(no subject)
NYC was fantastic. We got back Sunday night and I'm still not over it, wishing I was still there, etc. My sibs and I met David, my longtime internet buddy, on Friday and basically just hung out around Time Square all day, with a brief detour to Central Park. Nicole bought me a copy of the Sweeney Todd revival recording, which I've been listening to ever since we got home. Then that evening, after David went home, we saw a preview of Les Miserables.
There were a few small changes to the show that I appreciated very much. Lyric changes, especially, that helped clarify what the students were up to, and also a very welcome costume change for Cosette, so she's not stuck in that nun-like thing the whole time. I missed the big opening gong, but mostly I didn't notice the orchestrations, except in some places they were significantly lighter, simpler than before.
The cast:
Alexander Gemignani as Valjean: Good. A little iffy in the middle, but warmed up considerably by the time Bring Him Home came around.
Norm Lewis as Javert: Very good. Very strong singing, especially in Stars. He got the loudest applause, if I'm not mistaken.
Daphne Rubin-Vega as Fantine: Not good. I wondered at first if she had a cold, or something, but I decided it didn't matter. She never finished her lines, just let them sort of fade before the last syllable. Her acting was wooden in places, though generally okay. Honestly, though, I was glad when Fantine died, and I cringed when she came back in the finale.
Gary Beach as Thenardier: Good. Funny. Sometimes I thought maybe he didn't really know, or care, what the tune was supposed to be, but it was very minor, and his line deliveries were always good.
Jenny Galloway as Madame Thenardier: I loved her. It was kind of bizarre seeing her there, after being familiar with her from the 10th anniversary concert. She cracks me up, though, and I had trouble watching the students and everybody during One Day More because she and Beach were cutting up so much.
Adam Jacobs as Marius: Good. A little too pretty to be believable in such an earnest role, but his voice was very good, and my sisters appreciated his "puppy dog eyes." I was just glad that he didn't have that mincing way of singing that's so popular recently. You know what I'm talking about; Peter Lockyer did it, Steve Scott Springer did it. I hate it when Marius and Cosette's voices are indistinguishable in their duets, so I was very glad that Adam Jacobs actually sounds like a guy.
Ali Ewoldt as Cosette: She's like a little doll, you just want to wrap her up and put her on a shelf to look at. Did what she could with the role. Very pretty voice, probably the strongest female "lead" in the show. Her Cosette was very sweet, and innocent, but not wimpy, and not whiny. I liked her.
Celia Keenan-Bolger as Eponine: Sort of a weak voice, but convincing nonetheless, and she pulled off On My Own pretty well. Not bad at all. I was confused by A Little Fall of Rain---she seemed to stand for quite a long time, for someone who'd just been mortally wounded, and the way Marius discovered the blood didn't seem to make sense with where she was supposed to be wounded, but I don't suppose that's her fault. It was just confusing.
Aaron Lazar as Enjolras: Very good. It's the first time I've actually seen a good Enjolras, so that alone made me really happy. He just seemed to understand the role so well, he made Enjolras seem like a real person. The expression on his face when he said, "Who cares about your lonely soul?" was just so real, and for the first time I believed that what the students were doing really was more important than Marius' lonely soul. The lyric changes fit in really well with Enjolras, in particular, because Lazar chose to interpret him as someone who was slowly being disillusioned with the Parisian people. He based the whole insurrection on his belief that the people would rise up, and when they didn't, you could feel his disappointment. This was especially palpable on the line "They will be back again. They can attack again." The look on his face was one of near panic, like someone who just realized he was in deeper than he thought. Also, the lines right before Bring Him Home, instead of focusing on being ready for the final fight, like before, went like "Everybody keep the faith, for whatever they might say, the people will rise." (paraphrased) I really enjoyed this interpretation.
It also helped that, despite not being strictly pretty, he is a very attractive compelling stage actor. :D
The next day, we decided to tackle the subway system, with .... not a lot of success. Let's just say that London was way easier. We were able to get around, eventually, but we were mostly confused. Anyway, we walked around Greenwich Village and Chinatown. Most of the time was in Greenwich Village --- stores just kept popping out at us, and there was a very embarrassing segment wherein we couldn't figure out that we kept going in and coming out and going back into the exact same subway platform. *blushes*
That evening, we saw Phantom of the Opera. My brother bought my ticket, because I didn't want to spend money on another show, but I didn't want to be left behind, either, and he owed me a birthday present. *g*
No changes, that I could see. Everybody knows how this goes; it's still the same show. The actors were all very good, especially Howard McGillin as the Phantom. We had quite a few understudies--Christine, Piangi, and a couple others. Couldn't tell at all; the girl who played Christine actually plays her twice a week anyway, so it's not like it was a sudden change for her. She had a very lovely voice, just the kind of soprano I like.
The lady sitting next to me had never seen it before, had no idea what it was about beforehand at all, and was sitting on the edge of her seat the whole time. It was amusing watching her reactions. When Raoul showed up in the Phantom's lair, she exclaimed breathlessly, "It's Raoul!" It was cute.
Afterwards, McGillin took a chance to ask for donations to Broadway Cares, offering up some special merchandise and autographs from Raoul. I might have been annoyed, but he was cute about it, especially the way he said "A Phantom cookbook!" I didn't buy anything, but I might have if he'd been the one signing autographs, 'cause he made me cry during the show (well, almost, and that's enough for me), and he made me laugh during his little speech.
