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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2018 22:28:53 GMT
Having watched the excellent 'The Best Worst Thing That Ever Could have Happened' on Netflix Good god, what was Jason Alexander thinking with that hair piece? |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2018 22:59:23 GMT
Surely the Palladium production of Oliver! directed by Sam Mendes is a good example of this?
From my understanding, the original production was fairly intimate with Sean Kenny's revolving set, but the Palladium production (and subsequently Drury Lane and tours) was more epic and cinematic with script updates by Lionel Bart and Mendes.
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Post by Someone in a tree on Feb 3, 2018 7:54:10 GMT
The MCF production of Sunday successfully used projections (was this the first Sunday to do so?!) and said you don’t need a big set and cardboard cut out monkeys.
I’m not sure if the production had anything new to say but it was still amazing and made me cry, in a good way.
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Post by danb on Feb 3, 2018 8:01:28 GMT
Wow, thats long! I’m sure the Balsamo version was just a shade over 2 hours and that sped by. A year and a half seems ages! ... one of its problems, danb ... a MD (Gareth Valentine???) who didn’t know the difference between light and shade in the score, and who took us all on a race through it. Whilst the roman arena set design courtesy of Mr Napier looked stunning, the Biblical costumes alienated the audience. There were some superb moments, and a superb cast but it just didn’t have the magic of the original. Other reinventions which have been very different and worked are: the Elena Roger/Philip Quast Evita, the latest version of The Woman in White, and the New Zealand version of Love Never Dies... ( Anything would have been an improvement on the original of that...!) I also liked the scaled down version of Grand Hotel at the Donmar. The Laurence Connor reinvention of Les Mis was excellent, as was his Phantom. I too saw the original Chicago at the Cambridge Theatre and loved it. Very colourful. A great cast. Ben Cross (before Chariots of Fire!) I thought the new version was excellent too until it started to lose its lustre. It ran too long... and lost its shine. I wasn’t aware of GV until Musicality, but had no issues with JCS at the Lyceum until Glenn Carter took over. I thought it was pretty perfect at the time tbh. Did Valentine MD ‘Anything Goes’ too? Loved that although it was hardly a reimagining. |
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Post by emsworthian on Feb 3, 2018 10:02:07 GMT
How could I forget Sweeney? Honourable mention to WNO's Sweeney that tried so hard to be Doyle Sweeney but in fact just gave us erotic pie dance. I forgot another Sweeney - the Jonathan Kent / Michael Ball / Imelda Staunton one which updated the setting to the 1930s.
I'm afraid I really didn't see the point of updating the setting to the 1930s. It is the Victorian Gothic element that I particularly love about Sweeney.
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Post by Someone in a tree on Feb 3, 2018 10:23:17 GMT
I forgot another Sweeney - the Jonathan Kent / Michael Ball / Imelda Staunton one which updated the setting to the 1930s.
I'm afraid I really didn't see the point of updating the setting to the 1930s. It is the Victorian Gothic element that I particularly love about Sweeney.
Also did nothing for me |
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Post by karloscar on Feb 3, 2018 11:15:16 GMT
The National's revival of Carousel by Nicholas Hytner made people think about that show very differently. The choreography by Kenneth McMillan was just breathtaking, and Michael Hayden's vulnerable take on Billy Bigelow changed an old fashioned problematic show into something quite modern and relevant.
