Posted: 6/3/24 at 9:58pm
The circumstances of this show, and its near-total disappearance once it closed (no cast recording, just a Tony Awards performance and a few YouTube clips) has always been disheartening. But I still remember parts of the show, which I saw in previews, vividly - including some things (the ensemble in chairs and gloves, Brian Stokes Mitchell's full Blackface number) that were cut. The suitcase dance remains my favorite dance I have ever seen. Adrienne Warren was a marvel. If Audra McDonald wasn't perfectly cast, her chemistry with Brandon Victor Dixon was wonderful and several of her songs were terrific. The end of Act 1 was a thrill and Act 2, while flawed in the version I saw, was always interesting and frequently compelling. There's something to be said for an ambitious, flawed but brilliant musical - and looking back, I appreciate it more than I did even at the time. Plus, that cast! It's probably the best cast I've ever seen.
My comment on this page from more than eight years ago was one of my first on this message board (I wrote it a day after I opened an account - heh).
