#1
Posted: 1/10/10 at 7:21pm
I mustered enough strength to bear the cold to rush A Little Night Music- for the curious, the maximum amount of people who could buy tickets was met by 11am easily. I'm sure if it hadn't been 16 degrees this morning, it would've been met earlier.
I was terribly afraid that my amount of time in the frigid air was going to lead to disappointment, going on all of the glorious opinions I've read on this board.
Perhaps my expectations were shot down so much that I was bound to enjoy this production, but I found it to be an extremely strong production and an extremely enjoyable time at the theatre; the 3-ish hours went by in a flash (thank god, considering standing that long is a feat).
My only experience with A Little Night Music comes from the original cast recording and the movie. So my only good experience comes from the original cast recording. When I first saw the promo video and heard the pared down orchestrations, I was nervous. And I very rarely kvetch about pared down orchestrations. But they worked for this production. The score's magnificence manages to be drawn out of even this small collection of instruments. The vocals were all wonderful from the whole cast.
In fact, I enjoyed the entire cast, mostly. The weak link was, for me, Ramona Mallory. Yes, in the first half she acts like a caffeinated manic-depressive chihuahua, ricocheting around the stage switching from giggly hysteria to weepy hysteria like it was being decided for her offstage on a roulette wheel. She mellows out considerably in the second act (in fact, the show gels the most in the second act and miraculously sheds a lot of its troubles) But her voice is wonderful, and I feel that she suffered from poor direction.
In fact, this production is riddled with poor directorial choices. Could Hunter Ryan Herdlicka not hit that note in "Later", or was it Nunn's choosing to have him... shriek it? (I, contrary to a lot of other people on this board, thought Herdlicka otherwise delivers a fine performance). Why does everyone in the first act meander purposelessly? I understand not wanting to have your actors look like they've been nailed to the boards during solos, but having them aimlessly wander like balloons set adrift is just as bad.
Angela Lansbury is wonderful as Mme. Armfeldt- though not as transcendent a performance as some would have you believe. Yes, she's good and the audience eats her up. And it's wonderful to hear her sing- presumably in the last musical she will ever do.
Zeta-Jones... well, I've had a place in my heart for her since Chicago. I thought she was terrific. I was worried, based on that promo video, she was going to be very big and false. Yet, upon watching that video again, it seems as though she has developed a GREAT deal, to the point where what's on that video is almost a caricature of what she delivers on stage. Her "Clowns" was, in my opinion, sublime.
Alexander Hanson was a great Frederik, though I feel he would slip into speak-singing at very odd times, particularly during "You Must Meet My Wife". It's not as though he can't sing- he can, and very well.
I had been led to believe that Erin Davie, in the first act, would be a weepy, heart-on-sleeve hysteric mess as Charlotte. Yet, I did not see that. She does indeed "break down" in her scene with Anne, but regains composure extremely quickly and delivers a "Everyday A Little Death" that is both cool and self-deprecating. Her Charlotte is still very dry, and at the performance I attended this afternoon got all of her laughs. Yet, she is not cold. I thought her take was slightly different, yet not wrong and it was quite affecting.
Aaron Lazar is great as Count Carl-Magnus, with perfect machismo and pomposity. Was his shirtless bit just stuck in there for fan service? Well, it was delightful, either way.
I don't understand the vitriol launched against this revival. But I have no experience with the fabled original production, I'm a generation or two removed from that. I can't say if the recording of this revival will ever take the place of the original for me, probably not. Yet this production was hardly offensive, and very enjoyable indeed. And the audience responded beautifully. I can't even remember the last time I saw an embrace get as much applause as when Desiree and Frederik at last end up together.
I was terribly afraid that my amount of time in the frigid air was going to lead to disappointment, going on all of the glorious opinions I've read on this board.
Perhaps my expectations were shot down so much that I was bound to enjoy this production, but I found it to be an extremely strong production and an extremely enjoyable time at the theatre; the 3-ish hours went by in a flash (thank god, considering standing that long is a feat).
My only experience with A Little Night Music comes from the original cast recording and the movie. So my only good experience comes from the original cast recording. When I first saw the promo video and heard the pared down orchestrations, I was nervous. And I very rarely kvetch about pared down orchestrations. But they worked for this production. The score's magnificence manages to be drawn out of even this small collection of instruments. The vocals were all wonderful from the whole cast.
In fact, I enjoyed the entire cast, mostly. The weak link was, for me, Ramona Mallory. Yes, in the first half she acts like a caffeinated manic-depressive chihuahua, ricocheting around the stage switching from giggly hysteria to weepy hysteria like it was being decided for her offstage on a roulette wheel. She mellows out considerably in the second act (in fact, the show gels the most in the second act and miraculously sheds a lot of its troubles) But her voice is wonderful, and I feel that she suffered from poor direction.
In fact, this production is riddled with poor directorial choices. Could Hunter Ryan Herdlicka not hit that note in "Later", or was it Nunn's choosing to have him... shriek it? (I, contrary to a lot of other people on this board, thought Herdlicka otherwise delivers a fine performance). Why does everyone in the first act meander purposelessly? I understand not wanting to have your actors look like they've been nailed to the boards during solos, but having them aimlessly wander like balloons set adrift is just as bad.
Angela Lansbury is wonderful as Mme. Armfeldt- though not as transcendent a performance as some would have you believe. Yes, she's good and the audience eats her up. And it's wonderful to hear her sing- presumably in the last musical she will ever do.
Zeta-Jones... well, I've had a place in my heart for her since Chicago. I thought she was terrific. I was worried, based on that promo video, she was going to be very big and false. Yet, upon watching that video again, it seems as though she has developed a GREAT deal, to the point where what's on that video is almost a caricature of what she delivers on stage. Her "Clowns" was, in my opinion, sublime.
Alexander Hanson was a great Frederik, though I feel he would slip into speak-singing at very odd times, particularly during "You Must Meet My Wife". It's not as though he can't sing- he can, and very well.
I had been led to believe that Erin Davie, in the first act, would be a weepy, heart-on-sleeve hysteric mess as Charlotte. Yet, I did not see that. She does indeed "break down" in her scene with Anne, but regains composure extremely quickly and delivers a "Everyday A Little Death" that is both cool and self-deprecating. Her Charlotte is still very dry, and at the performance I attended this afternoon got all of her laughs. Yet, she is not cold. I thought her take was slightly different, yet not wrong and it was quite affecting.
Aaron Lazar is great as Count Carl-Magnus, with perfect machismo and pomposity. Was his shirtless bit just stuck in there for fan service? Well, it was delightful, either way.
I don't understand the vitriol launched against this revival. But I have no experience with the fabled original production, I'm a generation or two removed from that. I can't say if the recording of this revival will ever take the place of the original for me, probably not. Yet this production was hardly offensive, and very enjoyable indeed. And the audience responded beautifully. I can't even remember the last time I saw an embrace get as much applause as when Desiree and Frederik at last end up together.
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."
Updated On: 1/14/10 at 07:21 PM
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