#1
Posted: 1/16/06 at 12:05am
First and foremost, these are my opinions, you dont have to believe me, this is simply my view though feel free to argue with me or disagree with any/all my thoughts.
Now my review/opinion:
I walked into the theatre completely openminded and disregarding everything i had ever read about this show, I love forming my own opinion and I am glad I did because I really didnt sympathize with anyone elses reviews (I'm going to briefly describe it, but if you want details please PM me or IM me w/questions) In fact, I really did like this show--- and go!
OVERALL REVIEW
The lights go down and the curtain comes up w/hugh having his back to the audience and he began singing. Right from the beginning Hugh had me and kept me through the whole show. He turned around to reveal a gorgeous man w/blonde hair and he continues singing (and let me mention Hugh is quite a water machine, he spat like crazy, but he had crazy diction, which is good). Then a screen comes down to reveal wolves.....literally like a movie w/wolves.....wtf? I thought that was kinda weird, I would perhaps recreate this on the stage. Overall the projections were distracting and perhaps a little long; they included (a fetus being eaten?, a constant firey projection that said "wolf killer", and the set design was constantly reliant on projections).
SETS:
unbelievably gorgeous! They were very nicely done and were very nice part of the show. They were intertwined w/the scenic projections which delivered an overall wonderful effect. Very faithfult to the time period and intriqutely (Sp?) designed. My favorites were probably the church, the end of act 1 w/the big stone head, and the room that was in "The new world" that had claudia's room and the room where lestat was burned.
COSTUMES:
Susan Hilferty deserves another Tony for this work, brilliant and the best eye candy. Very elaborate and lavish, very faithful to the story, overall just amazing.
SCORE:
I didnt like "Aida" or Elton's other scores. I was expecting this to be popped out, but to my surprise I was blown away by the style. I really do love the score in its entirety. It was a traditional Broadway score with some lovely songs (though at times not memorable) but beautiful nonetheless. Some of the songs seemed to drag on for instance i was sitting there watching the show "oh this would be a nice place to end the song---" cut to 3 minutes later. That was only for a few songs, I cant remember the titles, I just remember that they were lestat's songs, definately not "Sail Me away" but a few songs in the first act could be shortened.Also I felt they were a little repetitive though I didnt mind hearing some of the melodies again because they were very lovely.
PROJECTIONS:
I mentioned a little bit above--distracting for the most part, I would've prefered pyrotechnics for the fires and whatnot. It looked kind of corny when lestat blows away claudia's ashes when she dies. Should be cut significantly...
BOOK:
very clever and well thought out, we must give Linda Woolverton some credit for this one. Some of it was kind of akward, as in it didnt transition cleanly. For instance when Gabrielle and Lestat were being followed by a mysterious spirit "Do you think it'll follow us in the church?" boom! they are in the church without walking anywhere......i thought that was kind of weird...some of it was akward...yes...
BLOCKING/CHOREOGRAPHY:
Very nicely thought out, at times awesome. The one thing that bugged me in the blocking was when there was a blackout, the characters would walk in a semi-circle while the set came on, which again was akward...
Wasnt very much choreography, but when there was it was nicely done except in "To kill your own kind" the ensemble was doing something odd w/their feet to the beat of the song
ACTORS:
Hugh Panaro-amazing, enough said. He is soo talented, acting is dead on and really made this an enjoyable experience. He was very connected and made all his scenes worthy of being performed in otherwords they had intention rather than "i'm an actor on stage, i'm performing--okay i'm done". He was very in tune w/the other actors.
Carolee Carmello-Brilliant beyond words, lovely voice, she had a few songs in Act One that got an enormous applause. Her delivery of her lines were none like I had seen, very sharp and concisce. She had such presence which made it a true joy to watch her in the show. I especially loved when she was freshly bitten by lestat and was feeling pain, lestat replies something like "your body is dying..the pain will go away soon, you need to gain others blood" (Something to that effect, I dont remember the lines) and then someone comes on stage and carolee pounces and attacks, it was the funniest thing i had ever seen. She was growling and the whole 9 yards, she did it again later then slowly dragged the body off stage which delievered a humorous effect.
Drew Sarich-Dark and sinister, very in the moment. Loved his delivery and stage presence, a wonderful choice to leave in the role. He had a very distinct way of moving and talking, right away established a remarkable chemistry with the other actors
Jim Stanek-very touching performance, very heart felt and tangible. He knew what he was doing and was a lovely addition to the cast
Roderick Hill-loved his acting, very distinct and fun. His emotions came very full and forceful, which was very effective.
Michael Genet-what can i say? Such a large presence, his lines were delivered as if he were a god. So brilliant, stole the scenes he was in.
Allison Fishcher-an audience favorite right from her first song. "ooh she is good, isnt she?" was the audience's immediate reaction when she finished her song "I want more". Very spirited and fun filled, very developed acting and singing for being so young (17). Was very delightful in every scene she was in and paticularly evil and bitchy when she wanted to be!! I THOROUGHLY ENJOYED IT!
Ensemble-in the words of Seth Rudesky "amahzing". So strong, their voices were incredible and truly added to the show. Their chemistry was essential to this show and it worked so well. Standouts were of course Nikki Renee Daniels; this girl knew what she was doing and was larger than life. Other ensemble truly wonderful and were supportive.
Overall--I loved this show. is some blocking akward? yes. Are the projections distracting? yes. Is the score "Good"? Of course. It is a great show, it just needs a little work and that is perfectly understandable, its only the out of town tryout and it has time. Enough time to make it to New York fully ready to go for everyone to enjoy. Please--if you havent seen the show and have only heard "negative" buzz about it--disregard it, dont let "negative buzz" burdon your mind as you watch. It takes away from the beauty of live theatre. If you havent seen this show, i strongly reccommend you do, its worth every penny and I hope it does well in New York.
