ARTonNews: ONCE: a new musical

I wish I had managed to see once over Thanksgiving. It seemed like such a difficult leap to go from subdued, intense indie movie to a Broadway musical. But the production was so well-received that the Broadway run was confirmed even before the off-Broadway production opened. I've always loved the movie. I had never even heard of the movie, but my sister saw the DVD. As soon as she did, she called me & set up a movie date because she knew she had stumbled upon something awesome. She eventually used Falling Slowly as the song for the first dance with her husband.

The CHC Perspective: Chris Jones on once

DreamCast: WICKED

I love WICKED. It is a completely unique musical that still holds appeal for a widespread demographic. It is also awesome for a musical to center around the friendship between two females rather than focusing primarily on a love story. Stephen Schwartz is a composer who always tries different tones & dynamics in his musicals; I don’t always love the choices he makes, but Wicked is a smart, innovative, contemporary musical that will be always be a staple in the Soundtracks section.



Emma Stone as Elphaba
Her performances have never disappointed.
I loved her in Easy A, Crazy Stupid Love,
Friends With Benefits, & The House Bunny.
She is a great actress & deserves an
all-star, shining, center-stage role.
She has found her niche in playing
a great girl trapped as undeserving underdog
who eventually comes into herself & shows her full potential.
The girl has also pulled off every hair color, so I'm sure she'd look good green.

Leeann Dearing as Glinda
She is my great friend
who is as equallystunning in her acting skills as she is physically.
Glinda could easily be played a flat glitter queen,
so the actress in the role has to fight that urge to play a bland blonde.
Leeann approaches her characters
with thoughtful intelligence as well as striking beauty.

Terry O’Quinn as The Wizard
The Wizard serves as leader & protector of the crazy culture of Oz,
which is a parallel sentiment to his character John Locke on Lost.
He somehow legitimizes the otherworldly &
performs with strong commitment & sense of character history.

Bradley Cooper as Fyioro

I like the idea of casting Fyioro older than his romantic counter-parts.

The song Dancing Through Life would be much more effective

if delivered from one who has already danced through life.

He is also the most charming actor ever,

which is Fyioro’s defining characteristic.

The Addams Family Is Coming to Chicago! Again!

The Addams Family Musical

National Tour
Cadillac Palace Theatre
Dec. 27-Jan. 1

I really like the looks of this new-ish musical. It looks like the lovechild of Six Feet Under, Rocky Horror, Chicago: The Musical, Beetlejuice, Frank Wildhorn, Sweeney Todd, & Corpse Bride. I like the costume choices because they are authentic to The Classic Addams Family; it shows smart artistic discretion to not switch up what has already works & is loved. The opening number has catchy music, contemporary lyrics, & an animated, modern tone. This is not surprising since Andrew Lippa wrote the music & I loved the tone he established in The Wild Party. I wanted to see this musical in New York & wish national tours weren’t so overpriced so I could see it in Chicago. 

Chris Jones on The Addam's Family's newest re-interpreation

Spring Awakening by Griffin Theatre Co.

I’ve loved Spring Awakening since Day 1. I saw the Broadway production in previews & have been looking forward to this new interpretation since September. I immediately loved the theatre space; it was reminiscent of Cabaret at Studio 54 with exposed brick & the semi-exposed band onstage behind the actors. A runway protruded from the stage space, which was great effect with their staging choices & choreography. However, there was little energy directed towards the establishment of the period setting. The stylized choices were not in bad taste or poorly executed, but it was so ambiguously stylized that the period element became muddled. A production of this musical needs to hang its’ hat on the antiquated setting since the moral is so outdated. There sense of history between the characters was also overall watered-down. Important plot moments were lost because the production seemed like a series of musical numbers rather than an entire unit. Despite my nit-picking, Griffin’s new interpretation of Spring Awakening was absolutely a worthwhile, innovative, & enjoyable production.

ACT I

Mama Who Bore Me initially had a more rockabilly vibe with the female ensemble providing loud energy & great food-stomping moments. I immediately liked Aja Wiltshire as Wendla; she established herself as a smart casting choice with her kewpie-doll face & strong, sweet voice. Throughout the production, she repeatedly proved herself as a quality actress as well. The first impression of the male ensemble was not quite as striking.

