LEAP OF FAITH Reviews

Hmmm....
Interesting and very much along the lines of those who have seen it on this board.
Seems like the real star is the kid.

These almost identical sentences are suspect:



"there's a strong sense of deja vu hovering over the production. Think "Elmer Gantry," "The Rainmaker" and "The Music Man," among others. "

---Hollywood Reporter


"As one might surmise from the plot description, a serious sense of deja vu lingers over the show, which brings to mind such other similarly-themed works as Elmer Gantry, The Rainmaker, and, most notably The Music Man."

---Theater Mania

The reviews are pretty accurate. I saw it last Saturday and thought it ran way too long. They need to get rid of those Oklahoma-style ballet numbers...and Brooke. Nice try but a weak voice lost in a cast of proven showstoppers. Raul Esparza, however, delivers the goods.

I think it speaks more of the integrity of the director and producers that they choose to cast a "name" over an actress who can actually sing the role. Ms. Sheilds has numerously stated that she has wanted to create an original role in a musical, and she has proven she has some musical talent, but Ruth in WONDERFUL TOWN is a very different type of musical part than what this show calls for. Ms. Sheilds is not gonna sell tickets to a show that gets pans for the leading ladt. As far as the ballets, again the producers knew what they were getting hiring Ashford. They must have seen PROMISES PROMISES, the man will stick a dance number anywhere he can, whether it fits or not.

why not do something about those things if EVERY review is negative?

I don't really understand what you're saying. These reviews just came out in the past 48 hours. I'm in the camp that thinks the creative team should have been aware of these (rather obvious) issues without needing the reviews to point them out, but either they were blind to them, or thought it all worked great, I guess. As far as listening to the reviews, they can't change something based on the reviews before they have them, and there's no guarantee that they're reading (or taking to heart) the message board comments.

Brooke can sing, sort of, sometimes. Her voice just isn't suited for this. I think making some changes to the music for her voice is probably a relatively easy fix, but it would happen at the risk of an, IMO, strong score.

There's a verrrrry telling video on BWW, where the main interview clip of Ashford is of him talking about how the "thing" with this show was trying to figure out where, when, and how dance could fit into it besides in the gospel numbers. Fine, but that doesn't mean you get to shoehorn it in where you feel like it, appropriate or not. Quite the problematic approach, and disappointing.

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Updated On: 10/5/10 at 11:39 AM

Not to mention that she didn't read the reviews of her performance before she took the part. And it's not like it's a universally-held opinion that she can't sing, since she's fared okay in a number of musicals.

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I'll just say it - as good as Mr. Esparza is, and he's very good, Miss Shields is the heart of the show and she, too, is very, very good. While the reviews say she could be a stronger singer, most, as has been pointed out, praise her acting, which they should. If there are problems with the show, she is the least of them.

Updated On: 10/5/10 at 12:39 PM

http://www.lasplash.com/publish/Los_Angeles_Performances_116/Leap_of_Faith_Theatre_Review_-_Get_Ready_for_a_Musical_Miracle_at_the_Ahmanson.php

"http://www.lasplash.com/publish/Los_Angeles_Performances_116/Leap_of_Faith_Theatre_Review_-_Get_Ready_for_a_Musical_Miracle_at_the_Ahmanson.php "

"Keisha 7" needs a good copy editor or an English class. "Reviews" like that, yay or nay, will do this show no good whatsoever.

Right, ABB - this is why I've stopped attending Fringe and NYMF shows. Every time I go, I think "I've seen a version of this before, and done better, too." But with a generation of writers who grew up watching much more television than theatre, it's no wonder they don't realize that they're often turning out inferior versions of pre-existing work. (I know this doesn't relate to this show, although Slater has little but hack work to his credit thus far, and Menken has been known to write a nice tune, but nothing to surpass his work on Little Shop from 30 years ago).

I think the Soliloquy lives and dies by the way he performs it. That's what you remember. My memories of that song back in January were, "wow, he sang the sh*t out of that" and that it was incredibly moving, but I couldn't remember what it sounded like.

Glenn Slater has never impressed me, but his work on Leap of Faith wasn't as awful as I had feared going in. I guess given his track record, that isn't saying much, but for what it's worth. And no, this isn't going to go down in musical history with classic Menken of the Ashman days, but it's still a Menken score and by virtue of that I find it pretty likable. The gospel numbers don't do it for me, but I think that speaks more to my taste than anything else. You also have to assume that if Jonas and his choir were real, a lot of the stuff they'd sing would probably sound the same. Just throwing that out there, though it opens up the debate of reality versus theatricality, and maybe we shouldn't go there.

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I'm sure she IS a high school student. Those sorts of sites are a joke.