Encores! 2023: LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA with Ruthie Ann Miles, DEAR WORLD with Donna Murphy, and OLIVER! — Page 14

To go back a bit, I'm going to be the contrarian saying that I love seeing Encores! from the Balcony, especially (not in the case of this show, looks like) when it's not very crowded. The sound is impeccable and you can see the whole stage from any seat. It's far away, sure, but there's something about the scale of that house combined with the nostalgia for classic Broadway that really feels like a time machine, it's very special, and I love having a sense of the whole audience enjoying it. The visual aspect of these concert productions are still minimal anyway, although they sets have gotten more elaborate. To be fair, my eyes are pretty good. But especially at the $35 (was $25 for the longest) price point, you're paying a fraction of what the orchestra and mezz pay for an experience that I think I actually prefer.

yyys said: "Is the running time 2 hr 30 or 2 hr 15? Thanks!"

It was about 2:20. The show itself ran exactly 2 hours (1:10 act one, 50 min act 2) with a classic 5 min delayed start + 15 min intermission.

Mark Waltz said: "Hoping "Light" does transfer. I thought initially, "Too soon?" when I heard they were doing it, but it has been 18 years."

I don't think recency would have any impact on a transfer, it's a simple matter of name value & star power, which this revival lacks. This is the perfect cast for a one-week run, and it simply wouldn't sell on Broadway. Unless a nonprofit were to do it, or a deep-pocketed commercial producer writing the check themself and willing to take a bath. WOODS and PARADE do not move without Bareilles and Platt.

I had a transcendant evening, and Anna Zavelson & James Gish were the real stars of the production for me.

Ruthie's acting is superb (that "Beauty Is" reprise, my god), but I actually found her to be a little lacking in the vocal department. These songs do not fit her like a glove. That doesn't really matter, but she's my only quibble of a vocally-excellent production. I actually started to wonder if she's sick or vocally strained.

I also found the staging to be pretty stagnant. This production worked in spite of Chay Yew's direction, whereas the original was elevated because of Sher's work. It's a tricky book & tonally challenging.

Updated On: 6/24/23 at 02:46 PM

After listening to the OBCR several times this week I feel very strongly that Gish sings Morrison out of the water. And honestly I think I prefer Anna to Kelli…

Just saw the matinee. It's a superb production.

bwayobsessed said: "After listening to the OBCR several times this week I feel very strongly that Gish sings Morrison out of the water. And honestly I think I prefer Anna to Kelli…"

I went in with low expectations from Gish (maybe I read poor reviews about him in WICKED), but he was wonderful in Piazza! I was impressed.

It’s a pleasant show. But misses the emotional punch it could have. Guettel’s music is just so searching with not much resolution. Melodies in search of a song. The MD even said as much in the talk-back this afternoon (as if that was a good thing). He said that Guettel likes his phrases not to resolve - as if they are always searching (he used some other word). Hard on an audience. To me it all feels like background music for a movie. Constantly indicating emotion but never resolving...always filling in.


Miles was fine but nothing special - and maybe that is the character, too. Straining on some of the top notes. Not fatal but a bit underwhelming. But I must admit that the moment when she sings about her daughter’s accident was one of the most riveting, emotional stage moments I’ve ever seen.


Zavelson was also fine, if a bit screechy. And, acting-wise, nothing special. Didn’t see what Fabrizio saw in her to fall so heavily, so fast. As for Gish: serviceable. Also losing top notes. Maybe it was the matinee lack of warmup.


Loved Ahmed and Cyrus. She was the tour Eliza and he just graduated Juilliard. Solid.


and so nice to see Michael Hayden again. He was my favorite Franklin Shepard.


After this and Days Of Wine And Roses - can we please go back to the tuneful Guettel of Floyd Collins? I’ll drink to that!

