Gigi Previews- Page 3

[Kad]

Posted: 3/20/15 at 11:12am

To be fair, the original version of The Contract was very long and went in circles.

[MCfan2]

Posted: 3/20/15 at 11:12am

^Whizzer, exactly. In D.C., I thought the changes to "It's a Bore" really messed it up. Sorry to hear they haven't fixed that. (It was meant to show that Gaston, with all the scientific interests they've given him, is impressed only by feats of engineering, but I didn't think it worked.)

But I'm glad the show's doing well and getting good responses so far. Funny, I seem to remember that most of us Washingtonians were especially struck by Hoty, while so far the New Yorkers are more partial to Clark! But they're both great.

Updated On: 3/20/15 at 11:12 AM

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/20/15 at 12:17pm

I think the reason "It's a Bore" works so well in the film is because Louis Jourdan (as Gaston) acted it as if he were in on the joke. The number is playful and funny while he banters and bickers back and forth with Honore.

Yes, Gaston truly feels this way, but he also knows he's getting at Honore and frustrating him with his all-encompassing ennui. He plays it up, and that makes it work.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 3/20/15 at 12:43pm

MC, Yeah I got what they were trying for with his scientific interests, but really as you say, it didn't work.

Best, Louis Jourdan is my favorite thing about the film and I think Cott is the only one who can't quite come out of the shadow of his film counterpart. Jourdan instinctively knew what to do with the role, and on the OBCR Massey seems to have followed suit. It's not that I think Cott needs to imitate him (McGillin and Clark hardly imitate Chevalier/Drake or Gingold/Karnilova), but he needs to find something equally as appealing as what Jourdan came up with to really lock in with the role. I think he was basically there by act two, but It's a Bore started him off on shaky ground, IMO.

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/20/15 at 12:49pm

Yeah, I see what you're saying Whizzer, and I agree that a large reason the film works (at least for me) is Jourdan.

He manages to be sincere AND tongue-in-cheek at the same time.

His Gaston is serious about his opinions, but also doesn't take himself (or anyone else) too seriously.

He strikes the perfect balance for a story so delicate as "Gigi," which walks a tightrope between whore-in-training (call it what you like) vs. "to hell with social convention, we'll play this game our way."

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 3/20/15 at 12:53pm

^ Exactly!

[RW3]

Posted: 3/20/15 at 2:46pm

Here's an article from WSJ about Jenna Segal, Gigi's rookie producer.
WSJ-Gigi

[TorontoBroadwayFan]

Posted: 3/20/15 at 3:05pm

I decided to see this show based on the recommendations of this board so I have my fingers crossed thats it's something I enjoy. I saw a very nice production of this at the Stratford festival about 5 years ago and I thoroughly enjoyed that so here's hoping lighting strikes twice for me.

[h6p8gv]

Posted: 3/20/15 at 3:41pm

ANybody have a song list

[Fan123]

Posted: 3/20/15 at 5:09pm

I read somewhere that in the film, Gigi and her family are meant to be living in genteel poverty, which would further add to the plausibilty of the limited options and pressures Gigi is facing. Having seen the film before reading that, their living conditions looked pretty opulent to my eyes. Maybe 1900s-era genteel poverty as portrayed via big-budget set design doesn't translate to modern eyes.

[quizking101]

Posted: 3/20/15 at 5:17pm

ACT I
- "Opening" - Honore, Liane, Gigi, and Parisians
- "It's a Bore" - Honore and Gaston
- "The Parisians" - Gigi
- "A Toujours" - Liane
- "The Parisians (Reprise)" - Gigi
- "The Gossips" - Parisians
- "She Is Not Thinking Of Me" - Gaston
- "Thank Heaven For Little Girls" - Mamita and Aunt Alicia
- "Paris Is Paris Again" - Gaston, Honore, Liane, and Parisians
- "I Remember It Well" - Mamita and Honore
- "The Night They Invented Champagne" - Gigi, Mamita, Gaston, and Parisians

ACT II
- "I Never Want To Go Home Again" - Gigi
- "Thank Heaven For Little Girls (Reprise)" - Aunt Alicia
- "Gigi" - Gaston
- "The Contract" - Aunt Alicia, Mamita, Dufresne, Bonfils, Martel, and The Lawyers
- "I'm Glad I'm Not Young Anymore" - Mamita and Honore
- "The Letter" - Gigi
- "Say A Prayer" - Mamita
- "The Gossips (Reprise)" - Parisians
- "In This Wide, Wide World" - Gigi and Gaston

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/20/15 at 5:28pm

In my estimation, Gigi in the film is living with her grandmama and opera-singer-mother (unseen but often heard) in a middle-class apartment, a bohemian environment. Her aunt is/was a former courtesan, who has a much better address and (now past her prime) is cut off from the world, having been "set up for life" and only knows what she reads in the society column. I get the impression that Granmama (Mamita) was also a mistress of sorts, but didn't "cash in" as well as her sister Alicia. Mamita has one daughter, Gigi's mother, who is a stage performer. (We don't know anything about Gigi's father.)

Gigi's one shot at a "free pass" like her aunt is to become a courtesan herself. At least that's what her aunt and grandmama believe (mama is too busy warming up her voice for the stage to be bothered).

The only other options to Gigi echo the sentiments that Sondheim wrote about in A Little Night Music ... marrying the businessman, with five fat babies and lots of security. Or she could be a shop girl if she's lucky. Or get a pushcart license and sell something in the marketplace.

Women in that era couldn't vote, couldn't own property outright, and couldn't work beyond a pushcart or "retail" environment. Or as a typewriter (the precursor to a female secretary or stenographer). They could go into the theatre, like Gigi's mother, but that was almost as disreputable as being a courtesan, perhaps even worse.

