You're absolutely correct on all counts, thank you. As I wrote the comment, I wanted to remember being gobsmacked by Ms. Holliday and wallow in the memory. She was a force of nature like I'd never seen, and Bennett's work was gorgeous. However, I was remiss in describing the structure of the play. Dare I say it? I was lazy.
I was disappointed that the revival and "recent" tours of Dreamgirls weren't using Bennett's concept and staging. His work was brilliant, and I felt it would be lost. I have been friends with a number of people who worked on that original Broadway production. Bob Avian being one. I asked him why no one uses Michael's blocking, keeping in mind the tight reign the Bennett estate holds on major productions of A Chorus Line. I assumed there was an artistic issue or the current producers didn't want to lease the choreography, something along those lines. He said it is not economically feasible to mount the same production today. Building the original set design, costumes... would make it impossible to recoup the investment. Perspecive, $11.5 million to mount Hadestown.
budlvsdk got a reaction from + BenjaminNicholas in What's the very worst musical you ever saw?
