ASPECTS OF LOVE Original Tour

[tourboi]

Posted: 4/12/18 at 8:27pm

Did anyone see it? I've been curious about it and trying to find some photos online to no avail. I have heard it was restaged by Robin Phillip's and I think it launched (or at least played early on) in Toronto....? 

How did it differ from the Broadway production??? 

 

 

 

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 4/12/18 at 9:10pm

We saw the tour in San Francisco starring Sarah Brightman, who was markedly miscast as Rose, who's meant to be a charismatic grand dame of the provincial theater. I knew how glorious the original Broadway production designed by Maria Bjornson had looked, but the simplicity of the touring production worked perfectly well for me. The show itself just never came together-- too hard to put up with the implausebillity of the various love stories to care about their outcomes after ALL the intervening years, despite some beautifully sung sequences. 

[morosco]

Posted: 4/12/18 at 9:50pm

Set design by Phillip Silver.

[sbflyfan]

Posted: 4/12/18 at 10:46pm

I've always been curious to find out how much of the tour Sarah Brightman did. Was she just stunt cast for major west coast cities?

[tourboi]

Posted: 4/13/18 at 12:48am

I like that design, Morocco. Thanks for sharing! Any idea where one might find some production shots or b-roll? Anyone?

[SharksVsJets]

Posted: 4/13/18 at 1:21am

tourboi said: "Did anyone see it? I've been curious about it and trying to find some photos online to no avail. I have heard it was restaged by Robin Phillip's and I think it launched (or at least played early on) in Toronto....?
 

Actually, it launched at the Citadel in Edmonton when Robin Phillips was artistic director. A friend of mine was one of the stage managers - she was staying at my house. I got daily reports on rehearsals. She was constantly stressed out and convinced she was going to get fired because she thought Phillips took a dislike to her. Then one day he fired someone else and she felt like she'd dodged a thunderbolt. Sorry, I didn't see it (not sure why not), but I remember it was a very big deal having ALW in town for the opening. I assume the photo above is from the Citadel production - Phillip Silver designed many shows at the Citadel.





"

 

[Lot666]

Posted: 4/13/18 at 8:21am

chernjam is a huge fan of this show and may be able to help.

[metropolis10111]

Posted: 4/13/18 at 8:27am

I saw this tour back in Chicago and it was just lovely. The monochromatic set with it's sheer look and openness really let the score shine.. and at points glare when the lyric was daft, but all in all it was an enchanting production. I still have the program and poster. 

[Tag]

Posted: 4/13/18 at 8:39am

For many years a large rocking horse from the production was in the theatre cafeteria at York University in Toronto.  Not sure if it is still there.  

Found this pic on instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/p/bxD0mWyFRE/

[tourboi]

Posted: 4/13/18 at 4:32pm

I had no idea York had that piece. That's fun. :) 

Sharks, did it officially launch there, or tech? I thought I'd read that the official opening was in Toronto. Similar to the way several tours have recently etched in Utica, had performances, but officially opened in bigger cities. That's fascinating though, because I can't think of another show that did a big tour into the states to have played Citadel. 

[SharksVsJets]

Posted: 4/13/18 at 6:07pm

Here's some information I found in a history of The Citadel:

"In 1991, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s latest, Aspects of Love was in trouble. The show was an intimate salon opera overproduced in epic proportions in the West End and Broadway, because, well, that was what you did with Lloyd Webber shows (Cats and Phantom of the Opera). Drabinsky brought it to Phillips and the Citadel. The road show was failing – smothering in its own unwieldy bulk. It took 16 trucks to carry it from town to town. The master director took it back to its intimate roots and gave it a brilliant, atmospheric (and simpler) production. Edmonton audiences felt they were part of the adventure and turned out in record numbers. In fact, Phillips’ new concept made its production budget back in Edmonton before it left for a long run in Toronto and then on the road."

http://www.citadeltheatre.com/about-us/history

So I guess it was already on tour before it was brought to Edmonton for retooling? It played as part of the Citadel's 1991-1992 season.

[tourboi]

Posted: 4/13/18 at 7:24pm

Very interesting, but I believe that is incorrect. There’s no mention of a tour of the original production anywhere..... bizarre. It’s such an enigma to me! I also didn’t know Livent was involved!

[jo]

Posted: 4/13/18 at 8:14pm

I saw the show at the West End and on Broadway...and in a scaled-down production ( based presumably on the Gale Edwards revival) here in Manila. I've even read the original novella by David Garnett from which the Lloyd-Webber musical is faithfully-based, as well as a companion book by Kurt Ganzl which describes the natural and historical setting of the story.

I have always felt that the sets at the West End and on Broadway were not that overwhelming, save for that spectacular Pyrenees mountain scenery which unfolded during a part of the show. They did have the curtain of art/paintings and the backdrop of a house in Pau...but I have always felt that the musical score ( conceded by many as one of ALW's best)  was what sold the show, not the sets. When I saw the scaled-down version, it was simply a play of curtains and a play of lighting and it worked very well - because the actors were excellent singers and actors ( the lead was Monique Wilson, who was actually Lea Salonga's alternate in the original Miss Saigon production in London). Maybe what is important as far as the sets are concerned is to show the luminosity that characterizes the natural surroundings of towns in southern France ( this was not Provence though) but more of mountain towns on the western side. Pau is actually near Lourdes, a  mountain town in the Pyrenees.