The choreography of B*tch of Living was very reminiscent of Broadway choreography & the minor male characters immediately established themselves as engaging than the male leads. As Melchior & Moritz, Josh Salt & Matthew Fletcher seemed more like similarly ordinary cousins who had nothing more in common than their setting rather than individuals with a meaningful history. Neither of them was overly lacking in acting or singing, but they both were detached & lacked ownership of their roles.

My Junk is a catchy song that does not provide the plot to move forward, so it must be artistically exquisite; this production’s execution lacking. It opened with strange choreography that reminded me of a maypole dance, which led into blocking was severely lacking subtlety. It was reminiscent of the choreography of Contact in Rent; the swaying & gazing longingly seemed unimaginative & lacked a sense of fresh, artistic perspective. The number found its’ redemption by the clean cohesion of ensemble & stunning male solos.

The Dark I Know Well is a difficult number, both for the actresses involved & the audience who must face this difficult subject matter. The performance felt like a disjointed attack & the characters lacked the necessary sense of solidarity. The storytelling element of this number was lost by the aggression exhibited. As Martha, Paige Collins did provide some softness, but she would have shone more in this number with more subtle direction.

The Last scene of Act I seemed forced, random, & unrealistic. The lighting was beautiful & the staging was a perfect use of the runway. This Wendla objected more & her interaction with Melchior seemed forced milestone, which is not a sentiment that is grounded in the text. Theirs was a quiet passion that lacked authenticity. It was like a baseball player who went from not knowing how to hold a bat to hitting a homerun on the first try; that change & drive needs to be driven by a force greater than one’s self. Communicating that tormented sentiment is the greatest challenge of Spring Awakening, and this performance did not dominate that challenge.

ACT II

As the highlight of Act II, Don’t Do Sadness/Blue Wind disappointed. It was an immature interpretation that lacked the softness of adolescent sadness. It is such a great number that weak actors could still perform it well based only on exceptional singing, but that was not the case. I was not impressed with Lindsay Leopold’s portrayal of Ilsa. Her Ilsa seemed like an intentionally rebellious outcast rather than one forced into displacement by situations out of her control. She did not instigate a curiosity in the audience as to her history and was overly-intense without explanation.

The Word of Your Body (reprise) provided the most authentic moment of the production. The characters have a history, both throughout the production & established through their chemistry. A relationship that changes & develops throughout the course of the show. As Hanchen & Ernst, Adam Fane & Adam Molloy’s performances were the highlight of the entire production.

Totally F*cked was a strong, energetic, youthful ensemble number that lived up to my expectations. Overall, the ensemble numbers were clean, articulate, & well-sung and served as a great strength of the overall production.

TheatreInChicago Review Round-Up

Christmas WishList

The Eight: Reindeer Monologues

Stage Left Theatre

Scandal erupts at the North Pole when one of Santa’s eight tiny reindeer accuses him of sexual harassment. As the press descends, the other reindeer demand to reveal their stories, and a horrific tale of corruption and perversion emerges. Stage Left brings this hilarious, international theatrical sensation back to the city where it was first produced in a limited run, late-night production.

Through Dec. 31

 

The Santaland Diaries

Theater Wit

Sedaris’ beloved account of his stint as an elf at Macy’s during the holiday season has been called the “24 funniest pages ever written in the English language.” Don’t miss Theater Wit’s annual antidote to traditional shows of the season – a must-see celebration of the desperation of unemployment, the insanity of Christmas shopping and the ineffable “cheer” of the holiday spirit.

Through Dec. 31

El Stories: Holiday Train

Waltzing Mechanics

The Edgewater-based performance group known as the Waltzing Mechanics creates original theatrical works out of conversations with real Chicago commuters. For El Stories: Holiday Train, they've taken Yuletide-related mass-transit stories from a variety of Windy City citizens from various backgrounds and neighborhoods and turned them into a dramatized El ride that explores how Chicagoans interact as a community around the holidays. The real-life vignettes are adapted from original interviews and directed by Thomas Murray.

Through Jan. 14

DreamCast: SWEENEY TODD

I've been on a SONDHEIM kick lately.

Philip Seymour Hoffman as Sweeney Todd

He is just an amazing actor. He especially excels at
conquering shadowy title-characters like Capote,
with confidence, color, & a slightly arrogant intention.
His physicality is perfect & always intentionally executed,
and it would be exciting to see him
reimagine one of the most imaginative title characters out there.

