Cast: Richard Winsor (Edward Scissorhands), Kerry Biggin (Kim Boggs), Madeline Brennan (Peg Boggs), Scott Ambler (Bill Boggs), Gavin Eden (Kevin Boggs)
For complete info on this production, see the official Edward Scissorhands site.
Since I loved Matthew Bourne's A Play Without Words and Swan Lake, I was excited to see his interpretation of Edward Scissorhands. I'd heard this production described as a ballet and a musical. After seeing it, I would describe it as a musical. There wasn't that much dancing. The music (inspired by Danny Elfman's original score) was amazing. The cast is incredible. I think that the time period change worked very well for the show. The costumes are very well done.
I didn't see anything in the role of Edward Scissorhands that makes it as demanding as it has been described in every article I've read, but I'm guessing that the scissor hands are very heavy.
The way this show was done is pretty unique. Almost everyone in the musical plays multiple parts. It seemed like everyone except for those who play Edward Scissorhands and perhaps Kim Boggs is in the show every day, but playing different roles to keep them on their toes. Those who play Edward (and perhaps Kim) get to rest every other performance or so.
If you have a chance to see Matthew Bourne's Edward Scissorhands while it's in LA, I highly recommend it. I enjoyed the production and hope that it goes on to do well on Broadway.
Grade: B+
Labels: 2006, dancing, Matthew Bourne, musical
Reviewed by Kat at the 12:22 PM show | 0 screams
Unfortunately, they did not make it clear which of the main stars were actually performing in each show, but I've listed those on the tour...
Cast: José Tirado/Alan Vincent (The Swan/Stranger), Neil Penlington/Simon Wakefield (The Prince), Saranne Curtin/Oxana Panchenko/Nina Goldman (The Queen), Leigh Daniels/Agnes Vandrepote (The Girlfriend), Alan Mosley/Peter Furness (The Private Secretary), and an amazing ensemble
Note: Alan Vincent, Neil Penlington, Saranne Curtin, & Nina Goldman were all part of the original Broadway cast, whose info can be found at the IBDb's Swan Lake page.
Before I begin my review, I'd like to clear up a few misconceptions both Renee (my sister-in-law, who I saw the show with) and I had read online about Matthew Bourne's version of Swan Lake.
First of all, his Swan Lake is NOT performed with an all male cast. All the swans are male, but that's a different statement entirely and not the one I had read about this Swan Lake.
Secondly, the roll of Odette does not exist. It is NOT played by a man as I had seen reported.
Now that those items are cleared up, I can get on with my thoughts.
I was so happy that Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake was a part of the Ahmanson Theatre season this year. I had heard many great things about it, and knew that it won three Tony awards. For a ballet to win that many awards (and be nominated for 5) was impressive enough, since the Tony awards tend to shy away from ballets.
The touring production of this show is truly amazing. The cast we saw (whoever they were) really did a fantastic job. I don't think I've ever seen a standing ovation so fast in the Ahmanson Theatre (a location that does not give standing ovations for every performance regardless of the quality).
In spite of all I had read before going to the theatre, I was very happy that I read the summary of Swan Lake, since it was very different from the standard Swan Lake ballet I know well. It was so interesting to see an entirely different story (including some pretty contemporary locations) with the same beloved Tchaikovsky score.
I expected to be impressed with Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake, since I really enjoyed The Car Man and Play Without Words. However, I really did not expect it to be so funny. The audience was laughing throughout the show and it was really amazing how many things were going on at a time. I clearly missed a few things, since there were times when many people were laughing and I had missed the joke.
As always, Matthew Bourne impressed me with his study of movement. The choreography of the swans was absolutely amazing. It was very clear that they were swans from the movements. Renee and I would both like to see the tapes that he studied, since it would be interesting background information.
I am looking forward to the Edward Scissorhands at the Ahmanson even more now than I was before seeing Swan Lake. The 2006 Ahmanson season really has some interesting offerings from what I've heard already.
If you enjoy dacing, you should definitely see this if you can. Matthew Bourne even manages to incorporate other kids of dance into his version of the classic ballet. Swan Lake is not all ballet, which is even more interesting if you know the original ballet pretty well.
This would even be a good intro ballet to those who tend not to be interested in the genre, since it isn't "just" ballet, though ballet would have been plenty for me.
Grade: A-
Labels: 2006, ballet, dancing, Matthew Bourne, musical, tour
Reviewed by Kat at the 2:00 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Anthony (Sam Archer, Ewan Wardrop & Richard Winsor), Glenda (Michela Meazza, Anjali Mehra, & Emily Piercy), Prentice (Darren Ellis, Steve Kirkham, & Neil Penlington), Sheila (Maxine Fone & Valentina Formenti), Speight (Darren Ellis, Alan Vincent, & Ewan Wardrop)
I listed these the opposite of my normal cast listing, since Play Without Words is a truly unique play. Every one of the people listed above were in the play the night I saw it.
As one would expect, Play Without Words is all to music. There are no words spoken by anyone in the cast. It is all choreographed movement to music and it was amazing. Apparently, the reason there are several people playing the same character at the same time is that if there was just one, it would look like they were just moving any which way and it wouldn't be clear how perfectly choreographed the whole show is. To see two or three people doing exactly the same movement at the same time in the same way in different parts of the stage was really amazing.
Play Without Words is a unique theatre experience and I definitely think you should try to see it if you have a chance.
Grade: B
Labels: 2005, comedy, drama, Matthew Bourne, play
Reviewed by Kat at the 2:00 PM show | 0 screams