I have to confess to being rather mystified by the responses to this show.
I saw it twice at the Old Vic - once in very early previews and once closer to the end of the run. Honestly, the only reason I went back because I read the reviews after opening and assumed they had made significant, seismic changes to the show, because what I had seen was a total mess. I was wrong, the show was more or less identical.
I really wish I could understand the praise here. To my mind, the score is weak and just a jumble of novelty numbers (of the type Minchin writes well), the design is cumbersome and incoherent (does it still have those silhouette borders along the top and bottom of the stage?) and the storytelling unfocused. I agree with many here that the second act is stronger - the darker elements are where the show shines, and those are drawn out quite nicely but then just fade away again for a sentimental finish. Don't get me wrong, I love a happy ending but it feels so unearned here. Despite Andy Karl's best efforts, and he is very good, the writing doesn't support the character development required for him to become the Phil of the final 20 minutes. His ending with Rita should be a really glorious moment of resolution and triumph, but to me it just sort of happened without any satisfaction.
I also think you can really feel how long the piece has been in development by Warchus and Minchin - and not in a good way. It feels to me like in the beginning, they had an entirely different approach: one that focused on the townsfolk as much as on Phil. To me that would be fascinating - to look at all these people stuck in their own ruts and the loops they can't escape in their own lives. You get a glimpse of this in the act one finale (I think?) and of course the gorgeous Nancy song at the top of act two. But this really interesting approach is then militated against by the insistence on focusing on Phil and Rita. It's as if what they had tried wasn't working, so they scrapped most of it and went for the conventional love story angle, but some residue of GHD Mk. 1 is left over, and the two fight against each other.
None of this is even to touch on the problems the show has with Rita as a character - assuming her 'I Want' song is still the same, it was basically about how all she needed was a man and when her prince came it would sort everything out. I cannot believe this is enough any more. I was genuinely a bit flabbergasted by it. I get that Phil is a misogynist and the defects of a character don't speak to the creators - but to approach the leading female role in the show with such an old-fashioned, reductive view on women's aspirations is not terrific.
Lastly there's the weakness of the score. Think about what a more skilled composer of scores (which is not Minchin's strength, he is a songwriter) could have done with the recursive motif. I went in expecting real cleverness and intricacy, something that took advantage of the unique opportunity this property presents to do something musically inventive and impactful - obviously I did not get that. The Doctors Song, The Truck Song, The Tap Number (with that giant groundhog playing the drums, are you joking) - they don't add up to anything or tell that story. So disappointing for me.
So yeah I was massively underwhelmed, as my hopes were very high given the calibre of everyone involved. I really want to understand what it is that I'm missing; maybe it's down to me for not turning off that hyper-critical part of my brain.
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