hare in Woods.I think his performance might be the one controversy of the night. The directors choice for this character is very clear and I feel it's wacky enough that Sondheim might love it. I missed the last revival but judging from the recording, Lipton is the POLAR opposite from Kudisch."

Maybe he's toned it down but I didn't see a clear choice at all. He reminded me of Sonny Bono. After the first song, either his singing improved or I got used to it. Personally, I don't think enough was going on with him that I wouldn't have been just as happy with someone like Kudisch who could sing it properly. But he didn't bother me. It was just fine. Granted, I didn't look over at him much when he was at the corner of the stage. 

I liked Victoria Clark and she got a lot of laughs but I think I would have preferred Julie White. 

My favorites were Steven Boyer as John Hinckley, John Ellison Conlee as Charles Guiteau, Danny Wolohan as Sam Byck, and Shuler Hensley as Leon Czolgosz. I thought they were ready to jump into a fully staged production and had found their characters. Steven Pasquale sounded great because he always sounds great but I think he needed more time to find his character given how much of the show he has to carry. It was nowhere near as brilliant as he was in The Wild Party. I enjoyed Clifton Duncan's take on the Balladeer to the point that I missed him when he disappeared from the show. To me, Lee Harvey Oswald and Squeaky Fromme were the weak links this time. 

I just don't think this is a show that can have the impact it's meant to have unless everything's working and everything wasn't working with such little rehearsal time. Still very enjoyable but I get more emotional listening to either the original or revival albums.

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/16/17 at 12:45am

"White actors played the part in both that production and in the show's 2004 Broadway premiere, but this black man's commentary on white violence is one of the many striking features of director Anne Kauffman's exciting and incisive concert mounting for New York City Center's Encores! Off-Center."

As the BWW review states, it seems Kauffman made it a point to deliver a black man's commentary on the violence depicted in the show. Therefore, I assume she chose to forgo the power of doubling the Balladeer and Oswald by creating a new powerful dimension of delivering the point of view of a black man. 

Kauffman's staging really had some interesting choices and concepts, I would love to see how it could be deepened in a full scale production with a full rehearsal period.

Updated On: 7/16/17 at 12:45 AM

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 7/16/17 at 1:11am

I got that, but it still didn't work as well as it might have done the other way round. Maybe with more rehearsal time it could be made clearer.

[SmoothLover]

Posted: 7/16/17 at 1:28am

I think a show can be fully realized with a short rehearsal period if the director has a very clear vision before rehearsal starts. Especially when such talent abounds. And if a director uses minimalistic staging everything needs to be very clear. I don't think I have ever seen a professional production where the set design was so symmetrical. I gather it was purposeful .........

[tsondie21]

Posted: 7/16/17 at 2:48am

Just got back and overall I thought it was great. Pasquale stole the show for me, he was just so buttery. 

 

My my two gripes, as it seems common to most here, were Lipton's singing and the balladeer/oswald split. When I saw it last that reveal/transition was my favorite part of the show. Not having it robbed the show of a lot meaning. 

[wonkit]

Posted: 7/16/17 at 7:52am

I was at the matinee yesterday. I thought the production was very good for a quickly rehearsed Encores! concert version. Lipton didn't bother me as much as some; it was an interesting choice to make him so smarmy, as though only such a man could encourage others to violence, but I did miss the stronger singing voice I am accustomed to from the recording.

The cast was uniformly fine with Shuler Hensley and Erin Markey making the biggest impressions on me. I could not hear any of the lyrics in Alex Brightman's song, but I understand that singing with an accent is doubly difficult.

My one disappointment was the addition of "Something Just Broke" which is a fantastic song but it weakened the ending for me. I have always been blown away by the transition from those majestic chords after the Oswald gunshot into the carnival tune (with a difference) for the final number. Having a song inserted there gave me a chance to recover and made the ending seem less effective.

[Anshel2]

Posted: 7/16/17 at 9:01am

wonkit said: "I was at the matinee yesterday. I thought the production was very good for a quickly rehearsed Encores! concert version. Lipton didn't bother me as much as some; it was an interesting choice to make him so smarmy, as though only such a man could encourage others to violence, but I did miss the stronger singing voice I am accustomed to from the recording.

