| Lloyd is the creative that makes this compelling. The star, a 44-year-old who reads at least a half a decade younger, seems an ... unusual choice. A role defined by the trauma of ageing in a misogynistic industry will be played by a woman visibly in her prime. Characterized in the text as a contemporary iteration of Miss Havisham, re-imagined as a luminous beauty, crippled by her own agoraphobia? Maybe it's what will make this "bold." The show has always worked best spotlighting a female actor well past the ingenue demographic who brings her A-game to the character, the vocals in service of the interpretation rather than the reverse (the infamous, forever unsettled debate about very first 2 Normas, not necessary to revisit). This star is a formidable singer, not necessarily known for acting chops. Again, if Lloyd has a new vision, he's a gifted, imagery-specific theater storyteller, and perhaps that's the event here. |
