#1
Posted: 4/19/07 at 12:17pm
Per requests, below is a review of last night's preview performance of "Coram Boy" - Spoilers Ahead!!!!
The show is difficult to describe as I've never seen anything quite like it before. It's based on a novel of the same name (which was intended for young adults (?)) which itself was inspired by true events (not the plot details, but namely the mythological "Coram Man" who it turns out it not so mythological who in 1700's London used to (for a fee) take unwanted children to a "Coram Hospital" where they would be taken care of. In reality, he would kill the babies (often burying them alive) and traffic the older children.
"Coram Boy" deals with three generations whose lives are all deeply impacted by both this Coram Man, and the Coram Hospital. The play tells the story of a young boy (Alexander) who at fourteen is the principle boy soprano in a prestigous boys choir. He also, however, is the heir to the Ashbrook estate, and his father will have nothing to do with music. Music however is Alexander's life, which he tries to convince his father of when he (and fellow choir boy Thomas) return home for Easter. While home, Alexander's voice changes, leaving no reason for him to continue singing. Lord Ashbrook bans all music from the house and Alexander (after a brief , and very innocent afair with a young lady named Melissa) runs away.
Juxtaposed to this family is the Coram Man himself, who has a mentally challanged son. Together they collect children, and bury them claiming to take them to the Coram Hospital. The son however, is obsessed with the statue of an Angel at a nearby cathedral, and later mistakes Melissa for this Angel come to life.
The lives of these two families intersect when Melissa gives birth to Alexander's child. Her mother (and housekeeper who is in league with the Coram Man) tell Melissa her child is stillborn and give the baby to the Coram Man. His son, however, thinking that this is the child of an Angel saves the baby. Act one ends as the Ashbrooks discover the buried skeletons of the dead children on their estate. The Coram Man is hanged, and a real Coram hospital is established.
Act two takes place eight years later, and follows the fate of Aron, the son of Melissa and Andrew who has been raised at Coram Hospital, and, like his father, has a great love of music. The tragedy is that in eight years, not much has changed. The real Coram Hospital has become itself part of the child trafficking industry, and through a series of twists and turns (not to mention an AMAZING drowning sequence) most of the characters are eventually reconciled.
I found the production truly amazing. First of all, the performers. All of the young boys are played by 20-something women (with a heartbreaking, and exquisite transition from Young Alexander (played by a girl - a brilliant Xanthe Elbrick who I think diserves the Tony) to Adult Alexander (played by a man - Wayne Wilcox) literally the moment his voice changes. (Elbrick comes back later as Aron.))
I have to take a minute to talk about Ms. Elbrick. Not only does she give not one, but two of the most touching and brutally honest performances I've ever seen, but she does it while playing a fourteen, and eight year old boy. Her physicallity is unmatched, she is beautifully nervous, and twitchy as Aron, and regal, and very emotionally distraught as Alexander. She manages to make you believe that she is not only a boy, but both these characters while keeping the charm, grace, and beauty that are inherant to the fact that she is a female. Her voice is stunning as well, though, I think the real mark of her talent is her ability (while playing Aron) to portray a young boy who has natrual talent, but no training. She establishes her voice in act one, and then rematures into it in act two. I also have to give props to Young Thomas (Charlotte Parry) as well who (a dead ringer for Tina Majorino) brings a brilliant energy, and humor to her role, without ignoring the seriousness, and tragedy inherant in Thomas's life (her small speech where she talks about the other choir boys "initiating her" will make you laugh out loud, and break your heart.)
The remarkable thing about this cast is that EVERYONE is fantastic, down to each ensemble member. One gets the feeling that any one of them could diservedly have an entire show about their character, this is just the story the authors happened to tell. I don't have enough room to mention everyone spicifically, but I will add that Brad Fleischer as Meshak - the mentally disabled son, is terrific. He says few words other than "Angel" in the show, yet has created an extrordinarily detailed character through his physicallity, and vocal choices. Physically, and emotionally this show is a marathon for everyone involved (I can't think of one person who isn't involved in at least one physical confrentation), not to mention that most of the sound effects (including the dying babies) are provided by the cast.