Felicity Huffman as Mrs. Nellie Lovett

She is a tough, cool, complicated actress that displays

the roughened edges that dark humor demands.

She displayed in Transamerica that she can unfold a character

as the text presents new information, which is a necessity for Mrs. Lovett.

Most importantly, she exhibits the strength & skill to play a woman

who has spent years withholding her love towards a man.

Allison Harvard as Johanna 
I know she is not an actress, but she is the perfect caged-bird.  

She has the crazy curious eyes, gothic look, & detached personality

that would result from living in an isolated world.

Johanna is a caricature more than a character,

so a creepy, Tim-Burton-esque-model seems like the perfect fit.

 

Christopher Walken as Judge Turpin

He is a master intimidator who inherently demands

the respect of both other actors & the audience.

His subtle nuances & intense energy would ensure

that Turpin was not performed as a blank, sinister villain.

Michael Cera as Anthony Hope

He could play the earnest, eager moments of

the first falling-into-love of a sweet young man,

While still making the audience fall in love with him,

He provided the same tone in

Juno, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Superbad,

Arrested Development, & Paper Heart.

Catherine Keener as Beggar Woman

She is so beautiful, but it’s an innate beauty

that is not immediately overwhelming.

She could play the Beggar Woman,

while still revealing who Lucy Barker used to be.

T.R. Knight as Tobias Ragg
On Grey’s Anatomy, he created a character who exhibited
blind devotion to his loved ones.
That character trait is the backbone of Toby,
except Toby takes this dedication to a
heightened, slightly crazy level,
which would be a cool challenge for T.R.K. as an actor.

Michael Emerson as Beadle Bamford

His performance as Benjamin Linus on Lost has eternally solidified

my love for him as the wacked-out pseudo-villain.

It would be cool to see him as the

sinister assistant rather than the sinister ringmaster.

 

Michael C. Hall as Adolfo Pirelli

I first fell in love with this man when he played

the Emcee in the Broadway Revival of Cabaret.

He performed the role with a perfect accent while

equally accentuating the campy & intrinsically creepy facets

of his seemingly simple character.

BILLY ELLIOT National Tour Review



I am a very thankful girl for my Thanksgiving visit to my Delaware homeland. My sister & I had intentions of seeing Once on Broadway, but that goal proved too lofty. Instead, we saw the national tour of Billy Elliot at Philadelphia’s Academy of Music. I loved being back in Philadelphia, even though national tours always lack a little of the shine of a Broadway production.

My opening reaction was an immediate, familiar resonance of those great musicals of the turn-of-the-millennium Broadway era. I grew up on those musicals, and it’s been a long time since I could just go see a new, awesome musical with my sister. For that experience & dynamic, I am very grateful. From a critically-minded theatre-goer’s perspective, my interpretation of that reaction offers a different perspective that explains my immediate sense of familiarity: Billy Elliot is a patchwork of the highest quality musicals of the recent yesteryear, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Throughout the musical, I saw distinct moments reminiscent of The Full Monty, The Beatiful Game, Les Miserables, Urinetown, and Miss Saigon. 

The costumes were a hodgepodge of winter thrift-store wear & I loved them. The set was an asymmetrical set of puzzle pieces that effectively & fluidly created a variety of spaces. Billy’s audition scene used the actual theatre as the set, which was an appreciated change of tone & a clever staging technique. Obviously, the dancing was awesome and Elton John wrote some great songs. The glaring exception to the overall quality & cohesion of the production was the number Expressing Yourself, which felt like a glaring neon public service message & felt completely disjointed in both production-style & plot-relevance.

The plotline seemed stripped from movie in terms of establishing the family dynamic. Specifically, the father’s change-of-heart was too abrupt and the catalyst for his change of opinion was noticeably absent. I did appreciate the theme of swallowing one’s pride in the pursuit of one’s passion that erupted after the father began to support Billy’s intention to dance. In terms of plot, the father’s decision to support his son provided the thematic cornerstone because it also raised the questions of when it is worth it to cross the line, of picketers or appropriateness. In seeing the potential Billy exhibited, the coal miners on strike readjusted their focus to the future instead of the present.

