ITS SO DIFFERENT FROM THE CITY CENTER VERSION!
on the surface it might seem the same, but everyone has a different deeper spin on their characters.
it all starts with Patti's take on ROSE...this ROSE is optimistic, flirty, fun-loving & girlish...she TRULY believes in the act; her whole attitude is "why *WOULDNT* we be stars??!?!" (wheres @ CC, Rose came to the stage already bruised, ready to be rejected). here, her pivot is in Gratzinger's office, her showdown with MISS CRATCHITT, thats when she snaps. At CC it was at the train station with EVERYTHINGS COMING UP ROSES.
playing Rose as fun makes her snapping even more effective and moving! i heard people gasp all around me!
the whole production is brighter & more fun; they've opened up the comedy more to almost screwball proportions but in a classic way, not tacky or dumb; sometimes it reminded me of I LOVE LUCY!
& i say that as a loving compliment!
everyone mines more laughs; when i say they've "opened up the comedy", it seems as if they've made it more accessible, not in a dumbed down way, but so that *everyone* can enjoy it, *everyone* is in it *with* them, along for the ride!
& the audience really responded, they were so enthusiastic, the whole theater was laughing & i heard people crying (not just me)!!!
i know i dont have anything to do with it, but i felt so proud of them!
you know that scene @ CC, in TESSIE TURA's dressing room, when ROSE tells LOUISE "i had a dream" & Benanti got huge laughs in a totally new way? now there are *more* moments like that throughout the show! they figured out ways to add new laughs without changing the script!
Alison Fraser & Marilyn Caskey were better than ever! Alsion Fraser brings more warmth to her TESSIE (she talked about the role in her recent PLAYBILL interview & you can see her thoughts reflected in her performance). Caskey's ELEKTRA is again stopping the show, even more of a scream!
Lenora Nemetz is great as MISS CRATCHITT, with a comic snootiness & a Maggie Smith look...she got a *big* reaction from her MAZEPPA, who has a completley different character design, though i think she looked too bright & sexy to be strippin' in a dump like that! They need to put a fat suit on her or something, because she looks too in-shape to be a tired old stripper!
Leigh Ann Larkin maintains her edge as JUNE, but also brings new comedy; she's so fun to watch on stage because her face is always doing something. I think she's a real find!
Tony Yazbeck ***REALLY*** sells it! ALL I NEED IS THE GIRL is THRILLING!!!!
& Laura Benanti...in the first act, i heard people all around me going "awwww" for her, but in the second act, they were going "ooooooh!!!!". her LOUISE is very touching and endearing; her GYPSY is stunning & sexy!
Boyd Gaines is very loveable as HERBIE, and SMALL WORLD is marvelously romantic...with Patti adding new comedy!
Sammi Gayle & Emma Rowley are wonderful, & really establish the characters of JUNE and LOUISE.
& i am tellin you, that Sammi Gayle is gonna be a STAR!!!
Updated On: 3/13/08 at 07:47 AM
