| re: probably best to divide up by era, but here's a list | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 08:08 pm EST 01/30/21 | |
| In reply to: re: probably best to divide up by era, but here's a list - Chromolume 01:46 am EST 01/30/21 | |
|
|
|
| Just a few days ago, Lee Roy Reams was speaking about the extremely hostile audience reaction to the gay bar sequence at the first performance in Baltimore. And the shocked (and not happily shocked) response to Margo's "Bring him along" reply to Duane's "I've got a date." I saw it at a Wednesday matinee around a year after it had opened. All the original principals except Ann Williams were still in it (although Cariou was soon to leave). I was seated around the 6th or 8th row of the orchestra just about dead center. I was pretty much surrounded by Wednesday matinee ladies. Here is the difference between New York and Baltimore at the time. I don't remember anyone seeming shocked or even especially surprised (to the degree that I could tell). "Bring him along" got a nice laugh. I heard no gasps or disapproving murmurs. Reams heard gasps and sounds of disapproval that night in Baltimore. I so agree about the Cagelles. I should add that one reason why I so disliked La Cage was that I really couldn't stand the way Laurents directed the cast. Much, much later, I saw the first Broadway revival near the very end of the run. I was invited by a friend who had comps. I had never seen Goulet on stage and so I thought, "Why not?" I know that there was an overwhelming consensus that the first Broadway revival was tremendously inferior to the original but I didn't feel that way. I thought it was better. It hardly made me love the show, but I found it less unbearable than when I saw the original days after the opening. It was pretty bearable. Admittedly, my expectations were low. It still was not exactly great or even really good, but it seemed less cartoonish. I thought that "I Am What I Am" was too influenced by the extremely angry original performance choice, but it was nice to see an Albin who I could believe was gay and a popular drag artist. I thought George Hearn gave the best performance of the principals in the original production (even though I am generally far from his biggest fan), but I didn't believe for one second he was that person. He just generally seemed a bit more grounded than most of the others, at least until he started not just yelling but really pushing the anger during "I Am What I Am." I wrote here not long ago about my extremely high regard for Merle Louise's performance as the Beggar Woman, a performance I still feel is one of the greatest I've ever seen in a musical. And later she was wonderful in Kiss of the Spider Woman. But I thought even she wasn't good in La Cage. I eventually came to like Albin's songs more when I heard the Australian cast recording much later. Jon Ewing is so great on that recording. I still don't like them much when performed by others, and I still don't like much else in the score (including "Look Over There"), but his performances of Albin's songs give me pleasure. |
|
| reply | |
|
|
|
| Previous: | re: probably best to divide up by era, but here's a list - Chromolume 01:46 am EST 01/30/21 |
| Next: | re: probably best to divide up by era, but here's a list - Michael_Portantiere 12:14 pm EST 01/30/21 |
| Thread: | |
Time to render: 0.008703 seconds.