I have to agree with some of what you have said, RippedMan. I saw the show for the first time in DC with people making out like it was the Second Coming. I thought the end result was very uneven - there were some elements I enjoyed and some elements I did not like at all. Ironically, most of my issues seem to come from the book rather than the staging or the performances.
The first act of the show seems aimless and does come across often as a series of stand-alone numbers - some great, some not so great. The dialogue scenes between the four main characters really wore on me. It was like attending your high school reunion and discovering that everyone had returned as embittered disenchanted characters chronically bemoaning the states of their sorry unfulfilled lives. I thought the characters developed a bit more in Act 2, especially in the Loveland numbers.
Terri White was a real stand-out and I personally enjoyed Linda Lavin's number. Elaine Paige handled "I am Still Here" well, but she looked bored during the remainder of her stage time. I also thought Regine came off better than some indicated in her brief number. A number of the performers came off as wasted or forgotten - like Susan Watson or Florence Lacey.
Of the four leads, Danny Burstein and Jan Maxwell were simply amazing. I thought Burstein was also going to be wasted, but he was finally able to strut his stuff and craft a sympathetic character out of Buddy. Maxwell also is a delight. She rocks both of her big numbers and makes you root for her Phyllis to leave Ben.
By contrast, I was less impressed with Bernadette Peters and Ron Raines. I usually adore Peters and I thought she was in fine voice, but her "Losing My Mind" just did not affect me the way that it should. I am also not sure I agree with her acting decisions in playing Sally. Granted, I have not seen other interpretations, but Peters' Sally seems an irritating clinging nut almost from the get-go and it is impossible to develop much sympathy for her because she seems so far around the bend already from the start. Much like when Phyllis tells Ben to go to hell, I was glad when Buddy finally tells Sally where to stick it.
I know many disgree, but I found Raines stiff and boring in the role of Ben. It was impossible to understand why these women found him remotely charismatic. His voice is fine, if a bit generic, but there is no excitement in any of his numbers and I found very little introspection in his acting. His final breakdown seemed very artificial to me and I never found him remotely sympathetic or deserving of another chance.
I was also not thrilled that the characters ostensibly end where they began after all this soul-baring and chest-thumping. No one strikes out into new territory despite all of the threats about doing so. Other than the psychotic Sally, I can too easily see the remaining characters returning to business as usual after a good night's sleep, and I am fairly sure that is not the idea that I should be leaving the theater with.
All in all, I was glad to have seen it, but it is not one of my favorites. And I don't think age has anything to do with appreciation of it. My mother and a former work colleague, both in their late 50s attended with me, and while they liked a couple of numbers, neither of them particularly liked the show itself.
However, two very funny and memorable exchanges did happen that will stay with me for a while.
First, when Heidi Schiller comes out to that sedate music in Act 2 and lets loose with that potent operatic delivery, the two elderly women in front of me jumped and screamed - then looked at each other and started laughing.
Second, during intermission when the ghosts of the women were still meandering about on stage, the 60-ish woman on my right tapped me and asked "Do you understand who these young women are in the fancy dresses that keep wandering around in the background?" I said, "I believe they are the younger versions of the female characters." She looked at me as though I were crazy, started laughing and said "Oh, it's one of those shows!" And then turned laughing to her companion to tell her who the young woman were. I am still not quite sure what she meant by "those shows", but I thought it was humorous.
Updated On: 8/17/11 at 03:13 PM
