1,970 posts
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Post by sf on Jun 7, 2024 12:00:58 GMT
Just got an email that Giles will not be performing at my show (next Wednesday mat) and that Brandon Lee Sears will be taking on the role of alternate narrator with two shows a week! Just so everyone is aware Just got a similar email (going next Wednesday night). Brandon Lee Sears's schedule is now posted on the YV website. |
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Post by compoundpasta on Jun 8, 2024 20:34:16 GMT
Attended the show tonight, and it's the first time I've left at interval. The leads were really good, the music ranged from great to terrible.
I think my problems were with the staging and choreography, it was just so messy and ugly and really didn't make sense to me. The choreography to me looked like Jagged Little Pill choreography (which I admittedly didn't like) done with less conviction.
Maybe I was in a bad mood, but I read the synopsis for act 2 when I was on the fence and just decided to call it. Crowd seemed to love it, Giles was amazing.
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1,970 posts
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Post by sf on Jun 12, 2024 23:56:54 GMT
Saw it tonight.
There's a lot to like. Terrific performances (Brandon Lee Sears is great as the Narrator), some thrilling music, a great band, strong direction and designs. And then there's the book. It comes across as less solipsistic when Stew isn't playing the Narrator himself (I don't love the film), but it's still self-indulgent, and when the plot moves to Europe the show offers a very American - by which I'm afraid I mean reductively stereotyped, sometimes to the point of condescension - view of the countercultural scenes in Amsterdam and Berlin. The performance is strong enough that the show gets away with some things it shouldn't, but it says something about Stew's ego that we're invited to spend two hours watching a thinly-veiled stand-in cross oceans and continents (and musical genres) in pursuit of The Real, and yet most of the people he encounters along the way are basically cartoons.
And having said all that, in the moments when the show is good, it's GREAT. It's inconsistent, yes, and certainly a massive ego trip, but it's an interesting enough piece that I'm tempted to go back and see Giles Terera's take on it.
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631 posts
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Post by ncbears on Jun 15, 2024 23:12:22 GMT
Im on the fence about 19 June matinee without Terera. Nice to read Sears is excellent.
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Post by greenandbrownandblue on Jun 22, 2024 11:31:13 GMT
Cancelled today due to cast illness. Sadly can't make another date in the run.
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Post by oedipus on Jun 29, 2024 11:46:45 GMT
I'm surprised there's not more buzz about this (and so was my theatre-going companion). We caught a Wednesday performance (which features the alternate, Brandon Lee Sears, who's really good), and I was caught off-guard by the level of detail and care that went into this production, including projections, staging, the whole nine yards. Yes, the source material is a little long and self-regarding, but it was like that on Broadway too. What this production has in spades is a supernova of energy from everyone; B'way was a bit more meditative and reflective, this is more like a blast of rock-theater.
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