Last week, I paid my second visit of the season to the OSF.
INTO THE WOODS - A wonderful, inventive, funny, moving and human production. The score is beautifully sung and played. The acting is first rate. I saw the show twice. If this production moves to LA, it will have to be restaged for an indoor theatre.
THE GREAT SOCIETY - It's stunning. Jack Willis is outstanding as LBJ. Kenajuan Bentley is very good as MLK. The other actors are strong. It runs three hours, but doesn't fill like three hours. Could the script be tightened, probably. The play reminded me of how many things have not changed.
A WRINKLE IN TIME - Great fun with wonderful acting plus inventive direction, costumes and design. A treat for all ages.
RICHARD III - A strong production. Dan Donohue is stunning in the title role. The five women in the cast are all very good. I've seen other productions of the play, but this is the first one where I realized the scene between Elizabeth and Richard late in the play is similar to the scene between Lady Anne and Richard early in the play.
FAMILY ALBUM - What a mess. The music is great and is the strongest part of the show. The first act is interesting, but things fall apart in the second act. In the second act, the characters become talking points Miriam Laube walks away with the show. As it stands now, the show is in its teenage years.
The Two Gentlemen of Verona - An all-female cast is an interesting idea, but the production has no vision. The set design is a waste of space. The costumes tell you nothing about the characters. At one point, Sylvia wears cape that would look good on a fashion show runway; not in a forest. I've seen most of the cast in other productions this season and in other years and liked their performances. The same can't be said of their work in Two Gents. The last two times OSF did this play, the productions were wonderful and insightful. In this production, Julia comes across as dumb.
I was there for The Daedalus Project. The afternoon play reading was a play from England, The Children's Monologues, based on the writing of South African children. It was funny and moving. The evening Variety Show was wonderful. I was crying at the end.
I heard some 2015 casting news. Robin Goodrin Nordli - Adelaide in Guys & Dolls, Michael Winters and Judith-Marie Bergan in Long Day's Journey Into NIght, Christiana Clark and Danforth Comins as Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado and Miriam Laube as Cleopatra.
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