#1
Posted: 7/15/06 at 2:28am
Today (July 14th, 2006) I saw the night show of Brooklyn: The Musical. First off, the Fox Theater is - like so many of you said - beautiful. Wow. I had to walk around the entire theater to see everything. It was breathtaking and enormous. I kept thinking about how Wicked would have look at the theater, considering the stage is so vast. The Brooklyn set didn't really fill it up, but it also didn't look too diminutive on the stage. The clouds were a really cool effect. I'm still not sure how they did that. I didn't feel to touristy considering about half the audience was doing the same thing.
As for the show, well, I knew going in that it was going to be horrible. In the sense that the book is very weak and the lyrics are quite terrible. It lived up to my expecatations. The performances were all around great and for the most part I forgot about how terrible the lyrics were, but there were some VERY low points. For instance, when Taylor Collins (I kept thinking about how Lee Morgan looked like Taylor Hicks with his grey hair - or maybe it was just the light) does his whole "drug usage" scene. It was just a very laughable scene. I wasn't sure if it was the show, or Lee Morgan's talent, but that whole sequences stuck out. I heard the girl behind me say "This is dumb." I have to agree. The whole war sequence where he's shooting people with his guitar - stupid. They need to cut that / rewrite it or something because it just is bad. However, the song that follows, "The Truth" is quite good and catchy - though Lee Morgan uses this weird raspy, whisper thing that doesn't work. The rest of the show was great, or at least entertaining.
Diana Degarmo was great in the part. She's from Atlanta, Ga - or close enough, so there was a lot of support for her. She sang the sh*t out of that role. She has such a naturally beautiful voice. I think I preferred her rendition of the songs more than Eden because Diana's singing came off as so natural and effortless. Her acting wasn't half bad either.
Melba Moore looks good for her age. She messed up a lot of lines, but she landed all the good comedic lines. She slurred a lot of her lines, but somehow that worked. She had this weird "pimp walk/bad knee" thing going, but if she was in pain, she hid it well. She could sing pertty well and hit some incredible high notes. The crowd seemed to love her.
Cleavant Derrricks had a lot of heart in his performance. He must love the project to want to tour with it. His singing was good, although I heard this really white hick man behind me (granted we're in the south) say after the show, "I really liked it until that old black guy started singing."
Lee Morgan - He was okay. He seemed to be really into the music and his singing was okay, though I'm not sure how his career in musical theater will further granted it seems he's straining to sing every note. I wanted to like it, but for some reason everything he said came across as phony. Like I said before, I'm not sure how much is the script or his acting, but something didn't come together.
Julie Reiber - she was my favorite. She just played each role so well. Her "Faith" was beautiful. I think "Faith" is the bet written part out of the entire show. She doesn't really have any cheesy lines or sequences to deliver and she has one of the best songs - "Christmas Makes Me Cry." Everytime I'd watch Julie in the background she seemd to be so into the show and the roles and delivered a steller performance.
The set was great. I was so interested to see how everything would be incorporated. It was very inventive and creative, as were the costumes. The costumes were really interesting to watch. It was cool how they just used found objects for the costumes and most of the set. I wonder though, do they have to repaint that wall every night (and twice on matiness) and do they have a new shower curtaine very night (the one where Brooklyn spray paints on).
On a side note, after the performance when they were bowing, they thanked the band and I was sitting 7 rows back, and the crowd split and I saw John McDaniel. I didn't realize he was there. That was pretty cool just because I had watched him on the Rosie O'Donnell show for so long.
That concludes the review. Now I have to get back to the Fox because they have a great upcoming season.
As for the show, well, I knew going in that it was going to be horrible. In the sense that the book is very weak and the lyrics are quite terrible. It lived up to my expecatations. The performances were all around great and for the most part I forgot about how terrible the lyrics were, but there were some VERY low points. For instance, when Taylor Collins (I kept thinking about how Lee Morgan looked like Taylor Hicks with his grey hair - or maybe it was just the light) does his whole "drug usage" scene. It was just a very laughable scene. I wasn't sure if it was the show, or Lee Morgan's talent, but that whole sequences stuck out. I heard the girl behind me say "This is dumb." I have to agree. The whole war sequence where he's shooting people with his guitar - stupid. They need to cut that / rewrite it or something because it just is bad. However, the song that follows, "The Truth" is quite good and catchy - though Lee Morgan uses this weird raspy, whisper thing that doesn't work. The rest of the show was great, or at least entertaining.
Diana Degarmo was great in the part. She's from Atlanta, Ga - or close enough, so there was a lot of support for her. She sang the sh*t out of that role. She has such a naturally beautiful voice. I think I preferred her rendition of the songs more than Eden because Diana's singing came off as so natural and effortless. Her acting wasn't half bad either.
Melba Moore looks good for her age. She messed up a lot of lines, but she landed all the good comedic lines. She slurred a lot of her lines, but somehow that worked. She had this weird "pimp walk/bad knee" thing going, but if she was in pain, she hid it well. She could sing pertty well and hit some incredible high notes. The crowd seemed to love her.
Cleavant Derrricks had a lot of heart in his performance. He must love the project to want to tour with it. His singing was good, although I heard this really white hick man behind me (granted we're in the south) say after the show, "I really liked it until that old black guy started singing."
Lee Morgan - He was okay. He seemed to be really into the music and his singing was okay, though I'm not sure how his career in musical theater will further granted it seems he's straining to sing every note. I wanted to like it, but for some reason everything he said came across as phony. Like I said before, I'm not sure how much is the script or his acting, but something didn't come together.
Julie Reiber - she was my favorite. She just played each role so well. Her "Faith" was beautiful. I think "Faith" is the bet written part out of the entire show. She doesn't really have any cheesy lines or sequences to deliver and she has one of the best songs - "Christmas Makes Me Cry." Everytime I'd watch Julie in the background she seemd to be so into the show and the roles and delivered a steller performance.
The set was great. I was so interested to see how everything would be incorporated. It was very inventive and creative, as were the costumes. The costumes were really interesting to watch. It was cool how they just used found objects for the costumes and most of the set. I wonder though, do they have to repaint that wall every night (and twice on matiness) and do they have a new shower curtaine very night (the one where Brooklyn spray paints on).
On a side note, after the performance when they were bowing, they thanked the band and I was sitting 7 rows back, and the crowd split and I saw John McDaniel. I didn't realize he was there. That was pretty cool just because I had watched him on the Rosie O'Donnell show for so long.
That concludes the review. Now I have to get back to the Fox because they have a great upcoming season.
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