#1
Posted: 5/25/08 at 1:23pm
Show: SAVED!
Date: Friday May 23, 2008
Cast: Original Cast, no understudies.
Spotted in the Audience: Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Actor), Howard Sherman (Executive Director of the American Theatre Wing).
Review, in Brief (minimum spoilers):
This is a production where what the director, actors, and designers have done is make the most out of a cruddy script. The creative team has, in my opinion, ruined the story. The stage show fails to do what the movie very successfully did.
Before I go any further, I would like to state (SPOILER) that I *HATE* new shows with narrators. I understand that in the film version of SAVED! that the Mary character narrates, but it seems like every new stage show I see, there is a Narrator. And in musicals, the Narrator ALWAYS has an opening musical number to narrate what has been going on with the characters up til the point where the story in the musical really starts. It's a tired device. (END SPOILER)
The director knows what the material is and keeps to it. He doesn't try to make up for the god-awful script (thanksfully).
Technically, the book, music, and lyrics all WORK to make a show. And it's technically written well. However, it does nothing to serve the story. It's only minutely effective.
In the score, the only well-done song is the one in Act I (SPOILER) where Dean is playing basketball with the other guys and sings about how he is attracted to them. (END SPOILER)
There are other songs that serve the story nicely, but none as effective as the one noted above.
I left the show feeling nothing. I didn't care about any of the characters as much as I did when I first watched the film.
In my opinion, I did not care for the opposite take of Hilary Faye's character. She was more effective as a bitch.
I felt so sorry for the actors. They're trying to make the show work, but you can only do so much. And they (and the director and designers) have done A LOT to try to make the show watchable. Which it is. It's a mediocre show. And it's too late to fix anything. They don't open until June, I believe, the the major rewrites that are necessary will not happen.
What I hope the creative team will do is continue the run (extend if they wish), and after they close, do a MAJOR rewrite of the piece and open it at a regional theatre and try again.
I'm pressed for time in writing this review, there are a lot of specifics I did not go into. Any questions, just ask.
(And no, this show should definitely not go to Broadway.)
Date: Friday May 23, 2008
Cast: Original Cast, no understudies.
Spotted in the Audience: Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Actor), Howard Sherman (Executive Director of the American Theatre Wing).
Review, in Brief (minimum spoilers):
This is a production where what the director, actors, and designers have done is make the most out of a cruddy script. The creative team has, in my opinion, ruined the story. The stage show fails to do what the movie very successfully did.
Before I go any further, I would like to state (SPOILER) that I *HATE* new shows with narrators. I understand that in the film version of SAVED! that the Mary character narrates, but it seems like every new stage show I see, there is a Narrator. And in musicals, the Narrator ALWAYS has an opening musical number to narrate what has been going on with the characters up til the point where the story in the musical really starts. It's a tired device. (END SPOILER)
The director knows what the material is and keeps to it. He doesn't try to make up for the god-awful script (thanksfully).
Technically, the book, music, and lyrics all WORK to make a show. And it's technically written well. However, it does nothing to serve the story. It's only minutely effective.
In the score, the only well-done song is the one in Act I (SPOILER) where Dean is playing basketball with the other guys and sings about how he is attracted to them. (END SPOILER)
There are other songs that serve the story nicely, but none as effective as the one noted above.
I left the show feeling nothing. I didn't care about any of the characters as much as I did when I first watched the film.
In my opinion, I did not care for the opposite take of Hilary Faye's character. She was more effective as a bitch.
I felt so sorry for the actors. They're trying to make the show work, but you can only do so much. And they (and the director and designers) have done A LOT to try to make the show watchable. Which it is. It's a mediocre show. And it's too late to fix anything. They don't open until June, I believe, the the major rewrites that are necessary will not happen.
What I hope the creative team will do is continue the run (extend if they wish), and after they close, do a MAJOR rewrite of the piece and open it at a regional theatre and try again.
I'm pressed for time in writing this review, there are a lot of specifics I did not go into. Any questions, just ask.
(And no, this show should definitely not go to Broadway.)
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle
--Aristotle
