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Hair Tour Deconstruction... as promised. ^_^ (2/3)
Part 2 of the massive deconstruction that ate my life for two days -- and before you complain about it being short remember that looks can be deceiving. My discussion of Paris Remillard alone took up a whole page of 10 pt single-spaced font. O_O Coming tomorrow: Discussion of Claude/Berger and the dance party. ^_^
And then on to the "Big Three"...
8) Caren Lyn Tacket as Sheila -- Honestly, she didn't leave much of an impression. She has a nice voice and I liked her interpretation of Sheila just fine, but she tended to get a little lost in the shuffle sometimes. Granted, I was mostly focusing on Paris and Steel and Sheila has never been my favorite character, so that could well have played a part in my failing to notice her. ^_^ And man... she is tiny! O_O
9) Steel Burkhardt as Berger -- Oh Steel... you are awesome. ^_^ It would be very easy for Steel to fall into the trap of copying the great Will Swenson. He looks like he could be Will's brother and has a touch of the same "crazy" about him -- just enough that he might even be able to pull of some of Will's... well... "Willisms." ((Yeesh. Can you tell that I've come back to work on this at 11:15 PM? O_O)) Anyway, it would be very easy for him to do it and because it's Steel, it might even work. You know what, though? Major props to Steel... that's not what he does. ^_^ I'm glad he had three months working opposite Gavin in London to grow into the role because boy, oh boy, has it paid off!
Steel's Berger certainly has plenty of crazy left to him. He's wild, he's wacky, he's flamboyant... but he also has a more mature side. This Berger occasionally flirts with responsibility. It was a little odd to see at first, but it fits in with the character nicely. You can clearly see how he takes care of everyone in his little Tribe and how he worries about each and every one of them, from Claude to Woof to Jeanie. They all look up to him and you can see those moments when he's fretting about something happening to one of them -- especially Claude. And his moments with Claude... *_* He and Paris have some unbelievable chemistry together, but I'm not going to expound on that, now. I know I've missed a lot here, but I'm tired and I'm sure![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
zoicite will help fill in the gaps. ^_~
Though I will mention one thing that we noted at the end of Act I and it sort of fits in with what I was saying about Steel's Berger looking out for everyone. At the end of "Where Do I Go?" when the alarms go off and everyone runs off the stage, Woof is wandering around, looking a little lost. Berger walks over, grips his arm and meets his eyes to reassure him. Once he settles, they both nod and finally walk offstage. It was a touching little moment... and it didn't hurt to have a naked Steel and Matt on stage for a little extra time, either. ^_~
OK, one more thing: his opening monologue was pretty fun, too. ^_^ When he first yelled "Hello!" no one answered. He kind of scoffed and then said, "Maybe you didn't hear me. I said, 'Helloooooooooo!'" ^_^ And when he went to go stand up on the end seat, apparently the woman there blocked him from getting up on the seat -- which he naturally ragged her out for, then wheedled her into giving him a hug. But the best part (and man, I hope I didn't create this in my head, but I think I'm remembering correctly...) was with his "mom." If I remember correctly... she slapped his ass. XD And as he walked away he said something to the effect of, "Mommy!" *turns to the audience* "Mommy spanked me!" LMFAO! I do love Steel. ^_^
10) Saving the best for last... Paris Remillard as Claude -- OK, you've heard me expound upon my love for Paris and his Claude, before. I'm not going to repeat it all, because it's nothing new. ^_^ Except... it is. Oh, G-d, it is. *_* When I reviewed Paris as an understudy for Claude, I described him as follows: he was stronger, more of a leader, a little more comfortable in his own skin and... well... straighter, for lack of a better word. (Original review can be found here.) After the first few scenes,zoicite turns to me and says, "Wait... you said he was like, 'straight Claude.' I'm just not seeing it. What were you talking about? He doesn't seem particularly straight to me!" And all I could say in response was, "I know!! *_* *_* He totally doesn't!"
