rags Roundabout — Page 2

...you're not exactly clear on what Beautiful Soup usually does, are you?

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...that's generally what they get. They're known for the fix-'em-ups.

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I saw the show yesterday and enjoyed it a lot. It's quite an ambitious production! I am just the average layperson who loves theater. I'm learning more and more as I go along, but I don't have the knowledge that Whizzer and others on this board have.

In spite of that, or maybe because of that, I didn't see all the flaws of the book, and I didn't think the show dragged. The performances were fine in most cases and exceptional in at least one case, Anna Kirkland, who plays Rebecca. She has a beautiful, robust, and well-trained voice, which she uses very effectively. As Whizzer said earlier, the others in the production were vocally not up to the same level. But she's the lead, and her voice is what you hear most often! It's quite a role, and she sure sang the heck out of it!

The others had good voices, just not as powerful. And it's ironic to me that while some in the cast didn't project their singing voices that well in this small theater, many of them will sound just fine on Broadway, where mics are used!

Two more performances I really enjoyed: Kenneth Kyle Martinez as Saul, the union organizer, and Jeremiah Burch III as David, Rebecca's son. Talented kid, and the grandson of vaudevillians (as it says in the program notes). I love that!

The staging was good, as was the movement/choreography. The projections were relevant and not too obtrusive, no technical problems that I could detect. And it's great to have a real orchestra (I think five pieces, don't remember) in an off-off Broadway setting! I recommend seeing this production! Nice job, all.

Updated On: 6/1/13 at 10:38 AM

Yes, the Fourth of July piece! Very well staged! Was that in the original score? Was the OBC even recorded?

As for the Yiddish "Hamlet," it is a major digression but, in the original and AJT productions, it was absolutely LOL hilarious. And the show needs as much humor as possible. But I won't be surprised if it's eventually cut.

I'd be interested to know how the new Act I 4th of July finale differs from "On the Fourth Day of July" in the original.

The Bella and Ben verses in PENNY... were cut in 2011. I like them, but they don't work in the story because they're the only ones who are sort of "fantasizing" the moment. Everyone else is interacting with the market shoppers and factory girls. So it's a bit muddled when they're kept.

On the Fourth of July is mostly the same. It's the song that comes out of it that is different. Here, the song is "To America". My favorite piece from the show. But on the OCR it's "Nothing Will Hurt Us Again", which is the same tune as Bella and Rebecca's duet "If We Never Meet Again".

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One of the major flaws of the production I saw was that Bella's fate was a complete anticlimax. She went offstage and then we get told she died. I guess it was intended as a gut punch, but it came off as a whimper.

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I understand the fear of muddling reality with fantasy, but the characters (especially Bella) are all fantasizing of a way to get out. While everyone else is dealing with their troubles, she is the one constantly escaping them. Plus Ben is so terribly underwritten, and this goes a long way in furthering their relationship.

There's a great line for Rebecca leading into those verses to: Bella says she has a boyfriend and Stratas retorts (in a deadpan aside) I have a husband and look where that got me!

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Wilmington- I would love for Brand New World to open the show.

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Ideally, they should remove some of the sizable list of characters. It's one of those shows that introduces so many characters, gives them all at least a song each, then realizes it should be focusing on one character and abandons the rest.

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I actually tracked down Up Until Today, but wasn't crazy about it. It accomplishes the same as Summer Night, which is too much of a stand-out to cut.

Perhaps you're right about Ben and Bella. It was something I went back and forth on for a while, and judging by the different librettos, it seems they did too.

I did not connect with Wayne directly, but we did have to get permission through that office to use the different Act One finale, which I believe Wayne orchestrated.

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Thanks for confirming. We've credited him in our program as such at the instructions of R&H. It is a WONDERFUL song and I'm so happy we get to use it.

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