#1
Posted: 4/23/05 at 1:11am
From the second I stepped into the Hilton, I felt like I was in Disney World. I felt like I was five years old again; they were selling toys, and playing the title song over and over everywhere in the theatre, even in the bathroom. I'm 19 and slightly cynical, and to be completely honest, I don't like kids much anyway, but there's something special enough about CHITTY that when that car starts flying, you smile. No matter what.
To look at CHITTY from a truly critical standpoint is to kill it. Everything about this show is silly, random, and over-the-top, often eliciting a full-fledged "what the F*CK?!" response. Why are the Vulgarians after the car? Why aren't kids allowed in Vulgaria? Why is Raúl dressed up as a rag doll? And what the HELL kind of name is Caractacus? You get the point, I'm sure. The story on stage makes a lot more sense than it ever did in the movie, though. Things like why the Childcatcher even bothers catching children, or why exactly Caractacus and Truly end up at the Baron's party are a little bit easier to figure out. In the movie, a lot feels skipped, making everything all the more confusing. Anyway, the basic idea of CHITTY alone makes for critical disaster. It's just inevitable. But, it's mediocre material done VERY well. The show is all about the spectacle. The sets are enormous, but often kind of distracting. The lights at the Fun Fair hurt by eyes, and sort of made me a little bit dizzy. (On a similar note, there is FAR too much going on in Toots Sweets. Raúl just gets lost in there, and he shouldn't.) Most of them are well done, though, and the special effects are pretty mind-boggling, and it's hard not to be impressed by them. If you're able to look at the show as a whole, and not pick apart the many problems there are, it's immensely enjoyable. I mean, who doesn't want to feel like they're a kid again, even if only for two hours?
The music is really fun. I've had the title song stuck in my head for far too long, but the best songs are the ones that have carried over from the movie - The Ole Bamboo, You Two, and Toots Sweets. I can't remember if Hushabye Mountain and Bombie Samba are in the movie, though I don't think they were, but they were extra fun, as well. It all gets stuck in your head so easily.
I found two main coherency issues that were particularly bothersome, but the rest of the show, taken with a grain of salt and a happy face is really not so terrible. Again, it's surely not going to be a critical success, but it's incredibly difficult to look at a show like this from such an angle. The reviews will probably be terrible, and even though they'll probably be true, it seems almost unfair. The show isn't great from a critical standpoint nearly at all, but it's just so much fun. To say that it's brainless fun would be edging it into the category where I had placed Good Vibes, but it's just executed so beautifully, that I can't bear to put it there. I don't know that I can stress that enough. It wasn't meant to change the world, but it's so enjoyable. The audience reaction alone speaks volumes for how much fun the show is. People are loving it, and I think that's great. It's far from perfect, but it deserves to be well-recieved. Anyway, the first coherency issue comes from the source material - it's in the movie, too. The first and second acts are so incredibly different, story-wise. On a selfish level, I wish I had gotten to see a bit more of Raúl in Act II, but the focus seems to shift so completely to Vulgaria, in more of a sense than that the Potts family is now present there. The scenes with the Vulgarian inventors, and with the Baron presenting Caractacus' father seemed so unnecessary to the story. They could probably have been done without. The other was very minor, but the transition between Hushabye Mountain and the Fun Fair needs to be altered somehow. It feels very awkward, and that clown coming out from the back in the middle of the lullaby just doesn't make any sense. It also doesn't make any sense that the kids fly away over the fair, even though only Caractacus is going. Maybe they're supposed to be dreaming of it, but it's not a clear transition at all.
Moving on!
The cast is fine, but with a few exceptions I wasn't leaping out of my skin over them. Erin Dilly is cute and sings beautifully, but I suppose there just isn't much depth to Truly. Marc Kudisch and Jan Maxwell are ABSOLUTLEY hysterical, but their parts are so small that it's hard to say much other than that. Kevin Cahoon is perfectly creepy - the audience actually booed him at curtain call. The kids were scared, and they LOVED when he flew away at the end.
Now.
