#1
Posted: 12/2/06 at 5:53pm
*NOTE--some possible spoilers--and I wrote some of this last night and some today. I also saw the show again today :-P*
Ah! I had been waiting for this show to come to town for several months now! I was going to try to see the show Tuesday night, but couldn't find a friend to go with or the funds to afford a 16 dollar ticket.
Well, tonight--I went. I sat down in my 2nd to last row in the balcony seat, surprised at how close I still was to the stage. Sure, I was high up--but...eh, ok. I moved down to the first row of the balcony. It was a sad site. The Majestic Theater was not full at all! Well, the balcony where I was (that probably sat about 500 or 600 people) had about 50 people in it, making it very easy to scoot up.
Now--on to the actual show!
Well, the show started--and I'll just say the things that I thought stuck out.
-First off--Jennifer Simard is fabulous. She brings a new take to the role of Rona. She has a fabulous voice and she has great comedic timing. Her hair kind of bothered me though, I'm not going to lie. Maybe it was just from where I was sitting--which was still up pretty high.
-Miguel Cervantes--he did a very nice job as Chip! His voice was very different from Jose's (is that the original's name?). He couldn't sing some of the higher notes--which he took down an octave, but it was ok. He certainly does not look like an adolescent. His performance was good--and his "My Unfortunate Erection" was hilarious. The audience loved it!
-Eric Peterson as Barfee--one of my favorite cast members. He was a lot like Dan Fogler, but at the same time, he brought his own new mannerisms to the role. He was funny and had great energy!
-Katie Boren as Marcy Park--I immediately noticed, she sounded like she had a deeper, more mature sounding voice than Deborah. She seemed much more intimidating than Deborah, and she did a pretty good job. Her I Speak Six Languages was pretty good, but for some reason, the piano bit just didn't make me laugh nearly as hard as the first time I saw it. Perhaps it was the fact that I was expecting it...
-Michael Zahler as Leaf Coneybear--one of the first things I noticed was that his voice was a little higher than Jesse's. He seemed to be having a hard time hitting some of the lower notes (which aren't that low), but he still did a very good job. He didn't miss a beat. He was hilarious as one of Logainne's dads.
-Alan H. Green as Mitch--well, I personally didn't care for his voice (it was very airy) at first--but he totally won me over with his Prayer of the Comfort Counselor. That song probably stole the entire show. It had the audience cheering because he was holding some notes out for a long time and it was great. Alan looked MUCH more intimidating than Derrick. Derrick was kind of scrawny looking, while Alan had muscle. It was impressive to see him go from an incredibly scary looking man to the flamboyantly gay father of Logainne. He was fabulous!
-James Kall as Panch--absolutely hilarious for the most part. He sounds just like the man on the original cast recording--which was kind of nice for me, since it usually takes some adjusting for me to get used to a new voice. He did throw away some lines that had potential to be very funny, but he did a fabulous job anyways. I liked him a lot.
-Sarah Stiles as Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre--well, I noticed that her voice is much higher than Sarah Saltzberg's, but that was alright. She was hilarious in all of her scenes/songs. She had a hard time singing some of the lower notes. She brought a new take to the role. She played Logainne much more innocent than Sarah S. I almost wanted to cry in the Woe Is Me reprise. She did a teriffic job. I know that she was an understudy on Broadway, and I hope that when Sarah S. leaves the show that this Sarah will take over!
Now--I've been saving Lauren Worsham as Olive for last. Olive is my favorite character in the show--and Lauren brought a very different take to the role than Celia did. Celia played Olive being very reserved and cool. Lauren played the role very CRAZY and much more like a 10 year old would be. Well, maybe she played it like a 5 year old would. During the earlier scenes, it was great--but in my favorite scene in the show, "The I Love You Song", the song wasn't quite as touching. I guess I'm just so used to Celia. Don't get me wrong--I loved Lauren's take on the role. I just didn't care for her I Love You Song quite as much. It was just a different take on it.
The audience members that came up--2 out of 4 of them were a little annoying...trying to be their own character on stage...one of them, on the word MEXICANS asked "for a definition...por favor". I liked the final girl who was left. She was definitely showing some cleavage--and her first introduction (when she was walking up to the mic) was, "Ashley (I think was her name) had an argument this morning with her mother and told her, 'Mom, it's not that big of a deal! It's only a spelling bee. I don't need to wear a bra!" At that point, she almost died--she was so embarrassed. She used her number card to cover up her...assets.
Now--the show itself is almost exactly the same as it is on Broadway, but I noticed a few changes...
-No more anti-Bush speech by Logainne after the cell phone incident? She talked about Kramer from Seinfeld last week--and it was funny, but just not the same. Is this how it is in all the cities or just in Dallas?
-Logainne no longer says "Jesus Christ!" in Woe Is Me, and instead says, "Jeez Louise!" Again, a Texas thing, perhaps?
-Of course, there are several Dallas references in the show--very funny ones--references to DART (our main transportation system), Terell Owens and Deep Ellum.
The show is great and the audience loved it! If you're in town, be sure to try to catch one of the last 3 performances! Either tonight at 7 (I believe), or one of the 2 shows tomorrow (at 2 and 7). You won't be disappointed!
