"Coraline" the Musical Makes West Coast premiere in SF

Interesting...they should get French and Saunders to reprise their voice roles!

I, too, saw this when it was off-Broadway --- and I thought it was god-awful.

The only adjective of those three I agree with is "unique".

I thought it added nothing to Neil Gaiman's original and fantastic story (unlike the movie). David Greenspan was campy, self-indulgent, and drained all menace from the Other Mother (her death song was ****ing atrocious). In fact, the production as whole drained much of the menace from the story. Songs were unmemorable and repetitive, performances were amateurish. Jayne Houdyshell was fantastic, as was the lighting and overall "look" of the piece.

But I walked out thinking, "Most of that was avant-garde for the sake of being avant-garde."

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The Other Mother's death song ("Falling") featured the Other Mother standing in place caterwauling this obnoxious and pointless song, as her simple costume elements were removed (to reveal a very normal looking David Greenspan in very normal everyday clothing). iTunes claims this song is only 2 minutes and 20 seconds, but it felt like a lifetime in the theatre.

The finale song featured the oft-discussed mouse orchestra (which also showed up at the end of the book, in a more subtle manner). By which I mean, the cast appeared in silly marching band hats with ears on them and sang about following your tail.

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