So I saw the show last night with NativeNYer.
I hate to say it, but the score was really forgettable. "Astonishing," "Days of Plenty," and "The Fire in Me."
"An Operatic Tragedy" really let me down. The scene was really cute, but on the Broadway.com video they show the sisters running around and singing all over the place, but they actually only sing that one part that the video shows. The scene was still pretty cute, but there wasn't much of a song at all.
The book really bothered me...at least I think I mean that the book bothered me. John Hickok has the first line in the show, sits there through the first scene and then I'm pretty sure we don't see him again for the entire first act. If you don't count "An Operatic Tragedy," Beth was probably onstage for 10 minutes during the first act and has one really quick, really dumb song, if you use that term loosely enough.
The second act was a LOT better, mostly because Beth finally makes an appearance and Amy is MIA. Oh, speaking of Amy...no solos. Nothing even close. ONE really short duet near the end. (Sidebar - are we really supposed to hate Amy that much?) Anyway things actually HAPPENED in the second act, so I definitely enjoyed it a lot more. It was nice to get to hear Megan McGinnis finally speak and even *gasp* sing. I especially liked her scene and song in the second act because it was with Sutton, and it didn't bore me as much as the first act.
Maureen McGovern was good, but still we don't really see her, or really any of the characters, nearly enough. I know it would be hard to handle all of their stories, but...that's what the creative team is supposed to do right?
"Days of Plenty" and the scene leading up to it were good. The applause after Maureen finished kept going even after she made exit (which was a long one) and just continued for a bit. She deserved it, it just sucks that we had to wait more than two hours to finally hear something passable come out of her mouth.
Sutton was great. She had a lot of fun with the role (especially acting out the stories and...just being Jo). "Astonishing" was good to finally hear and I remember liking "The Fire in Me" last night, but even now I can't remember it...
Which I guess brings me to the score. Sadly, it was really just as not-good as people have been saying. A perfect example is Laurie and Amy's duet near the end of the show. That's Amy's only song where she isn't singing with the other 3 sisters, and it's terrible. Well maybe not terrible...I mean it was cute (i.e., short and pretty purposeless), but I'd be really mad if that was my only non-quartet.
Anyway, the only 3 songs I really enjoyed were the three I've mentioned. Beth and Jo's duet in Act Two wasn't so bad, but I guess the fact that I'm reffering to it as "Beth and Jo's duet in Act Two" and not by that actual name of the song ("Some Things Are Meant to Be"...just checked the playbill). "The Weekly Volcano Press" was a cute scene, but I'm attributing that to Sutton's Jo and not really to the song at all. I mean, again, it was cute and all, but totally forgettable.
So...there you go. For $30 and getting to see Sutton Foster onstage again I can't complain. Maureen certainly didn't hurt either. The first act, I could have really done without; I liked the second act a LOT better. The fact that characters tend to disappear for entire acts was pretty annoying, but nothing's changing at this point.
I'd definitely say to SEE it, but - to get really semantic about the whole thing - RECOMMENDING it........
Oh! The backdrops: really pretty. I also liked the partions that moved in and out. The costumes were pretty. The attic looked good.
The end.
Andrew, tonight isn't about you! It isn't even about me!!! - [FD]
Updated On: 1/29/05 at 06:35 PM
