Post by fiyerorocher on Jul 5, 2024 9:21:49 GMT
I couldn't find an existing thread so let me be the first to warn you: this is not worth a trip. Granted I saw the first preview, but it's an utter mess that I don't think can be salvaged.
The source material (The Picture of Dorian Grey) is not boring, and musicals are not usually boring (even if they are not always good), so to have created such a dull musical of this is almost impressive. The characters don't seem to agree what time period they're in - there are smartphones and social media, but the attitudes to homosexuality are 150 years out of date. They've done a poor job of trying to update the story, leaving it disjointed and tonally confused. Dorian is a 'rock and roll' music icon but also seems to live the life of a Victorian gentleman, and there's not a single song in the piece that could be classed as rock. Instead it's all just very bland.
There's no attempt to give any of the characters any degree of depth. It's hard to care when any of them die, when you've been given no reason to get invested. A couple of the actors are doing their best with the poor material, but there is no saving this one.
At least the costume designer seems to have had fun. And when a piece of set was accidentally knocked off a high platform in a frankly absurd blackout fight, the threat of falling debris onto those in the front row added a much needed injection of excitement.
The source material (The Picture of Dorian Grey) is not boring, and musicals are not usually boring (even if they are not always good), so to have created such a dull musical of this is almost impressive. The characters don't seem to agree what time period they're in - there are smartphones and social media, but the attitudes to homosexuality are 150 years out of date. They've done a poor job of trying to update the story, leaving it disjointed and tonally confused. Dorian is a 'rock and roll' music icon but also seems to live the life of a Victorian gentleman, and there's not a single song in the piece that could be classed as rock. Instead it's all just very bland.
There's no attempt to give any of the characters any degree of depth. It's hard to care when any of them die, when you've been given no reason to get invested. A couple of the actors are doing their best with the poor material, but there is no saving this one.
At least the costume designer seems to have had fun. And when a piece of set was accidentally knocked off a high platform in a frankly absurd blackout fight, the threat of falling debris onto those in the front row added a much needed injection of excitement.
