Posted: 6/13/18 at 1:59am
I prefer production value over anything, but I did find myself taken with this revival. I know the music is "basic," but I love it. The voices are excellent. I didn't love the staging as I think the storytelling suffered - I didn't even know Celie aged - as I've never seen it before.
Posted: 6/13/18 at 8:27am
Posted: 6/13/18 at 9:10am
Saw the original production with the original cast two times. Paid for the first late in previews, and was given a comp for round two a few months after LaChanze won. I thought the whole thing was overblown and just not a good adaptation. I saw the revival once, I adored Erivo, but left thinking: "This is the best production of that sh*tty musical I will ever see."
Posted: 6/13/18 at 9:57am
blaxx said: "The show has a lot of moments that allow for showing off. That said, it was and it is an awful musical. It is obviously imagined for the page, not the stage.
I saw both and still wonder why the "by the numbers" adaptation is so liked, aside from these women belting their souls out."
These days, as long as you have emotional songs where women get to belt it all out, people think it's a masterpiece no matter what the rest of the show is like. Ever since Wicked. Thank goodness Idina and singers following her had great, powerful voices because some of those songs...well...the less said the better.
