Ok, I saw the show about 2 weeks ago and I really don't know why I havn't thought to post my review about it before now haha (sorry, I figured it would make more sense just to post it in here than to make a whole new thread, but if a whole new thread would be better I can totally do that)
*preface: I wrote this a day or two after I saw the show, and since then I'm sure there have been lots of changes, so some of the things I mentioned may well have been changed by this point
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The number one thing that I think surprised me was how freaking INCREDIBLE the was visually. Like... it's hands down THE most awesome, trippy staging/lighting/etc. I've ever seen. Truly, it is a treat for the eyes like WOAH. I just.. I could not get over it. It just looked SO COOL (especially Feeling Electric, which is pretty much THE trippiest most awesome thing of life). So major, major props to the creative team for planning the set, the lighting, and the over all use of space. In my two years of listening to Feeling Electric obsessively, I NEVER imagined it would LOOK as awesome as it did.
Performances:
They were all basically UNBELIEVABLE. And this is come one who was originally DEAD set on the previous cast a la Amy Spanger, Anthony Rapp, Annaleigh Ashford, etc. But really, there was not a single weak link I didn't think. The funny thing is, it DID take a little bit of time for Alice to grow on me, but by the end I thought she was brilliant. SO so good. I think the problem I had in the beginning was that I'm not the hugest fan of the sound of her voice- it's just a personal preference thing. But her acting and her singing
ability were so top notch that by about 30 or so minutes in nothing else mattered. And Brian. OMG. can we discuss how SOMETHING about the way he plays the ending makes it the most heartbreaking thing ever, and I can't even pinpoint exactly what it is? I think it's just... the subtlety with which he does it. Like, it's sobbing, but it's very gentle sobbing. I don't know... but yeah. He's INCREDIBLE. And his voice is heavenly. Both Alice and Brian carried the show brilliantly, can EASILY win Tonys I think if the show is transfered (which it needs to be).
My personal favorite though (and I'm probably biased because I think he's gorgeous lol) was Aaron. Seriously, SERIOUSLY that boy is insane. Like.. I could not even IMAGINE a better Gabriel. I'm Alive was so fierce it's ridiculous. Again, like with Brian's performance, I can't quite put my finger on what made him so brilliant, but he just was. He somehow totally captured that "spirit" quality about Gabriel. Oh, and how the HECK does he bolt up like THREE flights of stairs multiple times during the course of one song and STILL manage to sing without being the slightest bit out of breath?? I don't understand that... haha. He must be in freakishly amazing shape.
Jenn was awesome too. I LOVE her voice. And I thought she especially shined in Superboy and Invisible Girl. For such a young person, she really knows how to layer the emotion in her voice in a very effective, touching way.
Asa and Adam were both wonderful as well. I'm afraid I still yearn for Anthony's "Feeling Electric", just because his voice has the perfect waily edge to it for that voice that gives it something extra, but that's not to undermine the fact that Asa does it fabulously as well.
Okay so as for the show itself:
imo, it's VERY near perfect. Truly, it is a brilliant brilliant show. They've made great cuts I think, and it's remarkably un-choppy considering it's still in its relatively early stages. The ONLY thing that I feel like could be fixed up is the beginning: like.. the first 15 minutes or so. Or basically up till Costco (which is absolutely hysterical, for the record). It's not bad the way it is, but I just felt (and my mom agreed) that it was a bit akward with the way they intertwined Let There Be Light and Another Day. And just.. the introduction of the story at first is a tad bit strange at the moment. I think especially if you don't know the story, you're kinda like "...wha?" But then once it gets to Costco and you realize that Diana has "mental problems" and all that it all comes together, and from that point on, it is KILLER.
So yeah, aside from the very beginning, I think they need to leave it preeetty much just as it is. Because all the rest of the staging and set up of it right now is pretty much flawless as is. And the ending, if it was akward a couple weeks ago, it sure ain't now. i LOVED the staging for the ending.
I don't need a life that's normal. That's way too far away. But something next to normal would be okay. Something next to normal is what I'd like to try. Close enough to normal to get by.
