#1
Posted: 3/3/05 at 6:35pm
I took a trip to Connecticut last night to see the Deaf West's production of Big River. I love this show, and after watching this production last night, I realised that I love it, no matter who does it. It brought back many memories for me, as I was Tom Sawyer many years ago. So, I am a little biased.
However...
I did find some of it a little odd, though, none of it had to do with the sign language.
#1 I like the songs as they are written, and was disappointed by the subtle changes of the score. I understand that it's probably to prevent confusion, but I missed the overlapping in the chorus numbers (Do You Wanna Get to Heaven and Nonesuch). All of a sudden, it became too simple for me, and I wasn't feeling those numbers.
#2 All of the songs felt rushed. The ballads were no longer ballads, as they all became uptempo, which took away the beauty of "River in the Rain", and "You Oughtta Be Here with Me". (Yet, my eyes always tear up when Jim sing "And a Mockinbird sings in the old yonder tree...")
#3 Some of the actor's were great, but there were other's I felt were "community theatre" actor's - and this was coming from the non-deaf ones.
The Duke was amazing.
Mark Twain was amazing.
So was Huckleberry Finn.
I was kind of disappointed to find out that Michael McElroy and Daniel Jenkins were not in this production, but was actually happy to hear GWen Stewart, again, after so many years. (Last time I saw her was in Rent)
Jim was good, had a great voice, but, honestly, I would have preferred McElroy, who will always be "Ernestine" to me.
Great show. Good production.
However...
I did find some of it a little odd, though, none of it had to do with the sign language.
#1 I like the songs as they are written, and was disappointed by the subtle changes of the score. I understand that it's probably to prevent confusion, but I missed the overlapping in the chorus numbers (Do You Wanna Get to Heaven and Nonesuch). All of a sudden, it became too simple for me, and I wasn't feeling those numbers.
#2 All of the songs felt rushed. The ballads were no longer ballads, as they all became uptempo, which took away the beauty of "River in the Rain", and "You Oughtta Be Here with Me". (Yet, my eyes always tear up when Jim sing "And a Mockinbird sings in the old yonder tree...")
#3 Some of the actor's were great, but there were other's I felt were "community theatre" actor's - and this was coming from the non-deaf ones.
The Duke was amazing.
Mark Twain was amazing.
So was Huckleberry Finn.
I was kind of disappointed to find out that Michael McElroy and Daniel Jenkins were not in this production, but was actually happy to hear GWen Stewart, again, after so many years. (Last time I saw her was in Rent)
Jim was good, had a great voice, but, honestly, I would have preferred McElroy, who will always be "Ernestine" to me.
Great show. Good production.
"Do you know what pledge time is, Andrew"? said the PBS Executive.
"Yes", Lloyd Webber replied. "My 50th birthday special must be one program that gets done a lot."
"No", mused the man from PBS heedlessy. "Not so much. Our Stephen Sondheim Carnegie Hall concert. That's a big one."
Spoons, forks and knives seemed suddenly to suspend their motion in horror, all around the table.
