FIORELLO! at City Center REViEWS- Page 2

[Pammylicious]

Posted: 2/1/13 at 12:11pm

I'm going tonight....got row G in the mezz for $24 two weeks ago.

[Rainbowhigh23]

Posted: 2/1/13 at 12:55pm

I almost bought those tickets! I have another show I'm going to tonight. I think I'll get the last two seats in the balcony in Row H for Sunday matinee. So many orchestra tickets available for the Sunday night from those who can't go!

I was able to get Row K in balcony for $24 for tomorrow's matinee. Will be bringing my binoculars to get a good glimpse of Emily Skinner in Act 2. Updated On: 2/1/13 at 12:55 PM

[Pammylicious]

Posted: 2/1/13 at 3:45pm

Do you think they will have a moment of silence tonight for Ed Koch, the other crazy mayor of NYC....just a thought.

[goldenboy]

Posted: 2/2/13 at 10:48am

Went last night and there was no moment of silence for Mayor Koch---but somehow his presence was felt in the room.

I have never been a huge fan of the score from the original cast recording much preferring Bock and Harnick's She Loves Me, Tenderloin, Rothchild's and of course Fiddler, but hearing it with a full orchestra totally highlighted its strengths. I am looking forward to a fuller richer recording of this and do hope they record it to enhance the mediocre OBC.

This is my second viewing of Fiorello. This Fiorello was far better than the Reprise Version in Los Angeles with Tony Danza.
Tony Danza made it feel like the Tony Danza show and not the Fiorello LaGuardia story. That version made me feel like Fiorello is an over-rated show. Pulitzer Prize?? You're kidding me.



This version was far superior. I almost understood it's Pulitzer Prize as this Fiorello was much larger on the humanity. Danny Rutigliano gives a strong and interesting performance as Fiorello. I don't know why some of the critics were iffy about him. Having an unknown in the role made me plug into the story better. He was an optimistic go getter but I got to feel and understand his pain as New York doesn't vote for him the first time around as Mayor. I loved the addition of the new song for Fiorello. It was Fiorello's answer to "Rose's Turn" and it added to the humanity of Fiorello and showed his vulnerability.

The staging of this was well done and I really got involved in the story.


I thought the choreography was spot on as were the dancers.

The beautiful Kate Baldwin, was glaringly miscast as an Italian woman. She needs to be back in Gloccamorra like places where she belongs. Her When Did I Fall In Love stressed the singing more than the acting. Emily Skinner was in fine voice and bravura prescence but when she came out with her hair down, it seemed totally out of period as was her costume. It was like the 1980's Cabaret dress plunked down in the middle of the 1930's. She was in strong voice however and her performance batted it out of the park--just an odd choice of dress and hair.

Shuler Hensley, Adam Heller, Andrew Samonsky were all spot on as was Erin Dilly as Marie and Jenn Gambatese who was lots of fun as Dora.

Overall, a solid fluid well sung and orchestrated production which made me appreciate Fiorello much more than I had in the past. . The singing and orchestra were rich and I look forward to a cast recording.



Updated On: 2/2/13 at 10:48 AM

[goldenboy]

Posted: 2/2/13 at 10:49am

Encores is quite special --putting on lost (and not so lost) musicals that are ready for (or almost ready for) Broadway in record short rehearsal time. Gentlemen Prefer Blonde's was very impressive and that made me hope that Randy Skinnner would choreograph more on Broadway than he does now. Pipe Dream was quite odd but so good to finally see a production of it.

Wish they'd do Dear World, Henry Sweet Henry, I Had a Ball!
Never saw those shows.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 2/2/13 at 2:16pm

Henrik in the Lost in Boston notes it says the character was cut out of town... It would make sense, though, for Marie to sing it--but I can't see why such a great song would be cut, then?

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 2/2/13 at 4:11pm

Thanks, Eric, seems to be a conflict between the LIB notes and Wikipedia. So, who knows (although certainly the LIB notes one would think might be more reliable).

As to why they would have cut it had it been Marie's, my theory was always that they might have preferred an upbeat, comic torch song to a ballad; hence "Where Do I Go...?" out, "Marie's Law" in (put in the perspective of that long tradition of lovelorn women not getting anywhere romantically with their bosses, they opted for "You Can Always Count on Me" type tone rather than a "The Gentlemen is a Dope" one... bad, example as that's also somewhat upbeat but you get the idea).



Updated On: 2/2/13 at 04:11 PM

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 2/3/13 at 2:39am

I had a great time! The show was lovely, the guy playing Fiorello La Guardia was absolute perfection! And the whole cast was very strong. Erin Dilly was fabulous, glad to see her in a role where she can showcase her talents, the same goes for Kate Baldwin, who got to use her higher register a lot in this show. Jenn Gambatese also got to sing with her lovely soprano voice, Jenn is dream come true, there is nothing she can't do! Brilliant performances by the entire cast.