Which brings me to the staging. Something that I really appreciated about this show was that we were allowed to see almost everything - from the actors providing the sound effects (they were placed above the graves of the children in the burial scene) to changing costumes. It gave the show the feel of, I might say a Mideaval miracle play. Just watching the choir boys change into girls in the background gave one the feeling of a group of artists carefully constructing a mural, or painting. They loving played each role as if it were a unique and distinct color in that painting, etc. Or a more apt discription might be that each was a distinct note in a symphony. The use of circles, and mirroring of characters (literally having them accross from each other) aided the symbolism in a beautiful way. The costumes, and especially wigs were great as well, not to mention the wonderful use of flying.
The music is used, I guess, suplementally. Though the idea of music is such an essential element to the plot as well as the experience, that, to quote Young Alexander who says "I don't know who I am without music" - I don't know what this show would be without music. (Handel himself is even a character in act 2. Apparently his "Messiah" was first performed at the Coram Hospital by their boys choir. And yes, it is exerps, not the whole thing.) Personally I'm wondering if this grey area regarding the originality of the music though might hurt the show come Tonys.
The interesting thing about the show is it is not overly dark and depressing (it never quite reaches the levels of say McDonaugh's "Pillowman") however it is far from light and frauthy fare (I would be wairy of taking twelve year olds, even though the source material was written for young adults). There is a hanging at the end of act one, not to mention sex scenes (though nowhere NEAR "Spring Awakening"), graphic child murders, and hords of other gory fare. But the thing that I appreciated about this dichotomy was that it never allowed the show to get either too sentimental, or too depressing.
I doubt that the show will change much before opening as it has already been running in London for quite sometime. And it feels very solid. There are great rush seats ($26.50 for the first two rows). The have not been advertizing the show AT ALL, so please go, and tell your friends. It's a great show to see with a family member. I highly reccomend it, and I can't wait to go again.
The show is difficult to describe as I've never seen anything quite like it before. It's based on a novel of the same name (which was intended for young adults (?)) which itself was inspired by true events (not the plot details, but namely the mythological "Coram Man" who it turns out it not so mythological who in 1700's London used to (for a fee) take unwanted children to a "Coram Hospital" where they would be taken care of. In reality, he would kill the babies (often burying them alive) and traffic the older children.
"Coram Boy" deals with three generations whose lives are all deeply impacted by both this Coram Man, and the Coram Hospital. The play tells the story of a young boy (Alexander) who at fourteen is the principle boy soprano in a prestigous boys choir. He also, however, is the heir to the Ashbrook estate, and his father will have nothing to do with music. Music however is Alexander's life, which he tries to convince his father of when he (and fellow choir boy Thomas) return home for Easter. While home, Alexander's voice changes, leaving no reason for him to continue singing. Lord Ashbrook bans all music from the house and Alexander (after a brief , and very innocent afair with a young lady named Melissa) runs away.
Juxtaposed to this family is the Coram Man himself, who has a mentally challanged son. Together they collect children, and bury them claiming to take them to the Coram Hospital. The son however, is obsessed with the statue of an Angel at a nearby cathedral, and later mistakes Melissa for this Angel come to life.
The lives of these two families intersect when Melissa gives birth to Alexander's child. Her mother (and housekeeper who is in league with the Coram Man) tell Melissa her child is stillborn and give the baby to the Coram Man. His son, however, thinking that this is the child of an Angel saves the baby. Act one ends as the Ashbrooks discover the buried skeletons of the dead children on their estate. The Coram Man is hanged, and a real Coram hospital is established.
Act two takes place eight years later, and follows the fate of Aron, the son of Melissa and Andrew who has been raised at Coram Hospital, and, like his father, has a great love of music. The tragedy is that in eight years, not much has changed. The real Coram Hospital has become itself part of the child trafficking industry, and through a series of twists and turns (not to mention an AMAZING drowning sequence) most of the characters are eventually reconciled.
