Posted: 7/13/24 at 4:07pm
Fortunately, I'm in St. Louis for the summer and can see every show at The Muny. Anyone have thoughts on the first two productions? I really enjoyed them both, especially Les Mis. I'll be at Little Mermaid tonight- excited for the stacked cast.
Posted: 7/13/24 at 7:42pm
I wish I was rich enough to see all these productions. This is like Encores (ish) but for the Midwest.
my goal is to see live theater in every state
Posted: 7/14/24 at 11:51am
Update- the show was just great. John Tartaglia went full puppet mode and it was so much fun, and honestly better than all of the Disney on Broadway/tour productions I've seen except for maybe the OBC of Aladdin. Speaking of Aladdin, the performance was very, very polished aside from one lyric flub from Michael Maliakel during One Step Closer. I hadn't seen Savy Jackson before and they are a STAR with a wonderful career ahead of them. They brought incredible depth to Ariel, and the entire piece was elevated because of their performance. Jen Cody, Nicole Parker, and Chris Sieber were also fantastic. Nicole sounded incredible and was throwing in opt-ups all over the place. Chris wasn't in Act 1 at all and I wish I could have seen more of him, but it was still a treat after seeing Death Becomes Her in May and seeing him in NY a couple times. I stagedoored and almost missed Jen because of her height lol- she is tiny but insanely talented. (By the way, stagedooring at The Muny is an unadvertised, unorganized free-for-all near the backstage entrance. I've had pretty good success by bringing my own sharpie and everyone has been super willing to sign.)
One more note- they changed a couple of keys. Part Of Your World was up a whole step (G major) and sounded great in Savy's voice. They opted up near the end to big applause. Positoovity was in E major for the female Scuttle, but they didn't transpose the dance breaks.
Excited to report back on the rest of the season and hear other thoughts as well. I assume there may be some people on this board who will be traveling to see either Waitress or Anything Goes.
Updated On: 7/14/24 at 11:51 AM
Posted: 7/14/24 at 2:23pm
Savy Jackson sounded terrible in bad Cinderella. Does she sound better here?
Posted: 7/14/24 at 2:52pm
Broadway Flash said: "Savy Jackson sounded terrible in bad Cinderella. Does she sound better here?"
She sounded great! There are a bunch of clips of her singing in the production online. Honestly, I thought her acting was the highlight of her performance- a perfect balance of vulnerability and curiosity.
Posted: 7/15/24 at 12:04pm
I've been a Muny season ticket holder for awhile now, and I think it gets better every year. John Tartaglia has really grown as a director over his years working with the Muny, and I thought The Little Mermaid was a great use of his talents. This production was better than the 2017 production which was much better than the 2011 production. I would like a bit more more variety in the kid/family show though!
I gasped during the "swimming" scenes, particularly Ariel's rescue of Prince Eric. They were SO well done and unexpected. Many people around me gasped as well. I love a bit of Muny magic.
I did notice Michael's minor lyric flub but he covered it very well - my husband didn't notice it. I'm fairly used to that happening due to the tight rehearsal timeline. Red Concepcion had a minor flub as Thenardier the other week which was more noticeable to me but again I assume most of the audience isn't probably catching on.
In regard to the other shows, I loved Les Miz, although I actually remember being SUPER impressed with the Muny's 2013 production featuring Norm Lewis as Javert and Hugh Panaro as Valjean. I thought the way the Muny handled Javert's death this year was a little odd. Not my favorite moment, but otherwise really solid.
Dreamgirls was very good. It's not my favorite musical but oh my gosh can Tiffany Mann SING! She would have blown the roof off if we hadn't been outside. The entire cast was impressive.
I really think the Muny's sound design and mixing has been much improved this year. The mixing has been rough at times in past years but this year I've been really satisfied thus far.
Updated On: 7/15/24 at 12:04 PM
Posted: 7/15/24 at 12:23pm
Completely agree about the way they staged Javert’s death. (For those who didn’t see it- Jordan Donica walked upstage into a blinding white light.) The only other Les Mis production I’ve seen is the current tour and I much preferred how it is done there. How was it done in 2013?
Re: Dreamgirls, it was my first time seeing the show and I agree about it not being the best musical- but the cast was insane. Tiffany got a long standing o after “And I’m Telling You” the night I went (which was a rainout… had to go back to see act 2!). I thought Aisha Jackson and Nick Rashad Burroughs were both very good as well.
