Off B-Way Frankenstein (10/13 Matinee, some spoilers)
Off B-Way Frankenstein (10/13 Matinee, some spoilers)
Off B-Way Frankenstein (10/13 Matinee, some spoilers)#1
Posted: 10/14/07 at 11:12am
First and foremost, this was the fourth preview, so everything should be taken with a mild grain of salt.
Upon sitting down, the lady next to me turned to me with a tearful look, and asked "Did you think you were seeing Young Frankenstein? Because we sure did!." Silly lady.
That said:
Overall, a mixed bag. It has moments of beautiful writing and a wonderful cast of performers, but they're done in by an stock Gothic Pop Opera score and hideous production design. The set, which consists of platforms and stairs, two projection screens, a sliding panel, and enough flashing light to invoke epilepsy, was entirely in hue of black and chrome - I couldn't help but wonder how it all would look with a cobblestone or wood treatment so it looked like a real Victorian laboratory.
The score and book bear an uncanny resemblance to Jekyll and Hyde: we open with a first person narrative flashback to the strains of drawn-out minor chords, our hero's work is decried by some naysaying scholars, at the halfway point he sings a song about how he's going to go ahead with his experiment, and then things go awry.
Hunter Foster does an amazing job with all he has, including a fierce (if not overly-long) 11 o'clock number as he stands on the edge of a projected Arctic Circle, but I found him miscast as a period scholar obsessed with his work - he simply doesn't have the dark streak that made him believable.
Christiane Noll is lovely to look at and hear, as always, playing Emma Carew once again (aka The Victorian Love Interest). Her songs include Love Duet With Male Lead Twenty Minutes Into The Show, Song of Worry That He Loves His Work More Than Me, and Wedding Song.
Steve Blanchard as The Creature gives his all in his physicality that's no doubt left over from Beauty and the Beast, bringing all manner of ferocity and anger to the role, but develops too quickly into an articulate monster of vengeance (a few scenes earlier, he was a lumbering abomination).
The ensemble is solid, with standout turns by Mandy Bruno as the Frankenstein's governess, and Casey Erin Clark as a blind man's daughter - her trio with Blanchard and Aaron Serotsky ("Music of Love"), is a beautifully sung and staged scene showing the Creature's first encounter with sympathy and tenderness (heeehee), and is one of few moments that pierce through the chrome and power ballads and exist as simple, moving theatre.
I'm not one of those that wants a show to flop, and I always have a soft spot for the gothic musical, but I think we've got another Lestat on our hands. Again, only the fourth preview, so there's plenty of time to change and tighten, and I look forward to seeing how this develops over that time.
"Artists are always on the vanguard of change: they give the community a vision."
"Desire comes from the Latin "de sire", or "of the father", or "of the stars". We want what is magical, what is out there, what is of the stars. And so our characters should as well."
"If there are people who don't believe in you, don't hang out with them. Wish them well, wish them peace, and move on."
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/23/06
re: Off B-Way Frankenstein (10/13 Matinee, some spoilers)#2
Posted: 10/14/07 at 11:32am
I was at the same performance, and I have to disagree - I think the production design was really the standout aspect of the show. While some of the projections were misguided (the floating statue heads???), I thought the lighting design in particular was stunning.
I generally thought the show was good, but by the time they got to the great 11 o'clock number, I'd ceased to care. That's... not good. I predict mixed reviews. But I hope for bigger houses - it was maybe 1/3 full.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
re: Off B-Way Frankenstein (10/13 Matinee, some spoilers)#2
Posted: 10/14/07 at 11:38am
It needs the reviews
I doubt the criics will like it & will probably call it Wildhorn lite
Hopefully, the song Why will be gone .It sounds as bad as a number I heard in Ari which was, I believe, a rhyming contest about flowers.
The DEMO cd sounds just like Wildhorn. I am surprised Wildhorn never got around to it.
re: Off B-Way Frankenstein (10/13 Matinee, some spoilers)#3
Posted: 10/14/07 at 2:32pmWhat did the creature look like? Was he green?
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/1/06
re: Off B-Way Frankenstein (10/13 Matinee, some spoilers)#4
Posted: 10/14/07 at 2:48pmNope. Creature is not green. He's flesh colored. All the "creature-y" elements are done with the physical movements of the actor playing the Creature (in this case Blanchard).
LIVE THAT LESSON!!!!!!
re: Off B-Way Frankenstein (10/13 Matinee, some spoilers)#5
Posted: 10/16/07 at 3:08pm
I'm looking forward to seeing the show. I only hope it lasts until I get there in November!!
I've been trying really hard to like the score, based on the concept CD, but it's just a little repetative, stagnant, predictable. ( I do really like the piano underscore in "Birth to My Creation." That's what ends up stuck in my head after listening).
I can't quite imagine Mr. Foster as a tortured scientist either, but Steve Blanchard seems to fit the part of The Creature ok.
Broadway Hottie: Steve Blanchard
www.maninchair.com
re: Off B-Way Frankenstein (10/13 Matinee, some spoilers)#6
Posted: 10/16/07 at 4:51pm
Thanks for posting...and I'm glad I'm not the only one bowled over by the J&H similarities.
maninchair: I'll have to go back and listen for the piano underscore in that number. The only part I remember really caring for was the harmony on "the purest plasma, coursing freely [and following]" part.
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