First Look at ANYTHING GOES in Rehearsal!- Page 2
First Look at ANYTHING GOES in Rehearsal!
peachesr
Stand-by Joined: 9/30/09
#25First Look at ANYTHING GOES in Rehearsal!
Posted: 2/18/11 at 7:23amMaybe if they halved the dance break they could have made it more technically impressive, it resembled a Saturday night community tap class in parts.
#26First Look at ANYTHING GOES in Rehearsal!
Posted: 2/18/11 at 7:43amI liked the dance break. I just don't know how all those people (including Sutton) would be able to sustain that kind of stamina that number presently requires for 8 shows a week. IMO, Sutton didn't seem "brassy" enough, but I realize this is a rehearsal, so I will wait to judge when I see the show when it's up and running.
#27First Look at ANYTHING GOES in Rehearsal!
Posted: 2/18/11 at 7:52am
For what it is, a rehearsal that is being presented to the press, I would say so far it looks not bad. Sutton needs to add a little more "grit" to some of her early vocals in the song, but I think it looks promising!
As far as the 6 minute tap break- I think it will go by much faster with a full orchestra, costumes, sets, lighting. I do think they need to pick up the pace just a bit in terms of the music though, seemed like it was dragging a bit.
On a very small side note, I LOVE that they added the "they think he's gangster #1, so they've made him their favorite son, and that goes to show... Anything Goes!" line back in- it has always been one of my favorite parts of the 61 Off-Broadway Cast Recording!
#28First Look at ANYTHING GOES in Rehearsal!
Posted: 2/18/11 at 8:08am
The number starts dull--do something a little more interesting with that vocal chorus, Sutton! you are singing some of the greatest lyrics EVER WRITTEN! enjoy that, at least!--but it get thrilling when Sutton starts to dance with the line of yummy chorus boys.
And it ends spectacularly, with Sutton taking a sure-to-be-thrilling high note at the end. (I can hear Ethel smacking Cole in Musical Comedy Heaven and saying, "why didn't you give ME that note? I coulda hit it--all the way out to Hoboken!")
Kathleen Marshall remade "Too Darn Hot" into a spectacular dance number in the Kiss Me Kate revival, which was no small feat, given the Hermes Pan/ Bob Fosse version danced by Fosse, Bobby Van and Kurt Kasznar in the movie. I can watch that number over and over again on the DVD of the London production and completely forgive her for the Roundabout Follies.
So they may be on the way to doing the same here.
Sutton just has to STOP pacing herself and put out at the beginning of the number what's she's putting out at the end.
The stakes are high here. This is musical comedy. The two most glorious words in the English language. (To quote 42nd Street.)
#29First Look at ANYTHING GOES in Rehearsal!
Posted: 2/18/11 at 8:12am
Very well put, PalJoey. I've got to say that Anthony Wayne stood out in the ensemble for me. His arms just seemed to flow.
I'm really looking forward to this production.
Trish2
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/20/06
#30First Look at ANYTHING GOES in Rehearsal!
Posted: 2/18/11 at 9:10amActually Joey, Too Darn Hot was a tap dance performed by Ann Miller in the movie. Now THAT was a tap dance. I imagine you're referring to From This Moment On that was danced by the 3 couples, which is also a terrific number. It would be nice if Ms. Marshall hired a tap assistant to pump up her limited tap knowledge that would have elevated that title number into a rousing, percussive and syncopated experience. Not a jazz dance wearing tap shoes.
teh_pretty
Featured Actor Joined: 4/2/05
#31First Look at ANYTHING GOES in Rehearsal!
Posted: 2/18/11 at 9:14am
After a first look, Sutton doesn't have the sex appeal that Reno needs. That being said, it's early on and she did appear to be marking.
I also really hope that the guy in the baby blue t-shirt standing at the back on the stage at the end continues to miss the ending button and do it late -- it's endearing, heh.
#32First Look at ANYTHING GOES in Rehearsal!
Posted: 2/18/11 at 9:40amWhere are they rehearsing? If I didn't know better, I'd say it was on the stage.
#33First Look at ANYTHING GOES in Rehearsal!
Posted: 2/18/11 at 10:26am
Oops. I hadn't had enough coffee and mixed up my Kiss Me Kkate numbers.
But my point was that Kathleen was capable of making a Kiss Me Kat number into a spectacular showstopper--this one may yet get there.
And after the Follies, I'm not her greatest fan of hers, but it's crazy to say she doesn't have a "tap vocabulary"!
Her grandmother ran the greatest tap-dance academy in the history of the Bronx! She has tap in her blood!
Brick
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/21/06
#34First Look at ANYTHING GOES in Rehearsal!
Posted: 2/18/11 at 11:34amCount me out. Seems sutton has no idea what any of those brilliant and saucy lyrics mean.
