Ok quick(ish) review before bed!
The city is very charming!
The theatre is phenomenal! Each seat has it's own LCD screen in the back so everyone has their own screen for subtitles of which you could choose English or German.
Show is (as usual) a 5/5 masterpiece. It was fantastic both nights and I ugly cried both nights. Friday was a tough crowd, most likely full of locals, but Saturday's crowd were much more into it and gave an instant standing ovation. The guy beside us seemed to know the show quite well and was having a grand old time.
The crowd were EXCEPTIONALLY well behaved, it was almost like going to the theatre...for a change...
Cast - 5/5 - Not a dud amongst them. Some exceptional singing. Best Natasha, Balaga and Dolokov I have seen. Pierre was also excellent and equally on par with Josh (minus 'that' voice) who is my fave Pierre. Helena, Sonya and Marya were great, but seemed to have a few sound issues in the mix.
Staging - 4/5 - I liked the staging a lot. The very front row is contained within the staging area and Row 1 is the first 'official' start of the seating. We were dead centre Row 1 both nights. I would've liked to have seen it from further back on the Saturday, but it was sold out so we couldn't move.
Disappointingly there is no audience participation in this production despite the seating arrangement, so most of the shows 'comedy' moments went out the window...
Lighting - 3/5 - Will cover this more below, but I thought it was fine.
Direction - 2/5 - This is where things fell apart for me. This is a VERY difficult show to get right and well...frankly...they didn't get it right on a lot of levels, especially Act 1.
Of course if you haven't ever seen the show, these things probably won't bug you as much or you may not even notice them. It's a great production, but I had a lot of problems with it compared to what I have seen before.
It was pretty obvious they had not seen the Broadway or any other version and a lot of things were lost in translation. The lighting and choreography were a a bit off and overwhelmed the story at points. The emphasis was on the wrong things at the wrong times and the main 'seduction' story is all but lost in the mayhem of the direction of the first act. The 2nd act fairs much better, but unfortunately by that time the damage is done I think, especially if you are not familiar with the show.
Act 1 was always a balls to the wall, every theatrical trick in the book thrown in and a dangerous juggling act that Broadway juuuuust got right.
Nothing balances here and it just didn't work for me. Problems start almost immediately. Mary for some reason is dressed in pretty much the same costume as Natasha (a white dress) and the actress looks exactly like Natasha. The characters are black and white and their costuming should reflect that. Mary should be dressed in black and shrouded in misery, so this just didn't work.
The costumes are all off really. All the men are dressed the same and all the women are dressed the same. This is very problematic especially for the women as they are all dressed like high class Russian sex workers, which is nothing like any of their characters. The 'ensemble/band' is meant to be the peasantry sneering at the well-to-do and sniggering at their self inflicted dramas (Letters and Call to Pierre). This is lost as everyone is dressed the same, quassi-nobility. To someone who doesn't know the show it may be confusing.
Andre isn't here? Yes he is, he's in every single big number in the same costume.
The opera is a bit of a disaster. The point of the scene is almost lost as the opera itself becomes the main focus, when it should be Natasha and Anatole's meeting. This is a problem throughout Act 1 and in fact the whole show feels like the director is scared to let the show be what it is, a series of intimate scenes between 1 or 2 characters and instead takes every chance to 'add' something to each scene to make it more visually exciting. This just doesn't work for a show that despite being a very simple story, is already confusing enough due to the style its lyrics are written and the fact it is totally sung through.
Anatole's entrance is about as exciting as a fart in a cyclone. On Broadway he is a silhouette against a blinding white wall of lights. Anatole IS The Great Comet. He is the catalyst for everything that transpires and the magnitude of 'Anatole' is unfortunately all but lost in this production. The actor was an excellent singer, but his direction and costuming were totally wrong for the importance of the character. He has none of the Machiavellian magnetism Anatole should have to con this young girl into abandoning everything she has for him. He looked like an even geekier David Tennant!
Charming is another good example of getting it wrong....the scene is about Helena seducing Natasha with flattery into her and her brothers plan. This is muddled because for some reason the director decides to have 2 random male dancers (Seriously all these guys needed was a couple of conical bras and it was Like a Virgin from the Blonde Ambition tour...) and 2 guitarists wander on stage and start doing a routine completely separate to what is happening between Natasha and Helena. It was just so WTF!?!?! Why is this even happening?
The costume ball fairs just as badly. There is no costume change, so it just looks like the opera. On Broadway they at least had masks, this would've helped differentiate between the 2 scenes for not a lot of outlay. Once again what is happening between Natasha and Anatole should be the focal point, instead we are focused on the choreography of the dancers at the ball.
Act 2 is much more enjoyable, but also much simpler to get right as the story just plays out after the complicated Act 1 setup.
The only thing that annoyed me was Natasha's 'look' in the last few scenes. The girl has been through hell and should look like it...her performance however is extremely powerful...lots of sniffling...and the direction of the closing number is a bit janky...what ARE they all staring at?
I won't spoil 'the comet' for anyone...that is best left for you to experience first hand lol but...Gurl...
Despite my many little problems with it however I still had an amazing time and thought it was a great production. Musically and vocally it is fantastic and the main star of this show will always be it's phenomenal score. It is just a shame it got so many little things wrong production wise, but as I said before if you haven't seen it you probably won't have a problem with the things that didn't work well for me.
I am thinking of going back in May, so I certainly didn't hate it!