It was an extraordinary evening. Nearly every singer gave a fully realized performance, the kind you almost never see in a concert production (even an Encores production).
Lea Salonga, as performer who's consistently left me cold in the past, stunned me. She was firing on all cylinders from her first spoken word until the very end of the evening. Glorious.
Michael Arden is the best Younger Brother I've ever seen. What passion he brought to that passionate, if somewhat vague, role. Far better than Steggert, whom I enjoyed but who has a bag of tricks. Arden was pure passion. "The Night That Goldman Spoke at Union Square" was one of the evening's main highlights. I really hope he returns to New York soon for a longer engagement in something.
Patina Miller was an earthy, memorable Sarah. Norm Lewis's voice soared, and his acting was superb. He's no stranger to the role, so that was an advantage. Same with Felciano, who gave a beautifully realized performance.
Tyne Daly gave the least realized performer, to me, but it's Tyne Freaking Daly. Even when she's not fully on, she's magnetic.
I had tears streaming down my face by the epilogue. It was cathartic theatre. I'm so glad I went.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body