Updated 'Gigi' still a relic of its era
6 / 10
Director Eric Schaeffer...tries to distract us from the way political correctness has sanitized the story and made it soppier while lessening the stakes. The production's pacing is brisk, and the spirited choreography by Joshua Bergasse occasionally turns acrobatic. But a solution to 'Gigi' has not been found...Hudgens, a dark-haired waif with a pretty if not particularly distinctive singing voice, makes a winning first impression...Unfortunately, the longer Hudgens is on stage, the more superficial her Gigi seems. She can deliver an image of adolescent abandon, but her emotions are dictated entirely by the plot. Her acting is all romantic pabulum -- dull sweetness, exaggerated gaiety, trumped-up anxiety leading directly to amorous ecstasy. Thomas' update doesn't give Hudgens much to work with...Making matters more vanilla, Corey Cott's young-looking Gaston seems almost as innocent as Gigi...Cott's blandness goes away when he sings, but his Gaston is yawningly on the up and up...in an attempt to bring the story up to 21st century standards, the new 'Gigi' only seems more dated.
.jpg?format=auto&width=300)
