Unfortunately, I didn't get to see either Murphy or Prince, but Jere's assessment of Osmond strikes me as spot-on. From an acting standpoint, it was a wholly credible take on the role, but neither exciting nor original. I was, however, very impressed by her singing, as I hadn't realized she had such a lovely soprano range. Based on the reviews that I'd read of both Murphy and Prince, I expected the production as a whole to be more revolutionary, but, at least with Osmond as its leading lady, it felt very traditional and didn't really give me any new insight into the piece.
Osmond's King was indeed Kevin Grey and I thought he was SENSATIONAL--definitely the best King I've seen live. (Truthfully, as consistently as he worked, I always thought he deserved a bigger career.) He had playfulness and almost childlike wonder, but he also brought something dangerous to the role. At first I wondered if I was simply projecting because I had previously seen him as the Engineer in Miss Saigon, but, at intermission, I debriefed with my sister, who had not seen him in Saigon, and she felt similarly. For example, the moment when he extends his leg, preventing Anna from sitting on his chaise, was funny enough to still get laughs, but it also felt like a genuine challenge, a sort of sly confrontation. Like Brynner, he was also quite sexy (a quality I felt was sorely lacking in Ken Watanabe's performance), and I remember wishing I was seeing him opposite an Anna who had a stronger sexual energy than Osmond, who felt unsurprisingly wholesome in the role. |
