#1
Posted: 12/28/11 at 11:09pm
I just got home from opening night of American Idiot in Toronto. Overall it was good, but not amazing. I'm going to do that annoying thing where I compare everything to the OBC and the Broadway production for a few reasons: Namely because I saw them first (twice), because I've been listening to the OBCR on repeat for the last month, but also because I thought the OBC had some amazing vocals (namely the female leads) so it's hard not to compare to them.
As an overall observation, I felt that it was lacking the high energy and "wow" factor of the Broadway production. I left the St. James theatre completely blown away, but not so much this time around. I think it was partly because the sound needed to be turned up - the music wasn't loud enough, yet the mic's were even quieter so a lot of the vocals got drowned out. I also think that the reduced ensemble (from 12 to 10) and the fact that theatre was around 2-3x larger than the St. James theatre made a difference. This kind of show should not be performed in a theatre with 2 levels of balconies.
In terms of the stage, it was simplified for obvious reasons. No more moving platform or car hanging from the ceiling. The TV screens are still there, as are the stairs, but no cellist sitting at the top.
Now on to the cast. There were some standouts, but also some disappointments.
The biggest standout for me was Van Hughes as Johnny. I thought he was perfect in the role. He has a beautiful and powerful voice and he nailed each and every song that he sang. I preferred his Johnny over John Gallagher Jr's because Van's Johnny showed the angst and disillusionment that is central to the American Idiot album while JGR's Johnny just came off as obnoxious and spoiled.
Second standout was Joshua Kobak as St. Jimmy. What a voice! His vocals were crisp and amazingly powerful and pretty much flawless. High energy throughout every song that he sang. He has that same nasal quality that Tony Vincent had in the role (which I liked, but others may not). He also had that same really creepy and intense quality that I liked in Tony Vincent's performance.
Other comments:
Jake Epstein as Will - His voice was nothing impressive, but I did quite enjoy his acting, especially physically. His drunken wobbling and stumbling had me giggling throughout the show. You could feel his pain and struggles throughout but I just wish he had the voice to portray it in his singing.
Gabrielle McClinton as Whatsername- Very pretty and powerful voice and she managed to move gracefully in a rock musical, though I'm not sure how that's possible. I thought she was quite good in the role but I couldn't fully appreciate her after seeing Rebecca Naomi Jones. She had big shoes to fill and she didn't quite fill them. If I hadn't seen RNJ first, I probably would have appreciated Gabrielle more.
Leslie McDonel as Heather - Beautiful voice but she lacked the comedic timing that Mary Faber had.
Scott J. Campbell as Tunny - to be honest, he was a big disappointment. His voice was mediocre but the worst part for me was that his facial expression NEVER changed (think Nick Jonas in the Les Mis anniversary concert). Even worse, he never moved his head while he sang, so from the back of the orchestra I wasn't even sure when he was singing - I had to squint to see if his mouth was moving cause that was the only part of his face or body that ever moved. His acting was kind of static - it was like he was phoning it in, but who does that on opening night? Maybe he was just really nervous?
Nicci Claspell as Extraordinary Girl - pretty voice but nothing to brag about.
Jarran Muse as Favourite Son - It's kind of hard to comment on his performance since his mic was WAY too low. From what I could hear, he sounded pretty good and he had the moves and body that any "sex machine" should.
The ensemble - Overall they were quite strong. Great voices and great dancing and they were very well coordinated with one another. Good looking group, too :). The whole group sounding really amazing in unison during Whatsername, because I think by then they finally had the sound issues worked out
I think that covers the main points... So overall, still worth seeing, but you may be a bit disappointed if you've seen it on Broadway. I'm hoping they work out the sound issues and perhaps some of the vocal and acting concerns that I had will work themselves out as the cast members get more comfortable in their roles. I'm seeing it again on January 12 so we'll see if my impressions change at all.
As an overall observation, I felt that it was lacking the high energy and "wow" factor of the Broadway production. I left the St. James theatre completely blown away, but not so much this time around. I think it was partly because the sound needed to be turned up - the music wasn't loud enough, yet the mic's were even quieter so a lot of the vocals got drowned out. I also think that the reduced ensemble (from 12 to 10) and the fact that theatre was around 2-3x larger than the St. James theatre made a difference. This kind of show should not be performed in a theatre with 2 levels of balconies.
In terms of the stage, it was simplified for obvious reasons. No more moving platform or car hanging from the ceiling. The TV screens are still there, as are the stairs, but no cellist sitting at the top.
Now on to the cast. There were some standouts, but also some disappointments.
The biggest standout for me was Van Hughes as Johnny. I thought he was perfect in the role. He has a beautiful and powerful voice and he nailed each and every song that he sang. I preferred his Johnny over John Gallagher Jr's because Van's Johnny showed the angst and disillusionment that is central to the American Idiot album while JGR's Johnny just came off as obnoxious and spoiled.
Second standout was Joshua Kobak as St. Jimmy. What a voice! His vocals were crisp and amazingly powerful and pretty much flawless. High energy throughout every song that he sang. He has that same nasal quality that Tony Vincent had in the role (which I liked, but others may not). He also had that same really creepy and intense quality that I liked in Tony Vincent's performance.
Other comments:
Jake Epstein as Will - His voice was nothing impressive, but I did quite enjoy his acting, especially physically. His drunken wobbling and stumbling had me giggling throughout the show. You could feel his pain and struggles throughout but I just wish he had the voice to portray it in his singing.
Gabrielle McClinton as Whatsername- Very pretty and powerful voice and she managed to move gracefully in a rock musical, though I'm not sure how that's possible. I thought she was quite good in the role but I couldn't fully appreciate her after seeing Rebecca Naomi Jones. She had big shoes to fill and she didn't quite fill them. If I hadn't seen RNJ first, I probably would have appreciated Gabrielle more.
Leslie McDonel as Heather - Beautiful voice but she lacked the comedic timing that Mary Faber had.
Scott J. Campbell as Tunny - to be honest, he was a big disappointment. His voice was mediocre but the worst part for me was that his facial expression NEVER changed (think Nick Jonas in the Les Mis anniversary concert). Even worse, he never moved his head while he sang, so from the back of the orchestra I wasn't even sure when he was singing - I had to squint to see if his mouth was moving cause that was the only part of his face or body that ever moved. His acting was kind of static - it was like he was phoning it in, but who does that on opening night? Maybe he was just really nervous?
Nicci Claspell as Extraordinary Girl - pretty voice but nothing to brag about.
Jarran Muse as Favourite Son - It's kind of hard to comment on his performance since his mic was WAY too low. From what I could hear, he sounded pretty good and he had the moves and body that any "sex machine" should.
The ensemble - Overall they were quite strong. Great voices and great dancing and they were very well coordinated with one another. Good looking group, too :). The whole group sounding really amazing in unison during Whatsername, because I think by then they finally had the sound issues worked out
I think that covers the main points... So overall, still worth seeing, but you may be a bit disappointed if you've seen it on Broadway. I'm hoping they work out the sound issues and perhaps some of the vocal and acting concerns that I had will work themselves out as the cast members get more comfortable in their roles. I'm seeing it again on January 12 so we'll see if my impressions change at all.
