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Author Topic: THREE COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN  (Read 20625 times)

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TCB

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Re:THREE COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN
« Reply #180 on: December 12, 2003, 11:58:00 PM »

Good evening everybody.
I have just returned from the production of Oliver starring our very own TCB.  Here is my review.  Be warned, I'm known for being blunt...
It was, above all, a community production, and must be reviewed as such.  The boys, I thought, were wonderful.  A few tone deaf ones, but enough strong singers to cover them up.  Bumble...well...he could have been better.  I was seated in the front row, so the cast was practically in my lap...and I still couldn't understand a bloody word he sung.  No projection, no diction.  But he acted the part well enough.  
Oliver was played by a girl on this particular night, and she was quite adorable.  Her speaking was very good, and her singing was good as long as she wasn't singing to a recorded part.  The piano player was also part of the "Who Will Buy" group...why, I don't know.  But when she was on stage, they were singing to a recording...and there were a few scary moments where I was holding my breath...
Nancy was excellent...really a lot of potential in that one.  She was 14, though, according to her bio, and she looked it.  It made the realtionship with Bill Sykes a bit hard to swallow.  But she was an amazing actress, and not a bad singer either.
Bill Sykes tried to adopt a terrifying look, and ended up looking like his shorts were on too tight.  
And our own TCB, and I'm not saying this just because I'm afraid of being attacked :)  He was marvelous, easily one of the highlights of the show.  The only other live performance of Fagin I've seen happend to be my father...and I'm afraid TCB outdid him.  (Jed, kindly refrain from mentioning that to Peter)
The strongest part of the show were the scenes in the theives kitchen...the weakest was the finale.  The pacing was gone...and TCB, you might want to advise them to use a louder sound for the gun shots...there are senior citizens out there wearing hearing aids, and even I, in the front row, had no idea what had happend until Bill dropped dead...possibly from fright, we weren't sure.  
The only other thing I'd say would be to lose some of the accents...especially on some of the children...makes catching actual words really difficult.  
But all in all, it was an enjoyable show, and I'm very glad I got to see our dear TCB in person.  Although I must apologize to Tom for being rather brief when I met him after the show.  The damn stutter I have to deal with...it makes me terrified of speaking to people in public situations, especially people I don't know.  So I hope you took no offense...I was in fact very glad to meet you.  
Okay...enough rambling out of me...I must start thinking about finals on Monday...

Thank you, DR Ann, for the spot-on review of Oliver.  I agree wholeheartedly with everything you said about the show.  It is indeed a community theater production, nothing more or less.  I, personally, think British accents are often times the curse of community theater.  Not everybody has either the ability, the training, or the desire to do an accent; and to expect young people ranging in age from 8 to 16 to master any type of dialect in 8 weeks in asking a lot.  And if the dialect isn't mastered it can be deadly.  I consider myself fortunate to have been trained by the great Dr. Betty Evans at Central who was a stickler for correct regional dialects, depending on what part of England or the United Kingdom your character resides.  I studied with her for two years, and her training has served me well over the years, and has gotten me lots of work, as well.

I am just very glad Ann that I finally got the chance to meet you.  So now that we have met, we are no longer strangers, and you can never again use the stutter excuse to get out of a conversation with me.  I really appreciate you taking the time away from your studies to come see the show and to support me.  Besides, we are all going together to our regional HHW gathering in Portland this spring, so we can't be strangers.  Ok, I am always a little strange.  

Finally, if you think the show had some weak spots tonight, I can assure you that a great deal of prayers must have been said (and answered) between last night and tonight for the show to even be at the place where you saw it tonight.  That should make you glad that I didn't invite you to the preview!
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TCB

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Re:THREE COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN
« Reply #181 on: December 13, 2003, 12:01:21 AM »

Thanks for the Oliver review, Ann.  Something she didn't mention in her review, but that I'll mention myself... apparently seeing TCB in person is like looking at a future vision of my very own self...  You sure you don't have stories from your time in Ellensburg you're not telling, Tom? :D

If you think I am going to start paying child support for you now, Jed, you are sadly mistaken.
« Last Edit: December 13, 2003, 12:01:57 AM by TCB »
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“One thing’s universal,
Life’s no dress rehearsal….”
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