Aaron's Thoughts
One of my favorite things about musicals is how there is always so much to take in at any given moment. Even if there is one place the director wants you to look, there are so many places your eyes can wander. If you aren’t locked in or interested in the character singing, you always have the option to watch the background choreography or watch how another character is reacting to the song.
It’s why I can’t stand when a musical proshot takes that option away from the audience. They try so hard to make it seem cinematic with the constant cutting & close ups that you lose the magic of the original show. If the goal was to just make a movie, they would just make a movie (see the recent examples of Mean Girls the musical, Dear Evan Hansen, etc.)! So why try to make the stage show something it isn’t? It loses the magic of the stage show when you are told where to look instead letting you choose where you look.
It’s what pro shots of “The Phantom of the Opera” 25th Anniversary, “Hamilton”, and the London production of “Oklahoma” get so right and what “Waitress” gets so wrong.
All that aside, this show will still always have a special place in my heart. The songs and moments that work, continue to work so so well. I’ve just never gotten over how weak the first 30-45 minutes of the show are (everything up until “When He Sees Me”), but by the time you get to “She Used to Be Mine” it all goes out the window. I also wish the OG Jessie Mueller played Jenna in this, but totally understand the choice for it to be Sara. Glad this exists!
