CHITTY 5/24/05 REVIEW

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CHITTY 5/24/05 REVIEW

Posted: 5/24/05 at 11:47pm

Just got in! Honestly, I expected to hate the show. On the contrary, I loved it! Granted, there were a few moments of overly cheesy material, but the performances were so stellar that I was able to get past the corny old-fashioned kiddy-ness of the show.

Raul was delicious. As were Erin, Phillip, Mark and the rest of the gang.

However, my real treat, being I just played my dream role - The Baker (INTO THE WOODS) - was seeing Chip Zien back on the stage and spending some time talking to him at the stage door. What an awesome man. And SOOOOO FRIENDLY!

The sets, costumes, orchestra, everything - stunning. Yes, it's a children's show. But if you let yourself be a little kid again for 2 and a half hours, trust me, you'll have a wonderful time!

"I know now that theatre saved my life." - Susan Stroman

re: CHITTY 5/24/05 REVIEW

Posted: 5/24/05 at 11:51pm

woo hoo! I completely agree. I initially went to see Raúl, expecting to be bored out of my wits by the show itself, and by the end, while feeling like I was five, I couldn't help but be like "I LOVE THIS!!"

A work of art is an invitation to love.

Updated On: 5/24/05 at 11:51 PM

re: CHITTY 5/24/05 REVIEW

Posted: 5/24/05 at 11:51pm

Glad you had a great time! DO you think tickets will be at TKTS in July? I'm DYING to see Raul!!

"I've always secretly longed for an actress to get to the top of the cherry picker and projectile vomit all over the guards below."- Wonderwaiter in the "Defy Gravity?" thread. ~~~~~~~~My dream? Sutton Foster as Cassie in A Chorus Line

re: CHITTY 5/24/05 REVIEW

Posted: 5/25/05 at 2:38am

I went on Saturday just to see Raúl and I was totally floored by how much I enjoyed it. Jan Maxwell is now my new hero and I loved that little dance thing Raúl did when he was trying to explain Toot Sweets to Lord Scrumptious.

Edith 'Little Edie' Bouvier Beale: Do you think my costume looked all right for Brooks? I think he was a little amazed.

re: CHITTY 5/24/05 REVIEW

Posted: 5/25/05 at 5:43am

I didn't really enjoy the show - there are only two good scenes, one at the end of act 1 and one at the end of act 2, when Chitty flies. It was quite good fun, but it was like a British pantomime. I don't feel it should be on broadway - but I think it would be huge as a touring production. England is getting a touring production from December, so it's possible to do it.

Mary P x

re: CHITTY 5/24/05 REVIEW

Posted: 5/25/05 at 6:11am

I thought the shw lacked energy. i think the kid roles are very difficult to not make annoying. comparing them to the mary P kids, indeed some of the Mary P kids were in the original chitty in london, they're no where near as good. the car is amazing. i did a backstage tour at the palladium in london and saw all the mecanics and flooring. it's really impressive. anyhoo, its fun for the kids

'They re-made my belly with skin from my butt'

re: CHITTY 5/24/05 REVIEW

Posted: 5/25/05 at 6:37am

I'll apologize to my darling Emcee right off the bat, but Raul did nothing for me in this part. I have loved him in everything he has previously done, but here...blah. Erin Dilly, on the other hand, totally won me over. She truly is scrumptious! Marc Kudisch and Jan Maxwell were fabulous, too. The show is crappy, but the performers (for the most part) are excellent.

re: CHITTY 5/24/05 REVIEW

Posted: 5/25/05 at 9:13am

i believe this show is mind-numbing.
I think that the best part of the show is when the dogs come onto the stage to break up the monotony of the static energy of the show.
The songs are boring and repetitive, ad the lyrice, "teamwork can make a dream work"?..not good .
There are so many story line problems, and Raul esparza tries to make a serious role out of caractucus potts. everyone else is in a childrens tale, and I think he thinks its chekov.
The baroness was the only fun part of the show for me, oh..and the dogs...gotta love those dogs!

re: CHITTY 5/24/05 REVIEW

Posted: 5/25/05 at 10:17am

I also saw the show on 5/24.

Act I borders on the deadly dull and Act II with the notable exception of the villains, was almost as bad. Rather than reinterpret the film for the stage, it seems to have fallen into the Victor/Victoria trap and simply been replicated or tried to be copied.

The designs and effects are good, but we all know that these do not make a good show. The play's the thing.

The weekly breakeven must be huge and there were scads of empty seats. Not a good sign.

This would be a quickly forgotten show except that there is so much money involved maybe it will help kill the movie musical-as-stage musical genre!

"If my life weren't funny, it would just be true. And that would be unacceptable." --Carrie Fisher

#10

re: CHITTY 5/24/05 REVIEW

Posted: 5/25/05 at 11:27am

LOL, MEF, it's okay. I agree, though, with massofmen - he's trying to make the part something it's not. There was a bit in the Times called something like "Man Against Machine," saying that try as he might, he's not going to upstage that car. I think Brantley wrote it, and he says no one appears to have shared with Raúl that the car is the star.

He "did something" for me because well, he could make me happy by just standing in a corner, but I wish it had a little more depth, though this is definitely a stretch for him. (Sidenote - he's like a happy little kid, so... more power to him.)

that little dance thing Raúl did when he was trying to explain Toot Sweets to Lord Scrumptious.

One of my favorite little moments, for certain.

Oh, and Jan Maxwell owns the universe.

A work of art is an invitation to love.

Updated On: 5/25/05 at 11:27 AM

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