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| KISS ME, KATE Last Night | |
| Posted by: sergius 11:12 am EST 03/03/19 | |
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| There are many pleasures here, not least of which is watching Kelli O'Hara, a normally quiet and emotionally translucent performer, go broad. This material isn't a natural fit for her, at least not the book scenes, but she's game and spirited; she's got pluck. And musically, she's impeccable as always. KISS ME, KATE has a number of showstoppers, but the biggest is O'Hara singing "So In Love"; she stops your heart. Beyond this, the show is very nicely done. It moves along--the choreography is scattershot but bright--and it's funny. These days, this material could be cringe worthy, but all that's shopworn about it is handled deftly, which is to say lightly, here. If O'Hara isn't an altogether convincing "shrew," neither is she a compelling lackey which is helpful. Thus the show's final moments are, like those in the recent production of MY FAIR LADY, recalibrated in an interesting and, in this cultural moment, arguably fitting way. | |
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| re: KISS ME, KATE Last Night | |
| Last Edit: PlayWiz 01:59 pm EST 03/03/19 | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 01:51 pm EST 03/03/19 | |
| In reply to: KISS ME, KATE Last Night - sergius 11:12 am EST 03/03/19 | |
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| "This material isn't a natural fit for her" So you're saying someone else would be better suited for the role. I think it's a given she would sing the role well. Interesting that you didn't mention the male lead who has probably even a bigger role in the show. I have such wonderful memories of Marin Mazzie as Lilli, who really went all out, especially in her "I Hate Men". Ms. O'Hara is kind of turning into the musical soprano version of Placido Domingo, who basically sang nearly every major tenor role in opera (except the lightest lyric/coloratura tenor roles), usually giving a high standard, but rarely giving "the" particularly outstanding and most memorable performance of the role (yes, there are exceptions -- and now he's turned to the baritone rep!). His chief tenor rival, Luciano Pavarotti, with a more limited repertoire, made most of his roles count and were pretty damn singular in the best sense. I'm kind of seeing the Domingo model here with folks casting Ms. O'Hara as a de facto fine choice, but not necessarily the best choice. |
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| re: KISS ME, KATE Last Night | |
| Posted by: Snowysdad 09:33 pm EST 03/03/19 | |
| In reply to: re: KISS ME, KATE Last Night - PlayWiz 01:51 pm EST 03/03/19 | |
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| The O'Hara/Domingo comparison is a fascinating one, and after the initial shock of something totally unexpected, one I think has a huge amount of validity, at least as concerns Placido Domingo. As stated there were exceptions, such as Otello. His place in history will be from the huge number of roles sung and the length of the career. I'm not sure I'm quite as convinced regarding Ms. O'Hara. There just aren't enough roles out there that play to her talents as a legitimately trained singer, and for sure not all that many of them are worth reviving. She could no doubt sing the heck out of My Fair Lady, but I don't think she would inhabit the role well, acting wise. | |
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| re: KISS ME, KATE Last Night | |
| Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 11:16 pm EST 03/03/19 | |
| In reply to: re: KISS ME, KATE Last Night - Snowysdad 09:33 pm EST 03/03/19 | |
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| "I'm not sure I'm quite as convinced regarding Ms. O'Hara. There just aren't enough roles out there that play to her talents as a legitimately trained singer, and for sure not all that many of them are worth reviving. She could no doubt sing the heck out of My Fair Lady, but I don't think she would inhabit the role well, acting wise." She inhabited the role extremely well -- accents and all! -- when she played it in the concert version of MFL that was done some years ago by the New York Philharmonic, with Kelsey Grammer as an excellent Higgins. I'm going to have to find out if there is any video or audio record of that performance (at the Lincoln Center LIbrary!), because it was quite wonderful. (For the record, as I remember, only a small amount of dialogue was included in the performance, but whatever was there, Kelli and everyone else handled beautifully.) |
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| Agreed! | |
| Posted by: ShowGoer 06:21 pm EST 03/04/19 | |