[Greatwhiteway3]

Posted: 2/3/13 at 7:31am

Goldenboy "The beautiful Kate Baldwin, was glaringly miscast as an Italian woman. She needs to be back in Gloccamorra like places where she belongs."

AGREE. Love Kate, but she was cast because she is friends with Sheldon Harnick,

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/arts/music/kate-baldwin-at-feinsteins-review.html?_r=0

,and also Encores casting agent Jay Binder and Artistic Director Jack Viertel, both whom she worked with on Finian's.

Sometimes it's not how right you are for the part. but whose buddy you are...

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 2/3/13 at 7:52am

I enjoyed it. Encores did a very nice job and it is well worth seeing.

But I was surprised that it's really nothing more - or less - than a pleasant, enjoyable musical with a rather thin book and bouncy songs. I don't doubt Abbott's original production was very strong, but how it possibly won the Pulitzer in the year of Raisin in the Sun, Gypsy, Sweet Bird of Youth, The Tenth Man, The Sound of Music, I will never understand.



Updated On: 2/3/13 at 07:52 AM

[AC126748]

Posted: 2/3/13 at 1:17pm

Henrik, I couldn't judge the book of this--or any--musical based on how Encores presents it. They heavily edit and present the books as "concert adaptations". This is the only production of FIORELLO I've seen, but the friend I went with (who knows the show quite well) informed me there had been quite a lot of cutting from the book.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 2/3/13 at 1:18pm

From what I understand they absolutely massacred the book.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 2/3/13 at 1:24pm

Thanks for that AC and Jordan, it helps to possibly explain why this show could have received its acclaim..

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 2/3/13 at 8:36pm

I don't know how much the Encores staging trimmed from the script, but if you are curious it was published in book form when the show was new (as were most musicals then) and later (1975) re-published in Stanley Richards' book GREAT MUSICALS OF THE AMERICAN THEATRE Volume 2.

There are longish book scenes between the songs, and if one is to read the script without the musical numbers it paints a fairly compelling portrait of Laguardia - documenting his ongoing battle with Tammany Hall. It is likely on the strength of these scenes that the Pulitzer was awarded. Capitol's original cast album preserves the songs, but without the book scenes they do not have the same impact. Also, as a George Abbott show, it includes many numbers designed to please the traditional "tired businessman" audience of the day. (Which explains why "Mitzi" and some chorus girls turn up in an Act Two part scene to do a tap routine supposedly from a current hit Broadway revue. Such specialties were very rare by the end of the Rogers and Hammerstein era, but Abbott still saw their value.

[D2]

Posted: 2/3/13 at 9:26pm

They did massacre the book -- at times it seemed like they were just going from song cue to song cue.

At least in the first act. I didn't stay for the second. It was a major disappointment for me. I soooo wanted to love it. And I soooo didn't.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 2/3/13 at 9:32pm

I saw the Encores production and liked it well enough, but did think it seemed awfully thin in the book, even for a musical of its age. Can someone who knows elaborate on the major cuts?

frontrowcentre2, it's interesting that much of the cut material had to do with his battles with Tammany Hall. It seemed to get real short shrift, considering that it's a huge part of Laguardia's legacy.

[AC126748]

Posted: 2/3/13 at 9:53pm

I stayed for both acts, although mostly because my companion wanted to. I have to echo D2's sentiments. I tried to love it, but I didn't. The score has some knockouts. But Rutigliano, Dilly, and Baldwin were all pretty underwhelming. Gambatese and Hensley walked away with their numbers and the show. Skinner was doing her Emily Skinner act, but at least she was lively and fun. Easily the least fun I've ever had at an Encores staging.

[D2]

Posted: 2/3/13 at 10:19pm

I just re-read the first act. No book scenes were missing, but a lot of individual lines that established character relationships and motivations were trimmed to the bone or cut completely.

[matineeidol2013]

Posted: 2/3/13 at 10:40pm

Spoke with Kate Baldwin's husband, actor Graham Rowat today; he says shes been battling laryngitis for the entire run! She sounded just as perfect and angelic as usual when I heard her Thursday evening. What a trooper!

[newintown]

Posted: 2/4/13 at 9:54am

I thought she sounded lovely, but her accent veered wildly between Ireland and Italy.

Pleasant enough evening; the senior citizens around me were in heaven whenever they were awake.

[Rainbowhigh23]

Posted: 2/4/13 at 1:00pm

Wow! She sounded fine while singing but her eyes looked a little wonky up close; the same way Patti's eyes looked the night before she called out sick at 54 Below.

Updated On: 2/4/13 at 01:00 PM

[RaisedOnMusicals]

Posted: 2/4/13 at 2:25pm

On Saturday night, the only time I heard her veer into any accent was when she said, "Fiorello", rolling the R in a very heavilly Itlalian accented way. It did sound a bit out of place, as it sort of came out of the blue. Her singing was impeccable.

[macnyc]

Posted: 2/4/13 at 6:35pm

Her singing was lovely. I was at the Sunday matinee. I think she did drop whatever accent she had been attempting in the earlier shows.