I was disappointed, too. I thought the direction was a mess. The spinning set wore out quickly. The flys were constantly distracting, as were the stagehands. Holding the table in place was absurd. I agree with your hatred of the ball gown, but even more ridiculous is that she entered from...the bathroom. Well, from the room where they previously bathed her. Of all times not to use the staircase! Agree about the awning - what a distracting fuss.
Haddon-Patton left me cold. While I appreciate he didn't want to approximate Harrison's speak-song, the written notes were simply too low for him. Much lost humor, and an annoyingly repetitive song delivery style. So much punching the air.
Ambrose's thin, reedy soprano didn't work for me, and her acting seemed mechanical. There was no belt when she needed it, and no passion, no fire. I agree that Butz seemed to be in a different show. The staging and choreography of his numbers did him no favors.
I did adore Dame Diana, and especially enjoyed Linda Mugleston as Mrs. Pearce.
While I, too, grew up on the OBC album, that's not my touchstone. My thrilling MFL was the sublime '75-'76 revival - Christine Andreas, Ian Richardson, and the immensely talented but so sadly damaged George Rose. That was something. |
