| I did! (long) | |
| Last Edit: GabbyGerard 02:30 am EDT 07/11/18 | |
| Posted by: GabbyGerard 02:26 am EDT 07/11/18 | |
| In reply to: DOLLY- Can someone here compare Murphy and Peters? - Zelgo 12:56 pm EDT 07/10/18 | |
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| I recently wrote a somewhat long post comparing Midler, Murphy, and Peters. I'll link it below. I can, however, add on to what I said with a squarer focus on Murphy and Peters. For me, the truly remarkable feat that Murphy pulls off is in her combination of--and transition between (but I'll get to that later)--madcap silliness and aching poignancy. Her speeches to Ephraim are marvels of specificity and understated intensity. I hate to use a cliche, but, in this case, it was really true: when she addressed Ephraim, I sat up taller and moved to the edge of my seat. It feels as if the temperature in the room changes--to the extent that my plus one, who is not in the industry at all, later talked about "how high the stakes" felt in those moments. And yet--and this is what really blows my mind...I don't know if it's the expertise of Murphy or Zaks or any of the other top notch artists involved in this production--the gravity of these moments never weighs down any of the blissful airiness of the Musical Comedy (note the capitals!) that surrounds them. It's not as if there's a lack of continuity in Murphy's characterization. On the contrary, when she addresses Ephraim, we come not only to understand, but also to appreciate her tireless improvising with the supporting cast even more. Her Dolly is a wily con-woman who's tired of the game. The flare for period style that Murphy showcased in Wonderful Town is on glorious display in her Dolly. She's endlessly inventive in playing the comedy. Her connections to the different waiters during the title song have just as much specificity as her monologues to Ephraim; her reaction to Stanley, in particular, is priceless. And she and David Hyde Pierce have wonderful chemistry. When Peters and Garber entered the production, I heard many people say something like, "This is the first time I've ever thought Dolly and Horace might actually have sex!" It shocked me because I thought there were genuine sparks between Murphy and Pierce, especially in the second act. (Side note: I remember people saying the same thing about LuPone and Gaines in Gypsy, and thinking, "Ummm...hello?! Did you just forget about Peters and Dossett?!?") From a musical standpoint, Murphy is in generally strong voice, but she goes sharp more than once in singing the score. There seems to be a general understanding amongst theatre folk that neither Murphy nor Peters (nor, probably, Buckley) is going to elicit the same adulation from the audience that Midler did. And that's true. With Midler, it feels like a rock concert. But the afternoon I saw Peters, the audience was as adoring as they're ever going to be for a theatre star who has regularly performed in New York. Peters is--thankfully--a staple on our stages. But that makes her appearance less rare, which, for a lot of people, makes it less special. So she's not going to get the extreme reaction that Bette does...but she gets as much of a reaction as I can imagine anyone in Peter's echelon getting, including LuPone, Buckley, Paige, or, if we want to go younger, Idina and Sutton. Murphy does not get the love from the audience that Peters does, which is not surprising--she does not possess Peters's celebrity. But, also, Murphy disappears into the character more. We're always aware we're watching Bernadette, and when she produces one of her familiar mannerisms, we applaud what we recognize. Peters--whom I saw in June--took longer to "drop in" to the piece than Murphy (or Midler). I didn't feel like she really hit her stride until the scene with Mrs. Rose. Nothing she does up until that point is "bad." It's just...sort of...fine. Unremarkable. Her speeches to Ephraim have some of the poignancy that Murphy's do, but Peters seems to have a hard time recovering from going to that darker place. She doesn't rebound as well, and thus the comedy doesn't land as well. Peters's second act is significantly better than her first. Her scene in the Harmonia Gardens is delightfully flirtatious. Here, perhaps more than anywhere else, we see Bernadette employing a lot of her "isms." But it works. Many people have remarked that Bernadette is so funny in this scene, Garber struggles to stay in character, suppressing giggles. This happened when I was there too. But, to me, it felt choreographed, or, at least, calculated. Sort of like the actors breaking each other up on The Carol Burnett Show. It was more about getting an audience reaction than his genuine reaction. I will, also, echo those who have said that Bernadette's consumption of the dinner as everyone else transitions to the court house does seem to go on too long. It's funny. But it overstays its welcome. Bernadette (hey...when and why did I switch to Bernadette instead of Peters? Gosh, it's late!) definitely sounded better than Midler, but not as confident as Murphy. It might, however, be worth noting that some of her keys are higher than Murphy's, whose keys are higher than Midler's. She skillfully transposes some notes in "Parade," but sounded good enough doing it that I didn't mind. Everything wonderful that I felt when seeing the show with Murphy and Midler, I felt when I saw it with Peters...but to a significantly lesser extent. It was a surprisingly mild experience, which was disappointing because this revival has been so boldly delightful. As I wrote in the post I've linked below, the most concise way to sum up my experiences of these different ladies' interpretations is that, with Midler, Dolly became Bette; with Murphy, Donna became Dolly; and Peters is lost wandering somewhere in the middle. |
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| Link | MIDLER, MURPHY, AND PETERS (with a lot more about Peters) |
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