Went to the matinee today, my friend LOVED it!! Except for the fact that all he's been doing for rest of the day is warbling "I'll be guiding you..." over and over and over, it was a great matinee.
My only commentary? I do think the wigs might need a little freshening or replacing before Tony voters come in and/or they film the show for the archives - they're starting to a little wear. Hopefully it's only visible from the stage seats, but just in case...
Otherwise, Cheyenne sang Don't Walk Away a little differently today, going for riffs on the lower tones at the beginning of the song, making a gradual rise to the higher notes we're familiar with. Maybe because his voice is a little tired, or he's just trying something new, but it actually made the song much more thrilling to hear!
Mary and Jackie were hysterical today. Mary was trying to do her bit at the top of Strange Magic, and the guy in front them was giggling hysterically. Jackie looked down, caught a glimpse of the guy mid-giggle, and almost broke character and into laughter herself. And Mary, bless her heart, tried a new chant after "Tear this theatre down, turn it into condos!" This time, is was "Huzzah! Gaah!" It died. But watching her acknowledge it die was priceless.
With Curtis gone, Andre has developed quite a little kooky side! He interacted a lot more with the onstage audience than he used to, and it was really funny to read his lips as he mouthed things to us. And a special little kudo to Patti, for developing that ridiculously unwieldy Thetis monologue into something that is now genuinely hysterical!
It was great to see a new ending to the curtain call, where Cheyenne and Kerry skate down to center stage at the same time, Kerry from upstage right and Cheyenne from upstage left ramps, cross each other centerstage, then bow separately.
OK, end post-mortem. Can't wait to go back! And maybe my friend will know more lyrics by the next time. (cue us singing down CPW tonight, trying to teach him the lyrics...)
"Hey little girls, look at all the men in shiny shirts and no wives!" - Jackie Hoffman, Xanadu, 19 Feb 2008