Raúl is.... Raúl. The good, the not-so-good, the beautiful, and everything in between. I wish the part were bigger. I wish it were more of a lead, and that he got to sing more, but c'est la vie. I could not take my eyes off of him. He really is so captivating, no matter what. I still hold to my belief that this man is an actor who is capable of handling anything, and that he can make anything great, but he's a bit of a fish out of water here. He's great, but it's not the type of extraordinary, "perfect," knock-out performance he's known and loved for. Had a bad actor been put in this part, the performance would be terrible. Here, we have someone who I believe with all of my heart is one of the finest actors in New York, and it's good. I think that speaks a lot for the material, and I know he's doing everything he can, because he never gives less than his all. He does, however, look EXTREMELY happy and seems to be having quite a grand old time up there. At curtain call, when they let the car "bow," he started jumping up and down to the music, clapping for the car. His performance is sort of a mixed-bag, and I'm not sure how to go about evaluating it without making it look like I'm speaking badly of him, because I'm not. I can't, and I won't, because he doesn't deserve it. He seems to go back and forth a bit on how good he is at being the fatherly figure - sometimes it feels more like he's just a silly guy who befriends Jeremy and Jemima, like at the beginning when Truly is upset that the children aren't in school. But then in Act II, in the moments where he loses and is reunited with his children, he's so connected to them. He's definitley having a great time working with the kids, that's so evident, but sometimes the father thing just isn't his strong suit. One amazing thing I always notice about him is how he'll develop one sort of "thing" his characters do repeatedly. For Ned Weeks, it was fixing his wrist watch and constantly running his fingers through his hair. Here, it's flipping his hat before he puts it on, or just playing with the hat in general. I love that he uses such tiny details to tap into character. He seems to have been able to squeeze all of his little "isms" into this one character, which is a joy to watch, as always. I laughed so much. He did so many outrageous things, I just couldn't help it. The goofy goggles, the sticking out of his tongue... He has bitchy, sarcastic moments, and then there are moments where you just want to hug him because there's so much sweetness and submission. There's growling, there's skipping, and there's even dancing. I was so impressed watching him dance. I knew he could, but this was the first time I'd ever actually seen him do it. He sounds incredible - the vibrato never fails to make me weak in the knees. I was almost literally in a trance during Hushabye Mountain. It's so gorgeous, and he really takes it and makes it his own. I fell in love all over again tonight.
This is extremely long, so I'm going to cut it off here. Some minor personal snags today, but overall, I had a wonderful time at the show. I can't wait to get back, hopefully soon. I see a new guilty pleasure developing.
A work of art is an invitation to love.
To look at CHITTY from a truly critical standpoint is to kill it. Everything about this show is silly, random, and over-the-top, often eliciting a full-fledged "what the F*CK?!" response. Why are the Vulgarians after the car? Why aren't kids allowed in Vulgaria? Why is Raúl dressed up as a rag doll? And what the HELL kind of name is Caractacus? You get the point, I'm sure. The story on stage makes a lot more sense than it ever did in the movie, though. Things like why the Childcatcher even bothers catching children, or why exactly Caractacus and Truly end up at the Baron's party are a little bit easier to figure out. In the movie, a lot feels skipped, making everything all the more confusing. Anyway, the basic idea of CHITTY alone makes for critical disaster. It's just inevitable. But, it's mediocre material done VERY well. The show is all about the spectacle. The sets are enormous, but often kind of distracting. The lights at the Fun Fair hurt by eyes, and sort of made me a little bit dizzy. (On a similar note, there is FAR too much going on in Toots Sweets. Raúl just gets lost in there, and he shouldn't.) Most of them are well done, though, and the special effects are pretty mind-boggling, and it's hard not to be impressed by them. If you're able to look at the show as a whole, and not pick apart the many problems there are, it's immensely enjoyable. I mean, who doesn't want to feel like they're a kid again, even if only for two hours?
The music is really fun. I've had the title song stuck in my head for far too long, but the best songs are the ones that have carried over from the movie - The Ole Bamboo, You Two, and Toots Sweets. I can't remember if Hushabye Mountain and Bombie Samba are in the movie, though I don't think they were, but they were extra fun, as well. It all gets stuck in your head so easily.
