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| re: Harold Prince: The Director's Life and the case for original productions | |
| Posted by: EvFoDr 06:49 pm EST 12/02/18 | |
| In reply to: Harold Prince: The Director's Life and the case for original productions - RufusRed 09:55 am EST 12/02/18 | |
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| Although we have all had the experience of longing to see the original staging of something we did not see, the consensus (although it's a very small sample) seems to be "meh". This includes Prince's recreation of his own production of Cabaret with one of the original stars in his iconic role. A Chorus Line is mentioned often as a stiff, dead, or unsuccessful mirror of its original. Personally, I really liked the revival of ACL and did not find it a museum piece. But then I didn't see the original. So another angle is how a person reacts seeing a show for the first time when it is the original re-staged (me), or how a person reacts seeing the original re-staged when they actually saw the original (I presume many who found the ACL revival lacking). I am having a hard time thinking of other revivals that were recreations of the original. In the same breath I will contradict my feeling that recreations don't work as it pertains to another Prince show, Evita. I have seen productions of Evita for the past 30 years, although I did not see the original, and most of them use the Prince staging. This includes regional, community, professional tours, and even high school productions. To me, the productions that don't use his staging just aren't as good or don't work. I include the Broadway revival, which I thought was terrible. I think, more than most shows, Prince's work is an authorship in Evita. With only a few changes, he had to take an existing work which was created for the page/record, and make it work for the stage. This challenge caused him to find ways, via the staging, to communicate information that is not in the lyrics. It's not the usual collaboration where songs and scenes are being written and re-written while the show is in rehearsals, previews, etc. What I realized by seeing other stagings is that without all the blanks filled in by the Prince staging...well, those things are just missing and the show is weaker for it. I would love nothing more than to see a recreation of the original staging. BUT it has to be done in a way to somehow make it alive. Raul Esparza tells the story that in rehearsing the tour he did they got out this big book with all the stage manager's notes and told him when to move and where. When he asked why someone said "because that's what Mandy did". Frankly I find it hard to believe someone would say something so ridiculous. But giving Esparza the benefit of the doubt, that does not work! It has to be explored more deeply than that. In a way it may be no different than when a long running show gets "tired". It still IS the original staging, but disconnected from the process of creation it becomes a machine and suffers. |
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| re: Harold Prince: The Director's Life and the case for original productions | |
| Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 11:04 pm EST 12/02/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Harold Prince: The Director's Life and the case for original productions - EvFoDr 06:49 pm EST 12/02/18 | |
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| "A Chorus Line is mentioned often as a stiff, dead, or unsuccessful mirror of its original. " Agreed. And yet the very recent City Center production -- with the same powers that be again recreating the original production -- was thrilling. So....go figure! |
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| re: Harold Prince: The Director's Life and the case for original productions | |
| Posted by: Snowysdad 07:16 pm EST 12/02/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Harold Prince: The Director's Life and the case for original productions - EvFoDr 06:49 pm EST 12/02/18 | |
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| I'm coming from a very different perspective in that Evita is not one of my favorite musicals. I saw a production last year at Asolo Rep, Sarasota Florida, directed by Josh Rhodes. This production catapulted him to his getting the director assignment for Encores Grand Hotel, which from reports was brilliant. So was Evita. I always had my issues with Prince's original, the material with the chorus commenting on Eva's social position as she rose seemed not part of a unified whole. I felt it when listening to the Broadway Cast Album as well. Rhodes wove these moments into an entire tapestry, Eva's rise and fall a unified dramatic arc. I also felt that after seeing this production that Prince's was just driven from start to after Don't Cry for Me, Argentina when it finally took a moment for the audience to collect itself. If that is what you mean my energy, then yes that production had it. I rather liked a slightly less frenetic take on the work, and while I can't say that Rhodes made me fall in deep love with this musical, he certainly made me like it ways I never had before. I vote for talented directors taking their own crack at musical masterpieces. This year Asolo is doing The Music Man with someone primarily known for his dancing as Harold Hill. For the first time I didn't think the leading man was trying to channel Robert Preston (not to knock his for the ages performance), but Jeff Calhoun allows his leading man to bring his own unique talents to one of the greatest male leads in musical theater. |
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| re: Harold Prince: The Director's Life and the case for original productions | |
| Posted by: EvFoDr 04:07 pm EST 12/03/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Harold Prince: The Director's Life and the case for original productions - Snowysdad 07:16 pm EST 12/02/18 | |
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| Thanks for the post. I am certainly willing to concede that there have been effective non-Prince stagings that I haven't seen, such as Asolo. Based on what Rhodes did with Grand Hotel--which I loved--I imagine I would have liked his Evita. Both shows are high concept and highly stylized. | |
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