All That Chat - my THREE-show Broadway day: Rocky, Violet, and Hedwig (SPOILERS)

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my THREE-show Broadway day: Rocky, Violet, and Hedwig (SPOILERS)

Posted by:	mikem 06:36 am EDT 08/08/14

(SPOILERS) Thanks to Hedwig’s 10pm performance on Saturdays, I was able to have the rare 3-show Broadway day last weekend, seeing Rocky at the matinee, Violet at 8pm, and Hedwig at 10pm. I had seen Rocky once before, from the Golden Circle. I ended up sitting in the very last row of the bleachers on stage where the view of the fight wasn’t great, and I felt I was missing out on the incredible staging that everyone was talking about. (By the way, there had been early complaints that the view of Rocky and Adrian kissing was blocked from the stage seats, but they must have changed the staging because the cast was clustered in the corners at the end, leaving a clear view of Rocky and Adrian at the end.) That show was also a Wednesday matinee and the audience was dead. This time, I sat in the side orchestra to the side of the ring, and I thought the fight scene was incredible. From my seat this time, it really looked like the actors were hitting each other, and there was a real tangible excitement. Like others have said, it really feels like you’re at a boxing match. I enjoyed the pre-fight part of the show a lot more than most people, but as has been said, the score is the big problem. I really like Raining but it doesn’t fit into the rest of the score and seems way too contemporary for the 1970s. The rest of the score is pretty forgettable. It is the first time I’ve seen a show and wondered whether a NON-original score would have done better. The audience reaction to Eye of the Tiger is great, but there’s very little reaction to the rest and the musical numbers often seem to stop momentum. I think a lot of the problem is that the songs are the wrong kind of songs for this show. This could/should be a propulsive, action-oriented show, but the songs are heavy on ballads and mostly solos by Rocky or Adrian with simple staging. The score is very “small” while the show is trying to be “big.” A more driving score, with more choreography or elaborate staging might have helped. And the set is technically impressive, but the gray concrete look made it seem almost post-apocalyptic. I thought Violet had a great cast and score. Alexander Gemignani was out, but Charlie Pollock did just fine. I thought some of the staging was less clear than it could have been, particularly what was a flashback and what was just a vision and only existed in Violet’s head. And I’m not sure I understood why the three main characters all seemed to fall for each other so quickly. Someone once commented that the three all seem about 10 years too old for their part, which I kind of agree with. The characters seem more like people in their early twenties than people in their thirties. I think Sutton Foster did a great job, but her portrayal could have been more shaded. I didn’t see the side that made two men fall in love with her. It has been wonderful seeing Joshua Henry really grow as a performer. I thought he was good but a bit one-note in Scottsboro Boys, and he's much better here. His acting here was much more complex, and he paired that with charisma and a fantastic singing voice. I thought Hedwig and Neil Patrick Harris were very entertaining. NPH reminded me a lot of James Corden in One Man, Two Guvnors, both in the audience interaction and in the way he can effortlessly make something seem like improv when it actually isn’t. He did the carwash on someone in the center section on the aisle, about 4 – 5 rows back, which I think is a different seat location than usual. I wonder if it was a celebrity or someone he knew. There was one portion that I’m sure doesn’t happen every night, although I’m not sure if NPH makes the same references every time it happens. When he asked the box occupants if they had seen Belasco’s ghost, one woman said yes. NPH seemed a little taken aback, then said that since she had seen the ghost, then surely she could describe the ghost and the encounter in excruciating detail, so could she do that right now? This was of course met with dead silence from the audience member, which got a huge laugh. Then he riffed on that, saying that since she wasn’t saying anything, maybe the ghost was a mime? Then he started talking about how the ghost must have been distracted by her huge breasts. He made more comments about her breasts when he returned to talking to the box occupants later. It was all really funny. Although I had a great time, I’m not sure that James Corden in One Man, Two Guvnors should be the comparison that first comes to mind when thinking about Hedwig. No knock against Corden for a wonderful Tony-worthy performance, but that show and his performance are purely geared towards making the audience laugh and have fun. I think Hedwig should be more than that, and I didn’t see that complexity or the exploration of pathos from NPH that I think the character deserves. But he is an incredible entertainer.

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Thread:	re: my THREE-show Broadway day: Rocky, Violet, and Hedwig (SPOILERS) - lowwriter 11:59 am EDT 08/08/14 (1) re: my THREE-show Broadway day: Rocky, Violet, and Hedwig (SPOILERS) - mikem 02:02 pm EDT 08/08/14

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