They wouldn't allow photography during Em's musical. Annie Get Your Gun, not my favorite material. Irving Berlin tunes are fine in the hands of Bill Evans or Sonny Rollins, but in their native habitat they don't do much for me. The production was good, the choice of material turned me off.
Em impressed me by how animated she was. She settled for a chorus part again, but she was way into it. I thought of an interview I heard where John Reilly, the character actor, talked about how his first lead roll wasn't really a switch because he approaches all his rolls as if they were the lead. Nobody thinks they are the supporting cast for someone else, everyone is the lead in their own life story.
And Old Fashioned Wedding was great with the counterpoint. Two strong vocals, simultaneous and conflicting, with emphasis shifting from one to the other. Very impressive.
The material is valid as a document of where society was at the end of World War II. But I'd be fine with abandoning it.
Sweeney Todd is supposedly edgy, but at least it's not blatantly bigoted. Imagine my surprise when Em told me they'd cut parts of Annie Get Your Gun out because they were offensive.
More offensive than the Indians destroying the upholstery to harvest springs as bracelets and hanging their laundry on the train's emergency brake? More offensive than a woman being unable to attract a suitable mate if she's good at something besides swooning and/or spreading her legs? The whole story is based on stereotypes about gender and race, and that's the expurgated version.
I don't mean to suggest I didn't enjoy the musical, it was well done. And Mo was enthralled, so that was a plus.
I hope next year they do Rent, Hairspray, or Spamalot or something that's offensive in less offensive ways. Maybe with a little luck, we can bait the Phelps' clan in from Topeka for an old fashioned protest.
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