Man of La Mancha
Fri, 3 Aug 2001, 12:03 amToby12 posts in thread
Man of La Mancha
Fri, 3 Aug 2001, 12:03 amI'm not really sure where this post will lead, as I have a large number of ideas and arguments racing around in my head.
I went into Man of La Mancha somewhat hopeful - I knew that the score and script were strong, and that the director, Joe McCabe, was quite experienced with and enthusiastic over said script and score.
I emerged disappointed and confused - I was baffled over some of the choices made, but more importantly, I was astonished that such a wonderful story could be so mercilessly butchered by little more than what seemed almost exactly the WRONG venue for such a show. I am expecting protests and complaints, but if you want to send them, email them to me and I will respond in kind. I think the Old Mill is a nice little theatre - and I can see how many of the melodrama-style plays displayed in the foyer from over the years might have succeeded so well in there. It is a cosy, intimate space, and would be perfect for such things as Stoppard for example. I would LOVE to see 'The Real inspector Hound' or 'After Magritte' in that space!!
However. By putting on a show like 'Man of La Mancha' in such a small space, the action is cramped into tiny, convoluted groups on the stage, and such things as fight scenes (I was LONGING for an Andy Fraser touch in the few very poor fight scenes there were) were so limited by space they might as well have not happened, for the effectiveness of it all. Worst of all, however, was the fact that space limitations forced the elimination of an orchestra of any kind, and not only were they not replaced with an almost-passable piano backing, but became a tinny, horrible 'porn-film-sounding' tape of a dodgy old casio keyboard. Often levels of the casio were too high for the actors to sing over, and to make matters worse, the audience was cruelly teased with two instances of the Broadway cast recording underscoring the action. This turned what might have been a nice show into a bit of a mess.
Of the show - there were some bright spots - Hywel Williams was, as always, very strong as Don Quixote, and Danny Ellefsen was an entertaining and refreshing Sancho. The girl playing Dulcinea was in well over her head, and although she was just recovering from Laryngitis (so the grapevine told me after the show) she looked petrified at taking on such a gutsy role. The chorus were enthusiastic and took on their few opportunities with a gusto that is sadly rare in many choruses. However, strengths were overshadowed by such problems as shaky lighting, dodgy sound, and a curtain call that gave me a real giggle - which I don't think was the intention.
Look - I feel bad about saying so many negative things about the show, but I also feel that if this cast had have put on the same show at, say, the Quarry, or even Hackett Hall (as small as THAT is, Playlovers generally have strong MDs with strong orchestras behind them), with a full orchestra, they may have given 'Man of La Mancha a little more of a shake. The question I want to raise, however, is that of suitable spaces. I am not really interested in getting bagged about "you'rewrongIthoughttheshowwasbrilliantkeepyouropinionstoyourselfwearen'tinthisbusinesstogetcriticisedyouknow" (I believe I did read a ssimilar comment in a review reply last year!!) - by all means, I am interested to hear what others think, and of course am inviting extra opinions. I feel that the Old Mill bit off more than they could chew with 'MOLM', and am apprehensive about what they will do with 'A Chorus Line' in similar circumstances. Another rumour I hear is that a grant has fecilitated renovations, meaning that a pit will be added for a future opera season. Forgive my skepticism, but having seen 'play with music' have such trouble in such limited facilities, I must admit I have doubts.
I just feel that if you try to jam a square peg into a circular hole you will have greater trouble than if you realise that circular pegs are the ones you are after - and from the Old Mill's durability in drawing room drama (from what I gather by the foyer ads) - I imagine that they have found a nice niche doing the things that the theatre is best suited for. Trying to produce large musicals in a space smaller than my very tiny flat's very tiny lounge room seems like an avoidable folly. And while I am not saying that the Old Mill should not attempt diversification - I am sure that the company has done musical theatre in the past and will again - I would suggest (if $ allow, and the way theatre is these day, I doubt they will, but it's nice to pontificate) looking into what other companies regularly do - look for a larger venue for a single show, more suited to the show you have chosen. You couldn't do 'Guys and Dolls' in the Blue Room but you could conceivably try 'the Fantasticks' in there - it's just a matter of realising what you have to play with and being realistic, or it might reflect poorly.
