| OLIVER is yet another disappointment for Encores! | |
| Posted by: student_rush 01:23 pm EDT 05/13/23 | |
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| I wrote a lengthy thread that got disappeared between drafting and previewing (...), but essentially I continue to believe that Lear DeBessonet is an active liability to the projects she leads, "Oliver" being the most recent example. Absolutely zero consideration put into storytelling or tone -- rather, she creates a mediocre community theatre production that just happens to feature Lilli Cooper and Benjamin Pajak singing the crap out of their songs. Actors are left to their own devices as they flounder center stage -- entire songs just sit there, without any attention paid to character or arcs or even anything that may raise an audience's pulse even a fraction. Terribly design (by Tony-winner David Rockwell??); tempos drag; the property itself is terribly underserved because Lear has put zero thought into creating a unique universe that comfortably includes the high comedy of Mr. Bumble's and also the seedy underbelly of Fagin and Sykes. Also, she seems uninterested in basic things like telling the poorly-cast Artful Dodger to both slow down and enunciate his dialogue ... you know, the things a high school theatre director thinks about. A common takeaway from audiences and critics seems to be "Wow, Oliver is weird show." Well of course it is, when approached in such a lazy and unfocused manner. Oh, and the kids are all NEWSIES! now, because ... Am I totally alone here? |
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| Previous: | TB REGIONAL REVIEW: "HERE THERE ARE BLUEBERRIES" in WASHINGTON DC - T.B._Admin. 01:25 pm EDT 05/13/23 |
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