OK, so deaf people are not a race, but, well, after seeing "Big River," I have a minor anti-deaf theatre sentiment. I know, it's a mean thing to say on so many levels, but the show just dragged for me. Maybe it was the fault of the script.
But it felt more like it was the company. The man who played Huck, while cute enough, just didn't seem to have the acting chops for it. But maybe I am associating acting too much with speaking, and maybe if I could have understood the emoting in his ASL I would have thought differently about it. But I sincerely felt that if this man were a speaking actor and singing one, and the quality of his singing and speaking were as good as the quality of acting that he demonstrated last night, well... he wouldn't have made his Broadway debut as Huck Finn.
That said, there were a few powerful, beautiful moments. One (the silent singing) was very nicely described by Ben Brantley. Another was Jim's speech about his realization that his daughter, while having beat scarlet fever, had lost her hearing and speech. But by and large, there weren't enough dramatic moments to propel anything down this big river.
I feel really bad saying that I didn't really enjoy it; I know this people worked really hard and I have a lot of respect for them, but damnit, I wanted to be entertained.
Which I was, tonight... at Avenue Q. This show is just so on target; it's about the world I live in on so many levels. The characters have experienced the same thing that I have - the same rejections, losses, confusions, laughter, drunken insanity... and what more could you ask for in a musical? Well, "Urban Cowboy" did have boys in underpants, but I still prefer "Avenue Q." Now if only I had someone I could have held hands with during the romantic moments, or smooch, like the obnoxiously lovey couple sitting in front of me..........
Posted by Jon at July 24, 2003 10:53 PM | TrackBackDamn, I would love to see Avenue Q . . . sometimes I really hate living in Houston, ya know? Our theatre here sucks. And I mean "sucks" as in I refuse to waste my money on these SHIT productions they feed us. Good lord.
That is all. ;)
Posted by: Michael at July 27, 2003 02:57 AMI too saw BIG RIVER this past week. True, the show as a piece of literature was lacking, but mostly due to the fact that the score did not propel the plot and action well enough. Other than that, the production was excellent. The set, though sparse, aided in the director's concept for the show (which was, if you didn't figure out, was that the author or creator of the story is the one who is really controlling the action, due to personal experience or pure fiction). The fact that MARK TWAIN acted as the voice of HUCK was pure genius! Again, this goes right in line with the concept. Michael McElroy, who I know personally, was amazing...Tony voters, don't forget him!
Posted by: I Know More About Theatre Than YOU at August 5, 2003 11:48 PM