I just saw this show this afternoon-BRILLIANT!!
The direction, the sights of the stage were so brilliant. The only big technical thing going on was there is a square of the stage that raises and lowers, and it was used quite often. Other than that, it was just a simple show, in which I love. One thing I thought was brilliant was how at the very end of "Till We Reach That Day", Sarah's coffin was lowered on the "square" underneath the stage, like she was being buried.
One thing I didn't like was the lighting. It was very blah, but the biggest disappointment was during "Goodbye, My Love" where there was nothing but a center yellow light on Mother's backside throughout the entire piece. Her face could not be seen.
As far as talent goes, the Mother (forget her name) was PHENOMENAL-a thousand times better than Christianne Noll in the revival! Quentin Earl Darrington was fantastic, of course, and his character along with Tateh made me cry on numerous occasions. Speaking of Tateh, he was also brilliant. Younger Brother was also amazing-his confrontation/monologue thing to Father in Act II was really the time when his character came out of its shell.
The woman who played Sarah (don't remember her name either) was passable. She had some funny diction issues going on. Her acting was decent, her voice was decent, but nothing standing out from the rest. (Unfortunately because Audra had this role has since been undermined)
Summer Naomi Smart, Evelyn Nesbit, was god-awful in this role. First of all, she was flat the entire time. And for one thing, she was soooo DULL. And her face doesn't move! I was disappointed. I want to like Nesbit but not when she played it.
But I HIGHLY recommend this!! Go see it before May 10th (which I believe is it's last performance!!)
Whoever says money can't buy happiness simply didn't know where to shop. - Bo Derek
