Long-time lurker, first-time poster. I decided to create an account just to give my $0.02 from a lay (read: no-background-in-theatre-but-I-watch-a-lot-of-shows) perspective.
I trek up to NYC every so often just to see shows. I wish I had gone to see My Fair Lady. I chose this one for Jessie Mueller and was somewhat disappointed. She gave a wonderful performance (loved her in Waitress, never got to see her in Beautiful), but it totally fades into the background compared to the overpowering vocals of say, Renee Fleming (as one might expect?). Joshua Henry was . . . fine. His accent went from New Englander to New Yorker to Southerner in the span of an hour or so (isn't Billy supposed to be from Coney Island?). I thought there was plenty of chemistry at the most important moment -- If I Loved You -- and I teared up during his reprise. But I think Jessie did more of the heavy lifting selling the romance - especially in the second act, when she has to emote the impact of feeling the touch of a love lost.
Agree with all the positives about Lindsay Mendez and Alexander Gemignani.
I disagree with the folks who say Renee Fleming looked out of place. I thought her singing and acting were marvelous, although the diamonds she wore were pretty distracting. (How do you own that kind of jewelry running a beach bar/spa in New England? And more importantly, why are you wearing that kind of jewelry in the middle of summer?)
To me, this show had an identity problem - I feel like it couldn't decide whether it was a work of musical theatre or if it was a ballet performance. This came off as a well-intentioned but poorly executed combination of the two. If it's the latter, then sure, I can see de-emphasizing the set as they did so that people can focus on the artistry of the dancers. If it's the former, I can see how several elements of the show were grossly disappointing (like the meh set, the meh costuming, etc.). I actually thought the costuming was on point - the show wasn't as visually stimulating as, say, Hamilton or She Loves Me from a few years ago, but it got the job done. That said, why is Billy dressed like a hobo and not, you know, a carnival barker?
One *MAJOR* gripe I have about the show, and this goes back to my earlier point about the identity crisis - I think they overdid it with some of the ballet elements. It was fine for like, the Carousel Waltz (which I felt could've used some, I don't know, actual waltzing). But I was literally yawning during Blow High, Blow Low. They sacrificed some of the vocal quality in that number for fancy, high-falutin' jumps and lifts. And the dance number felt repetitive at times.
Amar Ramasar was a very nice dancer but fell flat, flat flat in his vocals. Brittany Pollack's ballet as Louise was on point, but her vocals were also flat (although I suppose you'd want to cast someone with a ballet background in that role, so that isn't unexpected).
TL;DR:
Jessie Mueller - Grade-A performance but fell into the background a bit
Joshua Henry - fine
Renee Fleming - scene-stealer
Lindsay Mendez/Alexander Gemignani - A+
Ballet - too much
Jigger - great dancing, poor vocals
Louise - great dancing, meh vocals
Costuming - fine
Set design - meh/ugh
