I'm back from tonight's performance and what a joyous evening it was!! The whole thing elated me from start to finish.
First off, there has been so much publicity about the casting of Jake and Ellen Greene's return to Audrey that I was completely unaware that THE ENTIRE ORIGINAL RADIO FROM CAROLINE, OR CHANGE REUNITED TO PLAY CHIFFON, CRYSTAL AND RONNETTE!!!!!!!! (I assume we can thank Tesori for this.)
After despising If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet and not really caring for Constellations, it was wonderful to see Jake shine in fun material. He is a strong singer and he really nailed the character as well, holding his own with Greene, which is no easy task.
Greene was everything I could have hoped for and then some. Her entrance applause was overwhelming and every damn line reading was perfection, and I mean perfection. Suddenly Seymour was so euphoric that I wouldn't be surprised to find out people were fainting in the aisles. I welled up during Somewhere That's Green; really no one else should ever attempt to sing this song again. All future productions should let Audrey lip sync to Greene singing the number. I feel like her performance catapulted into my top ten favorites of all time. Astounding and outstanding.
Now if Encores gave us a one night only benefit of Rachael Lily Rosenbloom I really might die and go to heaven!
Dick Scanlan's direction was excellent, especially the way he handled the plants. I much preferred this staging than some of the more literal plants I've seen in various productions.
The band, or course, sounded great.
I wouldn't change a thing.
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!