#1
Posted: 9/11/09 at 1:53am
Considering most of you will take this all with a grain of salt regardless of what I say, I'll just be totally, 100% honest in my feelings about the show.
Start with the stuff I didn't like:
Gina Gershon - I was highly disappointed. Her singing is... bad. Her dancing is non-existent (clearly as a result of her lack of ability, sadly). Her acting is off. What she does have is the sex appeal. I feel like much of her issue is nervousness or discomfort. Much of the issue that I had with her will fall away as the lengthy preview period wears on, but there are quite a few things that will stick, unfortunately. She's no Chita. I wanted so badly to like her, but now that I've seen her, I wish another actress had been cast. Sorry, Gina! I still love you <3
John Stamos - I'm not sure what he was doing with Albert, but he came off as 1) a closeted homosexual and 2) a loser. Albert is neither of those things. His dancing was sloppy and his acting (clearly) was all wrong. But his voice was surprisingly very nice. If only the other two elements came up to par.
Overall, it was a major downer that the two central characters suddenly seemed like ensemble players. Their plotline suddenly became the B plot. Sad.
What I liked:
The set - The base set is three walls of white tiling with different patterns (flowers, arrows, letters, polka dots) that are lit in different colors and slid all over. Onto the stage are brought very mod and TV sitcom-y set pieces. Like "The Brady Bunch" meets "Leave it to Beaver" on acid. It was very colorful and bubblegummy and it fit the tone perfectly. The use of a moving floor (a la original INTO THE WOODS) allowed not only for some fun scene changes, but also some interesting blocking. Also, the use of projections here and there was great. Not over the top or excessive, but subtle things. The use of them during the overture was a really fun way to get the show started.
The costumes - Like the set, very vibrant and cute. Fit the tone.
The choreography - Excellent. It all worked very nicely with the music and concept of the show. What else is there really to say? It just worked.
The teens - Damn, those kids are good. "The Telephone Hour" was so much fun. As were every other group number. They all just look so into it and had so much energy and it made me smile every time they came onstage.
Jayne Houdyshell & Bill Irwin - They steal the show, like other posters have said. They stand serious shots at Tony noms. They're both true comedic geniuses. It just can't be denied. My only issue with Bill Irwin was during "Kids." I'm not sure if he can't sing or if he chose to just ham it up to the max, but I couldn't understand a word he was saying. And I know the song.
Nolan Gerard Funk - I was shocked by him. I was expecting nothing from him and he was a great Conrad. His pop vocals came through sometimes just a little too much, but overall, he really got Conrad down. His dancing isn't bad either. I was pleasantly surprised. His Conrad is less Elvis and more Jonas Brother, but I'm pretty sure that was the point. It works better than I thought it would, thanks mostly to the bubbly concept.
Allie Trimm - She has a great voice and she certainly gets most of the humor. But everyone else is doing a much more satirical comedy than she is and so some of her jokes fall flat. She'll get better. Also, she tries to hard to get her vibrato to go and you can see it in her face. But I liked her a lot.
The rest of the cast was great, too. The standouts in smaller roles were Matt Doyle's adorable Hugo and Brynn Williams's hysterical Ursula. The show, from a technical standpoint, is in great shape. The performances need some fixing, everywhere from simple tweaking to entire re-imagining. I plan to go back once the show opens so as to get a better feel for how much has changed.
Start with the stuff I didn't like:
Gina Gershon - I was highly disappointed. Her singing is... bad. Her dancing is non-existent (clearly as a result of her lack of ability, sadly). Her acting is off. What she does have is the sex appeal. I feel like much of her issue is nervousness or discomfort. Much of the issue that I had with her will fall away as the lengthy preview period wears on, but there are quite a few things that will stick, unfortunately. She's no Chita. I wanted so badly to like her, but now that I've seen her, I wish another actress had been cast. Sorry, Gina! I still love you <3
John Stamos - I'm not sure what he was doing with Albert, but he came off as 1) a closeted homosexual and 2) a loser. Albert is neither of those things. His dancing was sloppy and his acting (clearly) was all wrong. But his voice was surprisingly very nice. If only the other two elements came up to par.
Overall, it was a major downer that the two central characters suddenly seemed like ensemble players. Their plotline suddenly became the B plot. Sad.
What I liked:
The set - The base set is three walls of white tiling with different patterns (flowers, arrows, letters, polka dots) that are lit in different colors and slid all over. Onto the stage are brought very mod and TV sitcom-y set pieces. Like "The Brady Bunch" meets "Leave it to Beaver" on acid. It was very colorful and bubblegummy and it fit the tone perfectly. The use of a moving floor (a la original INTO THE WOODS) allowed not only for some fun scene changes, but also some interesting blocking. Also, the use of projections here and there was great. Not over the top or excessive, but subtle things. The use of them during the overture was a really fun way to get the show started.
The costumes - Like the set, very vibrant and cute. Fit the tone.
The choreography - Excellent. It all worked very nicely with the music and concept of the show. What else is there really to say? It just worked.
The teens - Damn, those kids are good. "The Telephone Hour" was so much fun. As were every other group number. They all just look so into it and had so much energy and it made me smile every time they came onstage.
Jayne Houdyshell & Bill Irwin - They steal the show, like other posters have said. They stand serious shots at Tony noms. They're both true comedic geniuses. It just can't be denied. My only issue with Bill Irwin was during "Kids." I'm not sure if he can't sing or if he chose to just ham it up to the max, but I couldn't understand a word he was saying. And I know the song.
Nolan Gerard Funk - I was shocked by him. I was expecting nothing from him and he was a great Conrad. His pop vocals came through sometimes just a little too much, but overall, he really got Conrad down. His dancing isn't bad either. I was pleasantly surprised. His Conrad is less Elvis and more Jonas Brother, but I'm pretty sure that was the point. It works better than I thought it would, thanks mostly to the bubbly concept.
Allie Trimm - She has a great voice and she certainly gets most of the humor. But everyone else is doing a much more satirical comedy than she is and so some of her jokes fall flat. She'll get better. Also, she tries to hard to get her vibrato to go and you can see it in her face. But I liked her a lot.
The rest of the cast was great, too. The standouts in smaller roles were Matt Doyle's adorable Hugo and Brynn Williams's hysterical Ursula. The show, from a technical standpoint, is in great shape. The performances need some fixing, everywhere from simple tweaking to entire re-imagining. I plan to go back once the show opens so as to get a better feel for how much has changed.
Updated On: 9/11/09 at 01:53 AM
