Good morning, all! And a special good morning to DR Ben. Once I saw that MEDIUM was a repeat, I went to bed, slept very well, and had peculiar dreams about college theatre, and songs I'd written 36 years.
DR Ginny, I did not post anything about STREET SCENE; I was still thinking about it. It was a mixed bag of singers with no conception of acting, singers who weren't bad actors, and singers who should change majors. The opera's a strange piece, and I thought a lot of the first act was only so-so till the last 30 minutes, when things picked up with "Wouldn't You Like to be on Broadway?," "Moon-face Starry-eyed," and the glorious duet that closes the act. Act Two played much more solidly.
The singer playing Anna Maurant was around 22 and never seemed to identify with the 40 year-old, abused, unhappy adulterous housewife she was playing. The performance was too frivolous, but the young soprano playing her daughter Rose and the tenor playing Sam were quite good. There was a too much "busy" direction during the first half of act one which took me out of ther neo-realism of the piece, and all the actors kept forgetting it was a very very very hot day as both the opening and closing numbers are "Ain't it awful, the heat?"
Once it settled down, the piece went quite well, and the orchestra sounded fantastic. I sound more negative here than I actually am. I had a wonderful time.
Back to Toyland and the NYPL today, and I haver toi finish my pre-accountant IRS work this afternoon and evening.
TOD: a 1904 Majestic Theatre program for BABES IN TOYLAND. They're quite rare, and I found it on eBay.
