The King and I previews thread - Page 5

[MaddieBB12]

Posted: 3/13/15 at 10:09am

Ha, all I can think of is on Smash when Linda the Stage Manager had to get intermission down from 40 minutes to 15.

[rjm516]

Posted: 3/13/15 at 10:10am

Omg I did not realize Oliver from How to Get Away With Murder was the same guy from Here Lies Love and this! ahhaha I LOVE IT/HIM!

[Broadwaywest2]

Posted: 3/13/15 at 10:25am

How was the Uncle Tom's Cabin number? Was the original Robbins choreography used?

[ljay889]

Posted: 3/13/15 at 10:34am

Ruthie Ann will without a doubt be nominated for a Tony. Stunning and complex performance. She brings so much depth to the role.

[HorseTears]

Posted: 3/13/15 at 11:04am

...Conrad Ricamora is *scrawny*?

Kad, that's a very nice photo, but his look there is largely due to low body fat percentage, good lighting and a talented photographer. Do a Google image search for the guy outside of a studio setting and you'll see that he's very average, yes, on the scrawny side and a bit geeky looking. Again, this is not a criticism. I think he's super cute, but he's not conventionally handsome and doesn't perhaps posses the physique of the male ingenue we've come to expect. I was just commenting on how he doesn't fit the typical casting look for a young, romantic lead in a modern production of a Broadway musical. That being said, I actually think it's kind of cool that he defies convention in that way.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 3/13/15 at 11:07am

Conrad may have seemed a little "scrawny" next to Jack Falahee, but those episodes were filmed a while ago, and he has added some bulk to his body in the meantime. Maybe Oliver won't have to feel so (unduly) self-conscious now around Connor in season two!!

The run time was long, but curtains weren't opening and closing as they were supposed to. Tech guys were having to run on and move set pieces. Once all of this stuff gets cleaned up and the physical aspects start running like a well-oiled machine I imagine it will be closer to a 3 hour curtain.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 3/13/15 at 11:24am

I'm so excited to see this tomorrow night!

[Princeton Returns]

Posted: 3/13/15 at 11:43am

The photo is the same as when people think Justin Bieber is buff, its all down to low body fat and good lighting and photography. In reality there isnt much size there at all

Nothing wrong with the way he looks but he is not very muscled at all, which has been more traditional for that role

Thats where the 'abs on skinny guys dont count like....' saying comes from

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 3/13/15 at 11:50am

A King & I preview thread is reduced to discussion of body fat percentage, abs, physical attractiveness, buff vs. scrawn, etc.

I lurv BWW!

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 3/13/15 at 11:57am

What a thrilling night!!

First & foremost, Kelli O'Hara delivers on all fronts. From the moment she walks out you can tell what remarkable performance this is going to be. I'm not terribly familiar with the show, but the strength that Kelli brought to Anna was amazing. She has to be the most naturalistic yet powerful actress working on Broadway today. Her "Shall I Tell You What I Think Of You" was her standout for me. Just wonderful. This seems like the perfect marriage of actress & role. I hope that Tony is finally hers. She was also such a joy at the stage door after the show! A class act.

Ken Watanabe is truly "a puzzlement". He has an undeniable stage presence, but you can't understand a damn word he says. I was in the front row & could barely make any of it out. Someone else mentioned, it was almost funny when he would say something & Kelli would respond as if she heard it with perfect clarity. His big number sounded like he was speaking German. I didn't mind his actual voice for the role, but damn does he need diction help. The performance is there. The "Shall We Dance" sequence was beautiful.

Ruthie Ann Miles, Conrad Ricamora & Ashley Park all deliver superb supporting performances. Miles played Lady Thiang with his depth & hurt, I felt for her far more than I imagined I would! Big fan of How to Get Away With Murder so I was very excited to see Ricamora; what a beautiful voice he has! And maybe he isn't built like a body builder, but he has very nice arms and a solid chest, and looked pretty damn hot to me! Ashley Park sang beautifully.

Sher & the design team have some glorious work here. THAT BOAT!! I mean come on. I also loved the staging of Wantanbe walking up to his throne for the first time. The costumes are to die for. Pacing needs work, but they can get this down to 3 hours with the intermission. It's so great to see the original Jerome Robbins choreography!

GRAB A TICKET NOW! This is going to be a big fat hit.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 3/13/15 at 12:03pm

Thanks for all the thoughts on last night, everyone.

