anyone else see sunday in the park with kelli and manoel?- Page 3

[BroadwayBaby6]

Posted: 2/3/07 at 2:14pm

I saw the production last night and I have to say that I am mostly in agreement with the LA Times review.

First of all, the Good: The orchestra and the vocals were top notch- both Mano and Kelli sang beautifully. Kelli's characterization in the 1st act was not perfect, but she was amazing as the 92 year old Marie. It was wonderful to see Nancy Dussault on stage again and she was wonderful as both the Mother and the Art Critic.

Where the production utterly fails is in its direction. Jason Alexander must have gone to the George Lucas school of direction. The two weeks of rehearsal seemed to have been spent on staging choices and traffic direction rather than on character work.

Jason Alexander makes all kinds of bold and busy staging choices, some of which work and some of which don't. Where direction utterly fails is giving the actors guidance guidance about getting into the character and "character arc". While the talented leads and the ensemble are doing their best, there seems to be no directorial vision to the story of the charactesr. Alexander's directorial vision is all about showing the process of "making art", and this vision is at the expense of showing characters that show any real development and that audiences will care about.

To echo the LA Times reviewer, I would not be surprised if either Kelli and/or Mano get cast in the upcoming Broadway revival- with Sam Buntrock's direction, they could give amazing performances.

[singingbackup]

Posted: 2/3/07 at 9:51pm

i go this friday..i am still excited. :)

[noahrp3]

Posted: 2/4/07 at 12:45pm

Does anyone know if Reprise offers student rush tickets? $75 is pretty freakin expensive for a concert production.

[BroadwayChica]

Posted: 2/4/07 at 2:48pm

First of all, it's not a concert production, as has been stated in this thread before. Even though Reprise! has limited resources, this is considered a full scale production. I do agree that $75 is a bit much, but that's just the way it is.

And I believe that no, there are no student rush tickets available.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 2/4/07 at 2:53pm

Michael Bennett, you mentioned you were gonna see it this weekend. Have you reviewed it yet?

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 2/4/07 at 5:01pm

I actually opted to take seats for next week instead - I figure the cast will probably be better with some more performances under their belts...

[Danielm]

Posted: 2/5/07 at 3:56pm

I don't believe they have student rush (although they should). There have been half priced tickets on Goldstar and the LA Theatre Alliance websites.

[BroadwayChica]

Posted: 2/8/07 at 12:24pm

bump, for another review. It's short, so I post it in its entirety:

http://www.lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=4986&IssueNum=192

This Stephen Sondheim/James Lapine musical about pointillist painter Georges Seurat (act one) and his fictional great-grandson, the post-modern American artist George (act two), inspires different reactions with each new production. In Jason Alexander’s staging for Reprise!, little exasperations with some of the minor characters (the song “The Day Off” isn’t one of Sondheim’s best) give way to a sense of awe over the artists’ (Seurat’s and Sondheim’s) missions. Modern George’s inability to find a comparable passion is also moving. It helps that Manoel Felciano is a relatively warm-blooded Georges/George. Kelli O’Hara is delightful as Dot and Marie.

[decotodd]

Posted: 2/13/07 at 6:43pm

I saw the show on Friday night (2/9) and really enjoyed it. I thought it was one of Reprise's best (up there with COMPANY, PIPPIN and BRIGADOON). I expected Kelli to be good, but came away floored by Manoel -- I'd go far to see him again. Reprise apparently had great success with the show. I spoke to one of their reps -- all performances were sold out except for the preview. I tried to get tickets to see the closing night as well but none available.