I'm comforted to read this, because I have never seen a stage production that I liked and thought worked. There always seemed to be some essential...something...missing. I didn't see the tour with Ann-Margaret, but the performances on the recording, with the exception of the actress playing Jewel, are pretty terrible. The tempos are so slow that I wonder if the unions went into overtime during performances.
That said, I ADORE the movie, which has a joie de vivre that the show seems to lack. I understand that half the score is gone and lots of stuff is changed, but it all really works for me, anchored by a terrific performance from Dolly Parton, who, although she's working right in her wheelhouse, does her thing marvelously and nobody does that thing better.
Even as a kid, I love the movie subverting the old Hollywood cliche of the chorus line of lovely women descending a staircase by having those women be prostitutes singing and dancing about the joys of plying their trade at this particular whorehouse. |
