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Author Topic: Theatre - The last play you saw, or are about to see  (Read 27014 times)

pixote

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Re: Theatre - The last play you saw, or are about to see
« Reply #120 on: December 23, 2017, 12:11:41 AM »
I don't like Phantom much at all, and you didn't miss anything with Finding Neverland. I'm debating myself whether to see School of Rock.

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1SO

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Re: Theatre - The last play you saw, or are about to see
« Reply #121 on: February 13, 2018, 08:37:08 PM »
Tonight I am taking Mrs. 1SO to...


Junior

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Re: Theatre - The last play you saw, or are about to see
« Reply #122 on: February 13, 2018, 08:46:15 PM »
The songs in the movie are very fun, and some of the set pieces should be cool in the translation to the stage. Let us know how it is!
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1SO

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Re: Theatre - The last play you saw, or are about to see
« Reply #123 on: February 14, 2018, 01:41:35 AM »
Aladdin
* * * - Very Good


It's the plot that you knew,
with a small twist or two.


The only way I seem to be able to talk about these Disney Broadway adaptations is in terms of how faithful they are to the source and whether the new material adds or takes away. Beauty and the Beast is overly-faithful, The Lion King is expertly designed but the new material is terrible and the poorly-constructed first act of Mary Poppins is more than made up for with an amazing Act 2 (which is also where most of the new material can be found.)

Aladdin is rather brief for a Stage Musical (2hrs 15min, not counting the intermission), and the changes are necessary adjustments from Animation to Live Theater. The monkey, parrot and tiger are gone (all replaced by human characters) along with Jafar's snake transformation, and the Cave of Wonders is just a walk outside the city. They don't mess with the classics. "Friend Like Me" was a show-stopper before it ever went live, and it remains the highlight of Act 1, much like "Prince Ali" is the perfect energy raiser to start Act 2. "A Whole New World" captures the magic of the flying carpet and "One Jump Ahead" does what it needs to.

The best of the new material is replacing the monkey Abu with a trio of friends for Aladdin. Their two numbers ("Babkak, Omar, Aladdin, Kassim" and "High Adventure") are as good as the familiar tunes, possibly because Howard Ashman wrote the lyrics, but they're also expertly choreographed. "Somebody's Got Your Back" is another good new tune. The rest are largely forgettable but I wouldn't call them bad. Another plus is the opener, "Arabian Nights", which is brief in the movie but here introduces all the characters on the streets of Agrabah and has a strong Fiddler on the Roof vibe to the exuberant dancing.

I'm a fan of clever set design in a musical, easily impressed by the number of locations they can raise and lower into a single spot. For example, when this begins with Genie in front of dunes of sand, I expected the dunes to slide left and right to reveal Agrabah, but instead it rises up creating a canopy of fabric. The tiger head entrance to the Cave of Wonders is full-sized, and when Aladdin enters, the set splits in half to reveal the view of the tiger from inside the cave. While enjoying that bit of magic, all manner of gold pieces slide in from all directions and the transformation is complete.
« Last Edit: February 14, 2018, 02:34:19 AM by 1SO »

saltine

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Re: Theatre - The last play you saw, or are about to see
« Reply #124 on: February 14, 2018, 02:48:21 AM »
Flew to Melbourne to see Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.  5 Stars!!!!
Texan Down Under

Bondo

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Re: Theatre - The last play you saw, or are about to see
« Reply #125 on: February 14, 2018, 07:07:06 AM »
Ended up selling my School of Rock tickets. Seeing The Humans on Sunday. The more important news is my next season was announced including Hamilton (which was previously announced), Book of Mormon, Les Mis, and Dear Evan Hansen and six others that I am somewhat less initially enthusiastic about. Should be a good year.

don s.

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Re: Theatre - The last play you saw, or are about to see
« Reply #126 on: February 14, 2018, 01:26:40 PM »
Thursday: Hand to God
Friday: Hamilton
My TV ain't HD / that's too real

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DarkeningHumour

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Re: Theatre - The last play you saw, or are about to see
« Reply #127 on: May 04, 2018, 05:55:20 AM »
I am consumed with envy.
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FLYmeatwad

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Re: Theatre - The last play you saw, or are about to see
« Reply #128 on: June 26, 2018, 06:04:03 PM »
Finished reading The Wolves and I was really taken with it. Hopefully at some point I'll be able to see it staged, because I feel like an effective presentation of it would be something to behold. The dialogue, I imagine, will push some people away, but I think it serves the exploration of adolescence and makes the times heavier topics crop up, both direct and indirect, all the more effective.

Bondo

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Re: Theatre - The last play you saw, or are about to see
« Reply #129 on: November 12, 2018, 07:38:21 AM »
I went to The Book of Mormon last night. It was something I was perhaps lukewarm to based on the cast recording, but man, it is a show that really needs to be seen in the full context of staging. Unlike some shows, this is one that has a lot of stuff beyond the songs on the album that help fill it out, so that is certainly part of it, but there are also just a lot of visual gags that obviously don't translate to an audio recording.

The friend who went with me isn't into the whole Broadway scene and she was like "you know who this guy reminds me of? Josh Gad."  ;D

 

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