Thou Shalt Not- Page 2

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 11/9/05 at 8:08am

One last observation...what was with all the old people in the audience? Did anyone else notice that? It was as if they were giving the tickets out at every Senior Development within 60 miles. I thought some of the scenes were hot, but you could hear the old people gasping in shock. It was a pretty funny in a way, but I could tell anything a little off color would have shocked them.


I noticed that, as well. I attributed it to Lincoln Center's highly geriatric subscription base.

[ticenewyorkcity]

Posted: 11/9/05 at 12:58pm

Personally I thought the show had some really nice points.

The ensemble....right up until the week it closed was full of energy. Bright and spot on. Rachell Rak, who is always a joy to watch, always caught my attention.

Deborah Monk i thought was brilliant. from top to bottom she is one hell of an actress.

Norbert was the highlight of the show and may people regret not staying for the second act. he really shined in the second act.

susan stroman really gave this show the dance treatment. the "thou shalt not ballet" was breath taking. a spinning bed, a nearly nude craig and kate...and a hot sensual song by Harry. despite what someone said before Kate NEVER "humped" the head board.

the set design was brilliant...well actually the stage itself was one of my favorite parts as it was a multi turntable.

i personally didn't like craig that much...but that is just me. i did like his character better with the funeral home scene...it added so much more.

i did however love kate levering. i wish she'd come back to broadway. i personally see therease not as this strong woman but as a frail object caught between lust and respect. i thought she looked frighteningly ill and sick in the second act.

there was a review that stated "thou shalt not...should not" and i enjoyed reading somewhere "late in the first act after a bed scene opens her eyes so wide it is as if you can actually hear her thinking...'why oh why did i ever leave 42nd st.'"

but jokes aside it was a really depressing musical that i still enjoy watching. tub boat is one of my favorite musical theatre scenes.

i too think the musical needed much more work and that it did open at a very bad time. but oh well...thats that.
d

[SirLiir]

Posted: 11/10/05 at 4:27pm

Sorry to resurrect this topic again but I found something interesting. This is a synopsis of the book Therese Raquin the musical was based on:

"This was Zola's first masterpiece. I think it's one of the most disturbing tales of adultery I've ever read. A woman named Therese is trapped in a dull marriage to her sickly cousin Camille. She takes his robust and sexy friend Laurent as her lover, and soon they plot Camille's death. The three of them go out on a boat for a leisure row on the river, and when they reach a secluded spot, Laurent throws Camille into the water. He drowns. Therese and Laurent overturn the boat to make it look like an accident, and they swim to shore calling for help. Their plan works. They marry. they should be happy, right? No, they aren't, because the murder and death of Camille haunts their guilty conscience until they nearly go mad. The ending to this extremely grim tale is terrifying and tragic, and morally correct. It will shake you to your very soul. There's a film adaptation of this book starring Kate Nelligan. This is one of those rare cases where the movie is even better than the novel. It's the most haunting thing I've ever seen. It was the most emotionally powerful thing I've ever, ever seen on screen. I think it made me have an anxiety attack haha.
David Rehak
author of "Love and Madness"

Everything that happens in that musical happens in the book Therese Raquin. My question is whether people simply hated the book script or the source material and premise when they talk about why the musical was so bad.