Ok, I am finally posting my thoughts about it. Last night I couldnt bring myself to doing it. I got home, went back out, then straight to bed to mop and mourn. I give you such credit for doing it last night Emcee. I know how hard it was for you too.
Yesterday was such an unbelievable surreal day for me. I have never been to a closing, so I did not know what to expect. All I knew was that it would be something I would remember forever. And it was. I have never been to more emotional, intense, and electrifying show in my life. Every song, dance, scene, action and moment was absolutely wonderful. It is almost indescribable for me. There were no adlibs, or added things into the show as some people might have expected. But i was glad at this fact. It is such an emotional show that I feel anything of that sort could possibly have taken away from it.
--I am not sure how to review the show (i.e going through the scenes or critiqing the actors, so bare with me)--
Everyone has shows that hold special places in their hearts. Momentous shows. RENT was the first Cast Recording I fell in love with. CABARET was the first Broadway show I saw. And yes even WICKED, for it was the first show I saw without knowing anything about it, and came out really liking it. But AIDA always held a unique place in my heart. I bought the OBCR because I knew Adam was on it, and never expected to end up loving it. But I slowly started listening to the songs that Adam was in, and began to fall in love. And once I saw it live it was wonderful.
Last night was no exception. The curtain rose and the audience went wild. Deborah came out, the audience went wild. Then Adam, then Lisa turned around. Every moment was fully appreciated and aknowledged. I tried to etch every thing in to my memory and take everything in.
Lisa's voice is so amazing. When she sings her voice fills the theatre without effort. She looks at ease on stage, and its truely a pleasure to watch. Everystory was flawless and got a great applause after, which sadly is usually overlooked because of it flowing into Fortune. Strongest Suit was so enjoyable. The audience clapped along with the beat during the fashion show, the ensemble members truely gave it there all during that and had so much fun. I Know the Truth was hauntingly good. And was at the point I realized it was truely over. Her acting was impecable. It is great to see her grow from My strongest suit to the end where she finally steps up to the plate. I agree with whoever said that if it wasnt for her and her character I would be sobbing throughout the entire show.
Deborah's vocals were better than I have ever heard her do before. She really went all out for the closing. It seems like all her previous perfomances were building up to this last and final one. Her "The Past is Another Land" was so powerful. It was a song that I always listened to on the CD but never realized its potential until hearing it done yesterday. It is another song that is often not aknowledged by the audience because the dialogue comes so quickly after the end of the song, but again yesterday it was met but a thounderous applause. Her vocals only got stronger as the show continued. Dance of the Robes was stunning and was met but a well deserved standing ovation that lasted a good amount of time. The Gods of Nubia was again flawless and powerful. (it was also a pleasure to see Shele Williams sing it for the final show being that she was an Orignial cast member)This song was again met by a standing ovation, which continued as the houselights were brought up for intermission. EAL. Wow. I feel so repetitive, but she did a splendid job with this. I have always criticized her for the lack of emotion she showed on the Elaborate Lives reprise. I have no complaints now. It was so emotional and powerful and exactly how it should be done. Her acting was good. She has and will always be a singer more than an actress. But she has grown so much in the role and really nailed it.
Adam was in supurbe form. He is nothing if not consistant! His Fortune Favors the Brave was excellent and has so much energy, from him and the ensemble(I was so glad at the applause they recieve when first coming out during Fortune). The raspiness of his voice was there, though seemed to be toned down, which i found unusual, nonetheless, great. EPT, besides the "note" was such a pleasure to watch. Deborah got a great applause when she told him off and gave him the hand that i was afraid that I would be able to hear if he hit the not or not! Elaborate Lives was so memorable. Adam and Deborah's voices blend so beautifully together. Like Father, is always a pleasure to watch because it is perfect for Adam. His range, his style, everything. The raspiness was there in full force for that song and was excellent. Radames Letter was so touching. It still amazes me how much emotion he can portray with his voice, and is great to hear him sing in his falsetto. He has grown so much as an actor since he left the show. I credit CABARET for that. And there is so much more growing he can do that once he reaches his full potential it will be wonderful.
Everything about the show was perfect that night. It really hit me that it was closing when i saw The Eye of Horase (sp?) lift for act 2 to begin. That is when I knew, truelly, that once they stop performing that is IT. During the first Act, you got a break and knew that you would go back to your seat and see more. But this was not the case for the second Act. As soon as they finished what they had to do it was done. It was hard to handle. Like Emcee said, I shut down my emotions too. Something I do quite often for "big" things like this.
For those of you who are still reading - i realize that i wrote an extremely long post but i felt it needed to be done to do it justice - the show was so well done. The entire cast gave 150% of everything they had. I felt honored to be there.
--will most-likely just copy and past this and put it on the Adam thread too.--
EDIT - spelling/grammer etc.
Though scattered and divided we are still its heart...AIDA SEPTEMBER 5th, 2004...one more longing backward glance...
I AM NOW "TGIF!"
Updated On: 9/6/04 at 05:00 PM
Not good.
