MargoChanning's Best of 2005- Page 2

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/6/06 at 5:39pm

You know, Margo. I think you're out of touch a bit, because you just don't go to the theatre that often. There's a lot going on out there. You should try to attend, even if it's only once in a while.

(...he says, humbly.)

[zepka102]

Posted: 1/6/06 at 5:43pm

i am VERY jealous of all that you saw.




but instead of thinking that way, i'll just keep thinking to myself that i saw something Margo didn't

[BwayLover]

Posted: 1/6/06 at 5:51pm

Thank you so much for that list.

And, can I be a dork for a second? The fact that I agree with you on mostly everything and actually saw a lot of the shows you deemed "Best" makes me all warm inside. I do value your opinion.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 1/6/06 at 6:02pm

" i'll just keep thinking to myself that i saw something Margo didn't"

Hmmmmmm.......


*Margo decides to be good and not post a response laden with innuendo*

Updated On: 1/6/06 at 06:02 PM

[zepka102]

Posted: 1/6/06 at 6:11pm

i'm gonna ignore that and just keep smiling

[Phantom2]

Posted: 1/6/06 at 11:59pm

I am a fan of Margo!

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 1/7/06 at 12:10am

Great list Margo! What'd you think of CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG? And what'd you think of THE DANCERS LIFE?

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 1/7/06 at 12:26am

I had the busiest year of my theatre-going life in 2005. I’m almost embarrassed to admit that I saw 102 performances (of 97 different shows – I saw 5 shows twice) from Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway with a handful of regional shows as well.

The mind boggles. This just proves my long-standing suspicion that you are actually a superhero, and your power is superhuman knowledge of and tolerance for theatre. It's amazing.

Anyway, thanks for posting your list. Sadly, I haven't seen anything on it--but I will be keeping a few of them in mind for my trip to NY this spring!
Updated On: 1/7/06 at 12:26 AM

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 1/7/06 at 12:51am

Fantastic list, Margo. Do you think that Kaufman's HOPE LEAVES THE THEATRE will ever be published? It sounds too good to be a one-off kind of thing.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 1/7/06 at 2:27am

I'm hoping that HOPE LEAVES THE THEATRE is published or at least has some kind of life beyond that wonderful evening I saw at St. Ann's (I know it was repeated in LA a few months later). I don't think that -- as written -- it really works as anything but a staged reading or as a radio play. I actually hesitated to include it on my list for that reason. It's simply too "out there" to ever really work as a "play" and clearly nothing in the writing suggests that Kaufman ever intended for it to be fully "staged." But, perhaps, Kaufman will allow it to be published at some point. It's too good to simply disappear.

WICKEDROCKS --

I'm sorry, but CHITTY simply bored me. It was a LONG evening for me that had it not been for Jan Maxwell, I'd have fled at intermission.

I wrote a review of A DANCER'S LIFE on my blog. Bottom line, Chita deserved much better. https://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/chita_rivera_the_dancers_legacy.htm


Phantom2 --

Phanty, I'm a fan of yours myself.

[vbplayer]

Posted: 1/7/06 at 2:48am

If I lived in NY, I would see all of your recommendations.

[Roninjoey]

Posted: 1/7/06 at 3:08am

Boredom is capricious. I was completely bored at In My Life, but I was expecting a lot and already knew most of the quirky elements going in. I 'spects Chitty would have been relatively amusing if I saw it alone, but I never saw it at all because, well...


I didn't want to?

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 1/7/06 at 3:32am

I saw CHITTY "alone" -- as much as one can be alone in an 1800 seat theater (not that it was full or anything). And I was bored out of my mind -- yawning and fighting to stay interested throughout. Jan Maxwell somehow managed to take her inferior material and make it seem interesting and worth watching. THAT'S what makes someone a great actress and why I put her on my list of notable performances. She and the rest of the cast deserved far better.

As for IN MY LIFE, I can only say that, at the first preview, I laughed harder at that than I have ever laughed at anything else in YEARS. It is the ONLY time I've been in a Broadway theatre and worried that I was going to be asked to leave -- I simply couldn't stop laughing at certain points. I was accompanied by a few other BWW people who's names I won't mention ..... OK, I literally fell on RobbieJ laughing at one point, but that doesn't count ........

