Saw it last night. What a trainwreck. I love the movie, Alan Menken and Raul Esparza and was really looking forward to this... Where they went wrong, I don't know.
As amazing as Phillips' voice is, she's just not tough enough. Or cold enough. I get we're supposed to like here, but who would really believe she's the Sheriff compared to the deputy she's always with?
Raul is fantastic. I don't know how he's going to sing that 8x a week, but he's fantastic in the role. The 11 o'clock number is sensational, but doesn't match the rest of the piece at all and is almost laughable because of it. The sudden seriousness and starkness of the moment isn't earned by the rest of the show's wooden journey.
For the love of God, GIVE US SOME CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT, PLEASE.
While "People Like Us" gives us a wonderful background of our ladies, particularly Kendra Kassebaum (who is fantastic in this role), the sound design is so freaking terrible that you can't make out a word they're saying.
The camera shots... Oh, the camera shots. As a fan of the film, I got where they were going with this. It made sense with the revival feel. But the screens are so small and cheapo, the camera-man so horribly shaky, that I'd rather just squint from the mezzanine.
The set is just horrendous. Terrible, no-good, AWFUL. And the score is bland, repetitive and impossible to remember.
What a shame. The cast is clearly working their butts off, as you can tell by the already existent strain in their voices. (Except for Isaih [don't have my Playbill with me], who's voice is like butter.) But this is just dead on arrival.
"I know now that theatre saved my life." - Susan Stroman