My thoughts on A Tale Of Two Cities

Warning. There might be some minor spoilers.


I want to start out by saying that they did offer student rush tonight. I got there a little after six for a seven PM curtain and was able to get one. They were 27 dollars and I was sitting front row center. I don't know if all the student rush tickets are in the front row. I am guessing not because I saw some people sitting there who clearly weren't students. But, it was nice anyways.

I just got back from Tale and let me say that I had a great time. I have been a fan of mega musicals for a while and I was excited to see this for a long time. Let me say that I was not let down at all. I thought the score and sets were both amazing. Despite hearing many people on this forum talk about how the score sounded like it was from Les Miserables etc, it was something that I didn't hear at all.

I thought that this was very well cast and they all did a great job. I would say that Barbour was a standout and I did see great character development from him. It was fun watching him change from a drunken lawyer who only cared about himself to a man who is totally selfless at the end. His scenes with MacKenzie Mauzy as the seamstress were very well done and very heartfelt.

I thought that Aaron Lazar and Brandi Burkhardt worked really well together and I really felt the connection between the two characters. I was really able to feel the emotion in the love triangle between Sydney, Luci and Charles.

Natalie Toro was just beyond words amazing. I really felt that Madame Defarge was a VERY strong supporter of the revolution and felt that all her actions were justified and that she didn't feel sorry for anything that she had done.

I can go on and on about how great the cast was. But, I am not going to do so.

The audience really seemed to be into it. There were loud cheers and applause when the orchestra started and even louder ones wen the logo was projected onto the scrim.

The buzz from the audience at intermission was very positive. When I walked out for a smoke I was hearing people talk about how much they were loving it. I started to get the impression that this might have a good word of mouth despite what the critics might think.

My prediction for this is that it would get mixed reviews. But, it would have a strong word of mouth.

I know that people have said that they felt like they were hearing songs that were cut from Jekyll and Hyde or Les Miserables. However, I just didn't hear it. I thought the score was beautiful and sung very beautifully by the entire cast.

I thought that the guillotine scene was very well done. I thought that the lighting and sound effects used were very haunting. I found myself jumping everytime they killed someone. I also thought the use of the curtain shaped guillotine at the very end was very powerful.

I was very into the show at the end. After the last scene when they were getting ready to kill Sydney I felt like I wanted more. I felt like I wanted to see what happened to Charles and Luci and their family. I know that they made safe passage back to England but I still wanted to see what was going to happen with them. I think that is why I really enjoyed the show. Because I left wanting more. I was happy with the way that it ended and thought it was very beautiful. I also think me wanting more was a result of my enjoyment of the show and not that it was badly written.

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Updated On: 8/20/08 at 01:18 AM

How could you tell "clearly" the people sitting around you weren't students?

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Well that killed the show!!

Agree with Sueleen on this a major spoiler tag would have helped!!!!!

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Why attack someone for not putting ridiculous all-caps SPOILER alerts? How about if you really care about specific details of a show you haven't seen that you just not read anything? That way you can have your OWN experience.

As long as they don't take out the part where Madam Defarge is visited by the ghost of
her former partner and she is visited by the three spirits, I don't think you can really rag on the creative staff for thinking that killing Sydney off might work.

The real issue should be, what's going on with the educational system when it's possible for a high school graduate or college kid Not to know that Carton is killed off?

Updated On: 8/21/08 at 08:10 PM

I know, right? As if the student rush tickets weren't enough of an incentive...Just don't base your book report on this production! You will FAIL!

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And, the way that I could tell that there were students sitting around me and that there weren't was easy. There was one girl who was siting next to me who was talking to me about how she was happy that she got a ticket via student rush. The other two on my left, couldn't shut up about how they were happy that their student IDs got them front row seats. There was an elderly couple who clearly weren't students and a young girl with her mother. Also, clearly not students.

Because elderly people can't be students?
Because students can't have young children?

I am still confused as to how you KNEW? What else could you tell by looking at them? Were they GAY? Were they Christian Scientists? Republican?

I wish I had that ability to tell what people were just by looking at them.
You must be really, really smart!

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