| I saw the original production, a preview, and agree with your points. Stratas and the score were the events, and what events they were. I've since grown so attached to the recording (alas, without Stratas), and have a special fondness for the overture. One of the best, ever. The revival I saw at Paper Mill many years ago was lackluster, despite some good performances. It's a show that has trouble gaining steam. Dramatic momentum. The set-up was always harrowing and brilliant, this Ellis Island arrival, and then it just seemed to hop around, sometimes tread water (albeit with lovely songs) until the catastrophic events of act two. The reunion of husband and wife at the end of act one was forced and didn't feel terribly moving, in either the original or the revival. And the best known song (also memorably covered by Ripley and Skinner) was not sung by the two women, but but Rebecca. Apparently, there are at least three versions of the working script, and song order, rather like the post-original "On a Clear Day..." but not as many as "Candide." I'd love to see a small, tight, focused production that found emotional suspense earlier. As a sort of sequel to "Fiddler," which many described it, it was always too ambitious, too many characters to keep track of. |