DreamCast: PASSION

Passion is not the type of musical I usually gravitate towards. Upon first glance, it seems emotionally intense & potentially boring. Apparently, I'm not alone because it is the shortest-running musical to win the Tony for Best Musical. But this musical is Stephen Sondheim at his best & the quality of musical production outweighs the seemingly simple plotline. The writing & music lives up to the title: the music is brilliant & beautiful and I love the acknowledgement of the power of writing letters, especially love letters.

 

Jennifer Ehle as Clara
I loved her in Possession, Sunshine, and
(of course) Pride & Prejudice.
Clara is a part that could easily become
the over-simplified, period, lovestruck blond,
but I've never seen Jennifer Ehle create a shallow character.
In my mind, she is the plays the quintessential
female oppressed by the constraints of a different era.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Giorgio

I loved him on Grey's Anatomy & in Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

Those two roles are quite dissimilar from each other,
but both incorporate elements applicable to Giorgio's character.

This role would be great for him as an actor

because it would allow him to play the role of a

weaker man that those in which he's usually cast.

Also, he's hot.

Charlotte Gainsbourg as Fosca

She played my favorite movie-version of Jane Eyre,

which is a role that shares some of
the reactionary traits that Fosca must display:

dealing with being pigeonholed due to gender,

the result of being openly judged due to appearance,

and the effect of isolation on one's person.

Fosca is a similar character to Jane Eyre, except that she is

physically ill, slightly crazy, & more emotionally aggressive.

Just another love story, that's what they would claim.

Another simple love story. Aren't all of them the same?

Unhappiness can be seductive. How quickly pity turns to love.

December WishList

Spring Awakening

Griffin Theatre @ Theatre Wit

The Tony Award-winning musical that change musical theater on Broadway forever in its first made in Chicago production. A groundbreaking fusion of morality, sexuality, and rock & roll that celebrates the unforgettable journey from youth to adulthood.

Through Jan 8.

 

The Baker’s Wife

Circle Theatre

A provincial French town suffers from the absence of a bakery and the lack of good gossip. When a new baker arrives with his much younger, very beautiful wife, the town immediately seizes on the idea that she will leave him, leading to unexpected consequences for everyone. A charming musical by the creator of Wicked, The Baker’s Wife has developed a loyal following for its lush score featuring the song “Meadowlark.”

Through Jan. 22.

Elizabeth Rex

Shakespeare Theatre

Artistic Director Barbara Gaines brings her masterful hand to this contemporary play reimagining Shakespeare's time. On the eve of the beheading of her court favorite and rumored lover, the Earl of Essex, Queen Elizabeth was entertained by a royal command performance by Shakespeare and his company. Upon this obscure historical fact, one of Canada's most acclaimed playwrights, Timothy Findley, imagines this daring and original drama. Longing for distraction, the Queen visits the acting troupe's lodgings, where she finds the actor who plays Shakespeare's leading ladies. In their passionate confrontation, the actor and the Queen come to shocking revelations about sexuality, identity and love.

Through Jan 22.

Red Light Winter

Mary-Arrchie Theatre

Escaping their lives in Manhattan , former college buddies Matt and Davis take off to the Netherlands and find themselves thrown into a bizarre love triangle with a beautiful young prostitute named Christina. But the romance they find in Europe is eventually overshadowed by the truth they discover at home. Written with an unflinching poetic beauty, Red Light Winter is a play of sexual intrigue that explores the myriad and misguided ways we seek to fill the empty spaces inside us.

Through Dec 18.

ARTonNews: Sondheim Wins Tribune's Literary Prize

This was the second time I have been in the presence of the great Stephen Sondheim. My first was on March 24, 2004, my sister’s 25^th birthday. She & I attended a limited-engagement production of Sweeney Todd at the Met. We got to the theatre a little too early so decided to walk around. Standing near the second balcony’s bar, we saw a grey-haired familiar face talking to a blond-haired familiar face. We were confident the blondie was Marie Friedman; so, we decided the best course of action was to go confirm this was Friedman, which confirmed that we had stumbled upon the presence of Sir Sondheim himself. My sister and I talked to him for about 3-5 minutes. It was amazing, but I have no recollection what any of us said. So this time I tried to take better notes.

