The Visit with Chita Rivera and George Hearn- An Excellent First Preview Performance
The Visit with Chita Rivera and George Hearn- An Excellent First Preview Performance
#1The Visit with Chita Rivera and George Hearn- An Excellent First Preview Performance
Posted: 5/14/08 at 12:13am
I just got back from the Visit at Signature Theatre. Despite a power outage in the first part of act 1 which caused the house staff to clear the theatre for a few minutes after the stage manager stopped the show (and Chita singing in the dark), it was quite possibly one of the most touching performances I have seen.
Unlike most Signature productions, this did not include any of the usual local suspects. It did however have a uniformly strong cast, led by Chita Rivera and George Hearn. Great chemistry, great singing, and acting from the two of them and good performances by the rest of the cast. It was like watching a master class (watching Rivera and Hearn, that is). While the Visit may not ever have the recognizable catchy tunes that Cabaret or Chicago has, it is a very touching story with appropriate songs to the show that move the story along and while also giving us insight into the characters. It deserves another life. The usually stodgy DC audience (which was mostly elderly subscribers) gave it a standing ovation. 3/4 of the audience was on their feet by the end.
I know tickets are selling fast so I urge everyone who can to go see this. Between this and Spiderwoman, and to some extent, Happy Time, Signature has made for an excellent celebration of Kander and Ebb's work.
As a side note, I also might add that John Kander was in the audience.
"Why do you care what people might say? Why try to fit into their design?" (Side Show)
Updated On: 5/14/08 at 12:13 AM
#2re: The Visit with Chita Rivera and George Hearn- An Excellent First Previe
Posted: 5/14/08 at 12:15am
I hope this can transfer!
Would love to see Chita and Hearn back on Broadway.
#2re: The Visit with Chita Rivera and George Hearn- An Excellent First Previe
Posted: 5/14/08 at 12:18amI would LOVE to see this transfer. I had to read the Dürrenmatt play (in German) my sophomore year and despite not understanding half of it...I really liked it. plus I love Kander, Ebb, Chita and George Hearn.
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain.
-Kad
#3re: The Visit with Chita Rivera and George Hearn- An Excellent First Previe
Posted: 5/14/08 at 12:22amSo excited to see this on May 24th! Thanks for the review!!!
#4re: The Visit with Chita Rivera and George Hearn- An Excellent First Previe
Posted: 5/14/08 at 12:24amThanks for the review! I really wish I could see this. I love Durrenmatt's play and I'd love to see how it works as a Kander/Ebb musical.
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle
--Aristotle
#5re: The Visit with Chita Rivera and George Hearn- An Excellent First Previe
Posted: 5/14/08 at 12:28am
PS. Is it true Chita doesn't dance at all in this?
I would love to see her in a serious acting/singing role.
#6re: The Visit with Chita Rivera and George Hearn- An Excellent First Previe
Posted: 5/14/08 at 12:49amShe does a little bit of dancing in the second act and received extended applause from a very appreciative crowd.
"Why do you care what people might say? Why try to fit into their design?" (Side Show)
thatgirl712
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/29/08
#7re: The Visit with Chita Rivera and George Hearn- An Excellent First Previe
Posted: 5/14/08 at 12:53amVery good review.
If I heard the bells and the banjos ring
#8re: The Visit with Chita Rivera and George Hearn- An Excellent First Previe
Posted: 5/14/08 at 12:56amThank you for that review! I have been waiting all day to hear first impressions!
#9re: The Visit with Chita Rivera and George Hearn- An Excellent First Previe
Posted: 5/14/08 at 1:33am
thanks for the review, based on your review, do you think the product merits a broadway transfer/? is it in solid shape?
any highlights,,,show stoppers? eleve o'clock numbers?
how is the staging/? how was chita? thanks
#10re: The Visit with Chita Rivera and George Hearn- An Excellent First Previe
Posted: 5/14/08 at 3:58amThe score is so unique. I know Smaxie compared it to something with influences from Kurt Weill and I completely agree, Kander/Ebb already channeled Weill with CABARET too. I've heard the Goodman audio and don't think much of the score but I've also heard that it was completely re-tooled and that it works wonders. I hope to see a Broadway run of the show, this might earn Rivera a third Tony.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
Smaxie
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/26/05
#11re: The Visit with Chita Rivera and George Hearn- An Excellent First Previe
Posted: 5/14/08 at 7:20am
I had originally compared the score to a blend of Kurt Weill and fractured Johann Strauss. It has a distinctly European sound. Personally, I couldn't wait to hear it again after the first time I heard it.