I heard they later changed certain things and made them less funny...... bad move. The show might still be running had they simply given themselves over to the awfulness on stage and encouraged the audience to revel in how terrible the show was. I don't exaggerate by saying this -- the first preview was funnier unintentionally than the PRODUCERS was and is, intentionally. I wish it was still running. Life turns on a dime........................

Updated On: 1/7/06 at 03:32 AM

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 1/7/06 at 6:02am

Hmmm I just wonder how we can mount a campaign to get you signed on to replace the aging and out-of-touch critics at the Times or the Post.

[diravector]

Posted: 1/7/06 at 11:19am

Nice! It was great to start my year off with an honorable mention... Thanks, Margo!

[ruprecht]

Posted: 1/7/06 at 11:29am

Splendid, simply splendid!

[JamieMcG]

Posted: 1/7/06 at 11:32am

Hey Margo!

Thanks so much for the kind mention of the Secret Garden Concert! I just wanted to make a small correction though, in that it was a benefit for The Joey DiPaolo AIDS Foundation and not BC/EFA.

:)

THanks again! Great list!

[apdarcey]

Posted: 1/7/06 at 11:43am

you know i love you and your lists, thank you.


i'm just astounded that kelli o'hara did not make your list of notable performances. to me, that was the performance of the year.

[AuditioningWaitress]

Posted: 1/7/06 at 11:44am

Thanks Margo! I always enjoy your posts! Have a great New Year!

[aspiringactress]

Posted: 1/7/06 at 11:56am

Excuse me while I collect my jaw from the floor. I wish I was you.

[Phantom2]

Posted: 1/7/06 at 12:19pm

"Phantom2 --

Phanty, I'm a fan of yours myself."

Somebody loves me! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[aspiringactress]

Posted: 1/7/06 at 12:45pm

Margo-
I think it is clear that everyone values you opinion immensely. I know I would love if you could post reviews more often if it isn't too much trouble. That way, we would know your opinions more often, and the shows would usually still be running. I know I personally take your opinions over the critics.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 1/7/06 at 4:04pm

Jamie,

Sorry about that. I've made the correction

apdarcey,

I think O'Hara has a gorgeous voice and is a beautiful young woman, but I felt that she could have done a better job of conveying Clara's condition to the audience. Now perhaps the fault should lie as much with Lucas' book or Sher's direction, but whoever's to blame, I thought that her performance slightly undermined a crucial aspect of the story. My opinion was further reinforced later when I watched the 1962 film version. Yvette Mimieux's Clara had a childish quality and a petulance about her which made it clear that something was "off" about her, yet Mimieux never overplayed it, so you could see how Fabrizio and his family might simply take her behavior for spoiled innocence, not mental infirmity. I never bought that with O'Hara who seemed like a completely normal 20-something American girl of the period (though she has the occasional tantrum).

Because of that, the show became more a story of a mother having trouble letting go of her grown up daughter than about the daughter herself. Had Clara's condition been more pronounced as it was in the film, there would have been even more poignance in Margaret's learning to let her go. It didn't ruin the show (in part, due to Clark's remarkable performance which filled in some of the blanks), but it removed some of the complexity and richness in the story which the movie managed to capture.

aspiring actress --

I do try to keep up to date with my reviews, but work and other time constraints sometimes make that impossible. I also go through periods where I see so many shows in rapid succession that I inevitably get behind. In the future, I hope to be able to do a better job of staying current.

[smartpenguin78]

Posted: 1/7/06 at 4:17pm

I love the recap Margo. Thanks again.

I absolutely agree about PIAZZA, the first time I saw it, I had no idea what the story was, and besides being confused and a little bored, I thought "really?" at the big reveal.
The second time through I enjoyed the show and O'Hara's performance much more.

Which leads me to a question:
Do you think you would have different opinions of many of these shows if you saw them more times?
I know for me the first time I see some things my reactions are very different than upon multiple trips.

I also always look forward to your take on shows, no matter how much I may disagree (as with SWEENEY) or agree. (as with virtually everything else)

[sally1112]

Posted: 1/7/06 at 4:27pm

I want to be Margo Channing when I grow up!!

Thank You dear!!