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| re: The theme of the production | |
| Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 11:24 pm EDT 08/27/19 | |
| In reply to: re: The theme of the production - aleck 05:46 pm EDT 08/27/19 | |
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| I completely agree with you about the recent production of CAROUSEL, but I didn't think we were discussing CAROUSEL. I'm also with you in not having loved the Trevor Nunn production of OKLAHOMA! I was just surprised that you didn't feel you had heard the lyrics sung clearly in previous productions. | |
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| re: The theme of the production | |
| Posted by: JereNYC (JereNYC@aol.com) 03:08 pm EDT 08/28/19 | |
| In reply to: re: The theme of the production - Michael_Portantiere 11:24 pm EDT 08/27/19 | |
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| The Trevor Nunn production of OKLAHOMA! seemed to have gotten a rapturous reception in London, but, by the time the production had made its way to New York, something got lost in translation. Maybe it was the hype, which would have been difficult for any production to live up to, or maybe it was because New York saw almost an entirely new cast that was minus Hugh Jackman, who'd become a movie star in the interim. Could it be that the largely British cast in London found something in this material that really made it soar in a way that their American successors were not? My parents happened to catch the show in London and loved it...aside from some issues with accents, which they found amusing. They enjoyed it in New York, but weren't raving about it the way they had before. That much delayed and much anticipated OKLAHOMA! finally came and everyone sort of collectively shrugged their shoulders. That was a sharp contrast to the Nicholas Hytner production of CAROUSEL in the mid-90's, which was able to replicate its London acclaim in New York and perhaps even surpass it, while also launching a brand new star in Audra McDonald. |
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| re: The theme of the production | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 12:37 am EDT 08/29/19 | |
| In reply to: re: The theme of the production - JereNYC 03:08 pm EDT 08/28/19 | |
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| The video of the production makes me think that the production was better in New York, not worse. It is perhaps unfair to judge a production from a video, and the video of the London version of the Nunn Oklahoma! suffers from the same problems as some other videos of Nunn stage productions because of his own preferences in how they should be done. Still, it seems to me that the New York cast was better overall than the London cast. A friend who saw the production in London told me at that time that he thought it would be a mistake to bring the production to New York. He felt that it would not go over here as it had in the London. He thought Trevor Nunn fundamentally did not understand American musicals, and that it was just the kind of production that would be a big hit in London but would be rejected by audiences in New York. Personally, I thought the Broadway production, which I saw before I saw the video of the London production, was filled with problematic and even nonsensical choices (not to mention textual changes). Still, I preferred it to the Hytner Carousel, which I could not stand. And despite the critical acclaim, the production was something of a disappointment at the box office. It did then go on a longish tour, but the tour did very mixed business (good in some cities, not so good in others). Truth is that as far as I can tell neither production was really all that successful in London, at least not after they moved to open-ended runs. |
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| re: The theme of the production | |
| Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 10:05 am EDT 08/29/19 | |
| In reply to: re: The theme of the production - AlanScott 12:37 am EDT 08/29/19 | |
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| "A friend who saw the production in London told me at that time that he thought it would be a mistake to bring the production to New York. He felt that it would not go over here as it had in the London. He thought Trevor Nunn fundamentally did not understand American musicals," Truer words were never spoken :-( Did you all SEE what he did to A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC? |
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| re: The theme of the production | |
| Last Edit: WaymanWong 02:27 am EDT 08/29/19 | |
| Posted by: WaymanWong 02:26 am EDT 08/29/19 | |
| In reply to: re: The theme of the production - AlanScott 12:37 am EDT 08/29/19 | |
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| Alan, I've never seen the video of the London ''Oklahoma!,'' but could it have been a bigger hit there because Hugh Jackman played Curly? (And did a film commitment keep Jackman from reprising his role on Broadway?) And did Jackman have better chemistry with its British Laurey, Josefina Gabrielle? One of her selling points, I believe, was that she could dance the role of Laurey; however, critics here seemed less enthused about her acting and singing. At Tony nomination time, Gabrielle got shut out, but her American co-stars (Patrick Wilson, Andrea Martin and Justin Bohon) all got nominated. And Shuler Hensley reprised his Olivier Award-winning role as Jud and became the only ''Oklahoma!'' nominee to win a Tony. (Speaking of Wilson, I wish he'd come back to Broadway to do musicals with that glorious voice of his.) |
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| Link | Patrick Wilson and 2002 cast of 'Oklahoma!' on David Letterman show |
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| re: The theme of the production | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 12:14 am EDT 08/30/19 | |
| In reply to: re: The theme of the production - WaymanWong 02:26 am EDT 08/29/19 | |
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| I'm surprised you've never seen the video. It used to get shown on PBS and it's available now on Blu-Ray (having been available in the past on both VHS and DVD). But I can't say it makes a great case for the production (not that I'm sure a great case could be made for it but I think a better one could be made than is made by the video). I can't remember exactly why Jackman wasn't available for Broadway. People say that Jackman and Gabrielle had better chemistry than Wilson and Gabrielle. I have no opinion. It was at first being claimed that Gabrielle was the first actress ever to play Laurey and dance the dream ballet. I pointed out here that was not correct, that Susan Watson had done that in a City Center revival and that I also bet that this had happened in various other productions. I think that I later learned that Karen Ziemba had done that in her high school production. Eventually, they changed Gabrielle's bio to say that she was the first person to do this both on the West End and Broadway. Gabrielle is very talented — I thought she was quite good in that London Merrily we saw here in the movies — but there was a wide feeling that she was not wonderful vocally as Laurey, that she was really more of a belter and her upper register was not very appealing. I've heard much worse, but I think it was clear that she was not among the most vocally appealing Laureys ever. Again, she is very talented. I'll just say again that the London production did not have a super-long run after it left the National. I can't remember if it closed because some cast members (perhaps including Jackman) had to leave and they decided to close rather than replace them or if it just wasn't doing great business (or perhaps both because I would think that they would have found new people if it had been doing really well). |
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