| I originally saw Comet back in February and returned to it last Wednesday evening. My take: Oak is fine, although he doesn't naturally project the sensitive nature of Pierre as Groban did. Overall, I'm sad to report, the production is not as tight as it was several months ago. It's sloppy -- both in terms of the featured players and the ensemble. The exception is Denee Benton. She continues to give the performance she gave months ago. The most disappointing is Lucas Steele. It's hard to believe it's the same performer. He now looks like the fourth replacement trying to replicate the original performance of someone else. The performance I saw on Wednesday would not have attracted any Tony nomination. Equally, with the exception of Benton, the diction among the principal performers has deteriorated to the point that you cannot understand the lyrics. At first I thought it was a sound system problem or where I was sitting (upstairs) but when I was able to understand Benton perfectly I assumed that it was the fault of the performers. The ensemble still performs energetically, but it doesn't have a spontaneous feel to it; it seems like a rout performance. If you've seen it before, I wouldn't recommend returning. It's tired. (Or the cast is distracted?) |