 

His Partners: Prince V. Lapine

The dynamics of his relationships with his artistic partners was the first conversational point of note. He expressed an open detachment towards the musicals he worked on before collaborating with James Lapine on Sunday in the Park with George. Prior to working with Lapine, Sondheim collaborated with Hal Prince whose writing had a Brechtian influence-base & was less emotionally substantial than Sondheim required. He found a resonance with Lapine’s emotional openness. Sunday in the Park with George was his first musical to premiere at an Off-Broadway venue, which exhibited to Sondheim the difference in attentiveness & intention of the Broadway & Off-Broadway audiences. He discussed how the dissatisfied Broadway audience member will leave at intermission, whereas the Off-Broadway theatre-goer pursues productions with a more appreciative & open mentality (I couldn’t agree more).

Children Will Listen

Sondheim said this song from Into The Woods was originally a segment of an original, longer The Second Midnight & its’ purpose was to clearly state that this is a musical about parent/child relations. In cutting The Second Midnight down, Children Will Listen couldn’t be left on the cutting room floor & had to become its’ own number. Sondheim has consistently stated that children & art are the only legacies worth leaving on earth; in a parallel statement, Sondheim acknowledged the necessity of honoring one’s parent(s) in the face of their loss, both in their mistakes & the honorable legacies left behind. I was surprised at Chris Jones boldness in asking Sondheim outright about his notoriously dysfunctional relationship with his mother. That topic led to the natural inquiry as to Oscar Hammerstein’s influence as an adopted parental figure. Sondheim said that he absorbed liberal training through parentally through osmosis but that Oscar Hammerstein served much more as tutor than pseudo-father-figure.

 

His Most Difficult Lyrics

Maria from West Side Story, Tony’s soaring love ballad that he sings moments after meeting Maria. He discussed the difficulty in expressing simplicity without appearing dull and/or trite; the older writer has written more and trusts that simplicity is ok because it is a result of careful crafting & editing of the text. As with all writing, sweat is what makes it work. As with cooking, reduction takes time. The goal is for the text to contain nothing distracting or extraneous, which all adds up to the necessity of editing. In regard to the conversational tendency of his lyrics, Sondheim acknowledged how the natural rhythm of the dialogue influenced the melody.

The Promise of The First Line

One pressure he discussed (and directly credited as a Hammerstein influence) was the promise that a musical’s first line demands. He dissected the opening line of Sweeney Todd [“Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd”] as an example as a line over which he labored. His explanation for this specific phrasing communicated 3 imperative aspects of the impending musical:

1. “Attend the tale…” immediately indicates an invitation to experience a period piece.
2. The fact that it is referred to as A Tale indicates a sense of dissonance from reality. This is a story & the audience needs be prepared for a tall tale, not the expected serious plot-line a period piece infers.
3. Alliteration of the T sound subconsciously prepares the audience for a bouncy rhythmic evening.

The Porgy & Bess NY Times Letter

Sondheim recently wrote a letter to the New York Times in response to an article revealing plans to revamp the classic 1935 opera into a Broadway hit called The Gershwins' Porgy & Bess. Plans for the contemporary production include manufacturing a backstory for Bess and an altered ending. Chris Jones asked Sondheim where the harm was in experimentation. His quick & impassioned response was that they changed the story; there is merit in re-examining the text, but not in rewriting the story. It expresses a condescension towards the piece if the director feels the text is inadequate & requires alterations in order to produce it. He referred to Richard Jones’ London production of Into the Woods that both he & Lapine loved because it had nothing to do with their original production. It was a completely re-imagined Into the Woods, but one that adhered to and respected the text.

A Behanding at Spokane @ Profiles Theatre



I love Martin McDonagh. I saw The Lieutenant of Inishmore on Broadway & The Pillowman at Philadelphia’s Wilma Theatre. I have never seen a play from The Leenane Trilogy, but they have received enough acclaim to get props without my first-hand endorsement. The McDonagh I know creates an authentically heightened alternative world, presents a sincere farce that is genuinely funny, and uses heightened metaphors to create an authentically parallel world. This McDonagh tried to write from an American perspective and lost a lot of the qualities I had grown to love about his writing: this humor lacked a smart subtlety & was quipper than his previous writings. From the audience, there was genuine laughter as well as nervous laughter, but neither of these indicated a presence of genuinely humorous writing. McDonagh’s signature is his use of satirical but severely upfront violence with the purpose of transferring the play’s underlying moral. Somehow, he always makes the insane approachable, but that tendency was lost on this script & it just seemed bizarre without a direct intent. The play’s conflict centered around Carmichael, a degenerate trying to track down his hand that was stolen & semi-torturing a young, weed-dealing couple who claimed to have his hand for the dealing. The repeated sentiment that tortured Carmichael was the image of his attackers waving goodbye to him with his own hand. I had to assume this metaphor’s purpose was to communicate a commentary on the great loss of wanting something back that rightfully belongs to you. I do like that theme, but I remain unsure if that was McDonagh’s intended thought-provocation; that uncertainty does not speak well towards the quality of the script.

