Out of town visitors took me back to this the other night. Always fun to revisit (for free), but the show is in rather sloppy shape in many places, with (what seemed to me) a bit of phoning it in from the principals.
Wright and Marroquin both danced and acted quite well (although Marroquin does a great deal of muttered ad libbing that, I imagine, she thinks is comedy gold), but both verge on inaudible vocally. I don't know if they just have weak, small voices or if they mark it vocally, but the sounds they produce are far from exciting, and they are often drowned out by the (still excellent) band. Tom Hewitt made me think, "Aww, poor Tom Hewitt - what happened to him?" He seemed to be rather bored and tired, as did whoever we saw as Amos (I wasn't familiar with him, and can't remember his name). Kandi Burruss sang ... uniquely, but can't act or stand still. Both she and Wright seem to miss the entire point of "Class," singing it demurely and prettily.
The women of the ensemble are, as always, terrific; a few of the men didn't (to me eye) move like natural dancers, missing freezes and sharp movements in places. There was no standing ovation.
It's always a bit strange to revisit these decades-old war horses and see shadowy reminders of why they became successful.
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