The Frogs — Page 3

Zola, your forthrightness is a a blast of fresh air on these boards.

Well, I caught the matinee today and - there are problems.

Let me say I loved the idea of the show and the obvious committment Lane and everyone else has given to it, but there are long stretches that just agonizingly lay there, especially in the first act. The chemistry between Lane and Chris Kattan isn't happening - Kattan's inexperience really shows. He just doesn't bring anything to his role which means Lane has to work twice as hard to make the jokes play. To his credit he does just that but when he's not front and center, there's trouble in River City.

There's an extended sequence on a boat crossing the River Styx which goes on and on and on and then stops altogether while Lane suddenly gets "serious" and sings a ballad to his lost love Ariadne that, I'm sorry, is a total clunker. If this "love" element is going to stay in the show - Ariadne shows up as a distraction late in the 2nd act - it really needs fixing. When the frogs appear and action resumes, complete with bungee harnesses a la Cirque du Soleil - it's just too little too late.

For me the 2nd act is better, largely due to the wonderful performance of Peter Bartlett as Pluto. This guy is a pro. He takes the same kind of material Kattan and others were laying eggs with and makes it hilarious. At the curtain he got the second biggest hand and he deserved it.

The Shaw vs Shakespeare dual sort of worked for me. The quotations were well-chosen and made their points and both Donald Davis and Michael Siberry delivered, especially Davis.

But in the end, this felt very much like a work in progress. There is not enough music and what there is often feels shoehorned in. Clearly this is a show everyone involved cares deeply about - I sure hope they can fix it.

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I saw the same matinee performance yesterday and I must say both my partner and I loved "The Frogs"! I went with a little trepidation, based on the fact that the original work was rather short and incomplete...also worried that given the setting/Sondheim of the work, with Nathan in it, it was going to be "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum - II".

Nathan Lane is not only a brilliant actor, but he is an engaging and focused writer. His adaptation made the play cohesive, interesting and hilarious! It was wonderful hearing other actors performing what are obviously his lines ~ his humor translates beautifully when spoken by other actors. Nathan keeps steadily evolving, not only as an actor, but as a talented and masterful writer as well.

I thought the first act was flawless ~ great music, hilarious lines, terrific staging, etc. I agree with what many have written about the debate scene in Act Two being akin to hitting a brick wall - the momentum does suddenly stop and "hang there", but this is still previews, and I think it can be reworked to be smoother and more entertaining (music? bring back Chris Kattan for a few sarcastic asides?).

The actors were all wonderful, music sublime, choreography fresh - the chorus "Frogs" were just unbelievably acrobatic and a delight to watch. John Byner is a TREASURE! And who would have ever thought we'd see Nathan on a bungee cord (brave, brave man)!?

Looking forward to seeing it again after previews!

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Well, reactions are subjective. To me the first act is where the problems are. I made a tour of the lobby at intermission and the buzz was not good. People were perplexed by its apparent lack of form and focus. And wondering where the music was. The frog ballet didn't seem to impress. Whatever they were expecting this wasn't it.

It was a much happier crowd at the end - the Shaw/Shakespeare scene, despite the longeurs, seemed to win approval and the finale with Lane and the whole cast was strong. Applause was demonstrative and Lane himself got a Standing O from those in the auditorium who could stand.

It's a show one really wants to like. Fingers crossed.

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I wanted to post the latest on The Frogs since many people have posted about it and a lot has changed. It is now running 2.5 hrs including intermission (so they've cut 30 mins) We were sitting stage left (section 500) 3 rows back from the stage...very close. I purposely put a lot of detail in this post so those of you who have seen it will know some of the changes they've made to date (10 days into the previews)

I thought that Chris Kattan was more toned down than he had been described in previous performances and seemed to do better with paying attention. He is no Ernie Sabella, but seems to be getting more comfortable on the stage. He's still the weakest link in the show, I think.

In Act I, I thought some of the jokes landed well and others went right over the audiences head. John Byner was good in Charon (his first role) and I loved 'Dress Big' and 'I Love to Travel'...both really fun songs. As with most complex Sondheim songs, I felt like I was working to 'take in' Aridane and it has some complex flow and tonality. I really wanted to hear it several more times because I always fall in love with these kinds of Sondheim songs when I get used to them. As for the audience, I'm not sure how they reacted to that serious 'moment' in the boat with the Ariadne song. Some people seemed to like it a lot...others were quiet.

Burke Moses was great though we couldn't see NL's face for a lot of their scene in 'Dress Big'. It still worked well. The Frog costumes and dancing was impressive and the costumes were beautiful, and the bungee session was MUCH shorter than had been previously described. No turning over on his back or summersaults.

