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Scottie
Registered User
Registered:
3/6/2006
From:
Edinburgh, Scotland | posted: 4/8/2006 at 4:06:00 PM ET
Everywhere I go in London in the last week I find myself besieged by posters and ads for Mack and Mabel which opens in the West End very soon. Sunday In The Park With George has a West End transfer almost at the same time.
So, there will soon be two West End shows that have the same wonderful thing in common - both female leads in these shows were originated by Bernadette Peters and received wisdom would have it that she pretty much set the benchmark in both of these roles.
Did anyone here ever have the joy of seeing her as Mabel or Dot in those original productions?
as Bernadette says....just keep moving on.....
| Karen
Registered User
Registered:
5/3/2002 | posted: 4/8/2006 at 6:45:14 PM ET
I saw them both.
Mack and Mabel was unusual in that I saw it during pre-Broadway tryouts in St Louis. It was in an extremely large outdoor theatre so the experience was very different from a more traditional venue.
From what I remember, it was kind of an amiable mess, very old-fashioned but quite entertaining. I enjoyed it a lot and was disappointed when it flopped a few months later in New York. At that age, I really wasn't savvy enough to comprehend the book problems and so forth.
Sunday in the Park with George, on Broadway ten years later, was the best theatre experience I've ever had. By far. Oddly, although it immediately became and then remained my favorite musical, I've never had any desire to see any other, different productions. I guess because it was perfect. It's as though that production was the ultimate incarnation of the concept and no future pretenders should be indulged. Ridiculous, I guess, but that's the way I feel (very strongly). It's the only show I feel that way about. Thank God they were able to make a commercial videotape.
Seeing it live was magical, but I honestly don't have the words to do it justice. All I can say is that it was one of those works of art that provide a reawakening. It's so great when one of those comes along when you really need it.
| Scottie
Registered User
Registered:
3/6/2006
From:
Edinburgh, Scotland | posted: 4/9/2006 at 8:19:22 AM ET
What fabulous experiences those performances must have been for you. I know exactly what you mean about Sunday In The Park With George. Although this new production has some pretty amazing things happening in the second act and the reviews from it's earlier London venue have been outstanding I know I would have a fixed idea about Dot and Bernadette's interpretation - so probably won't go. I know I would sit in my seat and just want it to be her up there on stage - and that's only from watching the DVD countless times! I love this show so much that I've extracted the entire audio from the "George" DVD and put it on my ipod where it is played constantly. It is profoundly moving.
The DVD commentary is fascinating except I wish that Mandy had shut up a bit so that Bernadette could get a look in. I mean he even talks all over the visuals of her in the "We Do Not belong Together" scene. There she is singing and acting beautifully, crying her heart out, and Mandy is still going on about something he sang ten minutes previously. I would dearly love to have heard her talk about how she prepared herself for that great scene.
I've already booked to see Mack and Mabel - looking forward to it - David Soul is said to be brilliant as Mack and Mabel's character is interpreted in a very dark way in this production - drugs and all. It will be interesting to hear Time Heals Everything sung by someone else. I love the M&M soundtrack version and often wish that Bernadette would reinstate the original fantastic orchestral arrangement of this song in her concert performances.
as Bernadette says....just keep moving on.....
| jmslsu01
Registered User
Registered:
6/9/2003
From:
northern VA | posted: 4/9/2006 at 12:57:47 PM ET
I hope that if or when Sunday in the Park with George is revived on Broadway, more people will be open to a new actress and her possibly very different interpretation of Dot, just as we wanted everyone to be open to a new interpretation of Rose. If not, it's not exactly fair, and I mean this as gently as possible.
I don't intend this to be mean or to pick on anyone, but these comments sound quite familiar. I know it's going to happen, and it's going to be harder for this particular actress, because there are more people alive and active message board users who saw the original show than there were with the original Gypsy production, and there's also the very popular DVD to contend with.
I understand the way some may feel, but remember what was said three years ago.
Jenn
| Karen
Registered User
Registered:
5/3/2002 | posted: 4/9/2006 at 1:10:04 PM ET
I know!
But I can't help it, I swear!
It's not that I would go on message boards and bully anyone who dared to praise a new interpretation. I would keep my mouth shut and try to avoid being obnoxious, but I wouldn't go see the show or buy the cast album. It's just a personal thing that I can't explain. It's a very proprietary attitude towards something that feels sacred to me.
I can't justify it, that's just the way it is.
| Scottie
Registered User
Registered:
3/6/2006
From:
Edinburgh, Scotland | posted: 4/9/2006 at 1:22:14 PM ET
Point well made but then again people can't help how they feel and if they know they will go to see a show with their hearts and minds elsewhere then surely it is best to be honest and just don't go at all. Here's something that will probably sound very odd -a couple of years ago one of my favourite long-running shows closed at the Adelphi Theatre on The Strand here in London and I found that I couldn't even sit in the same theatre to see the succeeding show...I hasten to add that I got did get over it lest you think I'm completely crazy!
as Bernadette says....just keep moving on.....
| jmslsu01
Registered User
Registered:
6/9/2003
From:
northern VA | posted: 4/9/2006 at 1:26:56 PM ET
Again-not wanting to make anyone feel bad, and Karen, I didn't think you would be ugly about an actor in this particular role.
I just felt an enormous sense of empathy toward any actor who would take on this role in a Broadway revival.
And yes-if you will not be open to a new actor and interpretation, then don't go, because your mood will affect those sitting around you. There were certainly quite a few people who said that they could not see Bernadette as Rose, and didn't see the show. If they felt that strongly about that show, then that's just the way they felt, and there was no one who could tell them otherwise. But there is the possibility that you might appreciate a new talent and see some part of the show in a different way.
Just throwing that out there! Theatre is a living art-not a museum! I don't want to come across as acting superior or teacher-y, because I empathize with you as well. Especially with theatre ticket prices being what they are.
But...just remember what was said three years ago. That's all.
(I'm *very* interested to see how these particular emotions will come into play with the A Chorus Line revival.)
Jenn
| Scottie
Registered User
Registered:
3/6/2006
From:
Edinburgh, Scotland | posted: 4/9/2006 at 1:57:25 PM ET
yep, theatre is certainly not a museum and it's interesting to hear what Sondheim says about different interpretations of his characters on the DVD commentary.
But ... sometimes a play, a character and an actor's interpretation of that character hit the mark so absolutely on target that one just wants to hold it close and never let it go. One doesn't want to hear a different voice or see a different face in that role because that would spoil the experience of the original. It's not fair I know but it is honest. It isn't intellectual but it is emotional.
as Bernadette says....just keep moving on.....
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