| re: A couple of specific points and questions after seeing the screening last night at the Skirball | |
| Posted by: sf 06:01 pm EST 11/21/17 | |
| In reply to: A couple of specific points and questions after seeing the screening last night at the Skirball - Michael_Portantiere 05:13 pm EST 11/21/17 | |
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| 1. "Parking lot" - we know what it means, but that's not a phrase that's used in British English, and here it sounds a little odd. We don't use "lot" in the sense of "parcel of land" in everyday conversation. On the other hand, Americans don't use the corresponding British idiom - "car park" - and we're familiar enough with American English that, again, it would sound a little odd coming out of the mouth of an American character. "Office building", I suppose, is a neutral alternative. 2. "Losing My Mind" - I generally liked Dominic Cooke's direction very much *up until the beginning of the Loveland sequence*. "Losing My Mind", for my money, is *not* the production's high point, but I suspect the choices were partly determined by the specific abilities of the actress playing Sally. As far as I'm concerned, the moment works best if the actor doesn't *act* the breakdown: the point of those Loveland numbers is to have each of the four leads each perform a pastiche representing their individual folly. "Losing My Mind" works best if the actress in the role simply stands still and sings the hell out of the song, but for that to work you need someone with the kind of voice that can make everybody in the theatre stop breathing until the end of the final note. Imelda Staunton has many talents, and is giving a phenomenal *acting* performance, but she doesn't have that kind of singing voice. She's an actress who sings, so she needs something to *act* - so she needs somewhere to sit, something to hold, something to do. That given, the boudoir/dressing-table setting fits the style of the song reasonably well - but as I said, I don't think it's the production's strongest moment, and it's the point where the compromises inherent in casting THIS actress in THIS role are most obvious. |
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