| After seeing the November 16th, 2002 performance: "The Evolution of DotV" hello, okay, i'm going to try and remember everything that was different before i completely forget it all. (i should be doing homework right now, but i sooooo can't concentrate.) to anyone who hasn't seen it and is only relying on our reviews, it is unbelievably much improved. i'm starting to feel like it has a chance to be an insane phenomenon like jim should be. but if you haven't seen it. Spoiler Alert! okay, michael crawford did more singing and less grunting which is such a relief. he's still grunting my favourite line though, boo hoo. i'm looking forward to seeing an understudy to see if i can see someone actually SING "in nations and knowledge..." the line "boris, sing us wagner's greatest hits!" used to be "boris, sing us the ring of the nibelungen!" i like it that way better, but, oh, well. and last time, he threw the books in the cauldron in the fire place, which would make it clearer that the books are bye bye and the chorus' performance was much better. it's easier to understand what they were saying. in "there's never been a night like this" magda used to have a verse where the music breaks out into more of a rock style and she talks about, i think was her experience growing up (i wish i could remember the lyrics). she walks over to alfred, puts a hand on his shoulder twice. Alfred, still enamoured, pushes it aways twice. the gag where abronsius steps on the tube for the transfusion and the music stops was new. and the planks worked! they didn't last time :-) last time in "death is such an odd thing" magda wasn't attracted to the corpse. i'm very happy that they put that back in. you may notice in your playbills that there's a character of a priest. that was played by crawford, and it was krolock in disguise. he came to sarah and asked her confess her sins or something like that. she says how she's debating whether or not to go to this ball and she talks to him about krolock. he asks her, is he really cool? "cosmopolitan?" sarah: "he has this amazing accent." priest: "accent?" last time the boots just sort of show up. i guess we were supposed to assume that krolock left them for her. having the mrs. come with a gift is much better. i was like, halleluia! okay, now for the dialog just before "braver that we are." alfred never said the words "i love you," you still knew it, though. but sarah was just confused. you knew she cared for and respected him and you believed her when she apologizes to him later. but you wouldn't necessarily think she loved him. before, when he kissed her, she said right after, "oh, alfred, you were a theology student?" i had a heart attack when she said "i love you, too!" the blocking in BTWA changed a little. she turned around and her back faced the audience at the line "i am sick of this place and this cold," and that wasn't good. last time she put the boots on on the steps to the house instead of the edge of the stage. before, braver than we are, say a prayer, and the finale was one stretch of music. they broke it up for some dialog this time, which was wonderful! after BTWA alfred has that desperate moment, "what are we to do?" that was new. then after "say a prayer" abronsius asks the townspeople to take them to the castle. the finale was just sarah and von krolock. last time the townspeople try to follow them into the castle, but can't. at the beginning of total eclipses, sarah used to stand at the top of the stairs. it took me a minute to figure out i needed to look at the other side of the stage. changing it does augment the dramatic moment when sarah comes out in red, but i like that image of her in the white with the bluish setting at the top of the stairs. i hope they took pictures. abronsius was much more taken with von krolock this time. in the library the song used to go "(authors, authors, authors) merely browsing" i kinda like that better. carpe noctem was very different. you know the picture where they carry sarah in a crucifix position. they used to do that, but they carried her around one side of the bed and came back. and that makes no sense. they used to have these wigs that looke like sarah's hair. they hit alfred with them. that really made no sense. i'm guessing that dark guy was evil alfred. he's new. and the second time i saw it, alfred got into bed changed by the experience and happy about it. i think evil alfred should be the one to get back into the bed. he just kinda disappears. it should so be evil alfred, so then when he says "i hope it was a dream" that would mean that much more. max's for sarah is unfuckingbelievable! i just had to let that out. then there used to be a scene called "The Search Through the Castle" with the song "Something to Kill (Our Time)" this was alfred and abronsius searching the castle. we see that rebecca and magda have arrived. the priest and madame, too i think lead the way (one for each couple). while the vampires slink around singing a whispered version of "turn around..." i can't remember the lyrics, sorry. it was quick and soft, and i couldn't really understand what they were saying. last time in the crypt instead of saying "he is my husband, and no one drives a stake through his heart but me," she said, "no one saves his immortal soul but me." the bit about it being squishy was new. when magda says "i wish i could've had that whorehouse!" she used to say i think it was "i wish i could have seen Montana" or some other state. this way is way better. the "do not disturb" sign on the coffin was also new. |