This might sound insincere - (it's not) - but I do wish the cast and crew the best for the rest of the season. As I have said, I have a feeling that the problems came partly from infrastructure, and there was some enjoyable signs. I like Joe McCabe - he is a sincere guy and has a lot of talent and enthusiasm for what he does. I am just wishing he had have put it on in the carpark outside, even, with even a tiny orchestra, because I think those little touches might really have given 'Man of La Mancha' the grunt it needed.
Yours, expecting backlash, controversy and a minimum of abuse,
Toby
I went into Man of La Mancha somewhat hopeful - I knew that the score and script were strong, and that the director, Joe McCabe, was quite experienced with and enthusiastic over said script and score.
I emerged disappointed and confused - I was baffled over some of the choices made, but more importantly, I was astonished that such a wonderful story could be so mercilessly butchered by little more than what seemed almost exactly the WRONG venue for such a show. I am expecting protests and complaints, but if you want to send them, email them to me and I will respond in kind. I think the Old Mill is a nice little theatre - and I can see how many of the melodrama-style plays displayed in the foyer from over the years might have succeeded so well in there. It is a cosy, intimate space, and would be perfect for such things as Stoppard for example. I would LOVE to see 'The Real inspector Hound' or 'After Magritte' in that space!!
However. By putting on a show like 'Man of La Mancha' in such a small space, the action is cramped into tiny, convoluted groups on the stage, and such things as fight scenes (I was LONGING for an Andy Fraser touch in the few very poor fight scenes there were) were so limited by space they might as well have not happened, for the effectiveness of it all. Worst of all, however, was the fact that space limitations forced the elimination of an orchestra of any kind, and not only were they not replaced with an almost-passable piano backing, but became a tinny, horrible 'porn-film-sounding' tape of a dodgy old casio keyboard. Often levels of the casio were too high for the actors to sing over, and to make matters worse, the audience was cruelly teased with two instances of the Broadway cast recording underscoring the action. This turned what might have been a nice show into a bit of a mess.
Of the show - there were some bright spots - Hywel Williams was, as always, very strong as Don Quixote, and Danny Ellefsen was an entertaining and refreshing Sancho. The girl playing Dulcinea was in well over her head, and although she was just recovering from Laryngitis (so the grapevine told me after the show) she looked petrified at taking on such a gutsy role. The chorus were enthusiastic and took on their few opportunities with a gusto that is sadly rare in many choruses. However, strengths were overshadowed by such problems as shaky lighting, dodgy sound, and a curtain call that gave me a real giggle - which I don't think was the intention.
Look - I feel bad about saying so many negative things about the show, but I also feel that if this cast had have put on the same show at, say, the Quarry, or even Hackett Hall (as small as THAT is, Playlovers generally have strong MDs with strong orchestras behind them), with a full orchestra, they may have given 'Man of La Mancha a little more of a shake. The question I want to raise, however, is that of suitable spaces. I am not really interested in getting bagged about "you'rewrongIthoughttheshowwasbrilliantkeepyouropinionstoyourselfwearen'tinthisbusinesstogetcriticisedyouknow" (I believe I did read a ssimilar comment in a review reply last year!!) - by all means, I am interested to hear what others think, and of course am inviting extra opinions. I feel that the Old Mill bit off more than they could chew with 'MOLM', and am apprehensive about what they will do with 'A Chorus Line' in similar circumstances. Another rumour I hear is that a grant has fecilitated renovations, meaning that a pit will be added for a future opera season. Forgive my skepticism, but having seen 'play with music' have such trouble in such limited facilities, I must admit I have doubts.