Gigi's one shot a genuine financial independence was to sleep with the right gentlemen who would then set her up for life. The trade-off was her reputation, which would be ruined for a "respectable" marriage.

So it says a lot about choices and trade-offs and the "right" thing to do.

Fortunately, Gigi AND Gaston are both unconventional in thoughts and beliefs, and this is why the story (for me) works so well.

They say "no" to the social system.

[de_lovely]

Posted: 3/21/15 at 5:59pm

Add me to those with a glowing review of this show!

Lovely production with gorgeous costumes, gorgeous sets (the stage looked like a Tiffany glass mosaic!), and a gorgeous cast. Victoria Clark is perfection and her "Say a Prayer" was especially moving. Vanessa Hudgens surprised me. I'd already watched GMA so I was prepared for the exuberant young Gigi. But I was actually very impressed with her more mature Gigi at the end of Act 2. She carries herself very nicely. The real standout for me though was Corey Cott. He has excellent timing as someone mentioned before, and he had me at least smiling if not out right laughing at many of his deliveries. Gaston in the movie was a total snore for me, so it was so refreshing to see this character as someone I would actually enjoy playing cards and drinking champagne with. Additionally his delivery of "Gigi" was so frenetic and on edge, but filled with excitement and hope. I expected something much more starry-eyed, and it's not that this wasn't starry-eyed, but it was so much more.

I have some small complaints: need more strings in the orchestra, need to tighten the first 30 minutes, I don't like Gigi's white dress and hair accessory, and I thought Howard McGillin was boring. But overall, I really enjoyed myself and would go back.

[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 3/21/15 at 8:58pm

"The Earth, and Other Minor Things" was a beautiful song from the last Broadway outing. Looks like it's gone...

[James2]

Posted: 3/22/15 at 9:56am

What has the stage door been like so far? Has Howard McGillin been signing? I'm hoping to get his autograph on my "Swan Princess" DVD.

[quizking101]

Posted: 3/22/15 at 11:30am

McGillin didnt sign during the first preview

[Noel&Cole]

Posted: 3/22/15 at 11:51am

So for those who know the film and have seen this new stage production.. has the role of Honore been scaled down and the role of Mamita beefed up? In the film Mamita has a relatively small yet featured role and Honore almost the largest role (or certainly most prominently featured). The film almost seems to stop to showcase Honore's moments. (Of course this is because of Maurice Chevalier) and then of course the Broadway production had Alfred Drake who was a major star, received top billing and seemed to be the ruler of the evening.

However looking at the posts and song list it seems like Honore's part is much smaller and Mamita much bigger.

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/22/15 at 11:59am

I'm curious about that too.

It sounds to me like they've reduced his role and presence in the story to minimize the "creepy" factor of a "leering grandpa" admiring underage girls as they come of age.

A lot of people today can't watch any more the film after the first song because of that. It freaks them out.

[Owen22]

Posted: 3/22/15 at 12:03pm

Honare's role (and presense) has been reduced, yes.

Add me to the pro Corey Cott list. He actually was the highlight (among many highlights) for me. Though all that chest hair poking out of the top of his bathing shirt may have helped...

[Kad]

Posted: 3/22/15 at 12:24pm

Honore is decidedly a featured role, and featured far less than Mamita and Alicia. (Though he and Mamita share a duet). I think it's a smart move- he doesn't really contribute to the plot and the evening doesn't need an emcee.

[matineeidol2591]

Posted: 3/24/15 at 1:18am

Caught this tonight- rushed 30 mins before the show and easily nabbed three seats for $30 a piece (cash only) in the middle of the mezz. It seemed to me that they were simply selling unsold tickets as rush seats rather than placing the tickets in a specific area.

I enjoyed myself, and thought it worked for the most part. The subject matter simply doesn't lend itself to driving the piece forward into something urgent and exciting. Best12, hearing you speak your views on Gigi's social status and the status of women in general in the early 1900s, it seems laying it on a little thicker would add much needed dramatic tension and a larger incentive to propel the evening forward. They touched on social status very little, perhaps two or three lines spoke of it.

The 2nd act worked better than the first, although it is too ballad heavy on the ladder end. The score is 2nd rate Lerner and Loewe, and choreographer Josh Bergasse looks like he was sleepwalking through this show comparing it to his stunning work in On The Town.

Eric Schaeffer did solid work, the production design is perfect, the orchestra lovely, and the cast oh so wonderful. Vanessa Hudgens does lovely work, and Victoria Clark is brilliant as always.

Shout out to a wonderful ensemble as well.

All in all, I think its worth a visit. The house was exceptionally full and people seemed very excited about it.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 3/24/15 at 2:13am

I was there tonight with 2 friends who also LOVED the show and I also noticed that the theatre was completely full. The show was absolutely delightful and it the best show I have seen on Broadway in a long time. I only can think of "On The Town" as something I enjoyed nearly as much. Vanessa Hudgens is a revelation, an irresistible leading lady. Corey Cott, Dee Hoty, Victoria Clark, Howard Mc Gillin and Steffanie Leigh are all first class. Excellent in every possible way.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 3/24/15 at 7:19am

newintown, I await your review.

[de_lovely]

Posted: 3/24/15 at 8:05am

(staging spoiler) In "The Letter" at the end of the second act, Gigi sings the whole thing at her writing desk while the desk slides slowly across the stage from one side to the other over the course of the song. What did you guys think about this effect? For some reason I found it very distracting.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 3/24/15 at 8:48am

Just because the "theater was completely full" doesn't mean people paid for their tickets.