Go see the US tour! Chicago Review.
I saw the US tour last night in Chicago and it was AMAZING.
I saw the show twice on Broadway, seeing all the original cast but Zoe and all the original first covers but Jessie. I was really nervous that a new cast the show wouldn't be as good, but they absolutely were.
First, the sound. Admittedly, I had much better seats than I did at the Golden (sat in the absolute back balcony corners both times, either side, and didn't have complaints). While I didn't have complaints about the sound at the Golden, at the CIBC it was so crisp. You could hear every note of the orchestrations. There were a few moments the speaking voices of the actors felt soft, especially Jean, but the singing was incredibly clear. It was just easier to understand every word than I remember at the Golden.
The actual show- I felt like maybe a few lines weren't said, but I can't remember what now. I don't know if that's because it is super early in the tour and they were literally forgotten, or if they were changed. There was at least one audible slip on a line, where he said the word and then changed it to another, but everyone is human, no problem. Two hats were dropped and recovered fine. The cast did this show so well.
I felt like the music for Dear Bill and Useful was rushed, to the point where I wondered if they were trying to make the show shorter. At the stage door, the actor for Hester told me he asked for the quicker pacing as he feels it is more how one would dictate a letter, and some other things on why he thinks it fits the character. It was clear that he'd given a ton of thought to the character. The pace lessened the emotional impact of both songs to me, but the women I sat next to both couldn't stop talking about Dear Bill and had no prior knowledge of the show, so it clearly still works at that pace. The audience had an audible drawing of breath when he said Tom.
What I think I liked the best of the show was how much the cast made the characters their own, versus playing the ones the original cast established.
(For the next part, sorry I don't have the actors named, my playbill is in my luggage. It was the main tour cast, no covers.)
For me this worked the absolute best for Charles. This was my absolute favorite Charles yet. He plays the character as though this is the normal, but slightly goofy guy in the office. I didn't feel like I was watching a character, but a sympathetic person. It made me really want to root for him. His Tub was also excellent, though less of a change, just more confident, because Charles wasn't as much of a character. But the immediate change from Tub to Charles was phenomenal work! 5/5 for me.
Monty has to be the hottest (visually) role on broadway. Man, no matter who plays him, when Monty is on stage he is so attractive. The actress did a phenomenal job. Her vocals were absolutely outstanding, she hit the comedy well. She didn't do the insane deep growly voice that Tash did (though I don't recall Gerianne doing it much either), but would occasionally hit a deep register for emphasis. And she galloped like a very normal person would :). Can I give her a 7 out of 5?
Bevan was likewise an insanely strong performance. Both Bevan and Hassleton (?) were perfect for me. Ian Fleming didn't come off as strong at the beginning, a few people I heard say they didn't realize he was supposed to be the "James Bond Guy" until the end, where really, I think she added more swagger to him at the end. But the big gun line got a ton of laughs. 5/5.
Jean was not quite as strong as the others for me. Her vocals in all the ladies got lost under the rest and her lines were the ones I was most often not quite sure what she said. That might be a mic issue and not a performance issue, I'm not sure. Her Steve was funny though. 4/5
Audience wise, there was a ton of laughter. People seemed really into the jokes. No applause on the fascist line, no response on the MAGA line.
For me the heart wrenching moment of the show was when they slipped into their own accents for the final moments and sang Sail On Boys. While that song was vocally probably the weakest during the show, the harmonies at the end of the finale were to die for, and brought me to tears (though I heard one whisper of "who are they supposed to be now", so I'm not sure the vision of being themselves is understood, but knowing it is there, there was a visible change in posture and expression from all of them. It's amazing how these actors can completely change who they "are" so quickly.)
Hopefully I will get to see it again in Texas, but it's a long drive!