He was out when I saw the show. Out when two friends saw the show two different nights. His understudy is ... I'll be charitable ... aside from offering Idol-styled pop vocals, unmemorable. The most asexual performance in the role I've ever seen. The show has a serious hole at its center with him, but oddly enough, the more unappealing Chris is, the more the show veers away from its Butterfly roots. The hastily jump-started romance feels thinner, even more impromptu and shallow, and so Chris's abandonment of Kim seems to track. America looks more culpable (a good thing). No point in overthinking the impact of an inadequate performance, except that this musical truly feels different with every casting configuration.
No complaints about Ms. Noblezada, however. She's reason enough to see this production. She re-mints the role of Kim, and I'm not sure how. Kim has a backbone, and heroism, and I'm certainly not knocking Salonga, but more grit. This is truly a survivor Kim. It doesn't erase (much documented) problems about Asian stereotypes, but it helps. A lot. Noblezada just doesn't give in. |
