Was absolutely shocked and saddened when I saw the photos here from the show. The black and white stage design was not in the La Jolla production that I saw in 2010. Even though I haven't seen the Broadway version I'd say I'm not eager to now.
This is what was printed about the show and its cast when it played at the La Jolla Playhouse in 2010. The two best in the show in La Jolla are the only ones that remain with the OBC.
A new musical called Limelight: The Story of Charlie Chaplin with music by Christopher Curtis, book by Christopher Curtis and Thomas Meehan and directed by Michael Unger, will play at the Mandell Weiss Theatre and will run from September 7 - October 17, 2010. The show will star Robert McClure (Avenue Q) as Charlie Chaplin and Ashley Brown (Mary Poppins and Beauty and the Beast) as Oona. Other castmembers include LJ Benet (You Again, Diary of a Wimpy Kid) as "Young Sydney," Jenn Colella (Broadway's Urban Cowboy, The Times They Are A-Changin') as "Hedda Hopper," Eddie Korbich (Broadway's The Drowsy Chaperone, The Little Mermaid) as "Karno," Janet Metz (original company of Falsettoland, Playhouse's Harmony) as "Hannah," Brooke Sunny Moriber (Broadway's Follies, The Wild Party) as "Mildred," Ron Orbach (Broadway's Chicago, Laughter on the 23rd Floor) as "Mr. Chaplin," Roland Rusinek (Broadway's The Phantom of the Opera, A Christmas Carol at Madison Square Garden) as "Alf," Jake Schwenke (title role in Broadway's Billy Elliott) as "Young Charlie/Jackie," Matthew Scott (Broadway's Jersey Boys, A Catered Affair) as "Sydney" and
William Youmans (Broadway's Wicked, Playhouse's Dracula the Musical, Randy Newman's Faust) as "Older Charlie." The ensemble includes Aaron Acosta, Courtney Corey, Matthew Patrick Davis, Justin Michael Duval, Sara Edwards, Ben Liebert, Alyssa Marie, Jennifer Noble, Krt Norby, Carly Nykanen, Jessica Reiner-Harris and Kirsten Scott.
I liked it when it was in La Jolla and it had problems, but hoped that they would be corrected since for me it had promise of being a good musical production.
Here are some comments I made at another website about the show that I saw which obviously is now very different especially in the staging:
Sad to say that the one I bolded above is the only one here not in the play. The program had him listed as Older Charlie, but there was an insert with the current songs and the cast and he was gone. At the after show discussion I found out why. He was one of three who played Charlie in the previews but after the last preview which was the dress rehearsal they decided to take him out. It was apparently too jarring for audience members who after seeing Robert McClure playing Charlie for the entire play and then in the final scene suddenly see someone new and much older with Oona White, his 4th and last wife. Because of audience feedback in the previews Wicked's first Dillamond got the heave ho. Needless to say I wasn't happy. Since I had never seen him in the OBC I was excited to be able to see him in this but in the end it didn't happen.
Thoughts on the show:
Beautiful scenic design using panels which seem to be used a lot in plays that I've seen recently.
(I have a feeling these are now gone?) Especially loved the beginning in which there was a movie screen with a Charlie Chaplin title and then out of it stepped a young Charlie Chaplin. At the end of the play they reversed it with older Charlie stepping into the screen into one of his classic films. GR8!
Do they still do this? Original music and lyrics by Christopher Curtis are okay but nothing that made me leave the theatre humming any songs.
Guess this still hasn't changed? I liked "Vaudeville Dream", "Just Another Day in Hollywood", but the two best were "The Tramp Shuffle" and "Where Are All the People" which brought the house down.
No big dance numbers except for the fun "Tramp Shuffle".
