Jacques Brel is not doing so well
Got to catch the new off-Broadway revival of Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris this weekend. What a disappointment.
This show originally premiered off-Broadway in the late 60s and ran for years. It was a total hit. Critics and audiences loved this cute 4-person revue, with its dark themes of love and loss. My mom (who I went to the show with) saw the original production and loved it. But this revival has totally missed the mark. The director has rearranged and changed a bunch of songs, adding new translations. The cast is good, but in that phony Broadway-style of acting, not actual real moments (okay, two actors are okay, Robert Cuccioli is great and Natascia Diaz has moments that are real and touching, but ruins them with her phony Broadway fakeness from time to time. And don't even get me started on Rodney Hicks.) And worst of all, the last moment of the play, the beautiful amazingly touching song, "If We Only Have Love" has been destroyed. Instead of letting it be the ballad that it is, perfect and simple, it's been rearranged into this triumphant marching Les Mis-"Do you hear the people sing" -type piece. Which does not work at all. Basically they've taken this gorgeous song and ruined it--and that's the last moment of the show!!!
I honestly think I could see a better production in some summer stock or community theatre. This production is one to skip.
This show originally premiered off-Broadway in the late 60s and ran for years. It was a total hit. Critics and audiences loved this cute 4-person revue, with its dark themes of love and loss. My mom (who I went to the show with) saw the original production and loved it. But this revival has totally missed the mark. The director has rearranged and changed a bunch of songs, adding new translations. The cast is good, but in that phony Broadway-style of acting, not actual real moments (okay, two actors are okay, Robert Cuccioli is great and Natascia Diaz has moments that are real and touching, but ruins them with her phony Broadway fakeness from time to time. And don't even get me started on Rodney Hicks.) And worst of all, the last moment of the play, the beautiful amazingly touching song, "If We Only Have Love" has been destroyed. Instead of letting it be the ballad that it is, perfect and simple, it's been rearranged into this triumphant marching Les Mis-"Do you hear the people sing" -type piece. Which does not work at all. Basically they've taken this gorgeous song and ruined it--and that's the last moment of the show!!!
I honestly think I could see a better production in some summer stock or community theatre. This production is one to skip.
posted by Pretty Polly at 12:19 PM
7 Comments:
If you get tired of acting you should consider writing reviews.
Ok, I have to ask the stupid question. What is the difference between On and Off Broadway? Is it theater size, location, etc.?
Since I am asking, have you ever performed on Broadway or do you now?
i'm not a huge broadway musical fan, even though i love musicals. but maybe i should give it another try. just not jacques brel (ok, only if you were in the production!).
pookalu:
Off-broadway:show::indie/arthouse:film
So what she's saying is this play looks like what you would get if you took, say, Napoleon Dynamite, and remade it with Jerry Bruckheimer as the producer and Michael Bay directing.
pawlr--you are so right. I had a long conversation after the show with my mom, who saw stuff in the 70s and said exactly the same thing. What's wrong with the theatre community?!?!
Thanks pookalu. There is some good stuff out there--I'll let you know when it comes up.
Horse, I would tweak your analogy a bit:
Broadway:show::Studio:film
Off-Broadway:show::Big-budget indie with names:film
Off-Off Broadway:show::low-budget indie:film
Just to clarify
The men can't ever get the last word in when polly's around
;)
Horse,
Don't you have anything better to do than run game on other peoples' blogs? Seriously, what's the deal with stalking Polly and Dolly and Elle's (and lord knows who else's) blogs? You realize that it's obvious you have some kind of agenda, right?
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