Hugh Panaro in SITPWG....

[ljay889]

Posted: 5/16/09 at 1:28am

Clips of the Sam Buntrock production in Seattle.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raQgy2dDCYw

Am I the only finding Hugh's vocals really painful? Wow.

And apparently they used the original orchestrations, which is awesome! I wish the revival could have.

[blaxx]

Posted: 5/16/09 at 1:34am

More than the vocals, just seems like the acting wasn't that good. Maybe because Daniel and Jenna were so great at the roles.

[ljay889]

Posted: 5/16/09 at 1:36am

His acting looks extremely amateurish.

[WishingOnlyWounds2]

Posted: 5/16/09 at 1:42am

I so regret not seeing this on Broadway... and regret seeing 'Young Frankenstein' instead of it even more. *sigh*

[blaxx]

Posted: 5/16/09 at 1:43am

Eek! Yes, that would be a regret...

[Chrysanthemum62001]

Posted: 5/16/09 at 1:53am

I've always though Hugh Panaro was great, and when I saw the casting for this I thought he'd be a good choice. But, I'm not really liking this too much.

Probably because I felt Daniel Evans was so very near perfection.

[Schmerg_The_Impaler]

Posted: 5/16/09 at 11:47am

I know nothing at all about this show-- but it actually looked really good to me, so I'm guessing the Broadway productions must have been brilliant. And so now I guess I regret not seeing the Broadway revival, too.

[choitoy]

Posted: 5/16/09 at 3:28pm

I went to see the production twice, because even though the two leads were not quite up to par, the production as a whole was great. I had to see it again because the first time, I was so awestruck by the projections, that I wanted to see it again to focus more on the acting.

Hugh seemed to do fine when he wasn't trying to channel Mandy at his most manic. He also had some really weird moments in the show (when Dot asks him if she should wear the red or blue dress (to the follies), he does this weird sexual, guttural growl, "RED", which seemed really out of character for the moment). I don't know if he was directed this way, or if it was a choice that he made. He was also really odd when he started "speaking" for the two dogs. It make him seem like he really was kinda insane. He was a lot better in the second act as modern George, though the first time I saw him, he seemed like he was going to lose the lyrics during "Putting it Together", he did better when I saw him a week and a half later.

I did not like Billie Wildrick as Dot in act one. She is a pleasant singer, and she looks good for the part, but her pleasant singing is what brings her down in act one. There was always a cloying sweetness to her voice, and she didn't really sing the opening "Sunday in the Park" song with the slight passive-agressiveness that you hear on the OBC or the London cast recordings. She never lost this sweetness until "We Do Not Belong Together". I liked her a little better as Marie in act two. I thought it was interesting that she gave Marie a southern accent (as she was raised in the south with Mr. & Mrs.) But it seemed to throw her off to the rhythms in "Children and Art".

It was overall a good production though, but I do wish that I was able to either see the London or the Broadway production with Daniel Evans and Jenna Russel.

[BroadwayBound062]

Posted: 5/17/09 at 1:07am

Did they buy the set after it closed on Broadway or how did they get it?

[choitoy]

Posted: 5/17/09 at 4:10pm

From what I heard after the talkback from the first night after the show, the 5th Ave. was planning on doing SITPWG as their own version, but some members of the production team went out to see the Broadway production. I don't remember if it was them, or the Broadway team that met up with each other (I believe that team Buntrock came to Seattle though), but they worked it out that they would bring that production to Seattle. So they shipped out the sets, the projectors, and the costumes. I'm not sure what they are going to do with it now, because the Seattle crew says that the Broadway design crew doesn't want to tour the show, since it took a little over a week to adjust all the projections (the projectors were placed about a foot back from where they were at the Roundabout).

There is going to be a production of SITPWG in Toronto, but we were told it was not going to be this production.

[BroadwayBound062]

Posted: 5/17/09 at 7:06pm

I know this show would be a b**** to tour with but I wish it could. I know a video of it wouldn't really make sense we have the original. I loved the show and wish I had more than the cast recording to remind me of it.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 5/19/09 at 11:52am

I saw this production late into the Seattle run. I found Panaro's acting and vocals spot on. I agree that Wildrick, a favored local actress who hasn't been able to make it on Broadway, was a bit underwhelming (though serviceable) as Dot. Patti Cohenour was a superb Yvonne and the remaining cast was mostly perfection.

I just want to clarify that ths was not a rental. The entire Broadway/London team was brought in for the production. It was a privileged to witness what may very well be the last production of this stunning interpretation.

Though, in typical Seattle fashion, the audience wasn't as enthusiastic as those in London and NY. My favorite comment leaving the theatre: "The music wasn't half bad".