Posted: 10/24/16 at 10:31pm
So glad to hear these (mostly) positive reports! I'm going tomorrow and just cannot wait. Does anyone think by some miracle the reason Jake called off his Broadway engagement for later this year is due to the fact that they plan to move this? I know it's a long shot but they did say it was due to a scheduling conflict on his behalf!
Posted: 10/24/16 at 10:31pm
With it being a concert staging and the Amount of rehearsals They had, i'm glad to hear that they stuck more with the book than not tbh, i would not bet my life on missing one Sondheim's word as well.
And pls tell me that i can find some audio on tumblr please
Posted: 10/24/16 at 10:37pm
Two best parts of the night. 1. Kelli O'Hara gave the intro. 2. Hearing that orchestra play the score. Listen, 80% of the roles were miscast, most of all Jake as George. I think he may be a fine actor on film and in plays (I saw him in Constellations) but he needs to stop coming into this territory and doing musicals. It's just not for him. Annaleigh made a noble effort and I admired some of her bold choices, but again. Just not right. And what was frustrating was that there were three other ladies in that building tonight who should have/could have played the part better. Carmen Cusack, Kelli O'Hara and Bernadette herself. So that was frustrating. But the show is one of my absolute favorites, so just hearing the music and listening to the story was wonderful
Posted: 10/24/16 at 10:37pm
Ashfford was great! She is like the Jennifer Lawrence of musical theatre. So innately talented. Just seems like she can do anything. Jake obviously has been working with a vocal coach and I thought he was quite formidable. And I had no idea Rashard could sing and I thought she held her own.
The directing was clunky and without flair. Many sequences looked cramped and the small raised platform (used as the main playing area) just made everything worse. You could tell that the actors were uncomfortable and trying like heck not to run into one another. They should have just used the stage floor and not have had actors sitting on the sides while others were doing scene work. It would have given them more room and more decisive entrances and exits.
The costumes were ill fitting and not very flattering. The flow of the show was choppy during the first act and their was a flatness to some of the sequences.. That probably was from lack of rehearsal and the weak direction.
Given all of the visual flaws they probably should have just done a true concert version. Then the concentration could have been on the material, the music, the themes and telling the story. It might have even"looked" more professional.
Posted: 10/24/16 at 10:38pm
"but he needs to stop coming into this territory and doing musicals. It's just not for him."
Kthxbye.
Updated On: 10/24/16 at 10:38 PM
Posted: 10/24/16 at 10:40pm
https://instagram.com/p/BL93_5wDIOx/
Sondheim and Bernadette were there!!!!
I assumed they didnt go on stage for bows???
Posted: 10/24/16 at 10:41pm
What was the running time of tonight's performance?
Posted: 10/24/16 at 10:42pm
Jordan Catalano said: ""but he needs to stop coming into this territory and doing musicals. It's just not for him."
Kthxbye.
Agreed...
"
Posted: 10/24/16 at 10:44pm
I actually can think of no contemporary actor better suited to the role of George than Jake Gyllenhaal. At least not one who actually can sing it and could sell tickets. I would love to see what he and Ashfordwould be like with an actual director guiding them. Not to be a negative Nancy, but clearly the evening was relegated to the director in charge because she was the niece of the librettist.
Posted: 10/24/16 at 10:44pm
I'll echo essentially everything Jordan said. The absolute winner tonight was the show itself. I was so overwhelmed the entire evening. How glorious to hear that full, beautiful orchestra and a strong cast of signers and actors. The original production was scored for 13 musicians as that was the exact amount of colors Seurat used in his painting. The staging was definitely a bit muddled and crowded and many of us in the balcony couldn't see anything they put up on the screen. Also, this didn't detract from my enjoyment of the show, but I thought that JG (who overall was really excellent. His Color and Light and The Day Off were revelations) needed to make his speaking voice less-modern day colloquial sounding when he's playing Seurat. It sounded a bit odd next to others on stage
Anywqy, It was very clear that they needed some additional rehearsal time, and I believe if they did, this would be a pitch perfect production. I maintain still that Analeigh is somewhat miscast in the role (at least in the first act) though she was absolutely beautiful in the second act. Her Children and Art was particularly moving. It didn't matter, though. This show is so beautiful and hits me at the core more than any other musical. I can't recall a time I've been teary-eyed at a show so consistently as I was this evening. The entire supporting cast was absolutely sublime. What a beautiful night this was.
Posted: 10/24/16 at 10:49pm
I am honestly surprised to see many positive reports for Annaleigh. Don’t get me wrong, you can read posts of mine going way back to know that she’s one of my favorite stage actresses ever... but I thought her Dot/Marie was underwhelming. Same for Gyllenhaal’s George, who I thought was okay, but did not deliver the force and power I expect from a George. They were just fine. It’s not like somebody caught these two performing together and said, “Oh, we HAVE to cast them in Sunday together.” I also found the ensemble to be underwhelming considering how many Tony winners and stars are in it. Shoutouts to Phylicia Rashad, Lauren Worsham, and Carmen Cusack, though, who I thought were notably good.
