Archive for Musicals.Net Musicals.Net |
| Sweeney Hyde |
Signature Theatre to Stage Les Mis in Environmental BlackBoxhttp://www.playbill.com/news/article/121285.htmlThe theatre is in Arlington, VA. They specialize in Sondheim revivals...doing at least one per season. They also tend to do a good bit of Kander and Ebb. Their other credits include My Fair Lady, Urinetown, and several original plays and musicals. It's an absolutely wonderful group. If you can get to it, do it. It's going to be unlike any other production of Les Miserables ever staged. The audience is going to be right in the middle of the action! |
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| RainbowJude |
LES MISERABLES: the Signature ProductionWith the production up and running, Playbill has published some photographs of the new production. The design certainly looks immensely effective! My favourite pictures:
I'd love to see how the show works in performance. I'd be first in line if I was in the vicinity! (There are also a couple of photos in one of the earlier articles at Playbill.) Later days David |
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| lesmisloony |
Holy crap I'm in love.
DANGIT EMMA CALL ME BACK SO WE CAN GET TICKETS FOR THIS. |
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| Quique |
Omg. That's trippy! Don't know if I like it, though. | ||
| kozafluitmusique |
This is like .... probably .... 30-45 min .drive from where I used to live in the states?
I tried convincing my parents a couple weeks ago to see it when we're in America... I'm going to try again 
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| Quique |
Go see it on my behalf. Darn it. | ||
| Vanessa20 |
Re: LES MISERABLES: the Signature Production
Finally, a production that looks like it's emphasizing the darkness of the Thenardiers instead of making them pure comic relief! I wish I could go! (I swear, next year I'm going to see one or more of these regional productions. It's just ridiculous that there were so many this year and I didn't see one.) |
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| kozafluitmusique |
I'll try convincing my parents again Quique 
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| Mademoiselle Lanoire |
Crap. Now I need to decide whether I want to go to this or Montreal more. Can't shell out for both... | ||
| teapot |
I'll be in D.C. in mid-January, but I don't think I will have the time to see this. I may give it a try, depending on how my schedule works out. | ||
| Ulla Dance Again! |
I need to find a job so I can save up money to see this. Those production pictures are astounding. | ||
| Glow |
I saw this last night. The set and concept for this production are absolutely mindblowing. It's just one humongous concoction of metal scrapwork. The lighting is really what sells it. Costuming, too, is wonderful, especially for the ensemble - dirty, dark, miserable. You really get a sense of poverty and on-the-edge-of-the-blade existence.
The production itself seems to have gone back to the book for inspiration. Sherri Edelen and Christopher Bloch are decidedly unfunny as the Thenardiers in a very good way. They capture the ugliness of these characters. The humor that was there was much toned down (probably a good thing considering how close the audience is to their faces; one audience member recieved a generious helping of spittle from a very enthusiastic ensemble member during "Look Down"). As noted, this is a company that loves Sondheim, and Edelen and Bloch were channeling Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett at points. My one caveat would be that the set at points overwhelms the story. There's little room for the story itself to breathe because it feels like a rock concert spectacle. Trever Nunn's production at least gave us a sense of some space. Here, we are very much aware of the almost clausterphobic environment. This was especially evident during the more intimate scenes where we do not have the ensemble to decorate the space. Tracy Lynn Olivera's Fantine suffers the most fromt his treatment of all the character in the show. "I Dreamed a Dream" and "Come to Me" require some space for intimacy. In this rpduction, though, they were completely swallowed up by the chaos surrounding, both in set/lighting and surrounding scenes. It doesn't help that the production played up the physicality and violence; the quiet moments like that seemed strangely out of place in all the adrenaline, where in Nunn's production, it was given some space to play out. Even "On My Own" is a power ballad (especially seeing as that Felicia Curry has a ferocious voice) fits into the production without much trouble. (Although, "A Little Fall of Rain" did get a little shafted.) |
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| kozafluitmusique |
Still trying to convince parents...I really want to see this! | ||
| Ulkis |
Looks cool, although a bit . . dare I say it . . . like "Notre Dame de Paris". Also, I'm having flashbacks to Malkovich's Javert. But I'm totally jealous of those who are seeing it. 
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