"Many of us have seen the original Annie which was perfect musical theatre. So when it's revived, we would like it to equal the thrill and the integrity of the original.
So many revivals do not do that. Bye Bye Birdie with Gena Gershon comes to mind: The last overly praised but in my opinion misguided La Cage: that abysmal Fiddler on the Roof starring Harvey Fierstein and first Alfred Molina; Zorba with Anthony Quinn; On a Clear Day with Harry Conick; So many missed opportunites trying to improve on perfection or near perfection.
James Lapine is a director who tends to be overly serious. Making Annie overly serious concerns me. The choice of Lapine as a director of Annie concerns me. So does giving the orphans Newsies accents. Trying to improve on the Peter Genarro choreography also gives one pause and from testimonies here is not up to par.
Perhaps I should stay home and relish the memory of the original which was theatre perfection. When a revival comes.. we all have great hopes that are often dashed. No I haven't seen this production but I am often disappointed by revivals.
I always think of that great melanie song 'Look what they've done to my song Ma.'" ---------------------------------------------------
I feel ya bro.
People don't and won't ever understand, until one of these 'revisals' kills their favorite musicals. Until then, I guess we're just the whiney geezers, the purists, who want that old museum piece because it's what came first. Uuuum...yeah. Sure.
Recreation of original John Cameron orchestration to "On My Own" by yours truly. Click player below to hear.
Updated On: 10/30/12 at 05:11 AM