Well. That wasn't what I expected.
Going into the show tonight I knew they had revised the score and altered the tone of the piece some. The sample audios the producers leaked early left me unimpressed and kept telling myself, "They're not Emily and Alice and don't expect them to be."
It turns out that those audios should be pulled from the site because they truly are bland and the live performances surpass them, especially Emily Padgett's. I was so worried about them being in the shadow of the originators, and it really wasn't an issue.
What did end up being the problem for me was the poor score, which has been ripped to shreds; even the songs that remain have been tinkered with so much that they might as well be Renee Zellweger's new face.
The biggest loss is (surprisingly) "More Than We Bargained For." It's one of the few original songs that was cut without a similar song replacing it and Buddy and Terry are woefully underdeveloped because of it. That whole section of "Look at where this road leads- to Vaudeville- it's not right, we overlook their needs- they have needs/we're giving them the chance of a lifetime" goes a long way revealing who these two men are and their different approaches to the girls, their feelings, careers, etc.
"When I'm By Your Side" has been replaced with a very similar "Typical Girls Next Door" and I sorely missed "We Share Everything" which has been replaced with a Story of Lucy and Jessie meets Victor/Victoria "Ready to Play." "We Share Everything" is SO much more fun and catchy. The biggest question is why replace these songs with such similar, but lesser numbers? It seems like tinkering for the sake of tinkering.
"Tunnel of Love" has been cut, but the melody does remain and the thrilling, "I am yours, you are mine, it's a sin, it's divine" is still sung, albeit with different lyrics.
I liked David St. Louis, who played Jake. He reminded me of Sahr in Fela!- there's a scary intensity to him and his voice is a little gruff around the edges.
Unfortunately Ryan Silverman, was was fantastic in Passion, and Matthew Hydzik didn't fare so well. They came off as bland and unlikable- a tough combo to overcome. Terry is unlikable on the page and Silverman's staging during the first half of "Private Conversation" kind of leaves him hanging out to dry.
Buddy has to put up with worse though in the biggest head scratcher of the night: One Plus One Equals Three. This has turned into a huge, full ensemble production number straight out of Into the Light and Prince of Central Park. It's campy and shocking.
The stuff that worked best happened in the Side Show with the freaks. "The Devil You Know" was strong, as was the opening. Padgett and Davie had an easy chemistry and Padgett generated genuine laughter. There was a sweetness there that made it easy to root for them.
I didn't care for the added (neverending) flashback sequence about their childhood.
There's not much of a set, but what's there is real and not a bunch of projections. The costumes are great. The sound was excellent for a first preview.
It's hard not watch this revival without expecting Jessica Lange to push the twins out of center stage and sing some David Bowie song. The producers should try to work with FX to run a ticket promotion with DVD pre-orders or something.
All in all a mixed night for me.
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!