Finally got home from the show, whew! It started a bit late, and we got out around 10:55, so it's running maybe, I dunno, 2:40 including intermission.
I should preface this by saying that I've seen the show five times, so I can't really comment on its effect as a show. I loved the show the first time I saw it, back in the Kazino tent, and I still love it now. Very little has changed lyrically/musically, more in the first act than in the second act. The changes made in the ART production were mostly retained, with a few extra lyrical changes as well. The Bolkonskys number got probably the most cut/rearranged in it.
The performers are still great, though I must say I'm not so hot on their Andrei, who fares better as Old Bolkonsky than as Andrei: it's esp. obvious when he's singing next to Groban, who's actually pretty spectacular. (I was shocked how much I loved Groban and I felt like he really brought Pierre back closer to Tolstoy's version of the character.) Denee was very good, but she was hampered by a very quiet mic. In fact, many of the singers' mics seemed too low, and hopefully they tweak that as the preview period continues, because if this was my first time seeing the show I probably would've missed a lot of the lyrics. Denee also seemed to be maybe holding back a little vocally...Maybe sick? When I saw her in the role at ART, she never had the power of Philippa Soo's voice, but she definitely had more vocal power than she had tonight. I still think she's a better actress than Soo (gasp!).
Lighting was fantastic, orchestra was great, etc.
My seat was in orch row H, house right, and I felt that I had a wonderful view of everything. We had one of the platforms just in front of us, and while occasionally we were getting a faceful of dancing legs, it was staged such that the cast always kept moving, and if your view was blocked one moment, the next moment it wasn't anymore. That said, I didn't really think these platforms were too useful overall...In ART, they were used more for actual staging of scenes, but not at all now, because they're actually set underneath the mezz overhang, so they're not visible to the whole theatre. To those who were asking if these rows right in back of the platforms would offer more legroom, I would say no, because the platforms have solid wood sides with nowhere to put your feet underneath. The seats that might give you a tiny bit more legroom are seats behind the little end-tables that are scattered throughout the orch: you might be able to stick a foot or two under those tables, since they're open underneath. And damn, that legroom is tight in the orch rows!
Ah, and for those who will inevitably ask about merch: there was lots of it tonight! I saw magnets, two types of keychain, coffee mugs, copper booze mugs (like a Moscow Mule-type mug?), posters, the off-Bway CD, and at least three different types of T-shirt. No souvenir playbills yet, or not that I saw.
asked to stand by Mary in the scene with her father - Prince Bolkonsky. That was a first !
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