The show doesn't open for another two weeks, so I'll only offer a few thoughts (I'm sure they're still working on things). I probably shouldn't say anything, but here goes... I had a very nice time at Bridges, I did enjoy myself but I didn't have the big goopy romantic time I was hoping for. Somehow, some way, the romance kept getting blocked by...something else. Thwarted almost. I'm not sure just quite by what.
The performances were exquisite - although I had some reservations about how young Kelli O'Hara and Steven Pasquale are (in relation to the story as I already knew it), I thought they both achieved beautiful moments of passion and pathos, ecstasy and misery. They both sang superbly and acted convincingly. I was quite taken by them, mostly during their songs, when they could just be still and express all the emotion. The supporting cast was also very good, but sometimes, for me, they got in the way. I put the 'getting in the way' issue at the director's feet.
To me, it's as if the director didn't want to go all the way into the heavy-duty-romance of the piece. But seriously, this isn't Waiting for Godot, it's Bridges of Madison County. Why try to make it cerebral? Why try to overthink it at all? Although, intellectually (ha), I understood why the cast members themselves moved the scenery around - it's a small town, everyone is in everyone else's business. OK. Makes sense to me. But in the scene where Francesca and Robert are struggling with their attraction for one another and are ready to succumb, why is a supporting character singing a comic song on the other side of the stage? It's a great song and she sang it beautifully, but I wanted to watch our leads! I wanted to see the romance! I didn't want to be taken out of their story. Again, intellectually, juxtaposing the neighbors as a happy American couple (and sort of comic relief) with the somewhat oppressive marriage of Francesca and her husband, and the high passion of Francesca and Robert, seemed right. But the execution just held me at arms length the entire evening. I guess I wanted something I wasn't going to get. I wanted MORE. When Francesca makes her decision towards the end, the stagecraft really got in my way. I needed just a couple more measures of music, a moment more to register the decision and the pain, but instead I got more set pieces rolling around, which I guess wasn't the 'more' I was talking about. And although I found the last two songs to be achingly beautiful, the staging around them just didn't work for me. Ugh. I hate to say things like that, especially during previews. You all know I'm just aching for everything I see to succeed. Oof, so frustrating! The score is glorious! And the book takes some deliciously unexpected turns in a story I know pretty well. They're just surrounded by a concept that didn't work for me.
It worked like gangbusters for others in the audience, though. There were gals who were practically hyperventilating with sobs. I wanted that to be me! It should've been me! I was so jealous. Even the gent sitting next to me was close to needing oxygen. I envied them. For some reason, although the foundation was there, the way the story was told just didn't reach me. And I'm sad about it. I'm sure I'll go back, though, just to hear those songs again. And to hear some of that dialogue leading into those songs. Some of that stuff made me cry, but on the whole...darn.
No comments:
Post a Comment