What I liked
What I didn't like
My overall impression
Beautiful voices and some amazing harmonies -
There were a few breathtaking moments vocally -
The songs were ambitious with several being carried out to full effect and a few especially in the beginning, that seemed to need a little work to get everyone fully up to speed as far as tempo and whatnot, but I saw the preview so that’s something that I’m Sure will be polished. Personally, I’d rather see a cast fight their way into nailing an ambitious score than see a cast sing a few simple ditties that anyone can do, which is often the case with original musicals… well done! The closing song made me cry. As mentioned in the very angry review left by someone who was likely asleep during the show- it did not present a historic look at the event, nor did it spend 90 min teaching us details – it did what the best musicals do- it taught us about the human aspects of the event. I love that so much took place before the fire and the dramatic moments were handled nicely.
Cast was very strong all around – though she killed her role, I was a little confused about the one female character who in the context of the show sounded like she needed to be 50 years old or more and didn’t even look 30… it’s theatre so you could get away with casting alternatively but a gray wig or something would have helped me suspend my disbelief. Because nothing was done to make her appear older than the other characters I kept struggling to understand the story and wondering if they called her mama as a slang term….
