My thoughts on some current shows- Review of WOMAN IN WHITE

[Broadway Matt]

Posted: 11/18/05 at 3:14am

hey everyone! as is becoming a little tradition, I'm just poking my head in to see how things are going on the ol' boards where I joyously wasted most of last year (it was fun though!)

Actually, I was really just looking for some links to the reviews that are gradually going up about Webber's newest "contribution" to the theatre, and as always I got sucked into the excitement and wanted to say hello and chime in with some thoughts.

I have been very curious to see how the critics would treat the new musical theatre offerings of the past few months. I attended the 2nd preview of SWEENEY and was mildly disappointed, but I have seen several excellent fully staged productions and had a hard time breaking out of my former expectations as to the show's ideal direction and scale. The almost-universal rave reviews knocked me on my ass. But I'm always pushing for Sondheim to succeed, so I couldn't be more thrilled about those.

IN MY LIFE intrigues me but I can't be bothered to see it just yet. Then this past week I caught both THE COLOR PURPLE and WOMAN IN WHITE, as well as an industry reading of A TALE OF TWO CITIES. Neither of the Broadway stagings quite lived up to my expectations, but in the case of PURPLE, I was seeing the production on the same day it was featured so brilliantly on OPRAH. I went into that show expecting genius, and walked out very content with promising and enjoyable as the key adjectives. With WOMAN IN WHITE, I went in expecting very little- and wound up walking away with even less than that. I was in the audience on Tuesday, which I understand was a Press Night.

I've enjoyed much of Webber's work (all of it at least 8 years old), and I am always first in line whenever Michael Ball does something in NY. With this new offering, I wanted little more than to see outstanding performances by several of my favorite performers and to maybe get a new catchy tune stuck in my head to serve as a guilty pleasure for the next few months.

What I got was 1 outstanding performance (by Ball, not surprisingly) and a lot of confusion- which I later realized to be disappointment in denial. I think I really wanted Webber to redeem himself with just one more very good show. He'll never have another PHANTOM, but surely he can squeeze out something almost as good as SUNSET BLVD. Apparently not this time. In short, I tend to agree with Brantley's review on this one. The score struck me as extremely flat, the lyrics unimpressive, and the performances wound up being limited by very confining material. Ron Bohmer did the best he could, Maria Friedman was compelling, and Angela Christian managed to make my MILLIE CD unlistenable for the rest of my life.

As for the set design by XBOX? I'm sticking with my gut reaction- it's a good idea on paper, but no one should ever actually follow through on it. The video game feel lent to the show does manage to achieve several gorgeous stage pictures, but for the most part it comes across as lazy overkill- if that isn't a contradiction in terms. I did find it admirable how well everything was staged and coordinated to work in tandem with the ever-moving projection panels and spinning floor. I give credit to the ensemble, the director, and the tech guys for making a nearly acceptable product out a potentially-disastrous concept of theatrical illusion. While the practice might actually work to a certain extent when done as well as it is in WOMAN IN WHITE, I fear that the trend will catch on as a frugal alternative to set pieces and will seep its way into the lower budget theatre world. That would be the greatest crime of all. As far as I am concerned, Webber can write shows and have them designed in this manner for the rest of his career. It is the rest of theatre that needs to resist this idea and continue to get by on creativity and imagination- or at least bother to hire a set painter and some carpenters.

As for A TALE OF TWO CITIES, we may very well have something amazing on its way to Broadway. It certainly has the potential- based on what I saw and heard at Monday's concert-style full reading with cast of 35. If it gets the proper support and direction, I'd expect it to blow both PURPLE and WOMAN IN WHITE out of the water sometime soon. On the other hand, OPRAH is a powerful lady so we'll have to wait and see. If there is one other hand, there is no godly way WOMAN IN WHITE should still be playing at that time. It's late and I digress. Hope everyone is having a fine holiday season. Be Well- Broadway Matt.

Updated On: 11/18/05 at 03:14 AM

[son_of_a_gunn_25]

Posted: 11/19/05 at 4:08pm

It's good to hear from you Matt! Kind of dissapointing to hear when any new shows underwhelm. I always wish everything was amazing but that just can't happen. It's great to hear what you thought of A Tale of Two Cities. I was also lucky enough to be there and I loved it. I heard several people just completely bash the readings so it is great to hear a good review. I can't understand how anyone could not be blown away by Natalie Toro's performance. (My guess is many people went in with preconceived notions on the show and so the entire presentation was filtered through that lens.) There are still things to work on I think, but it is very promising. It won't have to compete with Purple or Woman in White at the Tonys since it is opening sometime in the fall, but it is going to have to combat Poppins and Tarzan. I am scared that the 2007 Tonys will become Disneyfest 2007 due to their money making ability. Let's hope I am wrong on that...