Attended Sunday night's show. Had highly anticipated this show for weeks. Had a good time, but was underwhelmed. Sadly this is nothing like last summer's GYPSY.
IMO, the major problem was pacing. While I like the fact that they stuck with the material as written, there were many places where they needed to "pick it up." Scenes had slow cue pick up and scene changes were longer than needed. In some places energy from the performers seemed low, esp. with the ball players, and even a few tempos seemed slightly on the slow side.
Hayes seems to be having vocal trouble. I kept thinking he should clear his throat. Perhaps he is just not used to so much projecting? His "Will & Grace" shtick was familiar, but funny and served the role well. His singing was only okay, but that is a minor requirement for this role, more surprising was his lack of spark when he got up from the piano for the second half of his number. After the violin bit, it fell flat - majorly.
Krakowski was great. Dance 10, Looks 10. Her voice was a bit weak at times, but the whole package made up for it. Very impressed by her in the role. A traditional, but satisfying take on an iconic part. And I LOVED her wig!
Jackson (who I adore) left me a bit cold. His first vocal entrance was way off. Slightly under pitch and forced. It was better after that, with beautiful singing from him on "A Man Doesn't Know" and "Near to You." Although the role is not as showy as Lola and Applegate, I still felt he was undercooked in the scenes. He was there, and he was pretty, but that was about it. Nothing close to the spark he displays in Xanadu.
Randy Graff was great.
Veanne Cox and Kathy Fitzgerald were quite funny.
PJ Benjamin sang beautifully.
I kept wondering what, if anything, Victor Garber was thinking.
Laughter is much more important than applause. Applause is almost a duty. Laughter is a reward.
Carol Channing