Here is the song list from when I saw it in La Jolla. Were there lots of changes? Act 1
The Music Hall--Young Charlie, Hannah & Company
Look At All the People--Hannah
Vaudeville Dream--Karno, Sydney & Company
If I Left London--Charlie
Tramp Shuffle--Sennett, Charlie & Company--Moved obviously and Charlie was in the one that I saw Change Your Story--Charlie, Sydney & Company
Mildred's Change the Story--Mildred and Charlie
Someday--Charlie
It was a dreadful ending to Act 1 Act 2
Just Another Day in Hollywood--Charlie & Company
The Life That You Wished For--Charlie
When It All Falls Down--Hedda Hopper = SHOWSTOPPER A Man of All Countries--Hedda Hopper, McGranery & Company
The Exile--Hedda Hopper & Company
Where Are All The People--Charlie
What Only Love Can See--Oona and Charlie
This Man--Company
Now for the cast which was like a "Who's Who" of current Broadway performers:
Rob McClure as Charlie was fabulous. He embodied Charlie Chaplin's famous Little Tramp from his sad-sack demeanor and playful orneriness to the shuffling gait as he swung his cane along with the customary Chaplin pratfalls. His singing was sensational especially when he delivered the powerful "Where Are All the People" in the 2nd act after his celebrity stature was destroyed by the hateful and despicable gossip columnist Hedda Hopper who used "Red Baiting" to destroy his career in America. For those of you too young to know what "Red Baiting" is or who she was google her and find out how powerful the lies she printed were. It was a **** performance by McClure. I can't believe how far he's come from his first venture on Broadway in
Avenue Q. Hopefully this vehicle will get him a second and bigger gig on Broadway.
Then there's Ashley Brown who was the main reason I went. If I had gone expecting her to be the big star I would have been very disappointed because she's not. She actually plays two roles. First is Charlie's mother at the beginning of the play who was a vaudeville entertainer who was committed to an insane asylum and then doesn't reappear until the end of the play when she is Charlie's fourth wife, Oona O'Neill, the daughter of playwright Eugene O'Neill. She may not have been in it as much as I wanted but when she was she was exquisite especially in her duet with McClure, "What Only Love Can See" and the first musical number "The Music Hall" in which I giggled to myself when she pulled out and unfurled an umbrella. *** for Ashley
The wives were a real mess in the La Jolla version with Paulette Goddard being left out completely. Obviously they enhanced this part of the story with the boxing scene because that was NOT in the La Jolla production.
Supporting actors are really good and many play more than one character. The best is definitely Jenn Colella as the vindictive gossip columnist Hedda Hopper. She appears briefly in act one which gives the supposed reason why she would hate Chaplin (
still just as silly and stupid as I remembered in La Jolla) and then her evilness is unveiled in full force in Act 2. For me she was the star of the second act and brought the house down when she sang When It All Falls Down. **** for Jenn.
Matthew Scott was GR8 as Charlie's brother Sydney Chaplin. I loved his singing voice which
Sondheim on Sondheim in which I saw him didn't do justice to at all. His performance earned *** 1/2.
All in all, it was a great afternoon of good musical theatre and hopefully it will be lighting up a marquee on Broadway this season perhaps in the Spring!
For how long remains to be seen? Here are the reviews from the La Jolla Playhouse production:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2010/09/theater-review-limelight-the-story-of-charlie-chaplin-at-la-jolla-playhouse.html Charles McNulty was not a fan and many of the problems talked about here still remain in the Broadway production. http://blogcritics.org/culture/article/theatre-review-la-jolla-limelight-by/ Blogger who was mixed http://www.theatermania.com/san-diego-theater/reviews/09-2010/limelight-the-story-of-charlie-chaplin_30552.html Read how the set design for La Jolla was done which looks a lot better than the total black & white one chosen for Broadway. He called it a mediocre musical; where have I read that before? http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117943639 Love the comment about the Act 1 finale song:
"Power Ballad "Someday" ("Somebody's going to want me") closes act one as an instant contender for the number-one song you never want to be trapped in an elevator with--so true!
http://www.nctimes.com/entertainment/arts-and-theatre/theatre/article_869019ad-5fb4-5c63-a033-0ca31dda03de.html
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2010/sep/29/theater-Limelight-story-charlie-chaplin/
http://www.backstage.com/review/la-theater/limelight-the-story-of-charlie-chaplin/
"Hampered by a disappointing book and score; Christopher Curtis' score is enjoyable but unexceptional; one yearns for more memorable melodies and bona fide showstoppers".
