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kiffieMe, Hissy, Mad Engineer, Hissy's Friend Steve*, and my and Hissy's mutual school friend, Spider-girl, all went to see 1776, put on by Musical Theatre West in Long Beach.
"BWEE!" does not even begin to cover it.
First off, we had boonie seats. We were all the way to the theatre's right, on the second balcony. I'm near-sighted, and knowing that we'd be far, far away from the stage, brought along a set of binoculars. It was the best idea I've ever had. The actors were all extremely emotive. I would have felt cheated missing the facial expressions and little looks of annoyance (sent John's way, of course!) that everyone had throughout the play.
On the play:
Having never seen any staged version of this before, I was extremely surprised at how faithful the movie had been to the play. I only counted one or two lines that were present in the staged version that were absent from the movie, though the movie did add in some scenes of its own. Because of that, watching it live was like reading a familiar book -- it felt more comfortable than had I been seeing something entirely unknown.
The sets were minimal, the scene changes almost dead-on to the movie (and, therefore, to the original staging), and the blocking was surprisingly well-done considering how many people had to be accounted for at one time. I think it would have been easy to over-complicate a play like this with lots of scenery and grand blocking, but when you've got so many people on stage, less is more. They did well.
On the actors:
I'll admit that, after the first number ("Sit Down, John," of course!) I was not terribly impressed with John. He had a higher voice than I'd anticipated, and seemed strained, like the actor was trying just a little too hard. But after Piddle Twiddle and Resolve, and especially after Abigail had brought his character down a peg, he mellowed out and seemed to fall more into character and comfort. I should note that this version of the play did not have the added scene in the beginning, in the bell-tower. Rather, John starts the entire play with the "three or more become a congress" line. I think it might have benefited from it, if only to allow John's actor a little time to compose himself and bleed out some of the nervousness. Still, despite the initial feeling about for footing, the actor was extremely solid. Once he was fully in-character, he never wavered. He conveyed all of the haughty anger that the role calls for, hit his musical cues with great accuracy, and played off of his fellows very well. His scenes with Abigail were extremely touching; "Yours Yours Yours," especially. He seemed to be playing the role with great enthusiasm and was certainly enjoying himself.
Jefferson and Franklin were both well-cast. Franklin, especially. With him, everything was a double-entendre, and the actor played every line as far as it would go. He had the most powerful speaking voice in the cast, strong and pleasant, and I liked hearing him talk. Jefferson, too, had a good voice, though, per the script, you hear very little of him until later in the play. He also had the most adorably doofy smile, which was especially noticeable when John and Dickinson get into their argument -- Jefferson, seated behind John, was smiling like a Cheshire cat through the entire incident! The only complaint I had with Jefferson was that he was a little on the short side. Though he was still a head over John, he was hardly imposing enough to get the maximum laughs from the height gag in "But Mister Adams."
Lee... oh, lord, Lee. I didn't know what to think when I heard that a former Phantom would be playing Lee. I had half a mind that the role would be overdone. But, if anything, Lee's song was understated. He played it with energy, of course, and got his point across, but where the movie version is one, long explosion of energy, this Lee played most of the song with a certain restraint. It did make the points where he burst out the crazy to be quite effective, though. His gesticulating with his riding crop helped, especially since he seemed to like beating at poor Adams with it. My favorite bit of his song involved Lee shoving Adams off of the stone bench, only to sprawl across the entirety of the thing, himself. The playful d'aww of it was totally in line for the character.
Dickinson and Rutledge were spot-on. Dickinson just felt right for the role. He had a smoothness to his acting and voice that reminded me very much of Donald Madden (the actor from the film), while his affected stoic-ness was a good offset for the much more emotional Adams. Rutledge didn't have the deep, rumbling voice I'd expected for the role, but none the less was a solid actor and singer, and gave a beautiful rendition of "Molasses to Rum."
On Martha and Abigail -- Martha was a bit more boisterous than I'd expected, but extremely cute and flirty and played Adams and Franklin with a knowing wink and a smile. And Abigail was a strong singer, but, due to the role given, had little chance to really act. Of the few scenes she did have with John, though, she shone.
The rest of the Congress were all superb. Everyone played their roles well. I don't think there was a bad actor in the bunch. McKean was played with the required bad Scottish accent, and was adorable in a big, dumb way. Hancock was equal parts long-suffering friend and annoyed parent. Reverend Witherspoon needed a hug and a kitten. Hopkins was foul-mouthed and ill-tempered, but still came off as somehow sweet, in an angry-old-man way. Caesar Rodney was a bit of an overactor, but that was expected from the role, and he gave a good speech when called on.
Final verdict:
These folks were fantastic and I hope they see fit to revisit 1776 someday.
I'm not sure how I keep managing to see casts that are so damn good, but I'm not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. I hope my luck holds out when me and random go to see Peter Pan.
