What a disaster. They took the fascinating character of Grace O'Malley and made her into a simpering Disney princess:dead mother, lots of hair, little-girl belter voice, "spunky" and tomboyish -- what a bore. Stephanie Block looks and acts just about as Irish as Barbra Streisand does. The problem with casting shows like this is that you have to find a leading lady with such pipes of steel, you can't look for someone who can act AND sing. Ms.Block has an AMAZING voice. But she can't overcome the one-dimensional, totally cliched character she's being forced to play.
The writers also ruined the historical Queen Elizabeth, totally undercutting all the mystique of her regal majesty they've spent two numbers establishing and giving her a dreadful, treacly second act duet with Grace wherein she reveals that her childless, unmarried life is "nothing." OH, PLEASE. Exactly whose sexist fantasy is this, anyway? We're talking about Queen Elizabeth here!!
This show was a massive disappointment. It should have been dark and savage and wild and thrilling but it was tame, dull, overwrought, cliched and embarrassingly corny. All the dramatic and musical devices they rely on here were already wrung dry in "Les Miz."
The cast gives it their energetic all, but honestly... this ship is bound to sink, or American audiences are bigger suckers than I thought.
Saw It On Broadway 3/12/07
What a disaster. They took the fascinating character of Grace O'Malley and made her into a simpering Disney princess:dead mother, lots of hair, little-girl belter voice, "spunky" and tomboyish -- what a bore. Stephanie Block looks and acts just about as Irish as Barbra Streisand does. The problem with casting shows like this is that you have to find a leading lady with such pipes of steel, you can't look for someone who can act AND sing. Ms.Block has an AMAZING voice. But she can't overcome the one-dimensional, totally cliched character she's being forced to play.
The writers also ruined the historical Queen Elizabeth, totally undercutting all the mystique of her regal majesty they've spent two numbers establishing and giving her a dreadful, treacly second act duet with Grace wherein she reveals that her childless, unmarried life is "nothing." OH, PLEASE. Exactly whose sexist fantasy is this, anyway? We're talking about Queen Elizabeth here!!
This show was a massive disappointment. It should have been dark and savage and wild and thrilling but it was tame, dull, overwrought, cliched and embarrassingly corny. All the dramatic and musical devices they rely on here were already wrung dry in "Les Miz."
The cast gives it their energetic all, but honestly... this ship is bound to sink, or American audiences are bigger suckers than I thought.