I found the production truly amazing. First of all, the performers. All of the young boys are played by 20-something women (with a heartbreaking, and exquisite transition from Young Alexander (played by a girl - a brilliant Xanthe Elbrick who I think diserves the Tony) to Adult Alexander (played by a man - Wayne Wilcox) literally the moment his voice changes. (Elbrick comes back later as Aron.))
I have to take a minute to talk about Ms. Elbrick. Not only does she give not one, but two of the most touching and brutally honest performances I've ever seen, but she does it while playing a fourteen, and eight year old boy. Her physicallity is unmatched, she is beautifully nervous, and twitchy as Aron, and regal, and very emotionally distraught as Alexander. She manages to make you believe that she is not only a boy, but both these characters while keeping the charm, grace, and beauty that are inherant to the fact that she is a female. Her voice is stunning as well, though, I think the real mark of her talent is her ability (while playing Aron) to portray a young boy who has natrual talent, but no training. She establishes her voice in act one, and then rematures into it in act two. I also have to give props to Young Thomas (Charlotte Parry) as well who (a dead ringer for Tina Majorino) brings a brilliant energy, and humor to her role, without ignoring the seriousness, and tragedy inherant in Thomas's life (her small speech where she talks about the other choir boys "initiating her" will make you laugh out loud, and break your heart.)
The remarkable thing about this cast is that EVERYONE is fantastic, down to each ensemble member. One gets the feeling that any one of them could diservedly have an entire show about their character, this is just the story the authors happened to tell. I don't have enough room to mention everyone spicifically, but I will add that Brad Fleischer as Meshak - the mentally disabled son, is terrific. He says few words other than "Angel" in the show, yet has created an extrordinarily detailed character through his physicallity, and vocal choices. Physically, and emotionally this show is a marathon for everyone involved (I can't think of one person who isn't involved in at least one physical confrentation), not to mention that most of the sound effects (including the dying babies) are provided by the cast.
Which brings me to the staging. Something that I really appreciated about this show was that we were allowed to see almost everything - from the actors providing the sound effects (they were placed above the graves of the children in the burial scene) to changing costumes. It gave the show the feel of, I might say a Mideaval miracle play. Just watching the choir boys change into girls in the background gave one the feeling of a group of artists carefully constructing a mural, or painting. They loving played each role as if it were a unique and distinct color in that painting, etc. Or a more apt discription might be that each was a distinct note in a symphony. The use of circles, and mirroring of characters (literally having them accross from each other) aided the symbolism in a beautiful way. The costumes, and especially wigs were great as well, not to mention the wonderful use of flying.
The music is used, I guess, suplementally. Though the idea of music is such an essential element to the plot as well as the experience, that, to quote Young Alexander who says "I don't know who I am without music" - I don't know what this show would be without music. (Handel himself is even a character in act 2. Apparently his "Messiah" was first performed at the Coram Hospital by their boys choir. And yes, it is exerps, not the whole thing.) Personally I'm wondering if this grey area regarding the originality of the music though might hurt the show come Tonys.
The interesting thing about the show is it is not overly dark and depressing (it never quite reaches the levels of say McDonaugh's "Pillowman") however it is far from light and frauthy fare (I would be wairy of taking twelve year olds, even though the source material was written for young adults). There is a hanging at the end of act one, not to mention sex scenes (though nowhere NEAR "Spring Awakening"), graphic child murders, and hords of other gory fare. But the thing that I appreciated about this dichotomy was that it never allowed the show to get either too sentimental, or too depressing.
I doubt that the show will change much before opening as it has already been running in London for quite sometime. And it feels very solid. There are great rush seats ($26.50 for the first two rows). The have not been advertizing the show AT ALL, so please go, and tell your friends. It's a great show to see with a family member. I highly reccomend it, and I can't wait to go again.
Madame Morrible: "So you take the chicken, now it must be a white chicken. The corpse can be any color. And that is the spell for lost luggage!" - The Yellow Brick Road Not Taken
