#1
Posted: 2/19/05 at 10:00pm
I saw it on Thursday and Friday night (17th and 18th). Fabulous is my only word.
The set was very different from the two other productions I’d seen, because the theatre was TINY.
The first thing that I noticed that was different about the show was the first song. The ticks are being heard, followed by booms, and “Michael” and “Susan” come out and are pre-set and then Dean was at the corner SL. The light goes up on him instantly, instead of after “It is one man’s mounting anxiety!” I didn’t like that, I mean, it worked, but I like it the other way better.
Dean’s first monologue was so funny, he appeared to be SO nervous and freaked out, and it just came through so well. He was turning red the minute he started to sing though, aw.
Everything went really, really well. It was so funny and all of the actors conveyed their characters perfectly. As for having heard that the only thing wrong with Daphne is her ‘physique’? I think it actually fits quite well, those who can’t do, teach. I’m not saying she couldn’t dance, but she was a dance teacher at the time. I’ve taken dance for many years and not once have I ever had a teacher that was anorexic like a ballerina. Her voice was great too, even over sickness because “Come to Your Senses” wasn’t as good as it was the second night.
I don’t remember from past productions, but what are the lines they say during the break in “No More” when they’re running and playing with each other? I have no idea whether they’re the same or not but Dean said things like, “That was a very endearing quality that my mother always loved!” and, “that’s how you lost 15 pounds!” as well as, “I see Kareem Abdul Jabars head!” They were very funny.
Something that was also different was that Dean didn’t play the piano at all until the end.
I have to be honest; I didn’t know how I’d feel with Dean as Jonathan, only because he doesn’t look like him. But, I loved all of his performance. My favorite part though, was after Michael tells him he has AIDS and he’s running through the meadow screaming at seagulls “MY FRIEND IS DYING!” And he’s crying and so distraught. I wanted to run up and hug him. He was so amazing at capturing Jonathan, maybe different than what Raul did, but it still was very effective. After a while, I forgot that he looked differently from Jonathan and I forgot that he was Dean and not Jonathan. At times though, he sounded exactly like Raul on the OOBCR.
Michael as a white guy (who looked like Forest Gump!). Well, Michael was played by a guy named Michael! During “Sunday” when he usually imitates a black woman wanting the ‘Salad necoys..etc’ he put on a cowboy hat and did it as a mid-westerner. It worked very well. He was excellent. He added so many little things in that made me feel like he was so upset at that moment in his life. Like, when he’s walking off stage, leaving Susan and Jon, he stood at the back of the stage right before he walked off and watched them kiss in agony; because he knew he was dying.
“Come to Your Senses” was MUCH more on on Friday night. She was able to hold the final note out until the end.
I like “Therapy” better when it was staged with Jon and Susan sitting next to each other, more than standing. But they both had a good time with it still. Dean emphasized “bad” every time he said it in the first few lyrics of the song.
“Louder Than Words” was great, lots of emotion. Vocals were right on. It was just really, really good.
At the end when Jon is supposed to play Happy Birthday for himself, Dean went over to the band and the pianist (Wayne) stood aside and Dean played ‘Happy Birthday’ and after every few bars, he’d look over his shoulder like, “Hah, you thought I couldn’t play piano!”
Go see it, this week is it's final week. Go see it.
The set was very different from the two other productions I’d seen, because the theatre was TINY.
The first thing that I noticed that was different about the show was the first song. The ticks are being heard, followed by booms, and “Michael” and “Susan” come out and are pre-set and then Dean was at the corner SL. The light goes up on him instantly, instead of after “It is one man’s mounting anxiety!” I didn’t like that, I mean, it worked, but I like it the other way better.
Dean’s first monologue was so funny, he appeared to be SO nervous and freaked out, and it just came through so well. He was turning red the minute he started to sing though, aw.
Everything went really, really well. It was so funny and all of the actors conveyed their characters perfectly. As for having heard that the only thing wrong with Daphne is her ‘physique’? I think it actually fits quite well, those who can’t do, teach. I’m not saying she couldn’t dance, but she was a dance teacher at the time. I’ve taken dance for many years and not once have I ever had a teacher that was anorexic like a ballerina. Her voice was great too, even over sickness because “Come to Your Senses” wasn’t as good as it was the second night.
I don’t remember from past productions, but what are the lines they say during the break in “No More” when they’re running and playing with each other? I have no idea whether they’re the same or not but Dean said things like, “That was a very endearing quality that my mother always loved!” and, “that’s how you lost 15 pounds!” as well as, “I see Kareem Abdul Jabars head!” They were very funny.
Something that was also different was that Dean didn’t play the piano at all until the end.
I have to be honest; I didn’t know how I’d feel with Dean as Jonathan, only because he doesn’t look like him. But, I loved all of his performance. My favorite part though, was after Michael tells him he has AIDS and he’s running through the meadow screaming at seagulls “MY FRIEND IS DYING!” And he’s crying and so distraught. I wanted to run up and hug him. He was so amazing at capturing Jonathan, maybe different than what Raul did, but it still was very effective. After a while, I forgot that he looked differently from Jonathan and I forgot that he was Dean and not Jonathan. At times though, he sounded exactly like Raul on the OOBCR.
Michael as a white guy (who looked like Forest Gump!). Well, Michael was played by a guy named Michael! During “Sunday” when he usually imitates a black woman wanting the ‘Salad necoys..etc’ he put on a cowboy hat and did it as a mid-westerner. It worked very well. He was excellent. He added so many little things in that made me feel like he was so upset at that moment in his life. Like, when he’s walking off stage, leaving Susan and Jon, he stood at the back of the stage right before he walked off and watched them kiss in agony; because he knew he was dying.
“Come to Your Senses” was MUCH more on on Friday night. She was able to hold the final note out until the end.
I like “Therapy” better when it was staged with Jon and Susan sitting next to each other, more than standing. But they both had a good time with it still. Dean emphasized “bad” every time he said it in the first few lyrics of the song.
“Louder Than Words” was great, lots of emotion. Vocals were right on. It was just really, really good.
At the end when Jon is supposed to play Happy Birthday for himself, Dean went over to the band and the pianist (Wayne) stood aside and Dean played ‘Happy Birthday’ and after every few bars, he’d look over his shoulder like, “Hah, you thought I couldn’t play piano!”
Go see it, this week is it's final week. Go see it.
