| re: When will Rob Ashford's reign of terror end? | |
| Posted by: | AlanScott 03:48 am EST 12/06/13 |
| In reply to: | When will Rob Ashford's reign of terror end? - Chazwaza 03:26 am EST 12/06/13 |
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| I liked this Sound of Music a bit more than it seems many others here did, but I have to wonder how much better it might have been if, say, Bartlett Sher or David Cromer had directed the actors. | |
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| re: When will Rob Ashford's reign of terror end? | |
| Posted by: | Chazwaza 03:51 am EST 12/06/13 |
| In reply to: | re: When will Rob Ashford's reign of terror end? - AlanScott 03:48 am EST 12/06/13 |
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| I think it would have been MUCH MUCH MUCH better. If you're going to put the whole production on the shoulders of a non-acting pop/country star, you have to have a director who can get them where they need to be… and the whole cast as well, and the whole vision of the production. They should have hired a director of that caliber and a good choreographer to focus on the dancing and movement when it is necessary… but this isn't the kind of show that benefits from a choreographer-director. Though I imagine Rob Ashford likes to think of himself as as strong if not stronger as a director-choreographer rather than a choreographer-director. I don't know which I think he's worse at. | |
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| Maria moved around .... | |
| Posted by: | jdm 06:33 am EST 12/06/13 |
| In reply to: | re: When will Rob Ashford's reign of terror end? - Chazwaza 03:51 am EST 12/06/13 |
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| so much singing the title song, I feared for her running into a fake tree. And as someone mentioned below, the Rolf and Liesl tumbling down the hill was not effective. And Rolf looked like he was 30 yr old chasing after a 16 year old. Jim | |
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| EVERYONE moved way too much | |
| Posted by: | Chazwaza 10:34 pm EST 12/06/13 |
| In reply to: | Maria moved around .... - jdm 06:33 am EST 12/06/13 |
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| It's like a Directing 101 no-no… movement needs to not only be motivated organically but it needs to not be a distraction. Ashford forgets this all the time. In SOM especially, he is not choreographing/directing a heightened reality besides that they are singing, he is doing a scene with a song in it. Yes he choreographs even as a director in a scene without the song as if he is interpreting everything through dance… but not in an interesting experimental kind of way, just in the worst kind of "broadway" way. That's what I kept thinking while watching SOM, that this will only reinforce how silly most of the country thinks musicals are, always and by their nature, because of the way he stages and choreographs so much of it. It's like community theater but with much better performers. | |
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| re: Maria moved around .... | |
| Posted by: | hitbycab 10:55 am EST 12/06/13 |
| In reply to: | Maria moved around .... - jdm 06:33 am EST 12/06/13 |
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| didn't Carrie/Maria slip a bit during the opening number. I noticed that...and felt bad...but she carried on Carrie was not a good actress but she gets an A+ for taking this on and getting through it!! Plus a beautiful voice. | |
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| And why did the Captain .... | |
| Posted by: | jdm 08:37 am EST 12/06/13 |
| In reply to: | Maria moved around .... - jdm 06:33 am EST 12/06/13 |
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| have a British accent? Yes, I know that Stephen Moyer is British, but when only one character has an accent, it sounds like he is a foreigner out of all the people there. I felt the same with the original Broadway Evita - Peron was the only one in the cast with a Spanish accent, such an odd choice even back then. Jim | |
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| re: And why did the Captain .... | |
| Posted by: | Chazwaza 10:37 pm EST 12/06/13 |
| In reply to: | And why did the Captain .... - jdm 08:37 am EST 12/06/13 |
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| I have ALWAYS wondered that about Evita and it has always bothered me. It seems like lazy acting because acting is much easier when you can employ an accent. I don't even mean that in an insulting way… it helps you quickly get into another person, but it is very odd when you're the only one. I never think accents are necessary when the entire play takes place in the same place where all the people would be speaking the same language. Like Evita. In something like Cabaret, it's harder because do we assume everything is in English? We have to, and then it is appropriate for everyone to have their appropriate accent when speaking to each other (German, British, American). | |
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| re: When will Rob Ashford's reign of terror end? | |
| Posted by: | AlanScott 04:57 am EST 12/06/13 |
| In reply to: | re: When will Rob Ashford's reign of terror end? - Chazwaza 03:51 am EST 12/06/13 |
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| Well, whatever you or I may think of him, it seems like a lot of the critics in London think he's a good director of plays. | |
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| re: When will Rob Ashford's reign of terror end? | |
| Posted by: | Michael_Portantiere 08:48 am EST 12/06/13 |
| In reply to: | re: When will Rob Ashford's reign of terror end? - AlanScott 04:57 am EST 12/06/13 |
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| Do they think he's a good director of plays, or are they just impressed by his productions because they feature major stars? I haven't read the reviews, but I'll try to look up some of them. | |
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| re: When will Rob Ashford's reign of terror end? | |
| Posted by: | AlanScott 04:30 pm EST 12/06/13 |
| In reply to: | re: When will Rob Ashford's reign of terror end? - Michael_Portantiere 08:48 am EST 12/06/13 |
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| I'm not feeling like looking up the reviews over there of his Streetcar, Cat and Anna Christie, although you certainly may, but my memory is that they were really excellent. And the critics gave him credit. Just putting stars in a classic play is not going to impress the critics. | |
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| re: When will Rob Ashford's reign of terror end? | |
| Posted by: | Michael_Portantiere 04:40 pm EST 12/06/13 |
| In reply to: | re: When will Rob Ashford's reign of terror end? - AlanScott 04:30 pm EST 12/06/13 |
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| "Just putting stars in a classic play is not going to impress the critics." It's not ALWAYS going to impress the critics, as evidenced by the reception of CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF on Broadway. But maybe Brit crits are more impressed by movie stars on stage per se? | |
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| re: When will Rob Ashford's reign of terror end? | |
| Posted by: | sf 05:04 pm EST 12/06/13 |
| In reply to: | re: When will Rob Ashford's reign of terror end? - Michael_Portantiere 04:40 pm EST 12/06/13 |
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| If anything, they're possibly *less* impressed by "movie stars". It is hardly unusual here for an actor, even a top-level "star", to move, routinely, between theatre and film. It's not a novelty, and our major critics are unlikely to give anyone a pass simply for deigning to appear in a play, however famous they are. | |
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| re: When will Rob Ashford's reign of terror end? | |
| Posted by: | AlanScott 05:02 pm EST 12/06/13 |
| In reply to: | re: When will Rob Ashford's reign of terror end? - Michael_Portantiere 04:40 pm EST 12/06/13 |
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| I would tend to guess that they're less impressed than our critics are, but perhaps I'm wrong. In any case, the fact that they seem to have been impressed with Ashford's productions does suggest that you may be right. ;) Of course, I haven't seen his London productions. Perhaps he has for some reason done better work in London than he has here. | |
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| re: When will Rob Ashford's reign of terror end? | |
| Posted by: | sf 12:54 pm EST 12/06/13 |
| In reply to: | re: When will Rob Ashford's reign of terror end? - Michael_Portantiere 08:48 am EST 12/06/13 |
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| He got good reviews for "Macbeth" at the Manchester International Festival (OK, co-directed with Kenneth Branagh). As far as musicals go, I had some quibbles with his production of "Parade", but I thought he did a really terrific job on "Finding Neverland" - better than the very mixed reviews might suggest (the critics seemed to review it as a finished product, rather than as a tryout run, and there was clearly still work to be done on the book and score; there was no problem at all, though, with Ashford's contribution). | |
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