| re: SUNSET this afternoon | |
| Posted by: robert_j 11:29 am EST 11/17/24 | |
| In reply to: SUNSET this afternoon - standingO 10:07 pm EST 11/16/24 | |
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| I saw it last night. I was prepared for Tom Francis to be out. What surprised me was how much I liked Diego Andres Rodriguez as Joe. I do not want to discount what Tom brings to the table, and I might try a Mandy/Tom performance sometime to compare. But Diego was for sure a highlight. So charismatic and well sung. The rest did not hang together for me. I admit, I have a lot of history with this show, beginning with the original Broadway production 30 years ago. It was a favorite then. Now, a bit less so, but I do love the lush romanticism of the score. Nicole is technically impressive. But the performance is all over the place. And while I appreciated her vocal delivery of the big numbers, there was a studied quality to them that did not fully connect to a character. I don't want to go as far as to say that it was a pop performance, but it was more about Nicole than Norma. As for the production, I did not care for it -- and I adored the same director's "A Doll's House." Let's face it, Sunset is not Ibsen and does not benefit from a stripped down reading, or a deconstruction. The production also does not communicate the story very well. Does the ending make sense at all to someone not familiar with the source material? I am used to opera productions that assume familiarity, but I think a Broadway show has to communicate the story clearly. The tone is all over the place. There is a lot of random running in Act Two. And while I like the use of cameras, I like them somewhat less when they substitute for compelling stage action. Frequently on stage it felt like the blocking was meant solely to facilitate the camera work, which was not that interesting anyway. The exception is the top of Act 2, which rightfully defines the production. So it was a near miss for me. Worth seeing for sure, but not fully realized. |
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