| re: TheatreMania Review of Whistle | |
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Posted by: |
Jsteinfan 09:27 pm UTC 09/26/07 |
| In reply to: | TheatreMania Review of Whistle - Jacqueline 09:07 pm UTC 09/26/07 |
| I wasn't overly impressed w/ Ross. Good but nothing special.... i don't get all the hype surrounding her! -J > Reviews Sep 26, 2007 > > > Touring Productions > Whistle Down the Wind > Reviewed By: Sandy MacDonald > http://www.theatermania.com/content/news.cfm/story/11675 > > Eric Kunze and company in Whistle Down the Wind > (© Joan Marcus) > It's no secret that Andrew Lloyd Webber is an unabashed > sentimentalist -- as is, evidently, his vast public. The > wonder of Whistle Down the Wind, a 1996 musical venture > that has since been revived successfully in London and has > now embarked on a seven-month, seven-city U.S. tour, is > how neatly it skirts mawkishness, despite the piety-prone > subject matter. > Admirers of the cinematic source material -- a quiet > little black-and-white 1961 masterpiece starring Hayley > Mills and based on a novella by her mother, Mary Hayley > Bell -- will recognize the story line: A naive young farm > girl (renamed "Swallow" in the musical and played with > exquisite delicacy and restraint by 16-year-old Andrea > Ross) stumbles upon an injured convict (Eric Kunze) hiding > out in her family's barn. She mistakes his waking curse, > "Jesus Christ!" for an introduction. > > The musical adds a few heart-wrenching twists to the > original. Newly bereft (her mother has just died), Swallow > and her two younger siblings -- nicely played by the > astringent Nadine Jacobson and hammily portayed by > newcomer Austin J. Zambito-Valente -- are desperately > seeking some succor in their hardscrabble lives. The > notion that the stranger could perhaps resurrect the dead > only fuels their urgent need to believe. > > Webber's boldest move, in concert with his rock-icon > lyricist, Jim Steinman, was to transpose the plot to a > Louisiana backwater in 1959. The relocation affords plenty > of local color -- rabid religiosity, racial strife -- plus > an entrée for all-American musical vernaculars ranging > from gospel to rock. The latter category tends to fare > better, in part because of Henry Metcalfe's odd choices as > choreographer. The holy-roller numbers, "Keys to the > Vaults of Heaven" at the outset and "Wrestle with the > Devil" at a truly inopportune, momentum-quashing juncture > in Act 2, get the Martha Graham treatment: all-but-static > tableaux accompanied with entreating arms and > oh-my-aching-head cringes. Of the rock numbers, only > "Cold" really pops, and that's thanks to the > extraordinarily kinetic Gerry McIntyre. > > Despite a fine voice and acting chops, Matt Skrincosky > struggles a bit as pompadoured would-be teen rebel Amos, > but that's because the role is both cliched and murky. For > some reason, Amos has the hots for Swallow, who is > unforgivably shrouded from start to finish in a shlumpy > plaid gunnysack. Production designer Paul Farnsworth > deserves kudos for his dramatically stark, fast-moving > sets, but this wardrobe decision seems too patently > calculated to play up Swallow's greenness. Sure, Swallow > is rural and poor, but why get her up like an > anachronistic extra from The Grapes of Wrath? > > In an underdeveloped subplot, Amos, while putting the > moves on Swallow, is also planning to skip town on his > baby-blue motorcycle with a girlfriend, Candy (the subpar > Carole Denis Jones), whose jealousy leads her to blow the > lid off the para-Christian lovefest that Swallow, her > siblings, and ultimately a score of local children have > got going on in the barn. > > Basically, there are just a few too many wrinkles enfolded > into the revised story line -- especially when what we're > really craving is more time with Swallow (every note out > of Ross' throat is sheer heaven) and her possibly menacing > guest, billed simply as "The Man." As the convict-escapee, > all Kunze needs in the way of costuming is a ripped tee > baring burnished biceps. And when he nails his anguished > high notes, you get some sense of what all the fuss about > Enrico Caruso was about. Yes, he's that good. > > Whistle Down the Wind still needs some tinkering to be > fully successful. But what is has going for it now is a > killer protagonist matched with a gifted performer who can > movingly convey a woman/child's unshakable faith. Webber > has made a specialty of such experience-and-innocence > conflicts before, and this combo has the markings of a > winner. > | |
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