I saw this again last night. I couldn’t get it - or the songs - out of my head, and a week of thinking about it incessantly got to me. Just a very, very special piece of theatre. I’m so happy it exists.
They’re also clearly putting a lot of effort into fine-tuning it for a larger house over the course of previews. I noticed the mics are a bit louder and the lights dim quicker right at the beginning of the show so the audience drops into the show sooner, some of the dead air has been trimmed to pick up the pace a bit without sacrificing a thing, and the performances are all a bit zippier.
Watching this felt like seeing Jerusalem or John or August: Osage County for the first time. It requires and demands your attention to fully take it in. Yes, it’s lengthy. Yes, it’s dense with character and relationship dynamics. No, nothing much “happens” in the traditionally dramatic sense. But its cumulative effect is transfixing and quietly powerful.
Also, some of the writers of this season’s musical scores could learn a thing or two from Will Butler and David Adjmi about the purpose of music in dramatic storytelling.
Updated On: 4/10/24 at 09:32 PM
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