The Distinctive Baritone---I'll do my best to explain...
Chris's "Anthony" from the L.A. DVD (just like Betsy Joslyn's "Johanna") feels stiff and cartoonish. Over-the-top, really. They seem to both be directed that way in the tour by Hal Prince himself. It certainly doesn't appear to be an accident. Just as Betsy's approach comes off like "The Perils of Pauline," Chris seems to be playing Dudley Do-Right. He is steadfast and true, but too melodramatic. The emotions aren't real. (And his phony Pat Boone hair piece doesn't help his cause any.) I do like his singing voice though. He's a powerful singer. Chris has talent, I just think both he and Betsy were misguided in their parts. Why Hal Prince chose this strange directorial departure from the original Broadway production, I will never know. My guess is that he was finding these secondary roles to be too "boring" and wanted to liven them up a bit. But in doing that, he kills the truth in the characters. We don't feel either pity or real concern for their plight. It lessens the dramatic tension of the entire piece, if we aren't in pain when Johanna is in the asylum. It's a real tragedy.
Davis Gaines seems cartoonish as well, but less so than Chris, which is better. I actually prefer Chris's voice (not his interpretation though) to Davis's. Mr. Gaines' voice is way too mannered and affected for me. He seems to be chewing every note, but not for dramatic effect so much as a strange stylistic interpretation. (I think he played Webber's Phantom too long and can't get out of it now.) To me, he is sabotaging the material by doing this. And he seems to be "a deer caught in the headlights" every time the camera comes in for a closeup. As I said earlier it looks like he's trying to act young, when he clearly isn't.
Victor Garber is a terrific actor. No secret there. Both he and Sarah Rice approached their romantic roles with deep sincerity. They went for the truth in their characters. They weren't cartoonish or buffoonish. And you didn't feel they were going for any "unintentional laughs" to liven things up. "Kiss Me" is a great number, but rather than evoking chuckles and eye-rolls from the audience, it felt awkward between the two characters and also charming... the humor evolved out of the truth in their emotions and their situation... and it was even sad at brief times because of their circumstances. There were more "layers" involved. You can actually hear it coming through on the OBCR. They didn't know what to do with these over-excited emotions. Very nicely played. But you never once thought they were caricatures of historical melodramatic leads. And Victor sings this role the best (of the three "Anthony" performances I've seen here). He has real heart in his performance.
I hope that helps explain it.
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
