I was there tonight, as well....
Paulus has made fantastic use of the Hirschfield and has incorporated about as much of the organic feeling of the park production as could be expected in the venue. The cast enters and exits from everywhere, including the doors that lead out to the street. Gavin Creel even made use of the mezzanine railing during the finale. If you have an aisle seat in the orchestra, beware- you will probably be interacting with a cast member at some point. I was handed a flyer for the anti-war protest.
Going in, I had concerns about Creel's suitability for the role, and while he does look noticeably older than most of the cast, he gives a very, very good performance. His counterpart, Will Swenson, was also wonderful. Of the ladies, Sasha Allen and Saycon Sengbloh (nearly stealing act 2 as Abraham Lincoln) fare the best. Kacie Sheik is very quirky and funny in her role.
I'll have to be the voice of dissent on Caissie Levy, however. I thought she was awful. Her voice was screechy and Easy to be Heard was not easy to listen to. They ought to replace her, but I doubt they will. She is a glaring weak link in an otherwise very solid production.
I was most impressed this evening by Paulus' staging and how well she managed to keep many of the elements that made the park production so solid. One thing they should look at is making the wings less visible from most of the orchestra seats. Several times this evening, when I looked to the side of the stage, I could see a stage manager standing there holding a clipboard.
The onstage dancing at the finale is still there, and amusingly enough, just as they start to do it, two cast members run off stage to get giant railings that they place on the steps leading to the stage. I found that rather amusing.
One bit of oddity....I had no idea this show was going to inspire people to come in "costume." There were a large number of audience members dressed as hippies tonight. I wonder if this is going to be a regular occurrence, or if this was just the first nighters.
My one concern is about the energy level on other nights. Tonight, the audience was VERY into the show- it was clear there was a lot of fans of the show in attendance. This made the energy level in the theater very high. I wonder, however, what it's going to be like on a random Thursday evening. Without a lot of energy, this show could be dreadful. Still, tonight's audience ate it up.
Updated On: 3/7/09 at 12:30 AM