I found two main coherency issues that were particularly bothersome, but the rest of the show, taken with a grain of salt and a happy face is really not so terrible. Again, it's surely not going to be a critical success, but it's incredibly difficult to look at a show like this from such an angle. The reviews will probably be terrible, and even though they'll probably be true, it seems almost unfair. The show isn't great from a critical standpoint nearly at all, but it's just so much fun. To say that it's brainless fun would be edging it into the category where I had placed Good Vibes, but it's just executed so beautifully, that I can't bear to put it there. I don't know that I can stress that enough. It wasn't meant to change the world, but it's so enjoyable. The audience reaction alone speaks volumes for how much fun the show is. People are loving it, and I think that's great. It's far from perfect, but it deserves to be well-recieved. Anyway, the first coherency issue comes from the source material - it's in the movie, too. The first and second acts are so incredibly different, story-wise. On a selfish level, I wish I had gotten to see a bit more of Raúl in Act II, but the focus seems to shift so completely to Vulgaria, in more of a sense than that the Potts family is now present there. The scenes with the Vulgarian inventors, and with the Baron presenting Caractacus' father seemed so unnecessary to the story. They could probably have been done without. The other was very minor, but the transition between Hushabye Mountain and the Fun Fair needs to be altered somehow. It feels very awkward, and that clown coming out from the back in the middle of the lullaby just doesn't make any sense. It also doesn't make any sense that the kids fly away over the fair, even though only Caractacus is going. Maybe they're supposed to be dreaming of it, but it's not a clear transition at all.
Moving on!
The cast is fine, but with a few exceptions I wasn't leaping out of my skin over them. Erin Dilly is cute and sings beautifully, but I suppose there just isn't much depth to Truly. Marc Kudisch and Jan Maxwell are ABSOLUTLEY hysterical, but their parts are so small that it's hard to say much other than that. Kevin Cahoon is perfectly creepy - the audience actually booed him at curtain call. The kids were scared, and they LOVED when he flew away at the end.
Now.
Raúl is.... Raúl. The good, the not-so-good, the beautiful, and everything in between. I wish the part were bigger. I wish it were more of a lead, and that he got to sing more, but c'est la vie. I could not take my eyes off of him. He really is so captivating, no matter what. I still hold to my belief that this man is an actor who is capable of handling anything, and that he can make anything great, but he's a bit of a fish out of water here. He's great, but it's not the type of extraordinary, "perfect," knock-out performance he's known and loved for. Had a bad actor been put in this part, the performance would be terrible. Here, we have someone who I believe with all of my heart is one of the finest actors in New York, and it's good. I think that speaks a lot for the material, and I know he's doing everything he can, because he never gives less than his all. He does, however, look EXTREMELY happy and seems to be having quite a grand old time up there. At curtain call, when they let the car "bow," he started jumping up and down to the music, clapping for the car. His performance is sort of a mixed-bag, and I'm not sure how to go about evaluating it without making it look like I'm speaking badly of him, because I'm not. I can't, and I won't, because he doesn't deserve it. He seems to go back and forth a bit on how good he is at being the fatherly figure - sometimes it feels more like he's just a silly guy who befriends Jeremy and Jemima, like at the beginning when Truly is upset that the children aren't in school. But then in Act II, in the moments where he loses and is reunited with his children, he's so connected to them. He's definitley having a great time working with the kids, that's so evident, but sometimes the father thing just isn't his strong suit. One amazing thing I always notice about him is how he'll develop one sort of "thing" his characters do repeatedly. For Ned Weeks, it was fixing his wrist watch and constantly running his fingers through his hair. Here, it's flipping his hat before he puts it on, or just playing with the hat in general. I love that he uses such tiny details to tap into character. He seems to have been able to squeeze all of his little "isms" into this one character, which is a joy to watch, as always. I laughed so much. He did so many outrageous things, I just couldn't help it. The goofy goggles, the sticking out of his tongue... He has bitchy, sarcastic moments, and then there are moments where you just want to hug him because there's so much sweetness and submission. There's growling, there's skipping, and there's even dancing. I was so impressed watching him dance. I knew he could, but this was the first time I'd ever actually seen him do it. He sounds incredible - the vibrato never fails to make me weak in the knees. I was almost literally in a trance during Hushabye Mountain. It's so gorgeous, and he really takes it and makes it his own. I fell in love all over again tonight.
This is extremely long, so I'm going to cut it off here. Some minor personal snags today, but overall, I had a wonderful time at the show. I can't wait to get back, hopefully soon. I see a new guilty pleasure developing.
Updated On: 4/23/05 at 01:11 AM
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