| In reply to: re: KISS ME, KATE Last Night - Michael_Portantiere 11:16 pm EST 03/03/19 | |
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| She was terrific. Directed by James Brennan, if I recall Also, for what it’s worth, I remember it being basically a full and virtually complete production. I certainly remember a running time of 2:45 or so, if not 3 hours outright. It’s possible they made some minor trims to the book... but it felt, played and was staged as FAR more than a concert production, closer to the NYPhil Sweeney Todd or Company, or what, say, Encores has done over the last decade as opposed to what they started as 25 years ago. |
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| re: Agreed! | |
| Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 11:37 pm EST 03/04/19 | |
| In reply to: Agreed! - ShowGoer 06:21 pm EST 03/04/19 | |
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| "Also, for what it’s worth, I remember it being basically a full and virtually complete production. I certainly remember a running time of 2:45 or so, if not 3 hours outright. It’s possible they made some minor trims to the book... but it felt, played and was staged as FAR more than a concert production, closer to the NYPhil Sweeney Todd or Company, or what, say, Encores has done over the last decade as opposed to what they started as 25 years ago." Thanks, your memory on that is probably much more accurate than mine. I don't remember the running time being that long, and I was just thinking back that they probably wouldn't have done most of the dialogue in a concert setting like that in Avery Fisher, but I guess they did :-) Yes, James Brennan directed the show -- I was glad that, some time later, I got to tell him in person how much I loved it. And I should have mentioned that Charles Kimbrough was perfection as Pickering. |
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| re: KISS ME, KATE Last Night | |
| Posted by: jconnors 04:46 pm EST 03/03/19 | |
| In reply to: re: KISS ME, KATE Last Night - PlayWiz 01:51 pm EST 03/03/19 | |
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| I am with you in spirit, but I would only say she has been slightly less than ideal in two, maybe three roles. She was still very good though. For me, it is the different between an A performance/fit with role and an A- or at worst, B+ | |
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| Babe in pajama game | |
| Posted by: dramedy 12:20 pm EST 03/03/19 | |
| In reply to: KISS ME, KATE Last Night - sergius 11:12 am EST 03/03/19 | |
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| Was a lively performance by Keli. But I agree that most of her shows are reserved characters. | |
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| re: Babe in pajama game | |
| Posted by: Broadwaywannabe 06:44 am EST 03/04/19 | |
| In reply to: Babe in pajama game - dramedy 12:20 pm EST 03/03/19 | |
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| I must be in the minority here, but I found her performances in Pajama Game, South Pacific, My Fair Lady and Carousel to be definitive. I haven’t seen any other Julie in Carousel and Eliza in My Fair Lady who has even come close. The one performance that I didn’t love was in the King and I which suffered from some of the criticisms raised in this thread. | |
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| re: Babe in pajama game | |
| Posted by: Randolph 10:37 am EST 03/04/19 | |
| In reply to: re: Babe in pajama game - Broadwaywannabe 06:44 am EST 03/04/19 | |
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| Amen. For me, her acting -- not just her singing -- were pretty close to perfect in both South Pacific and Pajama Game. I still think of those performances often. I also agree that she was disappointing in The King and I. But then I found the whole production disappointing. |
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| re: Babe in pajama game | |
| Posted by: JereNYC (JereNYC@aol.com) 10:23 am EST 03/04/19 | |
| In reply to: re: Babe in pajama game - Broadwaywannabe 06:44 am EST 03/04/19 | |
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| I enjoyed O'Hara's work in THE PAJAMA GAME as something completely different from other roles I'd seen her in up to that point (SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS, DRACULA, LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA), but her take on the role was at odds with the character as written. She played Babe as a 1940's wisecracking Hollywood dame in the Rosalind Russell mode, which, amusing as it was, was completely inappropriate for a 1950's small town Iowa factory worker. | |
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