At 'Regina,' a Vanishing Audience - washingtonpost.com

https://www.broadwayworld.com/l.cfm?id=64339
I was in the show. I can tell you what happened...This was origionally going to be a concert version"semi-staged", then there was a change in directors, and then the new director didn't want just a "concert" style presentation. He wanted the whole sche-bang...but the Concert Hall is not condusive to the whole sche-bang...thus they built the stage up 5 feet and put the orchestra on the stage, action taking place on the space raised 5 feet above. Sound issues were impossible to avoid with a set-up like this. Such a shame. I loved the show, but loved it more when we were in a small rehearsal room and just a single piano. You could hear and see EVERYTHING and those performers in the lead roles were amazing, all of them...it was a shame that they were swallowed up by the orchestra. It really is alot closer to music theatre than opera, but I guess if no one in the audience could understand the words, then it sure seemed greek to them. I assure you it was not an issue of diction, that is for sure!
What a shame!
SGS

Updated On: 3/13/05 at 03:30 PM

Waht are you talking about? The image you tried to post didn't show up.

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I saw it last night, and as far as understanding the lyrics, I understood as much as I ever can with operatic voices...but the distance between the audience and the performers DID make it more difficult...

My handsome partner remarked that the staging situation was like watching it from across The Potomac, but after getting used to the whole thing (performers secondary to the orchestra and Blitzstein's score which doesn't "pander"), I actually quite enjoyed it.

ALL the performers were excellent and the drama of the story really made it much more engrossing than I imagined it was gonna be. My own stupidity for pre-judging.

Patti was fantastic, what a great role for her. And the woman who played "Birdie" was heartbreaking. They were all great. I glad we schlepped down there!!!!

yet another example of "follow your instincts about seeing something, you lose if you choose by reviews!!"

marc

Updated On: 3/13/05 at 04:42 PM