The cast was uniformly fine with Shuler Hensley and Erin Markey making the biggest impressions on me. I could not hear any of the lyrics in Alex Brightman's song, but I understand that singing with an accent is doubly difficult.

My one disappointment was the addition of "Something Just Broke" which is a fantastic song but it weakened the ending for me. I have always been blown away by the transition from those majestic chords after the Oswald gunshot into the carnival tune (with a difference) for the final number. Having a song inserted there gave me a chance to recover and made the ending seem less effective.

 

I agree. I think Something Just Broke breaks the momentum of the show's ending.  I was very disappointed with the production.  Having a new actor who we haven't seen all evening take on Oswald I found distracting.  As the Balladeer was wearing jeans, I thought that he would be Oswald, so when the new actor suddenly arrived, wearing a very tight and distracting white t-shirt, I was thrown.  I also thought the failure to play the Zapruder film on his t-shirt was a miss.  I was floored by this scene during the Roundabout Revival and this was a dud.  Having the screens turn - manually by the way so that you saw the off stage stagehands turn them at various speeds - was just a poor decision.

Glad I saw it, a disappointing Sondheim show is better than most shows, but this one should've been much better.

 

[Kad]

Posted: 7/16/17 at 10:02am

Having the Balladeer double as Oswald and playing the Zapruder film were Mantello's directorial choices for the revival. They are not written into the show at all and no one should expect any other production to go in that direction. 

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 7/16/17 at 10:08am

I caught this yesterday afternoon. It was my first introduction to the show, and my first time attending an Encores! production. I absolutely LOVED every second. I was completely hooked on every lyric and book scene. This felt like a fully realized production more than a concert. The cast was excellent, with Steven Pasquale, Victoria Clark, and Erin Markey being the standouts. Clark and Markey were both hilarious, and they had me in stitches. I am so glad I saw this production and made myself familiar with this show - it is truly genius with a great book and score.

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/16/17 at 10:52am

Kad said: "Having the Balladeer double as Oswald and playing the Zapruder film were Mantello's directorial choices for the revival. They are not written into the show at all and no one should expect any other production to go in that direction. 

 

"

Exactly. I have a feeling a multitude of regional and especially college productions copied that choice since 2004.

[round2]

Posted: 7/16/17 at 11:27am

By last night's final performance, when I got to see it, Encore's ASSASSINS was mesmerizing. I would also love to see what could happen if this partial production could be developed into a full one.

I agree that the choice - an interesting one - of Ethan Lipton to play the Proprietor either needs development or can't work. It launches the show off flatly, although I thought he was intriguing further in.

A LOT of exciting work by top-notch performers: Victoria Clark, Steven Pasquale, Clinton Duncan, Shuler Hensley, Steven Boyer, John Ellison Conlee, Alex Brightman, Danny Wolohan. Wow. I'm now completely converted to the church of Erin Markey. Couldn't take my eyes off her. If the scenes with her and Victoria Clark could be expanded to a full length show, I'd happily watch them for hours and hours. Make it a series. In a much smaller ensemble role, I loved watching Andrew Durand during all of the small amount of time he was on stage.

What a gift to be able to revel in this score and book. Thank you Encores. Is this Sondheim's most humm-umm-umm-umm-able score? "Everybody's got the right to be... happy."

Right.

[wonkit]

Posted: 7/16/17 at 12:58pm

I agree about the hummability (? a word) of this score. Especially "Everybody..." which has been playing in my head for about 24 hours now. I need to learn the lyrics so I don't go off into la-la-la so much...

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 7/16/17 at 2:01pm

I want to understand what everyone saw in Erin Markey's performance that I did not. I didn't hate it. But I thought most of the things that worked were baked into the script and not anything she added. I found her surprisingly dull given the character and her background in unconventional theater and performance art. And I could not tell if her acting was intentionally dull (like an intentionally flat affect) and her singing was purposefully average (she seemed to struggle with Unworthy of Your Love) or she couldn't do the role properly. Maybe those were direction issues if they were told to underplay things but if so, it negatively affected her character the most for me.