EDIT: Edited to add--
*Note: His name is not really Steve.
"BWEE!" does not even begin to cover it.
First off, we had boonie seats. We were all the way to the theatre's right, on the second balcony. I'm near-sighted, and knowing that we'd be far, far away from the stage, brought along a set of binoculars. It was the best idea I've ever had. The actors were all extremely emotive. I would have felt cheated missing the facial expressions and little looks of annoyance (sent John's way, of course!) that everyone had throughout the play.
On the play:
Having never seen any staged version of this before, I was extremely surprised at how faithful the movie had been to the play. I only counted one or two lines that were present in the staged version that were absent from the movie, though the movie did add in some scenes of its own. Because of that, watching it live was like reading a familiar book -- it felt more comfortable than had I been seeing something entirely unknown.
The sets were minimal, the scene changes almost dead-on to the movie (and, therefore, to the original staging), and the blocking was surprisingly well-done considering how many people had to be accounted for at one time. I think it would have been easy to over-complicate a play like this with lots of scenery and grand blocking, but when you've got so many people on stage, less is more. They did well.
On the actors:
I'll admit that, after the first number ("Sit Down, John," of course!) I was not terribly impressed with John. He had a higher voice than I'd anticipated, and seemed strained, like the actor was trying just a little too hard. But after Piddle Twiddle and Resolve, and especially after Abigail had brought his character down a peg, he mellowed out and seemed to fall more into character and comfort. I should note that this version of the play did not have the added scene in the beginning, in the bell-tower. Rather, John starts the entire play with the "three or more become a congress" line. I think it might have benefited from it, if only to allow John's actor a little time to compose himself and bleed out some of the nervousness. Still, despite the initial feeling about for footing, the actor was extremely solid. Once he was fully in-character, he never wavered. He conveyed all of the haughty anger that the role calls for, hit his musical cues with great accuracy, and played off of his fellows very well. His scenes with Abigail were extremely touching; "Yours Yours Yours," especially. He seemed to be playing the role with great enthusiasm and was certainly enjoying himself.
Jefferson and Franklin were both well-cast. Franklin, especially. With him, everything was a double-entendre, and the actor played every line as far as it would go. He had the most powerful speaking voice in the cast, strong and pleasant, and I liked hearing him talk. Jefferson, too, had a good voice, though, per the script, you hear very little of him until later in the play. He also had the most adorably doofy smile, which was especially noticeable when John and Dickinson get into their argument -- Jefferson, seated behind John, was smiling like a Cheshire cat through the entire incident! The only complaint I had with Jefferson was that he was a little on the short side. Though he was still a head over John, he was hardly imposing enough to get the maximum laughs from the height gag in "But Mister Adams."
Lee... oh, lord, Lee. I didn't know what to think when I heard that a former Phantom would be playing Lee. I had half a mind that the role would be overdone. But, if anything, Lee's song was understated. He played it with energy, of course, and got his point across, but where the movie version is one, long explosion of energy, this Lee played most of the song with a certain restraint. It did make the points where he burst out the crazy to be quite effective, though. His gesticulating with his riding crop helped, especially since he seemed to like beating at poor Adams with it. My favorite bit of his song involved Lee shoving Adams off of the stone bench, only to sprawl across the entirety of the thing, himself. The playful d'aww of it was totally in line for the character.
Dickinson and Rutledge were spot-on. Dickinson just felt right for the role. He had a smoothness to his acting and voice that reminded me very much of Donald Madden (the actor from the film), while his affected stoic-ness was a good offset for the much more emotional Adams. Rutledge didn't have the deep, rumbling voice I'd expected for the role, but none the less was a solid actor and singer, and gave a beautiful rendition of "Molasses to Rum."
On Martha and Abigail -- Martha was a bit more boisterous than I'd expected, but extremely cute and flirty and played Adams and Franklin with a knowing wink and a smile. And Abigail was a strong singer, but, due to the role given, had little chance to really act. Of the few scenes she did have with John, though, she shone.
The rest of the Congress were all superb. Everyone played their roles well. I don't think there was a bad actor in the bunch. McKean was played with the required bad Scottish accent, and was adorable in a big, dumb way. Hancock was equal parts long-suffering friend and annoyed parent. Reverend Witherspoon needed a hug and a kitten. Hopkins was foul-mouthed and ill-tempered, but still came off as somehow sweet, in an angry-old-man way. Caesar Rodney was a bit of an overactor, but that was expected from the role, and he gave a good speech when called on.
Final verdict:
These folks were fantastic and I hope they see fit to revisit 1776 someday.
I'm not sure how I keep managing to see casts that are so damn good, but I'm not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. I hope my luck holds out when me and random go to see Peter Pan.
EDIT: Edited to add--
*Note: His name is not really Steve.
