Just saw it last night. Not totally sure I've processed everything about it, but here are some thoughts. A note that I've never read the novel and honestly seeing this didn't really give me a huge desire to do so. Some spoilers ahead.
-It's LONG. The second half (parts 3 and 4) especially. I appreciated the bathroom break after the first part and the second part is mostly funny and cute "Vaudeville" stuff so that part seems to go by fast too but man, I came back from intermission ready for it to tie things up but instead it felt like a whole other show. My back hurt from sitting by the end of it. And in particular, parts 3 and 4 drag. A lot. I got the feeling that Malloy wanted you to feel as if you were reading the book since it also drags a lot, but man, it would have been so easy to cut up to two full hours of the show and still not miss out on anything. I did have an English teacher in high school who once said that her favorite thing about the novel was that by the time you see the whale you're just as excited as the crew, and I guess I got that feeling? Mostly because I kept thinking it would come sooner. For context, the show started at 7:30 and it was probably 10:45 when the damn creature "makes an appearance" (quotes very much emphasized here because in actuality, it doesn't).
-The cast was all top-notch and I expect to be hearing a lot more from them in the years to come. Standouts were Manik Choksi, who I'm glad really gets his time to shine here and Starr Busby (I loved her aria at the end of Part 2, definitely a great way to send the audience off into intermission). Also just huge props to fact that most of the cast spent all 3.5 hours on stage! I can't even fathom what doing a two show day would be like. I agree with what some other folks have said either here or on r/Broadway (can't remember, sorry) that a lot of characters have awesome introduction segments and then fizzle out, especially Queequeg and Fedallah. Speaking of Fedallah, from the reports of the first preview on r/Broadway, it seems like his monologue was different between the first and second nights, so I'm really curious to hear from others if it really is improvised or changes every night as the vibe seems to be.
-When it comes to the technical/design aspects the whole show is swoon-worthy, but I think the puppets may have been my favorite. The whales in part 2 are all literally made out of trash, which I think is both a commentary on how gross our oceans are (what with the anachronistic allusion to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in Part 1) and also a nod that while today we look back on America's history of whaling as barbaric and unsustainable, our society isn't one to judge as we aren't really treating the oceans a whole lot better.
-The audience participation was also funny (and a very real reminder of how white the audience was) but not entirely necessary, although most things in this show aren't. But maybe I'm just bitter because I really had to use the 5 minute pause to actually use the bathroom.
-To answer a bunch of questions about seating here: I really doubt anyone outside of about 4 people chosen for audience participation got wet. I don't really understand how some seats are being billed as partial view, since the arrangement with the thrust staging seems like pretty much every single seat will miss some action, but also every seat is probably a good one. I sat in row B in the front towards house right (not sure if starboard/port refer to the stage or house in this case) and I loved being so close to the action, but it would have also been cool to sit further back and literally get the bigger picture. TL;DR: Don't worry about your view being obstructed too much and definitely don't worry about getting wet, unless you'd like to be.
-The themes are super on the nose sometimes (Fedallah calls out that the team is trying to win the prize for "Best Wokeness in a Production" or something along those lines) and subtle at others. I overheard some folks on the way out saying that they thought Ahab being the only white actor represented the white man bringing the country down with him (which fits with one of the closing refrains of "The ship isn't sinking, the ship has already sunk"), and I think the fact that he at first convinces the crew that his mission is a shared one before they eventually become disenchanted and realize that it's actually a suicide mission for all of them, fits in with that interpretation.
-I think it was on r/Broadway or maybe it was here, but someone pointed out that in all of their attempted wokeness with casting, they have also cast visibly abled actors to play disabled characters (which is made very obvious a few times when the audience clearly sees Tom Nelis' fully functional second leg) and are very dismissive of mental illness, even though they could definitely use Pip as an opportunity to discuss how black folks' mental illnesses are so often fatally erased and forgotten.
All in all, I'm glad I got the chance to see it and I think it should have a long future, especially since it seems like the team has put in a lot of resources. I'm hoping that its future will include a cast recording, since I'd love to be able to hear the music again and process it some more, plus this super talented cast deserves the recognition. There were definitely times I wished it would move along faster, and to give the team the benefit of the doubt, the pacing will probably get better.
Updated On: 12/5/19 at 02:04 PM
