Show: Hair
Date: 3/15/09
Type: Video
Cast: Gavin Creel, Will Swenson, Caissie Levy, Sasha Allen, Allison Case, Andrew Kober, Megan Lawrence, Darius Nichols, Bryce Ryness, Kacie Sheik
I love this video! I love this show! The cast is amazing, they all have such great chemistry. Gavin is totally amazing vocally, and that kind of makes you forget how he's like 15 years older than the character. I'd say the song I thought he was the best in was Flesh Failures. In some recordings that have been more recent I thought his voice sounds not quite as good, but here it is SO good. Will's acting is amazing, especially his opening scene with the audience, he's so good at getting the audience to connect. His voice is great in the songs, but it almost seems less important than the acting the way he does it. I must say, I don't like the character of Berger all too much. His personality is fine in the first act, with the exception of the Easy to Be Hard scene. But in Act 2, it just seems like too much. Sasha Allen's voice is absolutely killer, but I don't feel like she really get's any of a chance to act. It's like a line here or there, but mostly you just get her singing. Allison Case is as cute as you may have heard, but she's not amazing. I find her voice to be quite nice, but her acting and facial expressions sometimes seem a little off-a little too much-not quite there. Katie Kiyan, on the other hand gets it right in her track. (I saw her as Crissy, which was a little too toned-down for my liking) Katie's great with her expressions, I absolutely loved her line in Walking in Space, and her line in the trip sequence was excellent. Kober is, well, Koberrific. I mean really, he's just great. I can't say he's terribly noticeable as Lancaster on my tiny ipod screen, but he's hilarious as the dad and Margaret Mead. It's really amusing to see him in the I Got Life scene, trying to be Gavin's dad. Megan Lawrence as the mom is hilarious, but as Buddhawhatever is just good. I love how Megan's mom voice is, you can definitely see a mom having that kind of voice. But I liked Allison Guinn's Buddhawhatever when I saw her more, not that Megan's isn't good just Allison did this crazy creepy head movement and it's hilarious. So Darius is pretty much amazing, he just has a great voice and really good stage-presence, which brings us to Caissie, also amazing. Caissie is completely believable as Sheila, like I actually feel bad for her at some times. She makes you want to be on her side, even if you're not. And she has this very strong voice, yet she fits into the choruses so well. I find Bryce Ryness playing Woof so interesting because Woof is supposed to be small, young and innocent. But I love how Bryce works what he's got. He's quite tall, and when he stands on stage he stands out quite a bit. He doesn't have to work for your attention when it's time to notice him. His Mick Jagger scene is totally hilarious "OFF OF MY LOVE!" Kacie Sheik is absolutely incredible. Whoever made the Broadway Secret awhile back about how she looks like Taylor Swift should be shot. Kacie blows Taylor, actually almost every blonde out of the water. Her voice is impossibly gorgeous. If you ever try to sing along with her you will fail miserably, because it's so hard to compare. Her acting is so wonderful. Almost everything she says is upbeat and charming, especially her scene after Air. I played that scene a few times because I honestly was so taken by it. You may hear/have heard people say that it's impossible to take your eyes off of Allison. I agree, if you substitute Jackie for Allison. Jackie really commands your attention, even on my little screen. Partly because, she's absolutely gorgeous. Also because she has this look, it's not an expression per se. Just a really fierce look, that you're interested. The group numbers are really the best in this show, not to say that the solos aren't good too of course. I'd say the absolute best would be 3-5-0-0. This is also the number that I found Allison to be truly great in. The whole cast is in a line at the front of the stage, but she's moving so much in her spot. She offers so much energy that the song has. Hair is such a wonderful song, but the effect is really dimished because the filmer has to hide the camera when the cast came into the audience. I know many people talk about how much they cry, but I can't seem to muster up tears when watching this. And I couldn't seem to cry when I saw it live either. I think the main reason for this is that the 2nd act is quite confusing and it's hard to comprehend, process, and cry. At the very least, the emotion exuted by the cast helps you feel it too.
No comments:
Post a Comment