I didn't NOT like tonight's show... but it was lacking.
First and foremost in direction... or at least in coherent direction, both theatrically and musically. The movement and choreography of the actors at times seemed contradictory to the music that was happening. Swing dancing during The Tango Maureen? Come on. And vocally, on many of the pieces, while the singing was technically VERY good, there was no meaning behind the words. They were singing words not emotions.
Maureen was the standout 'perfectly cast character'. She totally rocked the house.
Mark did a really good job with a character that doesn't HAVE all that much to work with.
Angel was good, as was Joanne.
Mimi had her moments, but there were some that were disappointing as well.
Tom... oh, what can I say about Tom? Extraordinarily disappointed doesn't even begin to cover it. The man had a nice voice, but it wasn't the right voice. *I* could have sang the part better, if only because I have the range to hit the notes that needed to be hit. He was also very uninspired, and went for jokey rather than serious, and Tom is one HELLUVA serious part.
All in all, the vocals lacked articulation. I know the score by heart, and there were points where I couldn't understand a thing. The sound folks need to work on their mixing better... the band was too overpowering, and there was a few minutes where the feedback got STUPID.
The direction, however, still bothers me the most. It just had no focus, or the WRONG focus. The set, while nice, was too busy, and much of the action got lost in it. The lighting would have been cool, had the set not screwed it up. Oh well, what can you do...
me
Sleep now...
