The Transport Group's Follies in Concert had all the makings of a magical evening, but for many of us, the magic was intermittent at best. For a fascinating, multifaceted discussion of the evening, I suggest that you read this All That Chat thread, here. Beside the many incisive comments in the thread, it is also vivid proof that nothing is objectively good or bad, no matter what some critics would have us think.
I don't want to harp on the many negatives (okay, one: the oboe player was seriously out of his depth), so here are some positives:
- A lovely "In Buddy's Eyes" by the incomparable Christine Ebersole
- Alexander Gemignani's thoughtful, moving version of "The Road You Didn't Take."
- "The Right Girl," forcefully sung and danced by the wonderful Michael Berresse
- The gorgeous "One More Kiss," performed by Harolyn Blackwell and Midaela Bennett
- The delicate "Losing My Mind" by Kate Baldwin
As you can see, it's not that long a list of highlights. I think the main problem was that, while some people (see above) were performing Follies, others were performing songs from Follies, with little attention paid to where the characters were at that point or what they were thinking. Christine Ebersole was Sally, Alexander Gemignani was Ben, and so on. Many of the others did irrelevant interpretations, or flat-out shtick, without bringing anything new or interesting to the table.
Jennifer Holliday is an exception. She was not being Carlotta from Follies but she was being a survivor with a convincing, compelling take on "I'm Still Here." I'm not a fan of hers, but she did bring something new and interesting to the table.
Despite the disappointment, I still thank Transport Group for making it happen, and with accessible ticket prices!
Wendy Caster
No comments:
Post a Comment