The Players

The quality of the cast made up for the flaws of the script. As Carmichael, Darrell W. Cox created & committed to a well-rounded but still intriguing central character. I saw him at Profiles in last season’s reasons to be pretty, and was very pleased with the complete & necessary physical transformation he made from that role. The ability to physically transform is a necessity for a member of an acting troupe, and I appreciate that Profiles is aware incorporating that reimagining into each production. As Marilyn & Toby, the weed-dealing couple held prisoner by Carmichael, Sara Greenfield & Levenix Riddle exhibited perfectly nuanced energy, excellent interaction with the text, and cleverly communicated comedic ability. As the front desk clerk Mervyn, Eric Burgher provided clean moments of punctuation during the overall production. His character unfolded throughout the script more than the others, and he was smart & subtle about delivering plot-punctuating moments of realization. This was a strongly cast ensemble piece with no weak link who acted with unadulterated commitment to their roles, and their performance quality alone makes this a show worth seeing.





November WishList

Ripper the Musical

The Annoyance Theatre

Entrails and one-liners fly when fiction's master sleuth and history's most elusive criminal go toe-to-toe in this black comedy set in the foggy slums and extravagant parlors of Victorian London. When a bored, out-of-work Sherlock Holmes is pitted against Jack the Ripper in a battle of wits, he's thrilled to be on the hunt. But even the seasoned pro is in over his head as he realizes that everyone is a suspect...and appearances are rarely what they seem in this bloody whodunnit.

Wednesdays through Nov 30

All the Girls Love Bobby Kennedy

Point of Contention Theatre Co. 

@ Prop Theatre

All the Girls Love Bobby Kennedy follows the story of college student Grace Bailey and her experience of the turmoil of the late 1960’s. At that time, for many people Bobby Kennedy was the embodiment of optimism. Here, Kennedy appears as the hopeful side of Grace’s conscience and just the thing she needs to break free of the status quo. While hope builds and life-changing choices are being considered, a war rages on the other side of the world, and one gun shot at a hotel in California is about to stun a generation.

Weekends through Nov. 20

Momma's Boyz

Chicago Dramatists

A humorous, dark, but ultimately uplifting look at what happens when a young man turns back the hands of time to save the life of his friend from the violence of dealing drugs

Through Dec. 4

The Amish Project @ American Theatre Co.

On October 2, 2006, a man walked into a one-room Amish schoolhouse & shot 10 schoolgirls, killing 5, before taking his own life. On June, 10, 2009 The Amish Project opened Off-Broadway at Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre. On September 23, 2011, this highly-praised new script made its’ Chicago debut at American Theatre Company.

I liked the script but it is a play I would rather read than see performed. This script consisted of 7 characters: 2 being Amish, the rest being members of the surrounding community. I didn’t do my homework before seeing this show. In the first few minutes of the show, I assumed this was a 7-actor piece towards which they were taking a strange artistic and/or economic approach by casting only one actor. After reading up on the history of this script, I realized that playwright played all roles originally, so obviously other productions would regurgitate that idea. It made more sense to have one actress play all the roles when that actress is the playwright, because it would naturally infuse a sense of continuity and authentic expression of the playwright’s original intent. I don’t know if that fact translates to every re-interpretation of the script. There was a lack of clarity & a disconnect from the basis narrative at times. I wish they had re-imagined the script & cast 7 actors to play 7 parts because it would have been much clearer & emotionally effective.



