Holy Hell!! Went to see Sound of My Voiceand it's AMAZING! Truly, a thinking person's film. Blew my mind and I don't say that lightly. This film is directed by Zal Batmanglij, written by Zal Batmanglij and Brit Marling. I am a HUGE fan of Brit Marling. She also wrote and starred in Another Earth. I LOVE what she's doing for film. Christopher Denham and Nicole Vicius play Peter and Lorna, a couple who infiltrate a group led by Maggie (Brit Marling) to create a documentary on cults but things takes a creepy turn. The couple start to unravel when they begin to question their motives and some of Maggie's rhetoric starts to seep in. Christopher Denham performance crackles electric against Brit Marling's cult leader. And Nicole Vicius as Lorna plays an interesting counterpoint to Maggie and Peter. Go to their website (linked above) and watch the first 12 minutes, I promise you it's intriguing.
I watched Philip Phillips perform "Volcano" last night on American Idol and I wanted to hear Damien Rice’s version. Love…love…love…this song. Now I can’t stop listening to it. So I had to share…of course. I’ve known about this singer since 9 Crimes but it’s been awhile since I’ve listened to his music. Enjoy!
Let me start off this entry by writing-- I get that I had big, billowy, clouds of expectations for Evita. After all, I’ve wanted to see this show since I was 8 years old. When the music began to rise for Requiem for Evita, I had goosebumps from sheer excitement. The big headed man who sat in front of me wouldn’t sit still so I had to perch on the edge of my seat to see the opening number, and the rest of the show for that matter. I also had to resist the urge to hit him in the back of the head with my playbill for a good part of the show. Then Ricky Martin came out and started singing. He has a decent voice and he pulled it off...but he lacked emotional depth for me. He’s a Latin man for goodness sake, emotional depth is in our DNA! Anyway, he reminded me of the kind of Broadway singer that uses jazz hands. He did lots of assertive pointing when he sang, which when I think about it now actually makes me giggle. Having said all that, he was okay for the part of Che. I just wanted more heat and tension between Che and Eva and it just wasn’t there.
Which brings me to my next point, Elena Roger playing the part of Eva was SO disappointing. Ergh! I mean her voice was NOT meant for this part. She sounded like Edith Piaf throughout the show (and not in a good way) as she shouted through the better part of the musical. Roger also hit some really bad notes when she tried to reach those higher octaves. The sound she made actually made me cringe. Believe me, I understand that this is not an easy musical. However, it didn’t help that her very thick accent got in the way of the songs. If I didn’t know almost every song in this show, I would not have understood half of what she sang. I know she’s been working with diction coaches but let’s just say she needs more work. I think her one decent moment was the last song, “Lament” because quite frankly it was the only song she couldn’t shout her way through. *sad sigh*
Just to give you a measuring stick, remember the movie version of Evita with Madonna and how god-awful she was in it...let's just say that Madonna sounded half-way decent in comparison to Elena Roger's shrieking version. Yep, it was that bad!!
And another thing, I think the music director hit the fast forward button during the first act. Quite frankly, some of it was Roger singing ahead of the music. Other times the timing of the music felt almost manic, like they were racing for the intermission. Either way, it went by so fast that there was no time to make those very important connections between characters. Ergh!
What worked
Rachel Potter singing the Mistress song, “Another Suitcase in Another Hallway” was by far the highlight of this production. Her voice was nuanced and beautiful. She absolutely shined in this one moment. Lovely.
The Ensemble was amazing both in voice and in dance. During the seduction scene between Peron and Eva, there were several ensemble members dancing a gorgeous tango. I almost wanted the leads to shut up so I can enjoy the dance sequence. Rob Ashford’s choreography was AMAZING!! Loved it.
Max von Essen was the right amount of charming and smarmy as Magaldi. His voice was ridiculous (in a good way). Wish he was on stage longer.
So here is my confession, I may go see it again when Roger’s understudy performs. Wednesday night or Saturday matinee. I really want to experience this show without a pained expression on my face. Is that wrong? Let's see if I can score some cheap tickets because there is NO way I'm shelling out full price for this show. Anyway, Go! Make some beautiful music. End Scene.
I write and I paint. Then I try to articulate some coherent thoughts about the creative process on this blog. In between those moments of producing work, I take photos, listen to groovy music, watch indie movies, read (a lot), go hear live music (preferably someone that rocks), go to the theater to see a new play from time to time, watch sci-fi movies, and continue to cultivate my curiosity. Then I write about that too.
