http://www.broadway.com/videos/show/little-night-music/show-clips-a-little-night-music/
Updated On: 12/9/09 at 08:10 PM
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/28/05
OMGOMGOMG THANKS SO MUCH!!!!!!!
I just clapped like a seal!
She sounds fabulous. I'm actually excited to see it now.
I've never complained about a revival's pared down orchestrations before, but... I'm doing so now. It just doesn't sound... right.
Wonderful.
The only song from those clips that suffers from the pared down orchestrations is WEEKEND, and you can hear how they truncated the ending.
And I don't remember Desiree and Fredrika singing during the end of WEEKEND. That doesn't make sense. Do they do that during the actual show? I don't remember.
Broadway Star Joined: 11/13/05
I'm not over the moon about the pared-down orchestrations either, but... I'd probably have to hear them all before I decided firmly.
The one thing that keeps striking me as odd is having a Desiree who can actually, like, kind of sing, you know? Like... I'm so used to someone like Glynis Johns, who is acting the song fantastically and singing second to that. It's odd to my ear hearing CZJ, who has admittedly a stronger voice than most of the Desirees I've heard on CD.
The more I see of this, the more I like it.
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/28/05
And on top of all this, someone uploaded the entire NYCO production on YT today. It's a good day
I'm nor hugely impressed. And its got to be the ugliest production of NIGHT MUSIC ever. I know I keep harping on that but it looks like PASSION or a musical of THE OTHERS.
Maybe my opinion will change when I see it next week.
I know I'm the hugest Debbie Downer ever, but the only thing I was really impressed with was the way Catherine Zeta-Jones looked, and Angela Lansbury's Liaisons. The orchestrations sound strange in A Weekend in the Country (what's that instrument playing the flourishes at the very end?), and I really don't know if I like how Zeta-Jones is singing or acting. I guess I'll have to wait until I see it.
BDrisch, go and listen to Streisand's version that Sondheim rewrote expressly to be "sung" by her.
As I said before, CZJ's version is half Dench / half Streisand which is not a bad thing, but nothing earth-shattering either.
P
Broadway Star Joined: 11/13/05
I have listened to the Streisand version. Once and then never again, I promised myself. I neglected to count that one because it's not a real performance of ALNM, it's a singer performing.
It's certainly one of the more attractive casts on Broadway right now, and the voices are significantly stronger than in London. I'm still not sold, though. I'll be seeing this in a few weeks so I'm still hopeful. CZJ looks beautiful, but I'm not convinced by her Desiree. "You Must Meet My Wife" was very strange. VERY broad and exaggerated.
Finally, indeed! That video made my day! Sadly, I was a little underwhelmed by "Weekend in the Country" which saddens me because it's one of my favorite numbers in the show.
Angela's "Liaisons" though...well, I only saw that tiny clip, but it looks brilliant!
And I actually liked what I saw of CZJ. I don't even need to talk about how gorgeous she looks. The woman is stunning.
I couldn't be more excited to see this!
So soon! So soon! (once the rush policy goes into affect...)
"I couldn't be more excited to see this!"
Not even if it had, oh, I dunno... an actual set and an orchestra? Or, at least, a table for the dinner scene? Or an actress who could actually play Charlotte? Just curious.
P
It looks wonderful! I hope we get a cast recording.
Pgenre- I'm still excited to see this. Must we attempt to ruin everything?
It's funny that the majority of those sh*tting on this production are those who have NOT seen it. I am not specifically talking about Pgenre, who I respect as a poster.
But the same thing has been happening on both boards.
Updated On: 12/9/09 at 10:09 PM
Understudy Joined: 4/13/09
My stars and satellites, I LOVE it! Thank you! Does anyone know about how long Night Music is supposed to run? Is there a closing date yet?
mywonderwa11, you are my least favorite poster on BWW so your opinion could not possibly mean less to me. That being said...
I'm easily one of the most positive posters here and with exception of 2 productions that just seem inherently misguided to me (ALNM and TAF) I usually focus on the positive. You, on the other hand, spew stupidity and snark in nearly every thread whether warranted or not.
It says a lot that I even like MusicSnob1 more than you.
Notice I did not use "we" once. Let's keep it that way.
And why should my opinion have any effect on your "excitement"?
P
Pgenre, I'm sorry you feel that way. I am very positive about many things...but, I also have negative opinions about many things. I post my opinions just as much as anyone else on these boards. Maybe I feel stronger about my own opinions than others do about theirs, but I wouldn't tell someone I didn't like them based on their thoughts and opinions.
I'm sorry I've recently disagreed with your opinions, but I don't think that warrants you to totally dislike someone IMO.
Working in the industry, I have a very strong love for the art and love to talk about things/shows/actors/directors/choreographers I enjoy which I would love to share with you.
I apologize if I've offended you without knowing it. That is never my intention.
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/28/09
Not to disagree with Sondheim himself, but I think that Send in the Clowns sounds great with a real singer in the role. Luckily, CZJ acts it, too. And I am not as upset about these orchestrations as I thought I might be based on the opinions I read here. Do they sound any different when you're actually in the theatre? They sound fine to me. But I agree about the silliness about the Weekend in the Country cut...put it back!!
Well, ljay, forgive me for not enjoying this show last year and not thinking that from what I've seen, it hasn't improved since. I love Night Music and most of the actors in this production, so I remain somewhat optimistic. But this montage hasn't boosted that optimism.
Why is this set in a box set? No.
They don't "get" the comic motor of You Must Meet My Wife. There's absolutely no reason to hold the note on the word "knife"...except to inappropriately demonstrate that you CAN hold the note.
Carl-Magnus is not at all intimidating, either in a comic was or on in a dramatic way. Charlotte is wrong, just wrong, plain wrong. And if Charlotte is wrong, nothing is right. She is the acid that burns through the sweetness and balances it.
CZJ is beautiful, yes, but Desiree, no.
Angela is adorable as Mme. Armfeldt, but Mme. Armfeldt is hardly adorable. Nevertheless, she is a better Mme. Armfeldt than Vanessa Redgrave was in the benefit or Regina Resnick was in the NYCO production. This part is very difficult, but, like Charlotte, she must have thorns.
Ah well. Every day a little death.
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