Kayla saw the show for her first time on June 17, 2000 (the matinee
performance) and wrote this review for us...
The Cast:
Fred Graham/Petruccio- Merwin Foard *
Lilli Vannessi/Katherine- Marin Mazzie
Bill Calhoun/Lucentio- Kevin Neil McCready*
Lois Lane/Bianca- Joann M. Hunter*
*-understudy or standby
3 Understudies in the leads. All of the understudies I think were better
than the actually performers in their roles except Amy because I
absolutely love her voice and Joann's got thin at some points. I heard
offstage that the reason Kevin went on as Bill is because Joann and him
were cousins. They thought it would be cute to have them go on together.
That's the reason Darren Lee didn't cover the role. Merwin had a very
strong and operatic voice that I loved for this show. It was very clear.
He was absolutely hilarious. Then to the goddess of the theater Marin
Mazzie who steals the show with one weird facial expression. She
couldn't not stop the audience from laughing. Kevin was so wonderful
because he had a very smooth and clear voice if that makes sense. And he
was adorable besides that. JoAnn was wonderful. She played Lois like she
was slow which was really funny, and she also used a slight tough New
York accent. The two gangsters made me laugh hysterically. I could not
stop laughing. They were the best in the show right under Marin. Okay,
now for a breakdown of the songs.
Another Openin'...- Great Opening. I enjoyed it. It was really funny too. Joann and
Kevin danced great in their litle duet in there too.
...Behave- Joann's voice was thin at times but then got strong again.
Her and Kevin were adorable together.
-Wundebar- Merwin and Marin were very strong on this part and was a
really great number. I enjoyed the dancing in between rooms they kept
from the movie
-So In Love- This song really showed off Marin's beautiful voice. Big
applause
...Venice- How much did I love that little spinny cart thing they have
at stage right? The four were great. I couldn't hear some of the the
things they said in between but other than that it's great.
-TDorH- This was one of JoAnn's best songs. The guys who danced to this
were incredible.
-Wive it...- I'm not a big fan of Fred's solo songs. Of all of them this
would have to be my favorite.
-I hate men- = ) Marin is such a great singer and actress and boy does
it show in this song. It was hysterical. Everyone started cheering for
her and the song stopped after she was pretending she was having a baby.
- I don't know where it is but when the gangsters come out in the
costumes everyone was hysterical. The guy with the feather in his hat
was hillarious and so was the big guy. They practically stole the show.
-Cantiamo- Great song. Grape stomping was unexpected. I was waiting for
Lucy Ricardo to come out.
-Act 1 Finale- Words can't describe how absolutely hysterical this was.
It was a great number.
-TDH= I adore Stanley anyway because he's Schroeder. But this number was
so full of energy and was really really great. This was one of my
favorite numbers in the show. The dancing was perfection. I loved it a
lot.
-Life..- I don't like Fred's songs very much but Merwin made them sound
really great. -
..Fashion- I wouldn't care if the gangsters sang this
song to each other I absolutely love this song. Joann was really great.
Her dancing was great. I didn't mind either when Kevin walked out of the
dressing room missing his shirt. It was a great number.
-Moment on- Okay. I was expecting SOME dancing for this number. Bob
Fosse danced to it in the movie. I was expecting that street light to
come back out and someone to dance. Well, didn't happen. Marin and Ron
sang it but Marin's expression on her face were really really funny. It
made it so corny but that's what made it great.
-Bianca- Kevin was so adorable in this song. He climbed that wall great
too. It didn't take him long either. His voice was great for that song.
-SIL rep.- Merwin was wonderful at this. He put a lot of emotion into
it.
-Shakespeare : ) - I loved this number. When they kept changing the hats
the audience laughed louder.
-...Simple- Showed off Marin's voice
- Finale- Absolutely wonderful and a great way to end the show.
Thanks Kayla!
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