I just wish they picked something else for a staged reading minimal production. ColorTheHours hit the nail on the head by saying it “suffered from a seeming absence of direction and the missing visual elements really made me realize how vital it is to the emotional power of the piece.” Sunday is nothing short of sheer and utter brilliance, but its brilliance relies so much on the visual, which I direly needed tonight. Moreover, only like 60% of the performers were in real costume—either do it all or don’t do any.
Also, scripts in hand also doesn't really cut it for me with this show, where so much of the energy and emotion is human and raw. "Move On," the classic, was performed gorgeously, but seeing the words come straight from a script and out of Annaleigh's mouth removed some of its power for me tonight.
The direction was notably sloppy and disappointing.
As others have said, though, the material itself is just supremely magnificent. It's difficult for me to leave a theatre where Sondheim's heartbreakingly good music was just played and Lapine's stunning writing were just spoken and speak negatively about it, since it’s just a triumph of the theatre. But I guess my hopes with this team were too high.
Posted: 10/24/16 at 10:57pm
I adored it. It was more of a standard staged concert than Encores usually is, but the cast was astonishing and the material is stunning. Gyllenhaal was a revelation. He was great in Little Shop, but I had no idea that he possessed the chops for Sondheim. He does. In spades. Ashford was wonderful and distinctive and extremely moving, especially in Act 2.
Yes, there were a few flubbed lines. Yes, some actors were more reliant than others on the book. And no, there were almost no visual components in a show that can be so visually breathtaking. But dammit, I cried through darn near the whole thing and felt it was perfectly cast. I would love to see a full production built around this cast.
Posted: 10/24/16 at 10:58pm
I think you were expecting something that was never really promised. This was never meant to be a deeper presentation of the material. It was initially a one-night fundraiser for City Center.
Posted: 10/24/16 at 11:00pm
What a glorious show!
What a glorious cast. What a glorious orchestra.
What a glorious evening!
(And it was a BENEFIT CONCERT, you silly , silly, silly people!)
Jake brought color and light to the role: colors of vulnerability and an aloofness brought on by George's fear and the light of an inner radiance that illuminated George's yearning in the writing) From his adorable dogs in "The Day Off" to his immensely moving "Lesson #8" he never seemed to be anything less than magnetic.
Annaleigh Ashford entered the ranks of Actors I Would Be Happy to See in Anything. She was a dream Dot/Marie, and I loved her every moment.
And that cast--all stars! Phylicia Rashad! Ruthie Ann Miles! Carmen Cusack! Lisa Howard! Brooks Ashmanskas! Philip Boykin! Liz McCartney! Lauren Worsham! Zachary Levi! And Claybourne Elder! (I know, I know, he's not the biggest star in that list but I love him and he was perfect.)
And Steve and James. And Georges (with an S).
Every word, every note, even that damn Chromolume.
Art.
Updated On: 10/24/16 at 11:00 PM
Posted: 10/24/16 at 11:02pm
I mean no offence but CARMEN CUSACK was right there and they went with Annaleigh????
Posted: 10/24/16 at 11:04pm
RJ14 said: "I mean no offence but CARMEN CUSACK was right there and they went with Annaleigh????"
I'm literally so tired of hearing this.
Posted: 10/24/16 at 11:06pm
CindersGolightly said: "RJ14 said: "I mean no offence but CARMEN CUSACK was right there and they went with Annaleigh????"
I'm literally so tired of hearing this.
"
The truth needs to be said repeatedly
Posted: 10/24/16 at 11:07pm
I'll echo PJ and give a shoutout to Claybourne Elder, too 
Posted: 10/24/16 at 11:07pm
I know she has played the part, and her sheer talent probably made her wonderful in the role, but Carmen Cusack is totally wrong physically for Dot.
I am curious, reading these reviews, where people sat watching the show. I suspect it was a very different experience from say the front orchestra where I was, to the rear balcony where others were. From where I was sitting, I can't imagine anyone saying they were under powered by Ashford and Gyllenhaal who blew me back in my chair by the strength of their voices in "Move On" and pretty anytime they sang.
Posted: 10/24/16 at 11:08pm
I still say even after tonight that Ashford and Cusack should have switched places.
Posted: 10/24/16 at 11:10pm
I was in the mid-balcony and there was certainly no mistaking the power of the vocals up there.
Posted: 10/24/16 at 11:12pm
I was in the back of the balcony and I had no problem hearing anything.
Posted: 10/24/16 at 11:12pm
I was in the orchestra, QueenAlice, and I maintain that "Move On" was performed very, very well, but the show's lead-up into it didn't elicit the song's usual emotional charge and payoff for me tonight.
Posted: 10/24/16 at 11:13pm
I disagree, I don't think they should have switched places, but I do agree that it's sad to see Carmen have so little to do in a production. But no, I can't think of a role that's more tailored to Annaleigh's talents as both a comedic and dramatic actress than Dot/Marie.
Posted: 10/24/16 at 11:14pm
i can't imagine Annaleigh Ashford playing Yvonne,
