Thankfully, Wilder's story of Our Town can even overcome out of kilter staging and unusual directing notes and even miscasting.
Paul Newman? Yes, he's alright but lacks nearly any sort of personality. The lines that could provide him with sympathy or any form of engagement with the audience are delivered very dryly, with little if any humanity.
The casting? Strange, I think. Both of Emily's parents are quite a bit older than one would expect from a teenager. Gosh, in the 1899 flashback, her father looks like some dodgy 70 year old, and even Jane Curtin is too old to be a teenager's mother.
The script? I fail to see why the producer, director, &/or actors felt compelled to change the script. No, there no major changes, but why change at all? It is certainly not needed, and rather presumptuous.
Similarly, the cemetery scene in Act III is staged rather counter to Wilder's instructions. The dead in that scene seems more like they are waiting for a train than waiting for eternity, and more like a coffee klatch than dead. And they move about quite vigorously in their chairs. I expected a better adherence to Wilder's instructions.
And, when she first appears in Act III, Emily is rather blase. A better staging would be for Emily to show a bit of sorrow, a bit of loss, and a bit of wonder. Instead, it seems to me that Emily is just joining the queue for the train, which will be along any minute now. Just another day.
No, this staging is not bad, but I would have expected much much better from a professional production like this. This production is just mediocre.
Paul Newman? Yes, he's alright but lacks nearly any sort of personality. The lines that could provide him with sympathy or any form of engagement with the audience are delivered very dryly, with little if any humanity.
The casting? Strange, I think. Both of Emily's parents are quite a bit older than one would expect from a teenager. Gosh, in the 1899 flashback, her father looks like some dodgy 70 year old, and even Jane Curtin is too old to be a teenager's mother.
The script? I fail to see why the producer, director, &/or actors felt compelled to change the script. No, there no major changes, but why change at all? It is certainly not needed, and rather presumptuous.
Similarly, the cemetery scene in Act III is staged rather counter to Wilder's instructions. The dead in that scene seems more like they are waiting for a train than waiting for eternity, and more like a coffee klatch than dead. And they move about quite vigorously in their chairs. I expected a better adherence to Wilder's instructions.
And, when she first appears in Act III, Emily is rather blase. A better staging would be for Emily to show a bit of sorrow, a bit of loss, and a bit of wonder. Instead, it seems to me that Emily is just joining the queue for the train, which will be along any minute now. Just another day.
No, this staging is not bad, but I would have expected much much better from a professional production like this. This production is just mediocre.