Act II - Chris Kattan in the boat wailing about his master didn't seem that long. Relatively quickly, the boat came front on the round and NL crawled up from the hole spurting water! I still think they could shave a few lines out of the Xanthias life story without losing anything.

The dance and winefest with the Bacchantes dancers was impressive (no harnesses, just free form air ballet) but went on too long. They could still do the Dionysos praising and just cut it shorter. He was running around drinking from a goblet and getting 'drunk' as was Kattan...and that was entertaining for a bit but it goes on too long.

The mistaken identity thing is cute with him wearing the Heracles outfit and then giving it to Kattan and then taking it back...but again...it goes on too long and brings in Byner with the whole idea of getting back at him for killing the three headed dog...too long...they could shave that and keep in the humor without losing the whole scene.

Peter Bartlett is hysterical as Pluto and NL endures Pluto jesting about how ANYONE could mistake him for Heracles given how gorgeous and buff Heracles is...as compared to Dionysos. When NL waxes serious to tell him why he is really there...I'm sure some of the audience felt it slowed the pace down. To me...this would seem to be the place where the audience might recognize the point of the entire play if they hadn't already...but hey...that's just me.

It's Only A Play works well with the Greek Chorus and the individual lines sung by one person (so you can hear the words better and they have more impact). LOVE the very subtle fact that they turn their masks around as they walk off to show the frog masks on the opposite side...frogs who never want anything to change...just different faces but the same old song though up until that moment you feel the Greek Chorus may be chiding YOU to change. I thought this was chilling but I'm sure that most of the audience didn't even see it.

The debate runs about 20 min by my watch. NL still sits in the lifeguard chair and they have an audience. The set up was the three of them (Dio, Will and Shaw) standing onstage for awhile talking while Dio and Shaw are getting ready to leave for earth...then they go into the debate. The debate now has NL giving them the topics with them sitting in their corners like fighters (complete with attendants). He gives them 3 topics...women, men and life and he listens to each of their speeches, with him interspersing comments to each and the two of them arguing back and forth occasionally. He gets down from the chair a few times to break things up and his involvement does seem to make it more interesting.

THEN he sees Ariadne and everything on stage stops while he goes up into the balcony. We couldn't see the scene with Ariadne from where we were sitting. He climbed up into the balcony where she was and we could hear them and see part of their faces, but not the whole scene. The tie in is now that he tells her that he was convinced he would be bringing back Shaw and nearly left with him but now he is rethinking it because of what he has heard from Shakespeare...he tells her how important he feels this is and that he doesn't know how to make the decision anymore and she tells him that he DOES know how.

When he returns to the debate, he gives them the final topic: Death
Shaw gives his speech and then Shakespeare gives one on death and Dio says that is an OLD man's take on death...he wants him to speak as a young man...obviously referring to his own loss of his young wife.

Shakespeare does another speech on death and that is how he is chosen. They then take off with Charon and Kattan stays in Hades with Pluto to ensure that Dio will bring Will back.

Once the two of them step down stage, the new ending starts...that is that the curtains close behind them and there is a moment of silence as Dio waits for Will to say something that will change the world. He makes a short statement and then they very slowly...start a plodding version of the reprise to the instructions to the audience...which picks up gradually. The rest of the cast now comes out to join them and sings along. This version is not cute and funny now but biting and thoughtful and talks about moving your ass and taking steps though it may be difficult. The final line of the song is, as in the song in the beginning of the play, 'and now....we start'...but in the reprise it takes on a totally different meaning.

I think that this version is intended to keep the Greek version alive and uses the starkness of the greek chorus and the very limited stage dressing to do so, hearkening back to the time when the chorus and the actors told the story and your imagination did the rest. But because audiences today are used to lots of glitz, sets flying all over the place and lots of sound and technical pizzaz...this will be lost on many people.

They have clearly decided not to cave in and do Aristophanes on Ice in order to meet those expectations. THe choice of LCT was purposeful because it is a thrust stage, much like those used in older theater productions.

BTW...just to address the Times comparison of Aristophanes, to Shevelove to Lane's version of one scene...someone said they didn't like the new line reading. The line is JUST the same as in both others 'and what plays'...period...nothing else added

I think the debate can be tighter but the fact that they are speaking the lines of Shaw and Shakespeare which are very formal and written in old English means people have to stop and really LISTEN and this hurts their heads.

So the bottom line is that they have cut it and tightened it but the debate can still be tighter (they could use a song there, I think) and the bacchantes dance and mistaken identity bit could be shorter too.

All my opinion, of course.

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