#1
Posted: 12/5/05 at 1:33pm
Caveat: I was a kid in the 1970's and for a time I wanted to be just like John Denver.
Almost Heaven really misses the mark. It doesn't quite know whether it wants to be a bio of John Denver or just a presentation of his songs. It works as neither.
Unfortunately, at the performance I attended, John Denver was played by the understudy who had a nice voice, but absolutely no idea of how to play Denver. He never tapped into Denver's sunny personality. The most he could manage was innocence.
The problem with the show is that Denver's songs had a simplicity to them. The presentation of the songs in this show are overproduced (although I did like Terry Burrell's "Leaving on a Jet Plane". But it belongs in a cabaret act, not a bio on John Denver). All of the voices in the cast were good voices, they just had a director and/or producer who didn't have an understanding of the music and how it should be presented. They completely missed Denver's love of life and joy in simplicity.
Almost Heaven really misses the mark. It doesn't quite know whether it wants to be a bio of John Denver or just a presentation of his songs. It works as neither.
Unfortunately, at the performance I attended, John Denver was played by the understudy who had a nice voice, but absolutely no idea of how to play Denver. He never tapped into Denver's sunny personality. The most he could manage was innocence.
The problem with the show is that Denver's songs had a simplicity to them. The presentation of the songs in this show are overproduced (although I did like Terry Burrell's "Leaving on a Jet Plane". But it belongs in a cabaret act, not a bio on John Denver). All of the voices in the cast were good voices, they just had a director and/or producer who didn't have an understanding of the music and how it should be presented. They completely missed Denver's love of life and joy in simplicity.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