Ah! I had been waiting for this show to come to town for several months now! I was going to try to see the show Tuesday night, but couldn't find a friend to go with or the funds to afford a 16 dollar ticket.
Well, tonight--I went. I sat down in my 2nd to last row in the balcony seat, surprised at how close I still was to the stage. Sure, I was high up--but...eh, ok. I moved down to the first row of the balcony. It was a sad site. The Majestic Theater was not full at all! Well, the balcony where I was (that probably sat about 500 or 600 people) had about 50 people in it, making it very easy to scoot up.
Now--on to the actual show!
Well, the show started--and I'll just say the things that I thought stuck out.
-First off--Jennifer Simard is fabulous. She brings a new take to the role of Rona. She has a fabulous voice and she has great comedic timing. Her hair kind of bothered me though, I'm not going to lie. Maybe it was just from where I was sitting--which was still up pretty high.
-Miguel Cervantes--he did a very nice job as Chip! His voice was very different from Jose's (is that the original's name?). He couldn't sing some of the higher notes--which he took down an octave, but it was ok. He certainly does not look like an adolescent. His performance was good--and his "My Unfortunate Erection" was hilarious. The audience loved it!
-Eric Peterson as Barfee--one of my favorite cast members. He was a lot like Dan Fogler, but at the same time, he brought his own new mannerisms to the role. He was funny and had great energy!
-Katie Boren as Marcy Park--I immediately noticed, she sounded like she had a deeper, more mature sounding voice than Deborah. She seemed much more intimidating than Deborah, and she did a pretty good job. Her I Speak Six Languages was pretty good, but for some reason, the piano bit just didn't make me laugh nearly as hard as the first time I saw it. Perhaps it was the fact that I was expecting it...
-Michael Zahler as Leaf Coneybear--one of the first things I noticed was that his voice was a little higher than Jesse's. He seemed to be having a hard time hitting some of the lower notes (which aren't that low), but he still did a very good job. He didn't miss a beat. He was hilarious as one of Logainne's dads.
-Alan H. Green as Mitch--well, I personally didn't care for his voice (it was very airy) at first--but he totally won me over with his Prayer of the Comfort Counselor. That song probably stole the entire show. It had the audience cheering because he was holding some notes out for a long time and it was great. Alan looked MUCH more intimidating than Derrick. Derrick was kind of scrawny looking, while Alan had muscle. It was impressive to see him go from an incredibly scary looking man to the flamboyantly gay father of Logainne. He was fabulous!
-James Kall as Panch--absolutely hilarious for the most part. He sounds just like the man on the original cast recording--which was kind of nice for me, since it usually takes some adjusting for me to get used to a new voice. He did throw away some lines that had potential to be very funny, but he did a fabulous job anyways. I liked him a lot.
-Sarah Stiles as Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre--well, I noticed that her voice is much higher than Sarah Saltzberg's, but that was alright. She was hilarious in all of her scenes/songs. She had a hard time singing some of the lower notes. She brought a new take to the role. She played Logainne much more innocent than Sarah S. I almost wanted to cry in the Woe Is Me reprise. She did a teriffic job. I know that she was an understudy on Broadway, and I hope that when Sarah S. leaves the show that this Sarah will take over!
Now--I've been saving Lauren Worsham as Olive for last. Olive is my favorite character in the show--and Lauren brought a very different take to the role than Celia did. Celia played Olive being very reserved and cool. Lauren played the role very CRAZY and much more like a 10 year old would be. Well, maybe she played it like a 5 year old would. During the earlier scenes, it was great--but in my favorite scene in the show, "The I Love You Song", the song wasn't quite as touching. I guess I'm just so used to Celia. Don't get me wrong--I loved Lauren's take on the role. I just didn't care for her I Love You Song quite as much. It was just a different take on it.
The audience members that came up--2 out of 4 of them were a little annoying...trying to be their own character on stage...one of them, on the word MEXICANS asked "for a definition...por favor". I liked the final girl who was left. She was definitely showing some cleavage--and her first introduction (when she was walking up to the mic) was, "Ashley (I think was her name) had an argument this morning with her mother and told her, 'Mom, it's not that big of a deal! It's only a spelling bee. I don't need to wear a bra!" At that point, she almost died--she was so embarrassed. She used her number card to cover up her...assets.
Now--the show itself is almost exactly the same as it is on Broadway, but I noticed a few changes...
-No more anti-Bush speech by Logainne after the cell phone incident? She talked about Kramer from Seinfeld last week--and it was funny, but just not the same. Is this how it is in all the cities or just in Dallas?
-Logainne no longer says "Jesus Christ!" in Woe Is Me, and instead says, "Jeez Louise!" Again, a Texas thing, perhaps?
-Of course, there are several Dallas references in the show--very funny ones--references to DART (our main transportation system), Terell Owens and Deep Ellum.
The show is great and the audience loved it! If you're in town, be sure to try to catch one of the last 3 performances! Either tonight at 7 (I believe), or one of the 2 shows tomorrow (at 2 and 7). You won't be disappointed!
"If it walks like a Parks, if it wobbles like a Parks, then it's definitely fat and nobody loves it." --MA
