The Woman in White (11/5/05) - Lisa Brescia is Brilliant

I was lucky enough to attend a preview of The Woman in White last Saturday night with Lisa Brescia in the starring role. I wasn't sure how I was going to react to this musical, considering I am not a fan of Andrew Lloyd Weber at all, but to my surprise, I absolutely *loved* the it. Here is my take on all aspects of the show.

Book: In a nutshell, the story is a big soap opera, which is probably one reason why I loved the show so much. Two sisters, Marian and Laura, hire a drawing teacher, Walter, to come to their home. Both sisters fall in love with Walter, but Walter only falls in love with Laura. Laura is already engaged to Sir Percival Glyde, the villain. His friend, Count Fosco, is the comic relief in this musical, who conspires with Glyde to win over the sisters' property and money. Anne Catherick, the woman in white, appears at train stations and graveyards and has a secret, which she will only tell to Laura. All of these characters have a connection and I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. Being that I love soap operas (huge fan of Melrose Place, Desperate Housewives. The OC), it is no surprise I enjoyed the storyline.

Sets: I was skeptical of the sets when I walked in, knowing that they were all projections. For the first 10 minutes, I was kind of annoyed because I definitely like real sets more. However, once I got used to them, I was able to appreciate the computer generated sets, which looked very realistic. The problem with these projected sets is that at times, the stage was completely bare, other than a few actors standing there. I wish there was a way to still have the projections in the background, but as an extension to the real sets, not as the entire set.

Music: I do own the Orignal London Cast Recording of this show, so I knew all the music before I walked in. When I first listened to the CD, I thought it was very boring, but after listening to it over and over again, I really love the music. No, it is not great, and it does repeat melodies a lot, but I think it works well. I like how most of the show is sung through and songs that stand out for me were "I Hope You'll Like It Here," "All For Laura," "Evermore Without You," and "You Can Get Away With Anything." I do not know if I would have reacted differently had I not heard the music beforehand, but I did enjoy it.

Lyrics: Pretty bad. There were a couple of forced rhymes (a really bad one about serving fish) and most of the lyrics for "I Believe My Heart" were predictable and dull.

Ron Bohmer: His Sir Percival Glyde was wonderful. I really hated his character throughout the entire show. Great actor. Excellent voice.

Adam Brazier: His rendition of "Evermore Without You" gave me chills. Very good looking. I definitely think he is going to grow in the role and be even better when I see it again after it opens.

Angela Christian: I was not a huge fan of hers in Thoroughly Modern Millie, but she was fantastic in WIW. I loved her Anne Catherick and one of my favorite lines that she sang was "If I find the one I seek, I may save a life." That line gave me chills. Excellent job.

Jill Paice: Her Laura is wonderful. I especially loved her acting during and after the wedding scene. She had this stone face since she was so unhappy to be marrying Sir Percival Glyde. I also loved the chemistry between her and Brazier during their scenes together.

Michael Ball: Absolutely hilarious. What a voice! Saturday night was my first exposure to this talented man and I was very impressed. His comedic timing was perfect and I loved his song "You Can Get Away With Anything." When he was letting the mouse crawl all over him at the end of the song, the audience was laughing so hard.

And last but certainly not least...the woman of the night...

Lisa Brescia: I last saw this marvelous actress in Aida back in July 2004 and thought she stole the show. Well, there was no exception the other night. Only on a few days notice, this woman learned the entire role of Marian Halcombe and was spectacular. Words cannot describe how amazing her performance was. Her "All For Laura" gave me chills (yes, I got chills a lot Saturday night) and brought tears to my eyes. Laura's portrayal of Marian really showed her love for her sister Laura and that she would do absolutely anything to keep her safe...she was so distraught that she led her astray by encouraging her to marry Sir Percival Glyde and sending Walter Hartright away. Also, it was extremely powerful when Lisa sang "I close my eyes and I still see his face" towards the end of the show. Her voice is so beautiful. She was fabulous.

The ending of the show was changed from London and personally, I liked the London ending better. Hopefully Andrew Lloyd Weber and the rest of the creative team will change the ending so that it is more powerful.

I stage doored the show (obviously) and all the actors were incredibly nice. Anticipating that the playbill was going to be a mostly black cover, I bought some silver sharpies at staples beforehand. Jill Paice and Angela Christian, two original members of the London cast, signed my CD cover and they all signed my playbill.

Amazingly enough, I had a 10 minute conversation with Lisa Brescia at the stage door, just telling her how amazing her performance was, that I saw her in Aida and how happy I was that she is back on Broadway. She said that she found out she was going on for Maria Freidman on Monday night, so she had two days to learn the role. She is such a professional. I also told her that I saw her boyfriend's show that afternoon (Is There Life After High School? - music by Craig Carnelia) and that it was a lot of fun. She is one of the nicest broadway actors I have ever met.

I am definitely going back to see this show again (to see Maria's interpretation when she comes back). Please go see this show as soon as you can. Even if you are not an ALW fan, (I hate Cats and Phantom) you might like this show. Also, if you have a chance to see Lisa Brescia as Marian (maybe during Maria's vacation) please try and see her. She is brilliant and is definitely going to be a huge star in the future.