I just feel that if you try to jam a square peg into a circular hole you will have greater trouble than if you realise that circular pegs are the ones you are after - and from the Old Mill's durability in drawing room drama (from what I gather by the foyer ads) - I imagine that they have found a nice niche doing the things that the theatre is best suited for. Trying to produce large musicals in a space smaller than my very tiny flat's very tiny lounge room seems like an avoidable folly. And while I am not saying that the Old Mill should not attempt diversification - I am sure that the company has done musical theatre in the past and will again - I would suggest (if $ allow, and the way theatre is these day, I doubt they will, but it's nice to pontificate) looking into what other companies regularly do - look for a larger venue for a single show, more suited to the show you have chosen. You couldn't do 'Guys and Dolls' in the Blue Room but you could conceivably try 'the Fantasticks' in there - it's just a matter of realising what you have to play with and being realistic, or it might reflect poorly.
This might sound insincere - (it's not) - but I do wish the cast and crew the best for the rest of the season. As I have said, I have a feeling that the problems came partly from infrastructure, and there was some enjoyable signs. I like Joe McCabe - he is a sincere guy and has a lot of talent and enthusiasm for what he does. I am just wishing he had have put it on in the carpark outside, even, with even a tiny orchestra, because I think those little touches might really have given 'Man of La Mancha' the grunt it needed.
Yours, expecting backlash, controversy and a minimum of abuse,
Toby
RE: Man of La Mancha
Sun, 12 Aug 2001, 01:36 pmI saw MOLM last night (closing night) and enjoyed it. Yes there was the odd hitch but I thought the staging was great especially the stairs being raised and lowered. Loved the horses and the chess moves. I was a little surprised at how many of the lines were delivered with the actors back to the audience but I had no trouble hearing them. I was a little disapionted with the music or rather the sound of the music. I know the person who produced the backing music and I heard it before it was handed over. What I heard in the theatre was not what I heard on the original tapes. My understanding is that Old Mill wanted authentic music to add to the flavour and atmosphere of the show. By authentic I mean guitar, bass, percussion, brass and winds. Not a piano belting its way through the whole score which would have gotten very boring esp. in the Moors scene. The music needs that Spanish guitar flavour to make it come alive. It also really helps place MOLM geographically. What I originally heard sounded beautifully authentic. It was produced on state of the art equipment (not a Casio, who actually do produce some pretty good gear) by a professional musician and sounded like a live, talented group doing justice to the musical intent of the composer.
So why did it end up sounding crushed and tinny? My theory is this: The music was handed over on cassette after Old Mill had declined the offer the have it burnt to CD professionally (probably a financial choice). I think somebody then did burn it on to CD on a home computer but did a particularly poor job. A variety of factors could have been involved such as the qualtiy of the burnig software and hardware, the quality of the tape deck used and the sampling rate chosen. Two crucial areas would have been the level used when recording the music as wave files (digital recording is terminaly unforgiving about peak levels) and the quality of the analogue/digital converter used (even if you get everything else right, if you have a crappy A/D converter the end product will sound bad). Another factor is the sound system in the theatre. Was it set up correctly? Was it properly tuned to the room? Even a factory produced CD will sound like crap if a sound systems EQ is poorly handled. (To prove this point here is an excersise you can do if your home stereo has a graphic equaliser. Put your fave CD on. Now push the middle EQ slider, usually 1K, all the way up and pull all the other sliders all the way down. Hey presto! Your $$$$ home stereo now sounds like a $20 transister radio!). So there you have it. It is a pity it turned out the way it did because every one who saw the show missed out on hearing some glorious music in its true form. Another comment I have read about the music concerns the balance between music and singer. This problem can be easily solved by having someone ride the volume of the music so it balances with the singer.