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Post by profquatermass on Feb 3, 2018 11:20:17 GMT
Has any production repeated the original concept of having very young people play the roles, wearing t-shirts describing who they are as costumes? Yes, the first European production (Library Theatre, Manchester in the mid 80s with Tracie Bennett as Mary) did. It's a small theatre though so everyone could see the t-shirts. It also had an older actor playing Frank at the graduation at the start ('Hills of Tomorrow') |
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Post by nick on Feb 4, 2018 14:26:07 GMT
Pippin? The original Broadway production ran for almost 2000 performances in the 70s, and it was definitely a huge success. The recent circus-themed revival with a gender-swap for the Leading Player didn't run for as long as the original, but it was still quite successful, running for almost a couple of years and winning the Tony for Best Revival. I was also going to suggest Pippin for the Menier Chocolate Factory revival set in a computer game, which I absolutely loved. I also caught the Broadway revival which was phenomenal, not least for 66 year old Andrea Martin's turn on the trapeze but thought the Chocolate Factory beat it hands down if we're talking reimagining. Glad it's not just me. But not a huge success. I saw it twice with half price tickets and it didn't transfer. |
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Post by tonyloco on Feb 4, 2018 20:11:57 GMT
The National's revival of Carousel by Nicholas Hytner made people think about that show very differently. The choreography by Kenneth McMillan was just breathtaking, and Michael Hayden's vulnerable take on Billy Bigelow changed an old fashioned problematic show into something quite modern and relevant. In my 70 years of theatregoing (yes, we all know how old you are TL) I was never more moved by any musical or play than by Hytner's production of 'Carousel' at the NT. But surely this was not a re-imagining of the piece: the settings were not changed and the characters were not changed – it was just an honest and realistic production of what Hammerstein and Rodgers wrote (based on Molnar's original play 'Liliom') with perfect casting and sympathetic direction that got to the heart of the piece, which perhaps had not actually been achieved before. That's all I want in any revival (or even first production) of any musical, thank you very much. |
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Post by karloscar on Feb 4, 2018 22:39:29 GMT
Well Mary Rodgers thought it was a pretty radical rethink, and was thrilled with some of Hytner's ideas. He had real trouble getting his casting of a black Mr Snow (Clive Rowe) past Dorothy Rodgers (Richard's widow) according to his biography. He didn't solve all the problems with wife-beating Billy, but he was played very differently from any previous production. You don't have to rewrite to change the mood of a piece, just edit a bit and change the tone a bit.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2018 10:01:00 GMT
Has any production repeated the original concept of having very young people play the roles, wearing t-shirts describing who they are as costumes? “Lady Bird” has a lengthy sequence revolving around a high school production of Merrily. Sadly they don’t do the T-shirt thing |
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Post by JJShaw on Feb 24, 2018 10:07:19 GMT
I'm afraid I really didn't see the point of updating the setting to the 1930s. It is the Victorian Gothic element that I particularly love about Sweeney.
Also did nothing for me Honestly, I didn't really notice the updating of it. It didn't offend me or contribute something new! |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2018 11:55:37 GMT
On another thread a poster (for whom I have the utmost respect) said "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" is his motto for productions. ........ Opera fans are mostly in agreement with him and those of you who don’t follow Opera cannot believe how stupid some of the current ‘reimagining’s’ currently are. Who knew Wagner’s imagination could be improved by having plastic crocodiles protecting the gold in the Rhine? There’s even a derogatory name for this Regietheatre. But clearly some have been a real success e.g. ENO’s Mafia Rigoletto. ......... What am I missing? Regietheater being a negative term for a start. That’s like those who use liberal or conservative as though it was inherently a bad thing. It’s just a descriptive, neutral word. Also, reinterpretations that make a production live for the time it is being produced in are key, rather than imagining that all you have to do is plonk aomething that was for a different era back onstage. Many of the best ideas are the most radical - A View From the Bridge, Brook’s MND, Ostermeier’s Enemy of the People (for musicals a long, long list has already been started here). The idea that being a bit different is okay but there is a limit on reinterpretation is wrong, that way lies obsolescence. |
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Post by jasper on Feb 24, 2018 13:28:25 GMT
What about The Boys From Syracuse at the Open Air Theatre in 91, directed by Judi Dench. It was strangely costumed more restoration than Roman. I think she was harping back to the original play The Comedy Of Errors which she appeared with her husband directed by Nunn. It had songs added and I remember some critics thought he had turned it into a musical. That was very hippy like with bright colours and the twins had red hair. The Boys was refracted through this into a hippy restoration world. If I remember rightly most of the costumes were balck and white. Not a toga in sight.
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