Marie Christine Fan

[RustyRocketteBoy]

Posted: 12/31/04 at 8:55am

So last night I was cleaning my room and I found and old NY Times review of Marie Christine w/ Audra Mcdonald. And I remember seeing and haveing one of the most AMAZING theater experinces ever! But this review was just plain mean. I LOVE this musical(MAinly beacuse of Audra)and its themes. Any one else?

[Jwaa]

Posted: 12/31/04 at 9:09am

:o!!!

you actually got to see it....i am sooo jealous!
I fell in love with the soundtrack and think it is bloody amazing!
Audra Mcdonald gave me my first eargasm with 'Beautiful' and in 'Way back to Paradise' i just melted!!!! God you should of seen how scared i was on teh train when 'Your name' suddenly came on! OMG I LOVE MARIE CHRISTINE, i think is it verrrryyyy under-rated!

woo

soz just felt the urge to type!

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 12/31/04 at 9:30am

I saw the final performance of this show years ago, but frankly I was very underwhelmed (and I'm a huge Audra fan). My friend and I walked out during intermission.

[RustyRocketteBoy]

Posted: 12/31/04 at 9:32am

shame on your friend

Posted: 12/31/04 at 6:47pm

I think the score is absolutely GORGEOUS--espeically Act I. I think it's the best American opera since Porgy and Bess musically--I do suspect there are probs with the story though.

E

[VeuveClicquot]

Posted: 12/31/04 at 11:04pm

I really hated MARIE CHRISTINE when I saw it. I was a fan of LaChiusa, and had loved HELLO, AGAIN, and I love Audra, and Mary Testa, but MARIE CHRISTINE left me really cold.

I've been revisiting it on CD lately, after Mordden wrote such glowing praise for it in "The Happiest Corpse..." I admit I appreciate the score much more now than I did in the theatre.

My biggest problem with the show remains, however. I think it was a cop out to have the climactic moment in the action happen offstage (when Marie kills her children). I'm not advocating a horror film approach, and I certainly don't want to see children die on a Broadway stage. What I wanted to see was the look in Audra's face while she was committing that act. Couldn't they have staged it so that we didn't have to see the kids actually drowning in the bathtub, but we could see her face during that crucial moment?

Posted: 12/31/04 at 11:55pm

Wasn't that a hommage to the Greek tragedy rules though?

E

[VeuveClicquot]

Posted: 1/1/05 at 12:07am

I believe it was, Eric. Medea doesn't kill her children onstage. As in most greek tragedies, all the action happens offstage, and is simply commented upon by the chorus.

I do understand the reasoning behind it. I just personally didn't find the climactic moment of MARIE CHRISTINE very effective.

That said, I will continue to revisit MARIE CHRISTINE. I have the sneaking suspicion that I may have been in a bad mood the night that I saw the show. I also suspect that, as with all LaChuisa scores, MARIE CHRISTINE is like a good vintage merlot -- it will appreciate with time.

I will say this, however. I tend to find Graciela Daniele's stagings erratic. As a director, her only out-and-out success as far as I'm concerned was ONCE ON THIS ISLAND. While I loved A NEW BRAIN, I found her staging confusing, and often bordering on amateurish. I don't think she's a bad director. But I don't think she asserts herself as much as she could on material that needs significant molding.

[leomaxfrank]

Posted: 1/1/05 at 3:09am

Veuve - I can definitely agree with you on Graciela's staging. A New Brain was certainly erratic, however, I am yet to see that show staged perfectly, so I don't if the flaw is in the material itself.

Posted: 1/1/05 at 7:47am

Graciela is a WONDERFUl *choreographer* I'm so far less ocnvinced as to her as a director. Marie Christine though has a WONDERUL, *wow*, etc score... I really do put it next to Porgy for Broadway/musical mix

E