No Way To Mask My True Feelings
No Way To Mask My True FeelingsOK.
Honestly, when I first learned from frequent commenter Broadway Baby that "Mask" was being made into a stage musical, I never doubted for one second that he had to be referring to the Jim Carrey flick. Right?
Wrong.
Forget the ridiculous 1994 movie. We're talking the 1985 Cher/Eric Stoltz tearjerker. I guess there are some eerie similarities.
VH1's "The Best Week Ever" describes Mask as:
...the most exciting thing to happen to the Theater World since Carol Channing hired a new wigmaker.
Right. With a book by Anna Hamilton Phelan and score by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, Mask - A New Musical is being performed under Richard Maltby's direction at the Left Coast's Pasadena Playhouse through April 20.
Let's just say I'm not looking forward to seeing this advance to a theatre near you.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.
Labels: Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Eric Stoltz, Film, Los Angeles, Mask, Musical, Pasadena Playhouse, The Mask
posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Thursday, March 20, 2008
6 Comments:
Gag.
Sarah, Ironically, the next new musical coming from the Pasadena Playhouse is, I kid you not, Vanities by Jack Heifner and David Kirshenbaum this August. It's being discussed as a pre-Broadway run with Judith Ivey directing.
unlike you,
i have seen this show and it was one of the most moving shows i have ever seen. It's cast is outstanding and the music is just plain awsome. So the next time you choose to judge something, you might want to not judge it before you've even seen it, and actually that is what the show is partly about.
its not
'gag.'
Thanks Anonymous. Duly admonished. I have to admit that I'm just tired of film after film being retrofitted for stage musical adaptations.
Whatever you think of the musical, it doesn't have a pit band. Instead it has one synthesizer that simulates several instrments. This is a very troubling development for musical theatre.
Despite one internet post to the contrary, the show does have a live 7 piece band (I was there last night in person and verified it with my own eyes).
While the show has not taken favor with critics, it is definitely an audience pleaser. While the late 70's rock score is not varied enough and the book needs work, the creators of the musical manage to greatly entertain the audiences and pull at their heartstrings. A sterling ensemble headed by Michelle Duffy as Rusty and Allen Read as Rocky do a great job of redefining the roles and erasing memories of Cher and Eric Stoltz in the movie. While this show will probably not make it to Broadway due to mostly bad reviews, it could do very well on tour or in regional mountings.
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