It's a little late, but Fiorella wants to register her revue of the Georgetown Palace's production of The Will Rogers Follies: it was a loser. Despite the fact that the mikes were turned up so loud she spent most of the time with fingers in one or both ears, Fiorella had so much trouble staying awake during the first act that she left at intermission.
The singers were great, the actors were great, the dancers were great (thank you, Jessee Smart), the costumes and scenery were great, and the children's scene was delightful, but the play was b-o-r-i-n-g. The jokes fell flat and having Flo Ziegfield booming from the back of the theater as an invisible speaker a la A Chorus Line didn't work.
What Fiorella expected was resuscitated Vaudeville routines knit together by the character of Will Rogers, not a weak rip-off of The Buddy Holly Story.
Showing posts with label Buddy Holly. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Buddy Holly. Show all posts
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Buddy at the Palace
Fio googled it, and Buddy Holly's life was a lot more fraught and complicated than Buddy, the Buddy Holly Story, portrays it. The musical, now playing at Georgetown's Palace Theater, is really a tribute to the music of the '50s which uses a storybook version of Holly's life as its vehicle. The songs, of course, are what everyone is there for, as with Beehive--and just as people who attended Singin' in the Rain expected dancing.
And it's a good thing too, because most of the cast was GREAT musically, but only competent as actors. It's Fiorella's old complaint--they were declaiming rather than acting. Ah, where is Stanislavsky when you need him?
There were, however, three stand-outs. The first was Jacqui Cross, who imparted a joi de vivre to her roles that outshone everyone else on stage.. The second was set designer Barbara Jernigan, who made canvas look like cinderblock and brick.. And Fio loved the red lights in the recording studio and the spotlights hanging off the proscenium. The third stand-out was an accident. Justin Wright, playing a hip-swinging Richie Valens, ripped out the crotch of his tight, tight pants during his energetic number. In the great stage tradition, Wright and the cast covered as if it had all been part of the show. At that point every character on stage was energized.
Okay, why is Fiorella so much more aware of "being" the character than she used to be? She thinks it's because romance writing has tilted more and more toward "deep point of view," a sort of Stanislavsky of the literary world, and your Fio's tilted along with it.
She wants to not just observe, but to experience..
And it's a good thing too, because most of the cast was GREAT musically, but only competent as actors. It's Fiorella's old complaint--they were declaiming rather than acting. Ah, where is Stanislavsky when you need him?
There were, however, three stand-outs. The first was Jacqui Cross, who imparted a joi de vivre to her roles that outshone everyone else on stage.. The second was set designer Barbara Jernigan, who made canvas look like cinderblock and brick.. And Fio loved the red lights in the recording studio and the spotlights hanging off the proscenium. The third stand-out was an accident. Justin Wright, playing a hip-swinging Richie Valens, ripped out the crotch of his tight, tight pants during his energetic number. In the great stage tradition, Wright and the cast covered as if it had all been part of the show. At that point every character on stage was energized.
Okay, why is Fiorella so much more aware of "being" the character than she used to be? She thinks it's because romance writing has tilted more and more toward "deep point of view," a sort of Stanislavsky of the literary world, and your Fio's tilted along with it.
She wants to not just observe, but to experience..
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