Updated On: 6/24/23 at 09:13 PM

Had a voice teacher who always called it lazy to have people sing on “ahs” instead of giving them words to sing and now I can’t unhear it. But I do think it’s a gorgeous show. I just don’t know that we can top the LCT production. So sweeping and gorgeous. Wish they’d produce some new gorgeous musicals.

“Melodies in search of a song. The MD even said as much in the talk-back this afternoon (as if that was a good thing). He said that Guettel likes his phrases not to resolve - as if they are always searching (he used some other word). Hard on an audience…”



Dividing Day, Say it Somehow, Fable, the title song, surely offer emotional resolution. I hear complexity but atop satisfying shape. Craft. These are not ALW tunes, yet they deliver on promises; they rise, crescendo, resolve.

I was at tonight's performace. What a truly special evening; it's been a while since I felt so transported by a piece of theater. All the actors are bringing such honesty to their roles that the piece really comes alive. Some thoughts that came to mind:

• My previous exposure to this musical was simply through the cast recording and the Live from Lincoln Center PBS broadcast. While I knew that a live performance would be special, I underestimated how glorious the score would sound in person, especially in the hands of such capable performers.
  
• Ruthie, Anna, and James -- all lovely in voice -- bring a different sound to the musical that helps it feel more "modern" (not the right word, but nothing better is coming to mind). For instance, James's tenor reminded me a lot of Derek Klena, a vocal quality quite different from that of Matthew Morrison and Aaron Lazar -- and one that may be more "familiar to the ear" today than it would have been 18 years ago.
  
• Having been raised in an Asian culture, I was curious to see what specific influences I might discern from Ruthie's performance, so frequently mentioned in the press leadup to this production. Apart from the Van Johnson bit, the differences I saw were quite subtle. For instance, I felt that Ruthie's vocal performance was not nearly as evocative as Victoria Clark's, but her understated characterization of Margaret felt like a very Asian approach to the character (not the best explanation, I know... it's hard to describe). Also, her phone confrontation with Roy felt compelling, given the inherent power dynamics of race and gender at play (particularly considering the time setting of the story).
  
• I'm curious what this production would have been like if it had another 3 days of rehearsal. It's nearly all there -- and what is there is simply marvelous (for instance, as others have mentioned, Ruthie's Beauty Is Reprise is heartwrenchingly realized) -- but there are small things here and there that one could nitpick. I noticed some flubbed lines and Ruthie was still on book tonight for Dividing Day, wrestling through it a bit (rushing certain parts, accidentally singing the second verse twice). Still, not enough to take away from my sheer enjoyment of the show.

Very excited for any of you who have tickets for the remainder of the run to see it!

Updated On: 6/25/23 at 12:59 AM

Auggie27 said: "I was at the matinee, and felt transported. From the first notes of the harp in the overture, thru the evocative midcentury Italian signatures, to the standalone numbers we all love, the score is rapturously presented. I don't understand the reservations about the Miles vocals; to my ears, she is a discerning singing actor who saves her biggest effects for the moments requiring them -- she eschews volume for volume sake -- and "Fable" is perfectly rendered as the cathartic conclusion. But I especially appreciated her well-considered "Dividing Day," which has a subtle sense of exploration; this Margaret figures it all out as she sings. Miles is a thoughtful singing actor (listen again to the way she explains the King in "Something Wonderful." And as many have noted, the reprise of "The Beauty Is" offers something beyond interpretation. It's a gorgeous production, the airy fluidity of Chay Yew's staging making the story surprisingly intimate. Certainly for that house. My hope: that it might return to a B'way house for 10 weeks next summer when the rising star is available again, between years at the University of Michigan. Probably the only hope."

I assume that if transferring was an option that a starring role on Broadway would take precedence to your sophomore year of college.

singer234 said: "Reminds me of Taylor Louderman. I don’t think she even finished sophomore year at Michigan before Bring It On snatched her up and the rest is history. I’d be surprised if Anna doesn’t continue working while completing her studies somehow."

Michaela Diamond as well, was headed to school when she was cast in the Cher Show.