Back from NYC : Wicked, ACL,Chicago, Legally Blonde, Color Purple, Gypsy

[mrcacou]

Posted: 8/1/07 at 6:59am

What a trip it has been ! 6 shows in five days and plenty of memories from the US ! Now that I am back in Paris here are my thoughts about those shows.

July 17th : Wicked
I have been waiting to see Julia for quite sometime and was disapointed. She acted the part very well but the singing was just not up to it. I saw Eden last year and Idina and Kerry in London. She was screaming the end of TWAI and it actually looked like she hurt herself during the last notes. I loved her in the Wild Party though. Kendra was a huge surprise, it is true she doe not have a wide vocal range especialy in her upper soprano but her comic timing was a real treat. The company looked fresher than a year ago when I saw the show with Eden. I am not quite sure whether I am glad or not they are now using the computer generated projection as the use of shadows was a bit more "magical" IMO. The Wizzard and Madame M. Were great as well.

July 18th, Matinee : A Chorus Line
At last I have been able to see ACL on Broadway. Well the show is the same as the one I saw in Paris ten years ago. I had a few understudies, Tyler Hanes (spelling ?) was Bobby and was just brilliant like most of the tem but Charlotte d'Amboise. She can act, she can dance but the voice was not there. It was great fun to have Zach siiting next to me during the whole show. I felt part of the experience.

July 18th : Chicago
I decided to pay a visit to Chicago as I hadn't seen the piece since its Paris Production. Well it was in great shape. It was a huge surprise. Our Roxie and Billy might be celebrities to you Americans but a little Frenchie they were just Broadway actors and they were great even if their singing voice were not up to the score especially Billy who had no higher range. Roxie lost one of her hearings during I can't do it alone and messed arroung with Velma who was great even if everybody could see she was trying to contain her laughs.

July 19th : Legally Blonde
I did not want to see that show but my friend Lauren insisted. It was a huge surprise and I am still playing the score everyday in my iPod on my way to work. It is not a cerebral show like many like (I love Sondheim do not get me wrong) but it brings you what musicals are also made for : FUN
The singing was great as well as the acting. I love paulette and her UPS guy as well. You can recognize a good score when you are able to sing it after the show. And that's what happened. I would love to share that night of pure entertainment with all my friends.

July 20th : The Color Purple
Huge disapointment. I love the film and the book. Fantasia and the whole cast were great but the songs are not up to it. Our Prayer, What about love and I'm Here are good but those are IMHO the only good musical moments in the piece. Still the production is very well done but I wouldn't see it again.

July 21st, Matinee : GYPSY

I love Mme Lupone. I thought the show wouldn't have sets nor a lot of costumes. It was a real treat to see that show. I had only saw Pati in Les Misérables in London and on TV. She is a great actress. Everybody knows GYPSY and that production was even better IMO than the one I saw four years ago in NYC with Bernadette Peters.

Well time to think about my next trip accross the Atlantic, and yes I want to see Legally Blonde again.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 8/1/07 at 7:05am

Glad you had a good trip and enjoyed the shows basically. :)

Yeah...they can't pump oxygen into the cast recording (Legally Blonde), but they sure as heck put SOMETHING in there to make it addictive. Subliminal messaging or something probably. LOL. One of my live journal friends was like "It's AMAZING!" When I said I liked it a lot but wasn't sure "AMAZING!" was quite the word I'd use, she said well, she couldn't stop listening to it! I said "That's called ADDICTIVE honey." She laughed. I do like it...I just don't think it's the most AMAZING! score written.

[mrcacou]

Posted: 8/1/07 at 7:16am

You are so right. It is not the best score that's for sure. But it has energy and can put a smile on my face which is good enough.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 8/1/07 at 7:44am

Yeah, I totally understand. I listen to it a lot. :) I'm going to my parents in just over a week (once summer school's over and I have a couple of weeks off) and I've joked that I give it one time through before my dad makes me take it out. :P

[DRSisLove]

Posted: 8/1/07 at 8:15am

Ha, I can't stop listening to BLONDE either.
And I'm making a bad choice by seeing it for my fourth time today... and third time this week. It's pretty addictive.

[kasim]

Posted: 8/1/07 at 9:40am

oh i cant stand Paulette and the UPS guy.

Those "ireland" songs are sooooo freaking stupid and sooo dont go with the plot at all. I've ended up unchecking those two ireland songs on my iTunes so i never have to hear them again.


Other than that ... glad you had fun :)

[ElFantasma14]

Posted: 8/1/07 at 9:43am

Aww, Julia! Take care of yo'self girl!

[BreeDaniel]

Posted: 8/1/07 at 9:47am

Kasim honey, take a pill. You're in a teeny monority with your rant. Paulette and the UPS are two of the only reasons that show works. Deal with it.

[ruprecht]

Posted: 8/1/07 at 9:54am

I'm curious Kasim, if that's you in your icon with cheno, you look a bit too "grown" to be an LB fan at all, let alone posting in the tone you do. Just sayin'. Now watch this thread go poof.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 8/1/07 at 9:56am

"the tone you do"?

What was so wrong with kasim's post?


Glad you had a good trip mrcacou.

Updated On: 8/1/07 at 09:56 AM