#76
Posted: 10/4/09 at 10:53am
So far this year at NYMF has been excellent, and I seriously doubt anything will be able to outdo what I saw last night. Hurricane is simply one of the best new musicals I am familiar with of the past 5 years. I have my program handy to single out members of this uber-talented cast and creative team.
Michael Holland is credited with the score and shares a book credit with Eric Bernat. The score is absolutely breathtaking. A combination of Parade, Ragtime and Titanic, I can't tell you how much this soared when sung by all 33 voices of the cast. There is no orchestrations credit, but whoever did them deserves commendation as well, because it sounded like a 30 piece orchestra last night.
Jesse Vargas was Musical Director, and he had this cast singing in astounding perfection. There are a few Broadway shows Vargas could visit to clean up the slop that is happening on stage.
The direction by Michael Rush was really well done. These spaces are so tiny, and a story about a hurrican is SO big, especially when told by a cast this size. The fluidity of the staging was great. The pose at the end of the first number gave me chills alone!
Now for the cast. Steven Booth played a meteorologist who predicted a hurricane will devastate Rhode Island, even though his boss thought it could never happen. Steven was in wonderful voice, and created a nice character arc as he became more and more desparate to warn this town.
The rest of the action took place in Napatree, Rhode Island. Christy Morton played a Betty Draper-esque housewife with a killer voice. She had a rocky relationship with husband John Antony. I found her to be so captivating on stage, and maybe it was because of some similarities in the role, but I think she would make a superb Mother in Ragtime.
There was an Irish immigrant Mother played by Karen Elliot, who had a great act one lament about her life in New England and trying to deal with her daughter, played by Brittany Lee Hamilton. Her daughter was involved with a Portuguese boy (Joey Khoury) and they wanted to run off together. Elliot couldn't deal with the interracial relationship, but it never devolved into the cliches brought up with this stuff (see Memphis for all cliches brought up by this stuff).
Zachary Clause played the Portuguese boyfriend's "sensitive" brother who wanted to move to the big city and be a dancer. The gay subtext was so expertly handled it was almost shocking, as subtlety isn't something found in musicals much nowadays.
There was a trio of sisters, brilliantly sung by Natalie Charle Ellis, Catherine Charlebois and Mishaela Faucher. Vargas probably deserves some credit her for having them so well rehearsed, but they had every harmony and dance movement down. I mean I thought this shows only had a few weeks to rehearse!
The father of the two Portuguese boys (he was White and the mother, who was dead, was Portuguese) had a gripping act 2 diatribe at God for all the misfortunes that had fallen on his family.
Lastly, the living LEGEND Rita Gardner deserves an all out rave for her performance as the town busybody. I searched the internet for her birthday and it doesn't seem to exist, but she must be near 70. This is impossible to tell after last night. She bounced around the stage, and more importantly her voice hasn't worsened with age AT ALL! She has that same lovely soprano she had during the Fantasticks/Family Affair era. A true treat to see this woman on stage.
Ok, well I may have been a little gushy about this, but I even decided to sleep on it before I wrote anything and this is still how I feel. I cannot recommend this show more strongly. It must have life after this festival, or at least a recording. This is a score, and these are performances that should be heard again.
Michael Holland is credited with the score and shares a book credit with Eric Bernat. The score is absolutely breathtaking. A combination of Parade, Ragtime and Titanic, I can't tell you how much this soared when sung by all 33 voices of the cast. There is no orchestrations credit, but whoever did them deserves commendation as well, because it sounded like a 30 piece orchestra last night.
Jesse Vargas was Musical Director, and he had this cast singing in astounding perfection. There are a few Broadway shows Vargas could visit to clean up the slop that is happening on stage.
The direction by Michael Rush was really well done. These spaces are so tiny, and a story about a hurrican is SO big, especially when told by a cast this size. The fluidity of the staging was great. The pose at the end of the first number gave me chills alone!
Now for the cast. Steven Booth played a meteorologist who predicted a hurricane will devastate Rhode Island, even though his boss thought it could never happen. Steven was in wonderful voice, and created a nice character arc as he became more and more desparate to warn this town.
The rest of the action took place in Napatree, Rhode Island. Christy Morton played a Betty Draper-esque housewife with a killer voice. She had a rocky relationship with husband John Antony. I found her to be so captivating on stage, and maybe it was because of some similarities in the role, but I think she would make a superb Mother in Ragtime.
There was an Irish immigrant Mother played by Karen Elliot, who had a great act one lament about her life in New England and trying to deal with her daughter, played by Brittany Lee Hamilton. Her daughter was involved with a Portuguese boy (Joey Khoury) and they wanted to run off together. Elliot couldn't deal with the interracial relationship, but it never devolved into the cliches brought up with this stuff (see Memphis for all cliches brought up by this stuff).
Zachary Clause played the Portuguese boyfriend's "sensitive" brother who wanted to move to the big city and be a dancer. The gay subtext was so expertly handled it was almost shocking, as subtlety isn't something found in musicals much nowadays.
There was a trio of sisters, brilliantly sung by Natalie Charle Ellis, Catherine Charlebois and Mishaela Faucher. Vargas probably deserves some credit her for having them so well rehearsed, but they had every harmony and dance movement down. I mean I thought this shows only had a few weeks to rehearse!
The father of the two Portuguese boys (he was White and the mother, who was dead, was Portuguese) had a gripping act 2 diatribe at God for all the misfortunes that had fallen on his family.
Lastly, the living LEGEND Rita Gardner deserves an all out rave for her performance as the town busybody. I searched the internet for her birthday and it doesn't seem to exist, but she must be near 70. This is impossible to tell after last night. She bounced around the stage, and more importantly her voice hasn't worsened with age AT ALL! She has that same lovely soprano she had during the Fantasticks/Family Affair era. A true treat to see this woman on stage.
Ok, well I may have been a little gushy about this, but I even decided to sleep on it before I wrote anything and this is still how I feel. I cannot recommend this show more strongly. It must have life after this festival, or at least a recording. This is a score, and these are performances that should be heard again.
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
