| Camelot yesterday led me down a Lerner and Loewe rabbit hole to Brigadoon.... | |
| Posted by: fm_15 10:39 pm EDT 07/13/23 | |
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| Saw yesterday's matinee of Camelot. Was primarily there to see Burnap since I liked him a lot in The Inheritance and wanted to hear his singing voice. Too bad he was out. I am not extremely familiar with Camelot having only seen the 1998 national tour with Robert Goulet as Arthur. But I remembered enough to know this revival is not our grandparents' Camelot. At the end of Act 1, the first thought that popped into my head was "train wreck". But after I finished the whole experiment, I grudgingly accepted that at least it was a bold attempt by Sorkin. I didn't love the updates and the preaching and lecturing but I respected his attempt to bring it into the 21st century. Burnap's understudy Fergie Philippe did an ok job but I get the sense he gives a more forceful portrayal then Burnap which sounds more nuanced on the cast recording. Phillipa Soo was perplexing. Am I misremembering how bell-like her voice was? I've seen her in everything since Great Comet at Ars Nova. Yet here she sounded like her voice was somehow trapped in her chest. It's not that she struggled to hit her high notes in head voice but every time she sang a phrase or two in head voice she seemed to retreat quickly back into chest. I don't know...maybe she was having an off day or she was coming down with something. And now let me revel a bit in the magic that is Jordan Donica...wow!, he is the living embodiment of SWOOOON! The voice is entrancing enough but what a dashing figure he cuts on stage -- the trim fit in the armor, the hair in the pony tail -- the perfect casting for this role! He handles the humor in his early scenes just as easily as the pain and torment of his later scenes in the love triangle. I was completely smitten and couldn't stop talking about it to my friends. Turns out I know someone who went to college with him and she remembers him fondly. I hope this man has a string of leading roles lined up after this show. I had forgotten how achingly beautiful If Ever I Would Leave You was. I started looking up other recordings on Spotify and that led me down a rabbit hole of Lerner and Lowe songs. My favorite L&L score is Brigadoon and I'm not hopeful that Broadway will ever revive that. So I started lookig around for different recordings. I missed the concert version from 2017 with Patrick Wilson and Kelli O Hara but that recording sounds great. My favorite L&L song is Heather on the Hill and they sing it sweetly. However I was a bit disappointed in There But For You Go I. I feel the true power of that song relies on a more operatic voice. (Perhaps I'm biased -- when I was in college I heard a voice student sing that at some weekly talent show and that operatic version has forever stayed with me) I stumbled onto the 1988 London revival recording of that and it features a certain Robert Meadmore who sings it powerfully yet tenderly. I'm not familiar with him but I definitely like it better than the Brent Barrett version I've had all this time. Any other Brigadoon recordings you knowledgeable people recommend? I am on such a Lerner and Loewe high these past 2 days. |
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