I'll be seeing my third king on Sunday. I first saw a rather late preview from a front orchestra seat adjacent to the stage (stop me if you've heard this before), where I was so occupied with being starstruck by Kelli and Ruthie delivering their songs from a few feet away, and generally feeling so much like I was in the cast that it might have distracted me from the show as a whole.
I saw it again two Sundays ago with a large group from a meetup, sitting in the loge. A different perspective. Although I had already seen this production the first time, and had seen the '95-'96 Donna Murphy revival, and watched the film more than a few times, I was surprised to find all the tears welling up at the end. The woman I had been with since the group met at a pub, came from a background of opera and classical and was not that familiar with musical theater could not stop praising it at intermission. "There is just so much in this."
And of course she was right. As with all the "classics," this show was based on a book or play that might not have been memorable on its own, but which provided the story line, the main characters, and the serious issues to be addressed in the musical play.The music was added to embellish the play and to create memorable moments when the story and the music came together at the right moment to create some amazing moment when the whole of the experience was greater than the parts.
So I go back again, in the first row, to experience being in the cast one last time.
I hope that they broadcast the last Saturday night performance "Live From Lincoln Center" as they did with South Pacific.