Night Music at Barrington Stage — Page 2

I thought Danieley and Piel come off best in the clips, Piel's refusal to be docile in her dotage a welcome change. But to be fair to everyone else, the camera is right on top of these actors. The costuming seems vaguely redolent of France, not Sweden. And all of that shimmering fabric isn't evocative. I saw the original, the first national, the West End iterations of the original staging, and cannot hide my bias. It's a hard show to get right in the designs, yet the palette here is oddly garish, almost at odds with the material. The look used in the last B'way revival, the black and white emphasis, nailed the elegance.

I was at yesterday's matinee and was really bummed to see that Emily Skinner was out, since she was the main reason I made the trip. Her understudy looks a lot like Kate McKinnon! I'm not sure if this was the first time she went on, but she did a fine job. She looks too young for it, though - I'd guess she's at least 10-15 years younger than Emily.

Overall I really enjoyed it - I'll echo what's been said by others and point out that Sierra is definitely the highlight, followed by Mary Beth Peil. This is the perfect part for Sierra to start transitioning from ingenues to more mature roles.

Incidentally, God, Anne is a thankless role.

Skip23 said: "GlindatheGood22 said: "Incidentally, God, Anne is a thankless role."



Not when Victoria Mallory did it.



"

Alas, I wasn't born yet! I did see the Broadway revival and don't remember if Ramona Mallory giggled quite as much as this Anne, who laughs uproariously even while searching for the would-be-suicidal Henrik. It does seem that the script goes out of its way to make her frivolous, even after her awakening. ("Do you think the horses will be smart? I do so hate riding in a gig when the horses aren't smart." The way this production's Anne runs around with her poofy dress really recalls Cinderella - made me wonder what someone like Pippa Soo or Denee Benton might do with the part.

Caught today’s matinee. Lovely regional production heavily carried by most of the leads. This doesn’t make the best case for the musical (would have killed to see the original) but it was far better than second rate. I agree with the poster above who suggested this is a nice move for Boggess into more substantial and less ingenue parts.

As an aside, I can easily see Jason Danieley coming in as the Baker if there are future casts of ITW. Boggess as the Baker’s Wife also would be a creative choice