There were a few disagreements over what to do, mostly because some of us preferred to just walk around and soak everything in, whereas the others would have liked to do some actual sightseeing. As it turned out, we just didn't have enough time to see everything.
We're already planning our next trip.
There were a few small changes to the show that I appreciated very much. Lyric changes, especially, that helped clarify what the students were up to, and also a very welcome costume change for Cosette, so she's not stuck in that nun-like thing the whole time. I missed the big opening gong, but mostly I didn't notice the orchestrations, except in some places they were significantly lighter, simpler than before.
The cast:
Alexander Gemignani as Valjean: Good. A little iffy in the middle, but warmed up considerably by the time Bring Him Home came around.
Norm Lewis as Javert: Very good. Very strong singing, especially in Stars. He got the loudest applause, if I'm not mistaken.
Daphne Rubin-Vega as Fantine: Not good. I wondered at first if she had a cold, or something, but I decided it didn't matter. She never finished her lines, just let them sort of fade before the last syllable. Her acting was wooden in places, though generally okay. Honestly, though, I was glad when Fantine died, and I cringed when she came back in the finale.
Gary Beach as Thenardier: Good. Funny. Sometimes I thought maybe he didn't really know, or care, what the tune was supposed to be, but it was very minor, and his line deliveries were always good.
Jenny Galloway as Madame Thenardier: I loved her. It was kind of bizarre seeing her there, after being familiar with her from the 10th anniversary concert. She cracks me up, though, and I had trouble watching the students and everybody during One Day More because she and Beach were cutting up so much.
Adam Jacobs as Marius: Good. A little too pretty to be believable in such an earnest role, but his voice was very good, and my sisters appreciated his "puppy dog eyes." I was just glad that he didn't have that mincing way of singing that's so popular recently. You know what I'm talking about; Peter Lockyer did it, Steve Scott Springer did it. I hate it when Marius and Cosette's voices are indistinguishable in their duets, so I was very glad that Adam Jacobs actually sounds like a guy.
Ali Ewoldt as Cosette: She's like a little doll, you just want to wrap her up and put her on a shelf to look at. Did what she could with the role. Very pretty voice, probably the strongest female "lead" in the show. Her Cosette was very sweet, and innocent, but not wimpy, and not whiny. I liked her.
Celia Keenan-Bolger as Eponine: Sort of a weak voice, but convincing nonetheless, and she pulled off On My Own pretty well. Not bad at all. I was confused by A Little Fall of Rain---she seemed to stand for quite a long time, for someone who'd just been mortally wounded, and the way Marius discovered the blood didn't seem to make sense with where she was supposed to be wounded, but I don't suppose that's her fault. It was just confusing.
Aaron Lazar as Enjolras: Very good. It's the first time I've actually seen a good Enjolras, so that alone made me really happy. He just seemed to understand the role so well, he made Enjolras seem like a real person. The expression on his face when he said, "Who cares about your lonely soul?" was just so real, and for the first time I believed that what the students were doing really was more important than Marius' lonely soul. The lyric changes fit in really well with Enjolras, in particular, because Lazar chose to interpret him as someone who was slowly being disillusioned with the Parisian people. He based the whole insurrection on his belief that the people would rise up, and when they didn't, you could feel his disappointment. This was especially palpable on the line "They will be back again. They can attack again." The look on his face was one of near panic, like someone who just realized he was in deeper than he thought. Also, the lines right before Bring Him Home, instead of focusing on being ready for the final fight, like before, went like "Everybody keep the faith, for whatever they might say, the people will rise." (paraphrased) I really enjoyed this interpretation.
It also helped that, despite not being strictly pretty, he is a very attractive compelling stage actor. :D
The next day, we decided to tackle the subway system, with .... not a lot of success. Let's just say that London was way easier. We were able to get around, eventually, but we were mostly confused. Anyway, we walked around Greenwich Village and Chinatown. Most of the time was in Greenwich Village --- stores just kept popping out at us, and there was a very embarrassing segment wherein we couldn't figure out that we kept going in and coming out and going back into the exact same subway platform. *blushes*
That evening, we saw Phantom of the Opera. My brother bought my ticket, because I didn't want to spend money on another show, but I didn't want to be left behind, either, and he owed me a birthday present. *g*
No changes, that I could see. Everybody knows how this goes; it's still the same show. The actors were all very good, especially Howard McGillin as the Phantom. We had quite a few understudies--Christine, Piangi, and a couple others. Couldn't tell at all; the girl who played Christine actually plays her twice a week anyway, so it's not like it was a sudden change for her. She had a very lovely voice, just the kind of soprano I like.
The lady sitting next to me had never seen it before, had no idea what it was about beforehand at all, and was sitting on the edge of her seat the whole time. It was amusing watching her reactions. When Raoul showed up in the Phantom's lair, she exclaimed breathlessly, "It's Raoul!" It was cute.
Afterwards, McGillin took a chance to ask for donations to Broadway Cares, offering up some special merchandise and autographs from Raoul. I might have been annoyed, but he was cute about it, especially the way he said "A Phantom cookbook!" I didn't buy anything, but I might have if he'd been the one signing autographs, 'cause he made me cry during the show (well, almost, and that's enough for me), and he made me laugh during his little speech.
There were a few disagreements over what to do, mostly because some of us preferred to just walk around and soak everything in, whereas the others would have liked to do some actual sightseeing. As it turned out, we just didn't have enough time to see everything.
We're already planning our next trip.