Posted: 12/22/18 at 1:00pm
I saw Choir Boy last night with a friend, and I really loved it. I had seen the off Broadway version in 2013, but I liked the play even more now. We were seated in Row K of the orchestra about halfway into the row.
The show has been nicely expanded from the original, which had five choir boys. This production adds four more. The singing is even more beautiful now and, better yet, the larger cast and stage allow for choreography (technically "movement," by Camille A. Brown). I really enjoyed the stomping, clapping, etc. It thought it added excitement and variety. The excellent Jeremy Pope repeats as Pharus, and Nicholas L. Ashe is back as Junior Davis. The other student roles have been recast.
When I saw the off Broadway show, I didn't get to see Chuck Cooper. At the time, he was in rehearsals for his next show, and so he was having to skip the matinees. The understudy was fine, but it's always a great treat to see Cooper in anything.
My theater partner said she wasn't really engaged by the story until the end. She thought that part of the problem was that she was missing some of the dialog. I also found some dialog unintelligible, but I guess that didn't bother me as much because I had seen it before and remembered the broad outline of the plot. But the 2013 version was sufficiently foggy in my memory that I feel I experienced the play anew last night. I'm very glad I got to see it again, and I highly recommend it!
Updated On: 12/22/18 at 01:00 PM