The remaining point to cover is the 'live music vs recorded' question. In amatuer theatre the funds do not exist to employ professional musicians so the options are: find musicians capable of doing the job who are willing to do it gratis (very rare), find a pianist capable of playing the entire score who is willing to do it gratis or at least very cheaply (not so rare) or find someone who is willing and talented enough to create prerecorded backing tape gratis or reasonably cheaply. Now in the Old Mill theatre there is just not enough room the place a live group of musicians. There is maybe enough room to squeeze in a piano and player but this is not what they wanted. They wanted the real deal so they opted for the prerecorded backing. I have seen productions where they do have a pit and do put an amatuer orchestra together. On the whole they sound bad, wrong notes abound and nothing destroys a mood faster than squeaks from inexperienced wind players. With taped backing you get a perfect performance every night but you do give up an element of flexability. I have experienced both great and not great shows with both live and recorded backing. I guess it all comes down to money and taste. One of the bestcompromised I herad was Roleystone Theatre's "Me and My Girl" It used a combination of prerecorded and live and worked brilliantly. The music was so well created that most of the audience were convinced that a 30 piece orchestra was in the pit especially when the overture started. I guess the lesson to draw form all this is, if you are going to get someone to create backing music don't stint when burning it to CD and get someone who really knows what they are doing to set up (and preferably operate) the sound system.
One final thing, I have not mentioned the musicians name as I do not want their reputation effected by any of this. I have used a pen name so that this person will not be identified through me.
So why did it end up sounding crushed and tinny? My theory is this: The music was handed over on cassette after Old Mill had declined the offer the have it burnt to CD professionally (probably a financial choice). I think somebody then did burn it on to CD on a home computer but did a particularly poor job. A variety of factors could have been involved such as the qualtiy of the burnig software and hardware, the quality of the tape deck used and the sampling rate chosen. Two crucial areas would have been the level used when recording the music as wave files (digital recording is terminaly unforgiving about peak levels) and the quality of the analogue/digital converter used (even if you get everything else right, if you have a crappy A/D converter the end product will sound bad). Another factor is the sound system in the theatre. Was it set up correctly? Was it properly tuned to the room? Even a factory produced CD will sound like crap if a sound systems EQ is poorly handled. (To prove this point here is an excersise you can do if your home stereo has a graphic equaliser. Put your fave CD on. Now push the middle EQ slider, usually 1K, all the way up and pull all the other sliders all the way down. Hey presto! Your $$$$ home stereo now sounds like a $20 transister radio!). So there you have it. It is a pity it turned out the way it did because every one who saw the show missed out on hearing some glorious music in its true form. Another comment I have read about the music concerns the balance between music and singer. This problem can be easily solved by having someone ride the volume of the music so it balances with the singer.
The remaining point to cover is the 'live music vs recorded' question. In amatuer theatre the funds do not exist to employ professional musicians so the options are: find musicians capable of doing the job who are willing to do it gratis (very rare), find a pianist capable of playing the entire score who is willing to do it gratis or at least very cheaply (not so rare) or find someone who is willing and talented enough to create prerecorded backing tape gratis or reasonably cheaply. Now in the Old Mill theatre there is just not enough room the place a live group of musicians. There is maybe enough room to squeeze in a piano and player but this is not what they wanted. They wanted the real deal so they opted for the prerecorded backing. I have seen productions where they do have a pit and do put an amatuer orchestra together. On the whole they sound bad, wrong notes abound and nothing destroys a mood faster than squeaks from inexperienced wind players. With taped backing you get a perfect performance every night but you do give up an element of flexability. I have experienced both great and not great shows with both live and recorded backing. I guess it all comes down to money and taste. One of the bestcompromised I herad was Roleystone Theatre's "Me and My Girl" It used a combination of prerecorded and live and worked brilliantly. The music was so well created that most of the audience were convinced that a 30 piece orchestra was in the pit especially when the overture started. I guess the lesson to draw form all this is, if you are going to get someone to create backing music don't stint when burning it to CD and get someone who really knows what they are doing to set up (and preferably operate) the sound system.
One final thing, I have not mentioned the musicians name as I do not want their reputation effected by any of this. I have used a pen name so that this person will not be identified through me.
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