rec.arts.theatre.musicals

On Feb 28, 2:54=A0pm, Sweevil wrote:
> The problem with this show is the disparity between the high quality
> of Sondheim's spectacular score and the hum-drum book. =A0I believe it
> began as a group of one-act plays and it still plays like that ... a
> series of domestic vignettes which resemble segments on the 1970s
> sitcom "Love American Style". =A0They're not badly written, but the
> scenes don't add up to anything, the characters are barely sketched,
> and Bobby's nearly-always passive presence is an awkward device that
> attempts to tie them together.
> ...
> Esparza delivered "Being Alive" superbly, but still didn't banish the
> thought I always have at this point: that NOTHING in the preceding
> show has earned or prepared for this emotional pay-off. =A0Bobby has
> just hung around a bunch of married friends, who natter and bicker
> like characters from a lesser Neil SImon play, then suddenly he
> unleashes this passionate cri de coeur. =A0I just don't buy it.
> Especially since Bobby isn't characterized at all. =A0After watching him
> onstage for over two hours, we still know virtually nothing about him

And, more importantly, CARE nothing about him. This, to me, is the
worst of the book's transgressions.

> -- Making Joanne younger, so her come-on to Bobby seemed less campy
> and grotesque.

Except that Barbara Walsh's thin-lipped and arid creature was so
devoid of sexuality, it seemed more grotesque. When I saw Karen Mason
do the role, over a decade ago, you could see the a possibility of
lustful attraction there. In the theatre, Walsh didn't seem the least
bit fun, and their dialogue interminable.


> -- The actress who played April was so good, she made this
> usually-peripheral character seem like the female lead.
>

Lucky for us all, she IS the female lead in an upcoming new musical on
Broadway.