Sonia Friedman had plans for both a US and UK Tour. i really wished they'd pull through on them.
I saw it three times in London including the final night. I loved the show, probably moreso as it was the first 'new' show I had seen I think and I hadn't listened to it first so got the whole experience.
It was very emotional and the story worked, it wasn't just there to link the songs.
The UK tour was supposed to start last January!
I live in hope.
I actually liked most of the recording, but there was still a lot of it I unfortunately did not. And I read most of the reviews and a lot of them were more critical of Maria for her sickness and the sets than the overall music. I would have loved to see this...
Leading Actor Joined: 3/17/07
I found the score largely forgettable, but the show was so atrociously staged, that the score and the story seemed like an afterthought. I felt bad for the cast as I watched it. I haven't listend to the recording, but I can still remember I Believe My Heart from the performance almost two years ago. So at least that melody is catchy. I also remember liking the song when they go London. (I may have made up the plot point that they go to London--but I liked the song that makes me think I remember them going to London.)
It would have been better if the whole thing were narrated by a man in a chair down stage right.
Maria Friedman's All for Laura was incredible...the set was a really bad video
Thesbijean--They also cut one of Marian's songs, If Not For Me For Her, which was one of the my favs from London, and one of Webbers more simple and beautiful songs.
I completely agree with you. I was so upset they cut that song. I saw WIW four times--twice with Michael Crawford and twice when the new cast took over in July in London. Cutting that song was a part of one of the rewrites for the show when the new London cast took over which I felt was unfortunate. Marian tells Walter that she loves him which I felt completely ruined the dynamic. I enjoyed the show. Ruthie Henshall, Maria Friedman, Martin Crews, and Jill Paice were all wonderful and really sweet at the stage door. It was also a lot of fun to see Michael Crawford as Fosco. I thought he did a really good job with the mouse and all. A little creepy at some points, but that's Fosco.
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/29/04
Very talented cast in a very weak and flawed show. It was one of my least enjoyable experiences ever in a theatre.
Swing Joined: 10/22/07
All for Laura was great. Not a flop, the lead was diagnosed with breast cancer.
I haven't seen the show, but have the cast recording. At first I was rather disappointed and thought it to be rather dull when compared with the rest of the ALW canon, but it really grew on me with the repeated listenings.
ALL FOR LAURA is also my personal favorite. It's not the best of ALW's score, but it's not that bad either.
As Little Sally says in Urinetown, "Nothing can kill a show like too much exposition." That was the problem. There was SO much story to tell, especially in the first act, that every scene was about trying to explain things. The second act worked better for me because by then most of the plot had been dealt with. I also agree that the projections became a distraction but they were necessary because of the sprawling narrative.
That said, it's my second favorite ALW score - some of the songs are absolutely ravishing. I hope it has an afterlife.
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/23/05
I never saw it but I have the CD. I love the music. A lot of the lyrics are cringeworthy at best. And, Andrew, I don't care if the ending on the CD is your preferred ending, it sucks. I was sitting at my computer listening to it on my iTunes and I was thinking, "Is that it? Is it over?"
I loved this musical. I saw it four times while it was on Broadway. And I'd have to say my favorite songs are If I Could Only Dream This World Away and The Seduction scene. I loved Michael Ball as Count Fosco..
And Trap, I heard the song If Not For Me, For Her and I agree. It's a beautiful song. And I really wish they kept it.
I enjoyed the show a great deal. However, I didn't see Maria Friedman. I saw the very, very, very impressive Lisa Brescia. She knocked it out of the park, and it remains the best performance I've seen her give. Incidentally, we were told before the show that she was going on with, "literally, only hours of rehearsal." You certainly couldn't tell. I am sure Freidman was great also, but Brescia was outstanding.
I actually think the show would have been better off without the projections. I understand what they were going for, but there were moments that were unintentionally funny. For instance, there is a scene where Marian is walking on a ledge, which should have been very tense and scary. Because Marian was merely just shimmying across the stage, it lost all sense of urgency and tension.
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/23/05
So in that scene, is she basically backed up against a projection screen for three minutes?
Sort of...she walks from one room to another. The scene starts in her room, then climbs out on the ledge, and creeps over to Fosco's room. Then she does the same thing in reverse....so, yeah, when she is out on the ledge, she was simply backed up against a projection, pretending that she was scared and standing on a ledge.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
>>>They also cut one of Marian's songs, If Not For Me For Her, which was one of the my favs from London, and one of Webbers more simple and beautiful songs. <<<
I agree. There was also a short musical passage sung by Walter when she meets the ghostlike figure at the beginning which I couldn't get out of my head for a long time. It was my favourite musical passage from the show.
The story was a period piece. It revolved around a dark Victorian tale. Its characters were very interesting - from the feisty Marion, the love-struck Walter, the charming but plotting Count Fosco, the long-suffering Laura, the ghostly apparition with a weird voice, the evil husband, the weak-charactered uncle, etc.. The music was romantic, haunting, dark, and occasionally merry if melodramatic ! I think the projections helped immensely in setting up the scenes appropriate to the story fast and effectively - for both external and interior scenes. I thought the musical score and the staging were succesful in bringing the story to life!
I enjoyed it at the West End and enjoyed it, too, on Broadway!
Updated On: 11/26/07 at 08:07 PM
Featured Actor Joined: 5/17/06
I saw the show two years ago. I had heard the CR beforehand, and although seeing the show didn't change the fact that I couldn't stand either the music or especially the lyrics, I enjoyed myself. Maria Friedman, Jill Paice, Angela Christian, and Adam Brazier were all fantastic, and I actually did quite like the story. I agree that the projections were kind of annoying at times and I much prefer a real set, but at times it did work.
There were a couple of scenese where the projections worked- the meadow scenes were well done, and so was the climactic scene in the railyard.
Yeah, that scene outside the tunnel was really great!
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
Did everybody duck from the onrushing train
I also liked the sight and the sound of the small waterfall. I also thought the set reversal from overview and frontage of the church to inside and altar-side view neat.
Broadway Star Joined: 7/26/07
I loved this show. I think that, while the projections are a good idea, they don't work for this show. To use projections you need a "blockbuster musical" where the sets would move a lot. This show is just too quaint. The only part where the projections would have differed from regular scenery is the train and the meadow.
How come nobody mentions Trying Not To Notice... by far my favorite song in the show. The dramatic motif from it recurs again and again in high tension moments.
Featured Actor Joined: 9/8/03
Saw the show in the West End and on Broadway and loved it every time. Overall I prefer the Broadway cast, but some of the changes they made from the London production made no sense. Cutting "If Not For Me For Her", shortening the seduction scene (they cut the second verse which was the only time you really got to hear Michael Ball and Maria Friedman belt together...wow!), and the addition of the wedding scene with the pop-up gravestone...all mistakes IMO. The original ending was much more in keeping with the overall tone of the show and gave Marion one of her most beautiful moments.
But the music is gorgeous and the performances were uniformly outstanding. The entire cast (including the understudies)were first rate.
This thread is making me nostalgic...and sad lol!
I love the music, but I hate the lyrics. Most are dreadful.
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/23/05
"Sort of...she walks from one room to another. The scene starts in her room, then climbs out on the ledge, and creeps over to Fosco's room. Then she does the same thing in reverse....so, yeah, when she is out on the ledge, she was simply backed up against a projection, pretending that she was scared and standing on a ledge."
So what about Sir Percival Glyde and Count Fosco? ARe we just hearing their voices that whole time?
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