"Someone else mentioned, it was almost funny when he would say something & Kelli would respond as if she heard it with perfect clarity. "

However, this has me very very worried. How did they let this get so far?

[Kad]

Posted: 3/13/15 at 12:04pm

Yeah... regardless of how stunning the production is, it seems like a major problem when the title character can't be understood.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 3/13/15 at 12:12pm

So disappointed reading about Watanabe's diction problems. I hope the powers that be fix that quickly.

I can't help to think what a missed opportunity it was not to cast Jose Llana in the role.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 3/13/15 at 12:17pm

I saw a production (which may have been a tour?) at the Walnut Street in Philly a few years ago, and Mel Sagrado Maghuyop played the King. He was fantastic.

[ljay889]

Posted: 3/13/15 at 12:18pm

“It’s a concern,” Mr. Sher said recently about Mr. Watanabe’s English. “We’re working with Ken all the time. But in the show, the king struggles with his speech. With Ken, you really feel that you have someone from an ancient kingdom meeting someone from the West for the first time. You feel the reality of that.”

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/03/15/theater/ken-watanabe-moves-from-samurai-to-the-king-and-i.html?_r=0&referrer=

[Bilbo3]

Posted: 3/13/15 at 12:23pm

Poor Ken. Kind of embarrassing to have to read articles about your director being concerned about your performance.

Updated On: 3/13/15 at 12:23 PM

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 3/13/15 at 12:26pm

“It’s a concern,” Mr. Sher said recently about Mr. Watanabe’s English. “We’re working with Ken all the time. But in the show, the king struggles with his speech. With Ken, you really feel that you have someone from an ancient kingdom meeting someone from the West for the first time. You feel the reality of that.”

Yeah, but that doesn't mean the audience shouldn't be able to understand what he says. This isn't like something like Light in the Piazza, where characters are speaking untranslated Italian. This is a show that was written entirely in English, and his having a heavy accent is not at all the same thing as being unintelligible.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 3/13/15 at 12:30pm

Yeah, but that doesn't mean the audience shouldn't be able to understand what he says.

THIS. I absolutely agree with the above. If they do not fix this it's going to be a detriment to this production. It's not Watanabe's fault, English is not his native language, but a production should not suffer for the sake of stunt casting.

I hope he pulls through.

Updated On: 3/13/15 at 12:30 PM

[SNAFU]

Posted: 3/13/15 at 12:36pm

Is Shall We Dance as erotically charged as it is in the movie?

[ljay889]

Posted: 3/13/15 at 12:39pm

Yes.

[sanda]

Posted: 3/13/15 at 12:54pm

hmm,maybe struggling with understanding what a foreign king said is part of the show? Like experiencing what Anna first encountered when she met the king.

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 3/13/15 at 12:56pm

Wantanabe doesn't speak English and learned the entire role phonetically which, obviously, is a problem. Hoping that he and his coach can pull the diction together in time. And to the poster who insinuated that Renshaw didn't trust or respect the material, that's ridiculous. He told the story beautifully, honoring the authors' original intentions every step of the way. Yes, he made a couple cuts (at the bequest of the producer) but nothing that compromised the material. As for Wang, he had such respect for FDS that he wanted to breathe new life into it with his adaptation. The musical most likely wouldn't work today in its original form and he was on a rescue mission. Not everything landed in his revisal but it certainly had some arresting moments and smart ideas. Delighted by the (expected) reactions to Kelli and only wish Chita wasn't also opening this season.

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 3/13/15 at 1:01pm

I was about to say that given the fact that Chita Rivera is reportedly going to be giving her final appearance on Broadway this season as well as the fact that Kristen Chenoweth has been getting some very glowing reviews during previews for On the Twentieth Century, this may not be Kelli's year.

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 3/13/15 at 1:31pm

A friend also saw the show last night. He was not familiar with the show at all and said the lack of diction by Mr Watanabe lessened his enjoyment. He told me he would not be recommending the show to his friends.
Hopefully this problem can be corrected.
Personally I think a lot can be forgiven during previews. Not being able to understand one of the two leads is not one of them.



Updated On: 3/13/15 at 01:31 PM

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 3/13/15 at 1:36pm

"Personally I think a lot can be forgiven during previews. Not being able to understand one of the two leads is not one of them. "

I agree completely.