Updated On: 4/13/18 at 08:14 PM

[markypoo]

Posted: 4/13/18 at 8:26pm

I also saw it in Chicago, and loved it.
Linda Balgord, in an early career role, played Rose at that point. However, the night we went, we caught her understudy; who must have been fine, because I don't remember complaining.
This was also when I first fell in love with Ron Bohmer.
And: I still have the program, but alas; no poster.

[morosco]

Posted: 4/13/18 at 9:03pm

Here are some shots from the souvenir program that I bought when I saw the production at The Kennedy Center.  Apologies in advance for the quality as my scanner isn't working. 

Updated On: 4/13/18 at 09:03 PM

[tourboi]

Posted: 4/13/18 at 9:26pm

Those program shots are amazing. Thank you!

[morosco]

Posted: 4/13/18 at 10:10pm

markypoo said: "I also saw it in Chicago, and loved it.
Linda Balgord, in an early career role, played Rose at that point. However, the night we went, we caught her understudy; who must have been fine, because I don't remember complaining.
This was also when I first fell in love with Ron Bohmer.
And: I still have the program, but alas; no poster."

You probably saw Alice M. Vienneau who was Linda Balgord's alternate.  I saw both actresses over multiple performances and I personally favored Vienneau as Rose.

[devonian.t]

Posted: 4/14/18 at 5:40am

What a tease!

[markypoo]

Posted: 4/23/18 at 1:09pm

And then, of course, an rare opportunity to witness the late, great Keith Michell.

[chernjam]

Posted: 4/23/18 at 8:05pm

Just found this post (thanks for the shout out Lot666) Aspects of love is tied with Sunset Blvd as my all time favorites (well Sunset probably ranks a little ahead but mostly because I was only able to see AOL twice and Sunset about 15 times... that being said, Aspects of Love was the very first musical I saw on Broadway so it holds a special place... anyway)

By "Original Tour" I'm assuming you're referring to the US tour/Robin Phillips edition - I saw it in Washington DC - and walked away amazed by how vastly different an experience it was.  In the scaled down version, the focus on the story and the music really were center stage.  And while its a bizarre story, it worked so much better in that environment.  Particularly since it is through sung.  The Broadway version was visually stunning, but in hindsight, overkill.

This is the first I heard that Brightman was in the tour (someone mentioned her playing in San Francisco) - that's news to me.  I thought Balgord had done the whole tour with Ron Bohmer (who later paired up as Norma and Joe in Sunset)  

One of the things that I remembered being thrown by was that in the tour, they started with an instrumental of Hand Me the Wine and the Dice with the cast carrying lighted torches at George's funeral.  As the procession took them off stage, it left Giulietta and Alex alone for "Love Changes Everything".  There was also a bunch of changes throughout in terms of lyrics and musical changes (There is More to Love was now a duet which blew me away and there was a reprise of that as well... that's one of my favorite songs from Aspects so I was happy with both changes).

Man is this way overdue for a revival.  I'd love it if they did it at the Hudson Theater - a beautiful, intimate setting like that would be superb

[tourboi]

Posted: 4/24/18 at 12:30am

Thanks for the details! God I wish I’d seen the tour. Fascinated by the changes! And I agree. I’d love to do the show and it’s due a revival. The Hudson IS perfect!

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 4/24/18 at 1:14am

I didn't get to see the original but I have the hardcover coffee table book that I found second hand and I agree Maria Björnson's design looks mostly stunning. I'd hardly call it overkill. I feel like the show would need to be visually appealing to hold the audience's attention.

[A Director]

Posted: 4/24/18 at 2:52am

The lyrics  for "Love Changes Everything" are generic and bland.  They you nothing about the character because they are not specific to the character who sings the song.  The music is not interesting, it just repeats and repeats going nowhere.

[chernjam]

Posted: 4/24/18 at 9:59am

CATSNYrevival said: "I didn't get to see the original but I have the hardcover coffee table book that I found second hand and I agree Maria Björnson's designlooks mostly stunning. I'd hardly call it overkill. I feel like the show would need to be visually appealing to hold the audience's attention."

I agree it was visually stunning.  When the back wall broke open and turned into the Pyrennes, it was incredibly amazing.   And it was the Broadway production that made me love the show in the first place.  But the revival with the minimalist sets and revisions to the score and lyrics made it more moving for me.  Perhaps that's just a personal thing since by then I knew and loved the score.

A Director  - Love Changes Everything is my least favorite tune from Aspects.  Partially because that's been overkilled to such a degree

[ChgoTheatreGuy]

Posted: 5/1/18 at 10:10pm

I am selling an official promotional postcard flyer for the Chicago engagement of "Aspects of Love", starring Keith Michell and Linda Balgord, that played at the now closed Civic Theatre.  Also included with the promotional flyer is a playbill from the first time that "The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber" played at the Chicago Theatre in 1991.  Both of these items are in excellent condition, with no defects.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/123109262249