There is this idiotic arguement going on in another thread, pretty much debating this. As an intelligent, educated person of color, who has both studied Dickens, and have known this show for years, I have never been insulted by ANYTHING in Drood, and I am very conscious and sensitive on race issues.
But I am not touching that thread with a ten foot pole.
"Someone tell the story...Someone sing the song...."
Anyone who has seen the show in the past few days (Thurs/Fri/Sat) - is Chita back in? I saw it earlier in the week and she was out. It seems like she misses a lot of performances. I know she's 80 years old, but I am just wondering if she's back in.
Her attendance has been quite good in general, but bear in mind this is one of the worst flu seasons in recent memory, and, as you point out, she is 80. Better safe than sorry.
Updated On: 2/3/13 at 03:42 AM
Has anyone EVER been voted as Datchery other than Bazzard and Helena? I seem to remember one time when Crisparkle got to be the detective, but has there been more that that?
Chita was there on Sat matinee and she was wonderful. She was in the very first musical I ever saw, Chicago, way back in the early 70's. (yes, I'm old). It was so wonderful to see her this past weekend. She is such a pro and when she lifts her long dress in one scene, she still has those great gams!!
The only review of a show that matters is your own.
i was there tuesday and i don't know why but every time i am in the audience, chrisparkle get voted murderer. don't get me wrong, i love greg edelmen but i was really hoping to see someone else. I think ive seen almost every single time he has been on as murder...
I saw the show for the third time today and for the third time Rosa was chosen the murderer. Also for the third time Neville and Helena were the lovers. Bazzard was Datchery for the second time....once it was Helena.
My 13 year old daughter loves the show so I imagine we will be seeing it again before it closes, but as much as she loves Rosa's confession, she really wants to see someone else as the murderer!
I did notice during the voting that none of the areas around me (orchestra)voted Rosa as the murderer yet she was chosen. Her numbers were a lot lower than Puffer's and Neville's so I was SURE we'd see a different ending....very strange. During the line-up it was clear that she was not in the lead as audience favorite. BUT she gives such an incredible performance in the confession that it is worth seeing it more than once.
Just to note: we did see the show when Helena was both Dathcery and one of the lovers. She is AWESOME and I would love to see her confession.
We also got to see Janine Davita today as Drood and she was wonderful! She was a very crisp Drood, and I loved her "Writing on the Wall"...she really punches it. Having seen Betty Buckley do it years ago, I have to say that Davita's performance is closer to Buckley's than Block's is. I also saw Alison Cimmet do Puffer on the 29th and she was awesome! She gave the role a completely different flavor than Chita. It's almost more believeable that Rosa have a younger nanny who turned bad. Cimmet's voice is amazing. And she really has character. I'm happy to have seen the understudies do the roles at 2 shows since the murder and lovers voting results for all of the shows I saw were the same!
Love the show...we will be back!
Updated On: 2/9/13 at 09:36 PM
Delongpre, totally understand your frustration, I saw it quite a few times before I saw the person I'd been dying to see as the murderer. The thing is, I had the same experience as you in that no one in my section voted for the person who won a few times. But since you can't really see the rest of the theatre, there's no good way to judge. If you're in the mezz, you can't see the orchestra, if you're in the orchestra, you can't see the mezz, and there really is no way to tell if every section is voting similarly to you.
When I saw it with a friend, we and literally EVERYONE in our section save for 2 people voted for Rosa, but she still lost.
Don't know if I'll ever see Helena and Neville as lovers! Janine was very good, but not quite the same spark as stephanie. Still a great job though!! Audra McDonald and Will Swenson were there tonight!!
Jasper/Helena...I swear I'm not making any of this up. She plays it like she wants in his pants BAD at the beginning, and they sort of kneel on the floor and serenade each other. While she's singing w/ her eyes closed, getting ready to kiss him, he grabs Rosa from behind him, kneels her down in front of Helena, and the two girls kiss. For...a decent while. Then they both kiss him. And...that's basically how it goes down. Loved every second of it!