As DROOD kicks off its revival run, I thought it would be fun to have a thread dedicated exclusively to charting the 'voting' results at each performance.
Let's follow this format. These were the results tonight...
Thursday, October 18: 7:30 PM FINAL DRESS
DATCHERY: Bazzard MURDERER: Rosa Bud LOVERS: Helena and Neville Landless (!)
The audience at the regional production of Drood I went to also chose Helena and Neville as the lovers, and I seem to recall we got called out on it by cast members. oops.
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain.
-Kad
They actually get voted the lovers a lot; I think the audience often can't resist the ridiculousness of it. I've directed DROOD a couple of times and while anything truly can happen (especially if the actors 'in character' start really campaigning to sections of the audience) I would say the most frequent choices in my experience are : Rosa, Puffer, or Chrisparkle for the murderer with Bazzard selected as DATCHERY about 85 percent of the time (Helena seems to be the most often second choice). The lovers really are in some ways the most fun because that is always unpredictable and a fun surprise.
I believe the scripted scene between Helena and Neville reads something like: "Neville, I don't suppose you could love me like a brother?" "Helena, I am your brother. Oh well, the audience demands it. You sick English bastards!" I believe everything except this last sentance is a paraphrase.
For future reference...How did you get in to the final dress rehearsal?
The endings at the final dress were one of the best possible combinations. Helped by the fact that Peter Benson's Bazzard is so endearing, Betsy Wolfe belted her entire confession (which sounded incredible), and Andy Karl and Jessie Mueller broke in the middle of their song because it was all so funny. I hope the last sequence always goes as well as it did tonight.
"Art, in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos."-Stephen Sondheim
I really want to vote for Rosa Budd and Jasper as the lovers when I go, to see how that plays out.
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain.
-Kad
I think the funniest combination I ever witnessed was Deputy (played by a young teenager) and Helena Landless; but the 'funny' in the lovers endings is really more about the actors doing it than anything on the scripted page...
The original production posted a chart in the lobby with the breakdown of the voting results for murderer after each performance. Hopefully they will do that for the revival too.
For the revival, they should post the results on the website for each performance, maybe with a video message from each resulting character. That would be neat.
Leave it to Michael Bennett to start a great thread and add some intelligent discussion to the board
This is one of my all time favorite musicals and I am thrilled for this revival!
I will be curious to read it and add to it in mid December
"TO LOVE ANOTHER PERSON IS TO SEE THE FACE OF GOD"- LES MISERABLES---
"THERE'S A SPECIAL KIND OF PEOPLE KNOWN AS SHOW PEOPLE... WE'RE BORN EVERY NIGHT AT HALF HOUR CALL!"--- CURTAINS
No no- the voting in this production is done as it always is, with members of the ensemble coming out and polling sections of the audience at a specific moment of the show. There are no ballots; it's all done with a show of hands.
Last night it appeared that the cast hadn't been given much tutoring on the process yet; it was a little muddy and unclear what was going on, but obviously this is something that will improve when there is an audience to play too. The ensemble members just need to remember they have to speak loudly and remind the audience they can only vote once!
Other than that Im not going to comment on the production, as its poor form to do so of a final dress, though I'm sure the production team won't mind me praising the entire company who are already quite wonderful and especially good vocally.
My friend was at the matinee this afternoon and he told me Puffer was the murderer, Helena was the datchery, and Rosa and the gravedigger were the lovers.
"If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it." -Stephen Colbert