-Alberto

I did not love the show, but felt Brescia (of whom I'm admittedly a fan) did a marvelous job with little rehearsal time and not great material.

The projections were, imo, a wrong choice. In a show such as The Builder's Association ALLADEEN, which played at BAM a few years ago, used absolutely stunning (and crystal clear) projections in its tale of the reach of technology and its role in outsourcing jobs to India.

Not having actors in an actual, realisitic, three-dimensional setting lent an air of surreality that didn't work for this Gothic potboiler. Great plot...just wasn't told in a compelling way.

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I did not see it in London...only have heard the Cast Recording. From what I hear, the show ends with someone chipping away at the gravestone changing the name from Laura Glyde to Anne Catherick. Seems like it would be very powerful, but I guess the creative team didn't want that to come to NY.

Because of the projections (which are very obviously animation and not actual live cinematography), you are never allowed to believe that these are people in real danger. The characters aren't particularly well-drawn and the love story is not completely compelling. What it has going for it is a great plot, which is not told very well until perhaps the last 20 minutes.

A particular scene that involves (spoiler) Marian climbing onto the ledge of a building in a rainstorm to listen in on the plans of her sister's 'captors' is rendered ludicrous because of the projections. They remove any sense of thrill and danger.

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On a whim, I decided to attend the Saturday evening performance. I saw Ms. Friedman in London and will see her again in a few weeks, and I think that her performance is one of the most complex and layered performances I've seen in years.

Lisa Brescia is a force of nature. She was absolutely breathtaking as Marian. I had tears in my eyes during "All For Laura". Everybody: Go see Lisa Brescia as Marian!

I'm so glad we are all in agreement about Lisa. Her performance in WIW is a must see.

And yes, I will be revisiting this show over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Updated On: 11/7/05 at 04:02 PM

i just wanted to add to the lisa brescia love. i really can't think of words to describe her performance either and for the people that know me, i am never speechless haha

When I saw it in London the show did NOT end at the railroad tunnel - it went to the aftermath of the wedding with Marion left alone on stage by Anne Catherick's grave.

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I am glad to hear that this show is good. I bought the tickets based on Webber, but after I bought them I was regretting it (hey, it could have been another Starlight Express). But now after reading these reviews, I'm happy I bought them.

I was at the London production on opening night in 2004. Yes, the production ended at the train tracks, with Marian the sole person left on stage. KEC has it correct. The chipping at a gravestone was what was originally intended from what I heard, and they left that in the cast recording, but it was not in the show - I've forgotten what the reason was for removing it, but it had to do with the staging of it. The idea was that they were chipping off Laura's name on the gravestone. If you own the cast album from London, that was recorded live opening night, with only areas where audience reaction could be heard rerecorded in the studio (which is why you have two renditions of "You can get away with anything", definitely a show stopper when I saw Michael Crawford perform it). The ending was changed when the new London cast, featuring Ruthie took over. I've seen the London production in September 2004 opening week, January and May of 2005, and saw the same ending each time.

Additionally, since it has been previously mentioned, originally, Marian was not grabbed by the neck or threatened with a knife. Michael Crawford, who originated the Fosco role, just grabbed her by the wrist. However, his demeanor and attitude during that portion left no doubt of the character's anger. Even without a physical threat there, you were left with no doubt that Marian was in great danger. Also, you were left with the impression that Fosco had a great deal of admiration for Marian and was not only angry but hurt by her trickery and rejection, even though he himself was never truthful in his dealings with her.

I got to see Michael Crawford and Anthony Andrews as Fosco, but did not get the opportunity to see Michael Ball, though I hear he is quite good. Am hoping to get that opportunity perhaps here in the near future. Wish they had kept the knife out, though, with the scene featuring Marian and Fosco at the end as I really think it does not fit in with the song.

Wish the cast the best in NY.

Updated On: 11/7/05 at 06:16 PM

i haven't seen WIW, but saw Lisa Brescia in Aida and felt that she stole the show! I'm so glad to hear good things about her!

"Also, you were left with the impression that Fosco had a great deal of admiration for Marian and was not only angry but hurt by her trickery and rejection, even though he himself was never truthful in his dealings with her."

Actually, Fosco makes it clear from the moment he meets Marian that he finds her very attractive, although he only took his admiration so far. No doubt when she arrived on his doorstep he thought his dreams had come true, and, as you say, when he realized she had tricked him he was very angry and hurt.

"Wish they had kept the knife out, though, with the scene featuring Marian and Fosco at the end as I really think it does not fit in with the song."

I tend to agree with you, but I haven't seen the show in NY yet, so I may change my mind once I see how it's done.

Mamie, haven't you heard the OCR yet? While I wouldn't necessarily call myself a big fan of ALW, I do enjoy his music very much, and I think WiW is hauntingly beautiful.

kec,
I haven't heard it yet but I'm seeing the show on Saturday and I know I'll be getting the CD then.

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