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?
"There is nothing scary about life, if you are not attached to the results." - Conversations With God
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