Amour
Amour
WiCkEDrOcKS
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/13/04
#2re: Amour
Posted: 9/10/05 at 2:47pm
Ben Brantley:
"Even charming is too weighty a word to describe the wispy appeal of 'Amour,' the twinkling trinket of a musical from the French pop composer Michel Legrand, which opened last night at the Music Box Theater.
Certainly none of the vigorous language usually trotted out for song-filled Broadway diversions -- romp, frolic and (heaven forbid) blast -- applies to a Gallic slice of whimsy that seems shaped less to stimulate than to soothe. Staged with artful gentleness by James Lapine, 'Amour' is a bedtime story for grown-ups. Weighing in at a slender 90 minutes, it is especially suited to grown-ups who like to see lights out before 11.
Under the less Broadway-friendly title of 'Le Passe-Muraille' ('The Passer-Through-Walls'), 'Amour' became a sleeper hit in Paris, where it was celebrated by critics for being so, well, so very French. It is easy to see how the show would have enchanted a people whose sartorial and intellectual wardrobes tend to be made up of neatly coordinated classics."
http://theater2.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?res=9C04E0D91E3DF932A15753C1A9649C8B63
Updated On: 9/10/05 at 02:47 PM
#3re: Amour
Posted: 9/10/05 at 2:48pmsaw it on previews on broadway. B-R-I-L-L-I-A-N-T!!! Oh it's so good but it needs a very solid cast to work and it's not for everyone. It has no one flying around the stage, no true character numbers or physical comedy. It's a soft, quiet show that has brilliant music by Michael LeGrand. it's amazing and one of my favorite shows
"Picture "The View," with the wisecracking, sympathetic sweethearts of that ABC television show replaced by a panel of embittered, suffering or enraged Arab women" -the Times review of Black Eyed
Mr Roxy
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
#6re: Amour
Posted: 9/10/05 at 2:51pm
Talkin' Broadway (parts of this review make me a bit sad):
"Broadway's Music Box Theatre may have found its most ideal tenant in quite a while. The delightful little jewel box of a musical, Amour, with music by Michel Legrand and direction by James Lapine, deserves a lengthy stay there, where it may enchant audiences for a long time to come.
Whether it will have such a chance remains to be seen, given the dominance of bigger, bolder, and brassier musicals stealing the spotlight (and awards) in recent years. But Amour, if not the equal of those musicals in size, matches them every step of the in terms of the talent to be found onstage and off. It should be near the top of everyone's must-see list this season.
One of the prime reasons for its success is Legrand, a noted film composer and jazz artist who first brought the musical to the Paris stage five years ago. Though it was then known by the title of the Marcel Aymé 1943 short story on which it was based, Le passe-muraille, it told the same story as it does here, of the shy, unassuming clerk who develops the ability to walk through walls, and who challenges himself to stick to his moral center and change others' lives - and his own - as a result.
That man, Dusoleil (renamed from the original Dutilleul), is played by Malcolm Gets, decked out in conservative clothing (complete with a bowler hat), every bit the insecure Everyman necessary for the part. But he's blessed with the inner strength that makes his transformation into a legendary Paris crime figure (later known as Passepartou) believable. The scene where Dusoleil torments his sadistic boss (Bill Nolte) by popping his head through the wall, though taken from the original story, comes alive under Gets, who seems to develop daring and self-confidence before our very eyes.
His new powers give him the courage to pursue the elusive Isabelle (Melissa Errico), who is generally kept out of sight by her dominating husband, played by Lewis Cleale. Errico possesses an attractive innocence and a lovely singing voice that convey the pain of her solitude and her joy at the possibilities that lie before her. Though her role is somewhat small, she's radiant and endearing."
http://www.talkinbroadway.com/world/Amour.html
Mythus
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/16/04
#8re: Amour
Posted: 9/10/05 at 3:02pm
As Ping said, it was just too French for an American audience. It's an intimate chamber musical; very few flashy special effects, no synths in the orchestra, and a cast without any real "names".
Also, the show came out at a time when we were not particularly happy with the French...I'm sure that Francophobia played a part in the show's demise.
joniray
Broadway Star Joined: 3/27/04
#9re: Amour
Posted: 9/10/05 at 3:15pm
I saw the closing performance on Broadway and was so *irked* at myself for not seeing it sooner so I could revisit it again. I was completely charmed by it from start to finish, and I'm not the type that usually goes for charm.
I still get sad when someone mentions it. I really think the producers caved to early on this one. The audience I was with seemed to adore it and I think it would have had a chance if it had run long enough to build more word of mouth.
Needless to say, I loved it, and thank God it was recorded.
Mythus
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/16/04
WiCkEDrOcKS
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/13/04
#13re: Amour
Posted: 9/10/05 at 5:02pm
I love the cast recording, and since Malcom Gets is one of my favorites I could not say no. The music is magical and so fanciful. But I agree, not for everyone. It's a charming little love story. It's the kind of show that is more appreciated in the off-broadway-reginal scene.
I recommed this show to anyone who likes a beautiful romantic fantasy.
"You gotta be original, because if you're like someone else, what do they need you for?" -Bernadette Peters
SUPPORT ALL SHOOK UP!!!
#14re: Amour
Posted: 9/10/05 at 5:18pmAWWW AMOUR. I love, love, love Amour. It was like a bible on CD to me when my obsession with Christopher Fitzgerald started.
"It's a great feeling of power to be naked in front of people. We're happy to watch actual incredible graphic violence and gore, but as soon as somebody's naked it seems like the public goes a bit bananas about the whole thing."
bjivie2
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/13/04
theatreman
Chorus Member Joined: 6/11/05
#16re: Amour
Posted: 9/11/05 at 1:03pmI didn't see it on Broadway, but saw the opening night performance of it at the Norma Terris Theatre (another theatre owned by Goodspeed Musicals in CT). The company was wonderful, the music catchy and funny, the lyrics clever. The production values were exquisite. A very good regional production- I think it's still running. The CD is wonderful. An excellent musical.
Videos