Sadieh Rifai did pull it off, a feat in itself as these roles are all incredibly difficult challenges. She excelled in the more aggressive characters (especially as the gunman’s widow), which in turn caused the softer characters (namely the two Amish sisters) to get lost in the muddle. It would have been a cool idea if it had been an intentional element in the script--the reality of the victim getting lost in the drama of the aftermath. But this was an unintentional result of a lack of production-based support for the challenges of this role. The portrayal of the Amish sisters became increasingly difficult to discern from each other. Generally, I really dislike adults playing children, despite the skill-level of the actor; it would have been so much more emotionally effective to have little girls play little girls. It is an important dynamic to acknowledge the gunMAN versus the schoolGIRLS; the dynamic of his power play through attack on innocence was all lost.

Sadieh Rifai is a great actress; my complaints with the production have nothing to do with her quality as an actress. The faults in her performance stem largely from the lack of dramaturge on staff because her Amish characters lacked, not only the level of skill, but the her own level of confidence. She seemed to declare a more distinct ownership of the non-Amish characters. This production would have benefited insurmountably by the presence of a dramaturge.

 

Despite changing of the hats, the play largely maintained one note. That is not the fault of the actress, but the fault of the production staff. In a cast of one actor portraying seven different roles, the rest of the production needs to rise up to the challenge and provide technological & artistic innovations to support this actress needed in being the script’s sole ambassador. Moments of irony lost in the muddle, a little satiric lighting or a sound cue would have given this highly-skilled actress the support she needed to carry this show on her own. The set was sparse but well-executed and a great utilization of the theatre’s space.

In a cast consisting of one actor, it is unacceptable for the costume choices to be anything but impeccable. This was not the case, as our lone actor’s attire was sloppily constructed with puckered stitching more suited for a community theatre production. Her dress & apron were unflattering & ill-fitting. Her bonnet did not look authentic, more like a last-minute purchase made at a local costume shop. Her hair was twisted in a way that resembled authenticity but was executed incorrectly. If given the support of artistic production and a dramaturgically-based foundation, Sadieh Rifai had the acting chops to pull off this innovative script & provide an amazing production. Unfortunately, that was not the case, and we are left with a series of well-delivered, confusing monologues of the familiar community surrounding the seemingly-foreign community that was actually effected by this tragic loss.

ARTonNews: Les Mis Movie Initial Cast

Papers have been signed & the plans are in the works for Les Miserables: The Movie Musical. Original producer Cameron Mackintosh will oversee the film, which will be directed by Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech). Filming is set to start in London in February with a projected release date of December 7, 2012. Partial initial casting as been confirmed with Hugh Jackman as Jean ValJean, Russell Crowe as Javert, and Anne Hathaway as Fantine. Rumors are indicate that Geoffrey Rush & Helena Bonham Carter will be playing The Thenardiers.

"Even though I have dreamt about making the film of Les Miserables for over 25 years, I could never have imagined that we would end up with the dream director Tom Hooper, and the dream cast of Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe as the two great protagonists Jean Valjean and Javert…Not only were they born to play these roles vocally, but they thrillingly inhabit this great score. I can’t wait to hear the people sing at my local cineplex."

-Cameron Mackintosh

Hugh Jackman as Jean ValJean

I dislike this casting. He lacks the seasoned, gruff & base street-smart quality of a criminal who has seen Hell but chooses Heaven. I get it. He’s an accomplished Hollywood actor who has proven versatility in roles, the ability to act and sing at the same time, & a face that will sell tickets. But he is just too young & green to play ValJean. I would have loved to see him cast as Marius, a much more appropriate casting for his specific skill-set. This is the ValJean that Victor Hugo envisioned and I am curious & doubtful as to whether Captain Jackman will suffice compared to his predecessors.

Anne Hathaway as Fantine

A very confusing casting choice, to say the least. Just as Hugh Jackman would have been a better fit for Marius, Hathaway could have been a great Eponine. They could have still had their faces on the posters without them playing the headlining characters. She & Jackman have the same problem: lack of authentic weathering as an actor. I don’t want to see a bright-eyed, simple belter as Fantine. I want to see an actress of epic proportions who happens to also have an amazing voice. I want to see an actress I associate with no other major movie roles so that I can accept her as a new Fantine.

Russell Crowe as Javert

If this casting was in reference to purely cinematic interpration of the character in the novel, I would be 100% supportive. But can Russell Crowe seriously sing?? I think he communicates Javert's history more than his present. Textually, Javert grew from a guttered childhood to become the pristine, respected police inspector. Crowe has the brooding history, the intimidating mannerisms, but lacks the clean intimidation Javert consistently displays in this adaptation.