Umbrellas of Cherbourg in NJ

[Chevstriss]

Posted: 9/29/05 at 12:17am

anyone been out to see this yet?

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/29/05 at 11:06am

Very curious about this as well.

The sung-through movie musical is amazing, with some of the most beautiful melodies written in the past 50 years. Can this work on stage???

I'd love to know.

[Chevstriss]

Posted: 9/29/05 at 12:07pm

It was done at the Public in 79, but I believe this is another re-write.

Max von Essen always makes for nice eye candy.

http://trtc.org/pages/3about/press%20releases/PRUmbrellas.html

[CherylA928]

Posted: 9/30/05 at 1:58am

I'm going to see it this Saturday night. It sound a little different but I can't wait.
It's raining applause at Two River Theater

[TheComposer]

Posted: 9/30/05 at 7:18am

Please keep us updated.

[TennesseeTwang]

Posted: 9/30/05 at 11:58am

The reviews have been mixed. But as ususal, von Essen's notices were good.

He's fav of mine.A very good actor with a sterling tenor. Not to mention the fact that he is indeed, easy on the eyes.

[Chevstriss]

Posted: 9/30/05 at 2:33pm

I'll be attending the very last show, so my opinions won't be very helpful.

[PramsAclams]

Posted: 10/15/05 at 1:33am

I finally saw it tonight. Max von Essen was charming, as he always is. Jamie McGonnigal was seen lurking the streets of New Jersey.

[JamieMcG]

Posted: 10/15/05 at 3:01am

LOL Yes, I was there! I have to say I went in a little scared of what may come to be honest. Umbrellas is my favorite movie of all time, and it's a really hard translation to make. But I was really impressed with it overall.

The theater is GORGEOUS! Who'd have thought in the middle of a small town in Jersey, this amazing new theatre space would just pop up. Really impressive.

As for the cast, it was pretty first rate. Max was great...captured the French nuances of the film really well. And Heather Spore, another favorite of mine was really charming as Genevieve.

The show is clearly not for everyone and still needs some tweaking with the translation and direction, but overall, at the very least it was a very good representation of the film onstage.

[Phantom2]

Posted: 10/15/05 at 11:26am

"Jamie McGonnigal was seen lurking the streets of New Jersey."

In a skirt?

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/15/05 at 11:39am

JamieMcG --- I have no clear picture of what this would be like on stage. Can you walk me through it a bit? I'm assuming they sang it in English (which might detract from its charm, no?).

What about all the splashy colors used in the film? Did they keep it a period piece (or move it to a different "war")? Were the leads as gorgeous as they were in the film (bet I know the answer to that one already)? Was the orchestra decent? Did it rain or snow on stage?

I'm trying to picture it all, with no details.

Do tell...

[JamieMcG]

Posted: 10/15/05 at 2:28pm

Okay, I'll do my best...cuz i have some time in between meetings.

So...

I was worried at first as the set is very minimalistic in a lot of ways. It was dark and kind of made me think of a modernized version of "Oliver." Dark, cold and almost industrial. Which is fairly representative of the place and time realistically. However, one of the most memorable parts of the film is that it's filled with a shock of color. It's like when Dorothy steps out into Oz...except pastel. As the show went on, the lack of that color bothered me less. At first it was a disappointment. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized onstage it's likely that it would have detracted from the story. Not to mention if that enormous stage had THAT much color on it, the actors would have been lost visually.

It is stil the Algerian War, as this was a major part of Demy's original vision-and to this day, it is deemed one of the only films to accurately depict the effects of the Algerian War.

So, yes, it was in English, which...well, whenever something so distinctly European is translated to an American stage, there is going to be something lost in the translation...but I held solid to the fact that the storytelling is very strong and the major points could still be communicated well. Which they were...but there is a good amount of very French humor in the way they speak, that is lost in English.

There was a turntable, that at times was used VERY effectively and created some visually stunning moments. But I fear that it's overuse ultimately detracted from a few moments.

The musical is sung through, and where I say it's not for everyone is that it's COMPLETELY a stylized musical...essentially, a jazz opera. It's rare there is a song that someone just sings...it's all dialogue set to music.

I said to my guest at the top of the show "If it doesn't snow I'm going to be VERY disappointed..." and sure enough, it snowed. The last vision of the film is what gets me everytime. It's a gas station in Cherbourg, the family is together and it's a very slow very long zoom out as the snow takes over the frame, and the music builds and builds and builds. The melody is alone, enough to get a few tears out of me. This effect is obviously close to impossible onstage, but the visual was still really nice.


How's that?

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/15/05 at 3:38pm

Very nice! ...And also much appreciated.

I hope I get see other incarnations of it in the future.

[Phantom2]

Posted: 10/15/05 at 11:05pm

Nobody answered my skirt question.