Now my review/opinion:
I walked into the theatre completely openminded and disregarding everything i had ever read about this show, I love forming my own opinion and I am glad I did because I really didnt sympathize with anyone elses reviews (I'm going to briefly describe it, but if you want details please PM me or IM me w/questions) In fact, I really did like this show--- and go!
OVERALL REVIEW
The lights go down and the curtain comes up w/hugh having his back to the audience and he began singing. Right from the beginning Hugh had me and kept me through the whole show. He turned around to reveal a gorgeous man w/blonde hair and he continues singing (and let me mention Hugh is quite a water machine, he spat like crazy, but he had crazy diction, which is good). Then a screen comes down to reveal wolves.....literally like a movie w/wolves.....wtf? I thought that was kinda weird, I would perhaps recreate this on the stage. Overall the projections were distracting and perhaps a little long; they included (a fetus being eaten?, a constant firey projection that said "wolf killer", and the set design was constantly reliant on projections).
SETS:
unbelievably gorgeous! They were very nicely done and were very nice part of the show. They were intertwined w/the scenic projections which delivered an overall wonderful effect. Very faithfult to the time period and intriqutely (Sp?) designed. My favorites were probably the church, the end of act 1 w/the big stone head, and the room that was in "The new world" that had claudia's room and the room where lestat was burned.
COSTUMES:
Susan Hilferty deserves another Tony for this work, brilliant and the best eye candy. Very elaborate and lavish, very faithful to the story, overall just amazing.
SCORE:
I didnt like "Aida" or Elton's other scores. I was expecting this to be popped out, but to my surprise I was blown away by the style. I really do love the score in its entirety. It was a traditional Broadway score with some lovely songs (though at times not memorable) but beautiful nonetheless. Some of the songs seemed to drag on for instance i was sitting there watching the show "oh this would be a nice place to end the song---" cut to 3 minutes later. That was only for a few songs, I cant remember the titles, I just remember that they were lestat's songs, definately not "Sail Me away" but a few songs in the first act could be shortened.Also I felt they were a little repetitive though I didnt mind hearing some of the melodies again because they were very lovely.
PROJECTIONS:
I mentioned a little bit above--distracting for the most part, I would've prefered pyrotechnics for the fires and whatnot. It looked kind of corny when lestat blows away claudia's ashes when she dies. Should be cut significantly...
BOOK:
very clever and well thought out, we must give Linda Woolverton some credit for this one. Some of it was kind of akward, as in it didnt transition cleanly. For instance when Gabrielle and Lestat were being followed by a mysterious spirit "Do you think it'll follow us in the church?" boom! they are in the church without walking anywhere......i thought that was kind of weird...some of it was akward...yes...
BLOCKING/CHOREOGRAPHY:
Very nicely thought out, at times awesome. The one thing that bugged me in the blocking was when there was a blackout, the characters would walk in a semi-circle while the set came on, which again was akward...
Wasnt very much choreography, but when there was it was nicely done except in "To kill your own kind" the ensemble was doing something odd w/their feet to the beat of the song
ACTORS:
Hugh Panaro-amazing, enough said. He is soo talented, acting is dead on and really made this an enjoyable experience. He was very connected and made all his scenes worthy of being performed in otherwords they had intention rather than "i'm an actor on stage, i'm performing--okay i'm done". He was very in tune w/the other actors.
Carolee Carmello-Brilliant beyond words, lovely voice, she had a few songs in Act One that got an enormous applause. Her delivery of her lines were none like I had seen, very sharp and concisce. She had such presence which made it a true joy to watch her in the show. I especially loved when she was freshly bitten by lestat and was feeling pain, lestat replies something like "your body is dying..the pain will go away soon, you need to gain others blood" (Something to that effect, I dont remember the lines) and then someone comes on stage and carolee pounces and attacks, it was the funniest thing i had ever seen. She was growling and the whole 9 yards, she did it again later then slowly dragged the body off stage which delievered a humorous effect.
Drew Sarich-Dark and sinister, very in the moment. Loved his delivery and stage presence, a wonderful choice to leave in the role. He had a very distinct way of moving and talking, right away established a remarkable chemistry with the other actors
Jim Stanek-very touching performance, very heart felt and tangible. He knew what he was doing and was a lovely addition to the cast
Roderick Hill-loved his acting, very distinct and fun. His emotions came very full and forceful, which was very effective.
Michael Genet-what can i say? Such a large presence, his lines were delivered as if he were a god. So brilliant, stole the scenes he was in.
Allison Fishcher-an audience favorite right from her first song. "ooh she is good, isnt she?" was the audience's immediate reaction when she finished her song "I want more". Very spirited and fun filled, very developed acting and singing for being so young (17). Was very delightful in every scene she was in and paticularly evil and bitchy when she wanted to be!! I THOROUGHLY ENJOYED IT!
Ensemble-in the words of Seth Rudesky "amahzing". So strong, their voices were incredible and truly added to the show. Their chemistry was essential to this show and it worked so well. Standouts were of course Nikki Renee Daniels; this girl knew what she was doing and was larger than life. Other ensemble truly wonderful and were supportive.
Overall--I loved this show. is some blocking akward? yes. Are the projections distracting? yes. Is the score "Good"? Of course. It is a great show, it just needs a little work and that is perfectly understandable, its only the out of town tryout and it has time. Enough time to make it to New York fully ready to go for everyone to enjoy. Please--if you havent seen the show and have only heard "negative" buzz about it--disregard it, dont let "negative buzz" burdon your mind as you watch. It takes away from the beauty of live theatre. If you havent seen this show, i strongly reccommend you do, its worth every penny and I hope it does well in New York.
