CAROLINE, OR CHANGE Previews- Page 7

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 10/23/21 at 11:53pm

The wigs on the Radio girls look like shake-and-go bagged affairs from Ricky's

Holy SH*T. Kad is on fire tonight. 

[SouthernCakes]

Posted: 10/24/21 at 1:48am

This is my second favorite musical (second to Sunday in the Park) and a friend is working on this and debating on flying cross country to see this. Sad it’s not getting raves but think I just need to see it!

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 10/24/21 at 10:01am

Couldn't disagree more. Love the Radio's costumes. And love the design. 

As for the moon, I spoke with N'Kenge (I've worked with her a few times) about what happened and there was a tech error. Good on her, besides the darkness, I thought she was wonderful for figuring out how to make it work on stage instead of in the bubble. She said it was fixed for the evening show.

[Kad]

Posted: 10/24/21 at 10:43am

I’m glad you liked it, but I found it so baffling and divorced from the text.
The appliances are more or less explicitly said to be Caroline’s fantasies. In the original production, their costumes were Black cultural references that a woman like Caroline would have been familiar with. It made sense. It gave added depth to the production. In this production, I’m left puzzled- why would Caroline imagine Jetsons/space agey costumes for the Radio? Why would she picture the Washing Machine wearing a Mod-style dress made of bubbles? Why does the Moon look more a disco diva a solid decade before disco existed? It’s a mishmash of styles, some of which are anachronistic and some are inexplicable based on what we know from the text of the show.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 10/24/21 at 11:40am

The Radio don’t look like Jetsons to me. The headpieces look like old microphones, at least that’s how I interpreted it.

I also like the physical set - it looks like the kind of home Noah and Rose would have. I love the way it opens and doesn’t come back together until Rose and Noah finally connect.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved the original too. But I also appreciated the new take.

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 10/24/21 at 12:47pm

iluvtheatertrash said: "I also like the physical set - it looks like the kind of home Noah and Rose would have. I love the way it opens and doesn’t come back together until Rose and Noah finally connect.
"

I thought this was a beautiful moment in the show, too. 

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 10/24/21 at 12:52pm

Kad said: "And the direction seems to be pushing the performers to go bigger and broader, and to aimlessly wander (or revolve, on a turntable) around the stage, filling the space with unnecessary business. The first act plays like light comedy, losing the pervasive sorrow and confinement of the characters. Not to say this show be a dour drama, but it certainly isn't something that should be pushed so much. And unnecessarily distracting flourishes abound."

I find this critique surprising based on the performance I (and many of us here) saw. I was more focused on the main characters rather than the inanimate objects but I definitely didn't feel they were playing up the comedy or giving broad performances, especially compared to the OBC.

I agree that some of the costumes are bad though. I didn't think much of it at the time but seeing the original moon costume, it was much stronger. I can't find a photo of the original washing machine. I didn't have any issue with the other costumes not having "wear" to them. I brought up Rose's green dress but I can't think of any other character costumes that were poorly chosen.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 10/24/21 at 12:57pm

Everything looks "fine" in this production. The staging and design aren't as good as the performances, but I think it's a really tight ensemble and musically wonderful.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 10/24/21 at 3:01pm

Fine? It shouldn't look fine, it should look great. It's Broadway. The walls look like a 6th grader painted it. 

Great performances though. 

[Alexander Lamar]

Posted: 10/24/21 at 4:38pm

Updated On: 10/24/21 at 04:38 PM

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 10/24/21 at 6:10pm

Alexander Lamar said: "I figured the Washing Machine’s costume (and the bubble machine and the bubbles she blows) were supposed to be soap suds. "

I think that’s pretty obvious to anyone with eyes or a descriptive device and has nothing to do with how cheap it looks.

[BJR]

Posted: 10/24/21 at 6:22pm

Just got home. Loved it.

Saw the original 3 times and was nervous, especially reading all these comments. But I found it to be a very moving production that I think at times is actually better at threading all the different themes in what can a beautifully poetic but somewhat slow and unwieldy show. Yes, it's less elegant, more scrappy. But it works.