Trish2
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/20/06
#35First Look at ANYTHING GOES in Rehearsal!
Posted: 2/18/11 at 11:39amWell, i did say "limited" tap vocabulary. It's just that with the way that tap has evolved over the years it would be nice to see something different and exciting incorporated within the piece. It's fine to be "old school" with the choreography, but even that form can have terrific stylings, riffs, and counter rhythms. I'm sure the number will be fine...and safe.
#36First Look at ANYTHING GOES in Rehearsal!
Posted: 2/18/11 at 12:00pm
Ms. Foster knows EXACTLY what she's doing at the beginning of the song. The first part of the title song is rueful. From what I remember from the show, wshe's just watched Billy claim credit for being Public Enemy Whatever and being celebrated for it. The character of Reno Sweeney is non-plussed by this...but then, as the song grows, she gives over to the idea that anything does indeed go.
Ms. Foster did a remarkable job dilineating that character arc...with only three weeks rehearsal...on the 54 Stage...with no set, lights, costumes or amplification. She's going to be sensational.
#37First Look at ANYTHING GOES in Rehearsal!
Posted: 2/18/11 at 12:26pmOkay. Now I'm really excited.
#38First Look at ANYTHING GOES in Rehearsal!
Posted: 2/18/11 at 12:38pm
But, bjh, I'm curious about what you mean by "too contemporary".
I was referring to both Sutton and the choreography. First of all, Sutton's body language the entire time was her sitting into one hip. A very slouched/arms crossed/tilted head look reads as a very modern sort of attitude. (Let's hope that's just her marking in a rehearsal setting and that her Reno won't seem like she's straight out of Mean Girls).
As for the choreography, I felt as though much of it (too much total of which a lot could and should be cut) had too much bendy arm/bendy leg stylization. It wasn't the crisp time-steppy, shuffle off to buffalo-y tap that one would associate with the 1920s and 1930s. I feel like Marshall is going for showy spectacle here rather than historical accuracy, and I am a huge stickler for choreography being time appropriate.
#39First Look at ANYTHING GOES in Rehearsal!
Posted: 2/18/11 at 12:53pmUpon second viewing, I loved it even more! It did everything a tap number should (IMO) - it made me smile and gave me chills at the same time. A wonderful Act 1 closer.
#40First Look at ANYTHING GOES in Rehearsal!
Posted: 2/18/11 at 1:29pmAgree with the comments regarding the contemporary feel of the choreography....couldn't put my finger on it, but it doesn't feel like 1930s dancing to me. (if that makes any sense).
#41First Look at ANYTHING GOES in Rehearsal!
Posted: 2/18/11 at 1:46pm
"First of all, Sutton's body language the entire time was her sitting into one hip. A very slouched/arms crossed/tilted head look reads as a very modern sort of attitude."
Two words:
Jean Harlow.
#42First Look at ANYTHING GOES in Rehearsal!
Posted: 2/18/11 at 1:49pmI absolutely loved it.
#43First Look at ANYTHING GOES in Rehearsal!
Posted: 2/18/11 at 1:57pm
Did someone say...Jean Harlow?
#44First Look at ANYTHING GOES in Rehearsal!
Posted: 2/18/11 at 2:52pmI am sorry, but Sutton is no Jean Harlow. Sutton Foster is many things, but a sex symbol she is not.
beautywickedlover
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/28/07
#45First Look at ANYTHING GOES in Rehearsal!
Posted: 2/18/11 at 3:40pmI enjoyed Playbill's rehearsal footage. Laura and Colin sounded amazing in it.
#46First Look at ANYTHING GOES in Rehearsal!
Posted: 2/18/11 at 3:48pmI know I sound silly. Please forgive, but for a theatre novice - what do you mean by marking?
#47First Look at ANYTHING GOES in Rehearsal!
Posted: 2/18/11 at 3:52pm
Okay, you people who hate the choreography: Some of you say it's too "contemporary" and some of you say it's too "old school."
Which is it?
It could hardly be Old school and contemporary at the same time, could it?
chickfila
Leading Actor Joined: 7/26/08
#48First Look at ANYTHING GOES in Rehearsal!
Posted: 2/18/11 at 3:55pmSutton can pull off sexy. She did it in Chaperone, she can do it here.
#49First Look at ANYTHING GOES in Rehearsal!
Posted: 2/18/11 at 3:58pm
"I am sorry, but Sutton is no Jean Harlow. Sutton Foster is many things, but a sex symbol she is not."
But the posture and line of her body in the beginning of the number is pure Harlow. It's not contemporary or MEAN GIRlS, as you were asserting. You can argue that she doesn't pull it off (I disagree). But saying that it's not correct for the period of the show is just not correct.
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