I've seen a handful of non-equity tours and all except one disappointed me greatly.
There was an incredible equity reproduction of the original production national tour of West Side Story that played the Pantages in L.A. in 1997. I was dying to see it again so drove far away to catch it the following year. Little did I know it had gone non-equity by then and I was treated to a lackluster joke of a performance.
Same with a non-equity tour of A Chorus Line (199
that had blown me away the previous year when it was equity. The non-equity used synthesized brass and a cast so bad, I wanted to die.
I was looking forward to the non-equity tour of Spring Awakening that I saw last month, especially after reading the reviews on here. While I wasn't terribly disappointed, too many of the cast had trouble staying on key and the girls all sang in a very warbly head voice. The sound system was the 2nd worst I've ever heard. That was my first time seeing the show and I could not make out a single lyric from my 2nd row orchestra seat, which was also right smack in front of the stage left speakers. One thing did surprise me--the awesome band was first class.
The best of the bunch was a non-equity tour of Hairspray that I caught last year right before it closed. The entire cast absolutely defied the 2nd class nature of most non-equity tours and were Broadway and equity caliber. I usually feel like stabbing my ears with a pitchfork when I have to sit through a "virtual" orchestra, and this Hairspray's orchestra consisted of some keyboards and a few guitars. Shockingly, the music did not sound overly fake. It wasn't anywhere nearly as good as a real group of musicians playing real instruments, but it did not make me want to shake my fist at the pit either, which is good!
The physical production looked very lavish and nearly as elaborate as the original equity national tours. The costumes did not appear to be made of colored plastic Glade bags, and the lighting was as great as I remember from the YouTube videos I've seen of the original production.
Now, if only they invested in some basic Bose boom box thingies, the sound would have definitely been much improved!!! By far the worst sound system in history. Think LOUD WALKIE TALKIES. *dies*
As for this non-equity Beauty and the Beast, you'd have to tie me up and haul me there to see it. The much ballyhooed original production that enjoyed a sit-down at Los Angeles' Shubert Theatre was said to be the largest and most elaborate production of the musical in the world, and even so, I was terribly underwhelmed with the production. I've long called the stage version GARISH and TACKY. Add that horrifying severed talking noggin of Chip, and you can add CREEPY to the mix!
That Disney...adapting a cartoon for the stage by making the staged version look like a cartoon. FAIL, anyone?
Recreation of original John Cameron orchestration to "On My Own" by yours truly. Click player below to hear.
Updated On: 3/13/11 at 07:48 AM
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