At This Performance the role of Martha will be played by Eryn Murman
the role of ernst will be played by Zachary Reiner-Harris
Eryn's chair will be occupied by Frances Mercanti-Anthony
and i will be the only person in the entire rear mezzanine
disappointing, in a way. it's a great view from up there, but i felt disconnected. i perfer orch or stage, and to have people sitting near me. after all, an audience should be a collective
warning: this is gonna be long. they always are. read what interests you
preshow: never digital rush on an iphone. i literally had to give up and call my cousin in florida to do it for me. the safari applet thing doesn't like that broadwayoffers are timed pages. it wonders how to cope, and feeds you tons of runtime errors
then, of course, the BO couldn't find my ticket. they did, but overall digital rush was just disappointing. i'd rather have woken up, except i wasn't in town
Mama: hearing socha over speakers, and legit relying on the speakers for sound is weird. generally, i wasn't sure why she gets such bash. she sounded fine for the first verse. my complaint was that even while singing she was overacting. the entire cast has been performing like they weren't all there, or it didn't matter. while socha was consciously making choices, somehow she knew they were the same ones she makes every performance, and that they don't matter. on a more random note, she resembles a young sutton foster from afar.
Stork: nothing changed. michael mayer has gone too far, but that's old news. it's okay for it not to be a funny show. after all it is a children's tragedy. christine needs to tone it down or justify it with her acting
Reprise: emma is pure ownage. the problem is that she just so much drowns out the others. not because she is doing too much, btu because they aren't doing enough. they should all be rocking it as much as her. or the sound guy should make us think they are. thanks to eryn, we could actually hear martha today, a pleasant change
Multum Olim: GLENN WHIPPED HIM SO HARD THE STICK BROKE
mull over that statement. but i was scared for hunter for a sec!
chenyway...gerard was same old, but good. hunter, while still taking the scene in a good direction, has got too much going on with his voice. the idea that he is actually improvising what he's saying is evident, but he needs to work that, and not change his voice, but rather use it to convey the action of the scene, and complement his acting
ATK: good. no complaints. as the only person seated in rear mezzanine, i had the treat of having hunter sing most of this song (and most of the show!) directly to me. it was very interesting, but cool
Bitch: you really notice lighting from up here! i actually did not know about the flashing blue and green in the background! i guess you learn something new every time, even after 12 times! again, mr. mayer, either melchior is in the inner monologue with them, or he's not. having him sometimes tap his foot or shrug his shoulder just fogs the divide between the latin world and the bitch world that he enters when he starts singing. clear it up, make it decisive and intentional. everything has to mean something
in other news, Gabe Violett is a monster
Greta's wedding/My Junk: emily was good. for some reason, caitlin just never makes sense to me. she just feels out of place in this 1890s germany world. i like her nerdy thea, but she goes too far. and i hate what they do to her hair. it's like they're trying too hard to make her blend in when she just doesn't. eryn was good as martha, not big reports there.
Matt and Andrew were great as always. the choreography is adorable from up here! most of my time is spent onstage, so i focus in on little things. up here you see the big picture
what the woman feels (i know you love my titles): i missed john and johnny's chemistry. today it was more than just two actors delivering lines, but still not enough. there are first timers in the audience. they're gonna like it, but why not do it for them? make them LOVE IT like we all did our first times
Touch Me: overall good. like MJ, the choreo shows up here. it was cool to legit see everything, from lighting to ensemble. a lol: the girl next to morgan FLIPPED when he stood up. i must admit i actually watched her for a while, kind of shaking and staring up at him. the time i sat there i knew it was going to happen but still was in awe. yay?
andrew has gotten better every time. zach as ernst was good, but made no lasting impression. i miss blake (who i hope had a wonderful vacation!)
another lol: hunter tried to start the oh-oh about a measure too early and kind of just faded out, a but embarrassed. poor guy! he was tentative, btu like totally ready for it, and then he was early.
overall, it sounded pretty, but because they were out of it, it was hard for us to get in
day laborers/WOYB: awkward on both parts. socha had this way of speaking as if her lines weren't in english, or she was a robot or something. while i appreciate an actor making sure their lines are pronounced correctly, we also need them to carry emotion. hunter's highlight was the giddy moment of "wouldn't that be remarkable?" he gets all close to her, totally expecting her to agree wholeheartedly, and to find a philosopher-friend. and what does she do btu back off, because he comes on too strong. a great moment among many flawed ones
the song was a nap. the techno has begun to get on my nerves. i miss the stage seats. mezz is not for me
i passed: not much to notice. it was good on all parts. zach was particularly cute as ernst
scene-->DIKW: i actually like caitlin in this scene, but she still tries too hard. she needs to know what she's doing and why. they all do.
fatal flaw=eryn kind of swallowed the beating line. it was not prominent, and i'm not sure if half the audience even heard it. and that line is CRUCIAL. i expected to be wowed by eryn, but she was really just ok. her monologue underwhelmed me. and i am a huge eryn fan so i had high expectations
song: love her straight tones though! however, she and emma are both waering the same color, a poor choice on hilferty's part as far as u/s dresses are concerned. the yellow and purple ones at least are clearly not matched to any other character. eryn and emma have somewhat similar voices and intensities, so it was hard to distinguish them. perhaps it's cause they're the only two doing anything right, but i spent the whole song being like "eryn is such an ilse i need to see her go on".
this song, while not my favorite lyrically, is one of the best-designed in the show. the lighting blows me away, the adding of ensemble girls, the parents standing on the corners at the end. this number is designed and performed brilliantly.
why was i starting all of the applause? seriously. underwhelmed audience of an underwhelming cast today.
will finish tomorrow, or the day after...
edit cause i really ought to finish this
Failed/ATTWN: one of gerard's best scenes. after "may we have a word with you" he walks in cheerfully and then the audience gets to watch him BREAK. it's so sad because there's such hope in his eyes, and then out comes the news that despite hos best efforts, he's not good enough. and of course that's the same message his father sends him. it's what starts his downward spiral because to him, failing means no one cares for him anymore, that he's worth nothing because he's failed in the world's eyes. anyway, gerard's ability to give us all of that in a few lines is impeccable
NOW, not to ruin the moment, but when he sings i can hear the cigarettes. i know it's personal but he's only taking away from his performance. his voice has gotten so husky and he sounds like he's straining. needless to say his ATTWN acting is among my favorite but when he sings like that it just hurts the song so much
MBN: i must admit, i spent this time wondering if those blue lights hanging above me lit up or something. they didn't. hunter has always had a great take on this scene: when he does the choreography he gives it the feeling of instinct, like something else is making him do this. his movements are forced upon him, and truly express what he's feeling. his voice sounds in need of rest, but he made it through
IB: this used to be one of my favorite songs (it still is), but nothing made it special. i don't like this from mezzanine at all. stage felt so much more intimate and involved, whereas sitting back there there was no denying that they were actors performing blocking. a great show sucks you in regardless of your distance from the stage and this performance didn't do it for me.
knowing that hunter and socha are both IMO stronger in act II, i sat through intermission thinking. i had no stage to evacuate, i just kind of had to think things over. (and steal playbills)
ACT II as soon as i dig up whatever notes i jotted down at SD.
thanks for comments-journalism is an interest of mine so this is good practice i suppose