Updated On: 7/15/24 at 12:23 PM
Posted: 7/15/24 at 12:30pm
My memory of the 2013 production was Javert on a bridge and him falling backwards (onto unseen padding). Much more typical staging.
Posted: 7/18/24 at 3:08pm
Waitress full cast/team was announced today. Notably, Ken Page is out as Joe, and Cleavant Derricks (whom I saw as The Wizard in Wicked last year) is in after just playing the role in Ogonquit’s production. I hope Page is okay- I was looking forward to seeing him perform more after his 3 minutes of stage time in Les Mis.
Updated On: 7/18/24 at 03:08 PM
Posted: 7/18/24 at 4:57pm
I'm thrilled The MUNY is doing Waitress. But I'm less excited about Jessica Vosk as Jenna. She riffs a little too much for my taste where songs don't call for it. Runs, riffs-they don't equal great performers. Even though yes- she blew me away as Elphaba. But reign it in
Posted: 7/18/24 at 7:16pm
hearthemsing22 said: "I'm thrilled The MUNY is doing Waitress. But I'm less excited about Jessica Vosk as Jenna. She riffs a little too much for my taste where songs don't call for it. Runs, riffs-they don't equal great performers. Even though yes- she blew me away as Elphaba. But reign it in"
That's funny because I am flying from NYC to STL specifically to see Jessica, lol.
Posted: 7/23/24 at 1:08am
Saw Fiddler tonight- it was my first time seeing it done professionally, but I actually played violin for a high school production of it last year (with a 24 person pit, fortunately) so I’m very familiar with the score. The cast was all around excellent- Adam Heller is a perfect Tevye and I also really liked Max Chernin and Clay Singer as Motel and Perchick, as well as Jeremy Radin as Lazar who has been having a breakout year in major regional productions of Fiddler. For those who know the show, the music that ends Act 1 was different (and a bit darker). They also used Tradition for the bows and played the normal bows music (To Life) as the exit music, which normally does not exist. I’m planning on seeing Waitress next Friday- very excited for the back half of this season.
Updated On: 7/23/24 at 01:08 AM
Posted: 7/24/24 at 12:08pm
hearthemsing22 said: "I'm thrilled The MUNY is doing Waitress. But I'm less excited about Jessica Vosk as Jenna. She riffs a little too much for my taste where songs don't call for it. Runs, riffs-they don't equal great performers. Even though yes- she blew me away as Elphaba. But reign it in"
I am in the same boat as you. She is an amazing singer but I think her acting takes a backseat. Jenna is a role that I think needs a great actress and I'm not convinced Vosk is it. I am very much hoping she proves me wrong.
In regard to Fiddler, I thought it was excellent. Adam Heller was tremendous. Tevye's Dream has always been one of my favorites and I loved the larger than life take on it. Fruma-Sarah was amazing and once again they made great use of the video screens.
Posted: 8/3/24 at 10:18am
Saw Waitress last night!! It was my first time seeing the show, although I had tickets to see it with Ciara and Joshua but the production closed early due to Omicron. That being said, I wasn’t “surprised” by much- I love the score and the Muny did not disappoint. Jessica Vosk was a perfect Jenna- incredibly vulnerable and in great voice. She appeared to have toned down She Used To Be Mine a bit from the promo, but we’re halfway through the run and her back was bothering her last night. (She’s having surgery in a few weeks. Grateful she can do the show). Her riffs were appropriate and never did I think that it was too much.
Other highlights were two Wicked alum Lissa DeGuzman as Dawn and Cleavant Derricks as Joe. Troy Iwata was also a very fun Ogie. I had never heard of Devin DeSantis as Pommater before the run, but he was funny and played the Dr. as pretty awkward. I absolutely loved the scenic design- you can’t really tell from the promo materials, but the turntable has 3 sets divided by white picket fences- the diner, Jenna’s house, and the doctors office. Scene transitions were incredibly smooth because of this choice. The use of video screens was also great, with some fun recipe and dating profile graphics. I can’t recommend this enough if you’re in the area!!
Updated On: 8/3/24 at 10:18 AM
Posted: 8/5/24 at 7:22am
Quick pitch- if you’re traveling to see a MUNY show for the remainder of the summer (or if you’re in StL), I highly recommend you catch Newsies at Stages St. Louis. It runs through the rest of the MUNY season- I saw it last night and it was fantastic. Some Broadway regulars in the cast including Daniel Marconi and Chris Gurr. Stages’ productions have just been getting better and better- they are doing Ragtime in the fall and it’s going to be an event
Updated On: 8/5/24 at 07:22 AM
