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 A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC November 2009 MOT at its best The best show I've ever seen at MOT! It made you happy, sad, mad all in one act. The cast was amazing — everyone displayed such great talent! The servants moved the furniture so elegantly and gracefully like it was choreography (which was a cool idea), Ms. Uggams and Mr. Raines were great, Henrick was the best, I still can't get Petra's "The Miller's Son" out of my head, and bravo, Ms. Steinbach! Lisa, who played Charlotte, was the best out of the whole show. The count was a great actor, Jennifer as Anne played the character well, and the Greek Chorus was great but the tall baritone looked confused on the choreography. Ms. Dona D. Vaughn: they need you to do the show on Broad way!!! In my opinion they should move this whole company to Broadway. MOT is having a great season so far! I also see that broadwayworld.com agree with me — 5 out of 5 stars!
Must see Extraordinary staging and costuming, and a talented cast. Delightfully naughty Sondheim production, highlighted by Ms. Uggams' captivating characterization of Desiree and a memorable "Send In the Clowns." Choreography was well executed and standouts in the cast included Vroman, Petrus, Watts, DeFelice and Steinbach. Scenes moved like clock-work as we were transported back into the past. A definite must-see performance.
MOT at its worst This was the most boring piece of theatre I've ever seen. All the opera productions I have been to in the last three years far outshone this. What was MOT thinking? I left at intermission — not willing to sit through more boredom to get to the hit song.
Great show, poor acoustics It was a great show; a pity that the critic needed to confine praise to the best show SEEN at the MOT. What about the music that should have been HEARD? On Saturday we had to suffer through the first half with poor acoustics which were corrected after I brought the problem to the attention of the sound manager during intermission. I had previously complained to the ushers at the beginning when we were unable to distinguish the words of David DiChiera at the start. They assured me they would get the message through to someone who would correct it. Has the economic situation forced the MOT to forego dress rehearsals or have the usual high standards been lowered so far that nobody checks out the sound quality during performances?
Horrible sound I attended this performance on Wed., Nov 18. Seated in first row center of Trustees Circle, total cost $111. The sound was horrible... echoes, indistinct, unintelligible. The people around me experienced/expressed a similar reaction and several decided to leave after the first act. I have tickets for Tosca and Don G. and wonder if the same fate awaits me. If so, this is the end for me and MOT... I have attended operas for ten years and never had this before. Deplorable.
Mediocre Go back to Opera! You took one of my favorite plays and gave us a mediocre production. I hated the costumes — looked like a Girl Scout tie-dye project gone amok! I liked the sets and the Count. The sound was really spotty — you need a better system if you are going to use mikes and maybe a better sound engineer. I loved the production of Nabucco and look forward to the Spring productions.
Superb and unforgettable While I agree that there were a few aural hiccups with microphones — but only the intelligibility of the Chorus of lovers suffered. As for Sondheim's original music, the staging, and the performances (Uggams and Rider being standouts), there is not a complaint to be had. This is a funny, moving, and fast paced piece of musical theater. And the deft lyrics and orchestrations put the overblown bombast of popular shows like Phantom and Wicked to shame. I've seen a Sweeney Todd production which had strengths and weakness, and now I've seen a superb Night Music. Count me in the Sondheim camp. "Send in the Clowns" and "the Miller's Son" are amazing and I will never forget the renditions that I heard last evening. Bravo!
Primitive sound system I attended the 11/18 performance. I am appalled management provided such a primitive sound system. The performers and the audience deserved far better technology. In a different economic climate I would propose full ticket refunds. Certainly apologies are in order for all.
Opera Talk was better than the show Disappointed THIS TIME with "A Little Night Music" — the Choice. The Sound — garbled. Had I not gone to the talk, I would have been totally in a fog. THE TALKS ARE FABULOUS!!! SO TERRIFIC!!!!! LOVE THEM!! I'm still going to attend MOT — I'm not "giving up" just because of one. :-)
Big and gorgeous A Little Night Music — nothing "little" about it. Gorgeous voices, gorgeous people, gorgeous costumes, mammoth sets with two cars on stage, and BIG acting skills! Any voice in this cast could have led a cast on Broadway (and at least one was Phantom's Christine on Broadway and on tour). Except for traffic on 75, this made for a perfect night out. Thanks, MOT!
Not one to miss Fantastic! Seemed like a whole new play! Every part performed wonderfully! So glad I didn't miss it.
Sound crew let us down We attended the performance on Sat 11/21, and have some complaints regarding the sound crew. We were seated in row x center and no one was seated in the rows between us and the sound booth. The window to the sound booth was open and the sound technicians were talking loudly all the way through the performance and were so distracting that it was hard to concentrate on what was going on on the stage. Apparently they just turned the sound on and let it run while they socialized. The volume was way too loud even way back there, and was uneven. The quintet were louder than the principals and we actually cringed on some of the notes. At times the mikes sounded scratchy and garbled. Even amateur sound technicians at festivals do a far better job than that. I don't think that this is the usual sound crew, since we haven't noticed this problem in the past and we have had these same seats since the Opera House opened, but audiences do deserve a professional sound crew in exchange for their paid tickets.
Superb singing, acting A fabulous show. The music was gorgeous and the singing and the acting were fabulous. Despite a few glitches with the sound system, the evening was superb.
Annoying I just returned from the final performance of this musical... I'm really annoyed that the sound problems continued even today. Yes, right from David's opening remarks through the final scene only a few words were discernible. I've been a season subscriber for 10 years and this is the first time this has happened. Not a good thing for enticing me to subscribe again next year. This is not in keeping with past standards and if it was known ahead of time that the facility could not properly deliver this selection, it should have been canceled. Now you have disgruntled people who are questioning spending their money for tickets.
Couldn't hear a word Very pretty venue and a cute performance. We left at intermission. Please, please correct your sound system. We had excellent seats but my son (20) and I could not hear a word!! I was very disappointed and would like my money back but maybe you need it more than I.
Thoroughly enjoyable We thoroughly enjoyed the production and the evening. I was using a hearing assist device and the only problem I had was that the audio was not set so that I could not hear some of the dialog. That may have contributed to the comments of others about poor sound quality.
Sound trouble continued Why, after poor reviews of sound microphone on Wednesday, was there still trouble with sound amplification at Sunday's performance?
My expectations were dashed I left at intermission - I could not sit through another half of what seemed like people going through the motions - no chemistry except for the coloratura. I saw Ron Raines in Merry Widow and had great expectations - all dashed. Pathetic to say that the highlight was a semi strip tease in the first act. And yes then there were the costumes. What were they thinking? I drive two hours for my big night at the opera and often bring music students with me - please don't mess with our high and usually-met expectations like this again.
Subtitles woujd have helped The hard part about operas in English is that there are no subtitles, when really they are always a good thing to have. It was difficult to understand the sung words and although I could follow what was happening, the performance would have been enhanced by better sound quality.
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Photos by John Grigaitis |
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