The flaws are anything but small. This is a chat board where we express our opinions. I have a BA in theatre and have great respect for it as an art form. I say that, not to sound like a snob, but merely because it seems with this piece there lacks a basic knowledge of convention and structure- you need to know the rules to break them and make an impact. That was my point in making the "we sing because we can't express ourselves any better". Many of the songs have no lead in which takes it from "I'm talking, now I'm singing" making it feel presentational and as someone suggested here calculated and disingenuous. I mentioned Canada once in my thoughts, as did the show, however the latter did so with a song and dance so much so that it's mention was jarring and made little sense to the plot. I am a fan of Louderman, that aside, I've seen her work and in stage presence alone she beats her replacement- you're glossing over the fact that I also mentioned the director as having a one track- pun unintended, view of the character and Louderman has publically said, she departed over creative differences- these boards started the rumor she was hard to work with, which is unfair. There seems to be a level of delusion with this creative team, call it young and dumb, but it's stifling anything this show could be by not admitting flaws. Finally, anyone can indeed "play" a part, but living and breathing the part is what makes a portrayal convincing and truly worthy of admiration- look at Ben Platt's work in DEH, he IS that character, he's not playing a broad idea. Similarly, this is what tipped Audra McDonald's performance in Lady Day from mere imitation to embodiment. This again, falls on the actor, but also the director and the process, and the material which is weak here at best. I'm glad it is encouraging conversation, in that it is a successful piece- you can like it, I do not. As far as meandering ideas, the fact it left so many unanswered questions in a bad way is precisely proof of my point. Also, I am a cabaret artist, and you cannot do a lot with ooo's and ahh's- what makes cabaret great is being able to remove the song from the score and not missing any back story and still convey the story of the piece- that makes any great musical theatre song IMO. I do not in any way think my thoughts are the be all end all of the show, I replied to someone's initial point about their experience. Also, if the show wasn't taking it self so seriously, maybe I wouldn't be, but when a show sets itself as something new and creative and worthy of a bigger audience when it is so heavily flawed, I wish it luck commercially, because thinking you are the best and being unwilling to listen to critics isn't the path to success- ask the creators of Finding Neverland how that went for them- interestingly enough, even during the Broadway run post opening they searched for ways to better the piece, but the damage was done. I expect when I leave a theatre to know the answers as to why now, why this story, who is the audience and what message is it trying to convey- if that's taking it too seriously, I make no apologies, someone needs to be held accountable for that! I encourage the debate to continue.
Updated On: 12/29/16 at 06:32 PM
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