I think the costumes are great. Playful, imaginative but period, and almost through the lens of a child. I get the criticisms of the scenic design being simple, but I think it's used quite well. There lots of moments of whimsy in this production (like the comically long telephone chord) I found surprising but perfect for the piece, given how poetic and unnaturalistic it is.

Cast standouts were many. I agree Dottie is fantastic. Cassie Levy has never been better. And Sharon Clarke is indeed very different from Tonya, but she nails it. It even took me a moment to get used to her Caroline being less fiery, and more withdrawn and exhausted. But it's an incredible performance.

I imagine this will keep dividing people, as it did before.

 

[ArtMan]

Posted: 10/24/21 at 6:23pm

My post was merely LOL and it was deleted.  They must have hired a new intern.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 10/24/21 at 6:28pm

Art, check your pms. 

[unclevictor]

Posted: 10/24/21 at 6:35pm

ArtMan said: "My post was merely LOL and it was deleted. They must have hired a new intern."

Wow mine got deleted too! Hahahahahaa! 

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 10/24/21 at 6:52pm

Nothing gets past you! HAHAHAHAHA!

[binau]

Posted: 10/25/21 at 11:59am

Director Michael Longhurst on the material: "It's incredibly exciting stuff, it's very dense for a musical, it's a bit like reading Shakespeare...Jeanine just doesn't give you the things in a musical you usually have - verse, chorus, repeat verse, go to bridge, chorus...it just doesn't do that. Each time there is a new psychological thought the style of music changes. It's hugely dense and complicated......it's the most rich psychological characters I've ever seen in a musical, they are so dense. Which is hugely exciting, especially for me when I come from a background from plays rather than musicals."

Updated On: 10/25/21 at 11:59 AM

[seussical93]

Posted: 10/26/21 at 7:22am

has anyone done the todaytix rush/ know where the seats are??

[BJR]

Posted: 10/26/21 at 7:50am

binau said: "Director Michael Longhurst on the material: "It's incredibly exciting stuff, it's very dense for a musical, it's a bit like reading Shakespeare...Jeanine just doesn't give you the things in a musical you usually have - verse, chorus, repeat verse, go to bridge, chorus...it just doesn't do that. Each time there is a new psychological thought the style of music changes. It's hugely dense and complicated......it's the most rich psychological characters I've ever seen in a musical, they are so dense. Which is hugely exciting, especially for me when I come from a background from plays rather than musicals.""

Love that. And it's true.

Like I mentioned, I think this production does a great job of handling all the various threads, the denseness, and holding the connections between them.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 10/26/21 at 4:41pm

[unclevictor]

Posted: 10/26/21 at 9:12pm

Tons and tons of tickets available… ehhhh

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 10/26/21 at 9:15pm

Intermission. I don’t see one empty seat in the theater.

I’m also in heaven.

[Kad]

Posted: 10/26/21 at 9:43pm

unclevictor said: "Tons and tons of tickets available… ehhhh"

Girl. Quit this sad attempt at a troll.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 10/26/21 at 11:18pm

You know when you show someone your favorite movie and you just watch them, hoping they love it? That was kind of how I was tonight with this audience. So when it ended and the entire FULL HOUSE instantly jumped to their feet and started screaming and cheering, I started to cry a little bit. That made me so happy.

I’m pretty drained from tonight so for right now I’ll say that pretty much all the flaws this revival had in the UK have been fixed and this production is now as perfect as it could be. All the new casting is so wonderful - singling out Caissie (Rose), Tamika (Dotty), Samantha (Emmie) and the Noah tonight Adam Makké was maybe the biggest surprise.

As for Sharon, she continues to give a brilliant performance that deserves to be seen and cheered for. 

I’m gonna sleep on it tonight and I’ll write more tomorrow but even the things like those few costumes that bugged me a bit a few years ago didn’t bother me at all tonight. Maybe since everything else was fixed it was like “Don’t sweat the small stuff”.

Anyways, for tonight I’ll just say that I’m on Cloud 9 and a whole theater full of people got to experience what I never miss the chance to call “The Greatest Musical Of The 21st Century”.

Updated On: 10/26/21 at 11:18 PM

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 10/26/21 at 11:53pm

definitely want to hear your thoughts, Jordan. I walked away mixed but find myself eager to go back. And I definitely agree that Caissie, Tamika and Samantha are giving phenomenal performances.