Perpetual anticipation is
Good for the soul
But it's bad for the heart.
It's good for practicing self-control.
It's very good for morals
But bad for morale.

Well, it was an experience.

I actually mostly liked it, but the best thing about the staging and the worst thing about the staging were exactly the same thing--the "immersive staging." There were several rows of cabaret-style table seats that were in front of the regular seating, and the people sitting at these tables got pretty involved in the show--the actors would interact with them, cross in front of them, etc., which was a hoot, even for those of us who weren't sitting there. I was in the front row of the regular seating and had a difficult time seeing a lot of what was happening, because most of what was in my viewing angle were the cabaret tables in front of me. Add to that the plot being very hard to follow (the ushers recommended that we all read the plot synopsis in the program before the start of the show), and I'm not sure I caught a lot of what was going on.  And I'm semi-familiar with the score.

I'm wondering if everybody had equally as bad a seat as I had, or had as difficult a time seeing the action. Did they purposely stage it so nobody had a good view at least some of the time?

It's too bad about the not-being-able-to-see part, because I think the immersive theatre concept is a great choice for the material. Everybody in the audience got involved in "Balaga," which was the definite highlight. The ensemble was very good; many of them played instruments, but only two of them (violin and cello) "really" played them, as in, were part of the underscoring. Pierre played the piano (I think; this was one of the things I couldn't see well) and the accordion, and Natasha played a trombone for all of two minutes.

Overall, I'm glad I went, although I really wish I had gone yesterday instead of today, because it was rain-turning-into-snow when I left, which didn't let up the entire 20 mile drive home. 

Quote from: KathyB on Mar 22, 2024, 02:03 PMWe got about 18 inches. Not much of it is left, except where enormous piles were piled up because of someone trying to clear the streets or a parking lot.

Oh, that makes me nostalgic for the snow mountain in a parking lot near the grocery store I often went to when I lived in CT.  It would last for weeks after all the other snow had melted.  People would make bets as to when it would finally disappear.  

She wasn't no match for such craft, you see,
And everyone thought it so droll!
They figured she had to be daft, you see,
So all of them stood there and laughed, you see—
Poor soul!
Poor thing!

To see them—indiscriminate
Women, it
Pains me more than I can say,
The lack of taste that they display.

Where is style?
Where is skill?
Where is forethought?
Where's discretion of the heart,
Where's passion in the art,
Where's craft?

We got about 18 inches. Not much of it is left, except where enormous piles were piled up because of someone trying to clear the streets or a parking lot.

How much snow did you end of getting, Kathy?   Do you still have any of it left?

He'd never... therefore they haven't...
Which makes the question absolutely... could she?
She daren't... therefore I mustn't...
What utter rot!

Fidelity is more than mere display,
It's what a man expects from life:
Fidelity, like mine to Desirée
And Charlotte, my devoted wife.

One has regrets
Which one forgets,
And as the years go on,
The road you didn't take
Hardly comes to mind,
Does it?
The door you didn't try,
Where could it have led?
The choice you didn't make
Never was defined,
Was it?
Dreams you didn't dare
Are dead.
Were they ever there?
Who said?


I almost went with "hardly" and then I realized how many times SJS uses that word just in A Little Night Music. It's probably used as often as "miracle."

That in-the-roundish staging sounds fascinating, @KathyB — thank you for the description!

I've seen other memorable Sweeneys too, most of which departed dramatically from Prince's actual staging.  A space that actually forces such a departure might actually be a blessing of sorts, though the food-chain diagram you mention does suggest homage to his original concept at least.

Notwithstanding all the ink I've spilled here, it's hard for me to articulate exactly what it is about Prince's original contribution that I find so essential.  But one of the big things that bothers me about the current revival is its wishy-washiness:  John Doyle's reinterpretation at least interested me for its thoroughgoingness, while Kail's limp homage just feels wrongheaded and pointless, managing to miss, with impressively perverse marksmanship, everything that was great about the original — while adding nothing worthwhile in its place, unless you count the dubious innovation of recouping at the box office by playing Sweeney as toothless dramedy.