As far as "showstoppers," while I haven't seen the Signature incarnation yet, but "You Know Me," (with a sharp and funny Fred Ebb lyric) and "I Would Never Leave You," seem to be particular audience favorites. I think Chita has a great 11 o'clock number with "Love and Love Alone," which has a sort of creepy, hurdy-gurdy sound to it.
Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.
#12re: The Visit with Chita Rivera and George Hearn- An Excellent First Previe
Posted: 5/14/08 at 7:22amHas a recording been released?
Well I didn't want to get into it, but he's a Satanist.
Every full moon he sacrifices 4 puppies to the Dark Lord and smears their blood on his paino.
This should help you understand the score for Wicked a little bit more.
Tazber's: Reply to
Is Stephen Schwartz a Practicing Christian
#13re: The Visit with Chita Rivera and George Hearn- An Excellent First Previe
Posted: 5/14/08 at 7:37amAs in my other post, i hope this finds a life in new York. At least lets hope a Cast Recording comes from it.
A young actress with Noel coward after a dreadful opening night performance said to him 'Well, i knew my lines backwards this morning!''
Noels fast reply was ''Yes dear, and thats exactly how you said them tonight'!'
philcrosby
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/17/04
#14re: The Visit with Chita Rivera and George Hearn- An Excellent First Previe
Posted: 5/14/08 at 8:17amI am very excited to be seeing this next month. Thanks for the well-written review!
#15re: The Visit with Chita Rivera and George Hearn- An Excellent First Previe
Posted: 5/14/08 at 9:30am
I think it merits a transfer. They used a thrust stage and made very good use of it with some entries and exits through the audience.
The show stopper was definitely Chita's 11'0 clock number. Unlike some other posters (on other threads), I liked the production value of Yellow Shoes.
"Why do you care what people might say? Why try to fit into their design?" (Side Show)
Updated On: 5/14/08 at 09:30 AM
morosco
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/10/04
#16re: The Visit with Chita Rivera and George Hearn- An Excellent First Previe
Posted: 5/14/08 at 10:22amAnyone know why all shows are dark this Saturday at Signature?
#17re: The Visit with Chita Rivera and George Hearn- An Excellent First Previe
Posted: 5/14/08 at 10:37amThe score would have to been re-tooled a lot for this show to work as a musical. The original THE VISIT with Lunt and Fontanne didn't need the music. I'm wondering if this is a show, like A CATERED AFFAIR, that loses a lot in the translation to a musical. On the issue of dancing, doesn't Rivera's character have a wood leg?
morosco
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/10/04
#18re: The Visit with Chita Rivera and George Hearn- An Excellent First Previe
Posted: 5/14/08 at 10:39am
On the issue of dancing, doesn't Rivera's character have a wood leg?
Yes.
Does the show still have the "One Legged Tango"?
RentBoy86
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/15/05
#19re: The Visit with Chita Rivera and George Hearn- An Excellent First Previe
Posted: 5/14/08 at 10:53amHow is the set?
morosco
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/10/04
#20re: The Visit with Chita Rivera and George Hearn- An Excellent First Previe
Posted: 5/14/08 at 10:57am
Just found the answer as to why the Signature has no performances of The Visit or Happy Time on Saturday...
The Kander & Ebb Celebration Gala
#21re: The Visit with Chita Rivera and George Hearn- An Excellent First Previe
Posted: 5/14/08 at 12:37pmSet is minimal though two stories high. The arched doors and balcony were used effectively.
"Why do you care what people might say? Why try to fit into their design?" (Side Show)
Smaxie
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/26/05
#22re: The Visit with Chita Rivera and George Hearn- An Excellent First Previe
Posted: 5/14/08 at 1:28pm
>The score would have to been re-tooled a lot for this show to work as a musical.<
The wants and needs of the characters - the two lead roles, as well as the townspeople - run high, as they must in a musical, and I think the score, which is sweeping and dramatic, serves those characters appropriately. The relationship between Claire and Anton is complex, moving from cold-blooded vengeance to something like a rekindled love affair, which also proves fruitful for Kander.
As for "Yellow Shoes," the number is one of those sunshiney musical theatre ensemble songs that curdles into something unexpectedly dark by the end of the act. As it represents the townspeople coming to terms and even embracing Claire's unconventional proposition and their newfound prosperity, I think it shows the very darkest of human nature, which is one of the main points of Durrenmatt's original play.
Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.
Smaxie
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/26/05
#23re: The Visit with Chita Rivera and George Hearn- An Excellent First Previe
Posted: 5/17/08 at 8:36am
Here are production photos of The Visit:
Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.
nmartin
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/3/05
#24re: The Visit with Chita Rivera and George Hearn- An Excellent First Previe
Posted: 5/17/08 at 9:17amThank you for those pictures. Look at Rivera! Great!
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