Allow me to explain. After much discussion and mental acrobatics, we thought we figured out what happened and it puts me even more in awe of Paris as an actor. ^_^ First off, he completely reinterpreted the character for the tour. There are elements of his original Claude in there (playing up the brattiness, his underlying strength -- all of that is still there), but what he reinvented was Claude's relationship with Berger. He incorporated some elements of Gavin's Claude in his performance -- notably that there were scenes where he came off a little more lost and broken than he used to -- and he and Steel have some unbelievable chemistry together. Holy. Shit. More on that later, though. The second half of the explanation stems from that, though. Other than this being a new interpretation for Paris, I think Steel had a lot to do with it. As a reality of being an understudy, you can't develop quite as much of a chemistry with your costars as you would if you were in the role every night. You just can't. (The only exception I've ever noted was Gavin and Bryce, but that was because they had a chance to develop some chemistry by being Claude and Woof together. Some of that was bound to translate over.) Anyway, that notable exception aside, Ace and Paris just didn't have that great a chemistry together while Ace and Diana most certainly did. Also, Ace played a straighter Berger than most. Between those two, Paris' Claude, by necessity, came off as straighter because of the lacking chemistry and because Sheila became a more important corner to the triangle as a result.
The other new interpretation was throughout the Act II drug trip. Gavin's Claude took most of that trip in stride and just tried to fit himself into each scene however was appropriate. There were moments in there that he looked confused or lost, but for the most part, he just went with the flow through all of it and that was extremely consistent with how he played Claude for the rest of the show. Gavin's Claude didn't make decisions -- they made him. If something was happening, he generally went along with it, whatever it was, whether he truly wanted to or not. Paris' Claude, like I said, was a little stronger than that. He at least knew who he was, even if he didn't always like himself. And his reaction to the trip was in keeping with that. Paris' Claude did go with the flow of the trip as best he could, but every now and then when something particularly oddball would happen, he'd stop, pull back and look around with this pure look of, "What the flipping fuck? What the hell part of my subconscious did that come from?" on his face. *dies laughing* It was priceless. It was a new way to break down the fourth wall, without being obvious about it, because every one of those moments were the ones where the audience is most likely saying the same thing. :D
|--- Random side note: Paris... OMG, your hair! O_O They didn't just cut it, they shaved it all the fuck off! He's got a true army cut under that wig! O_O He's still adorable, and he totally rocks the short hair cut, but... geez, if you're going to shave off that man's gorgeous mane of hair... at least give him a good wig! The one he was wearing on Saturday looked like a greasy, wet mop died on his head. *sweatdrop*zoicite assured me that Gavin had his share of "wet dog" wigs, too, so I can only hope he'll get a better one as the tour continues, because really... no one should have to see that wig. :-P But something adorable that came out of it? You can totally tell that Paris isn't used to the haircut yet. ^_^ At the end of the first encore (Hair), when he and Steel sing, "Flow it, Show it, Long as G-d can grow it...!" he normally flips his hair around. ...He tried! XD And the look on his face when nothing happened was so damned adorable, I wanted to hug him. He looked shocked for a moment, then pouty, then sheepish. He even looked out at the audience and shrugged, like he was saying, "Oops -- sorry about that." Then he picked up Steel's hair, put his head on Steel's shoulder and draped Steel's hair over his head. *_* Have I mentioned how much I adore this man? He's too cute for his own good! ^_^ ---|
Addendum 12:50 AM -- from Gavin's Twitter...
gavincreel Gavin Creel
dragged it up, opening night PRISCILLA in toronto. bravo to everyone, especially my hippie leader.
21 minutes ago
*just dies* Really, Gavin? Really? *_* So adorable. So much love. It's been almost 5 months (?) since they last did Hair together and Will is still Gavin's hippie leader. *_* Lovelovelove! Is it fair to say that Will will always be the Berger to Gavin's Claude? I think so. ^_^ They make it so easy... they really do. ^_^
Go back to Part 1 | Part 2 | On to Part 3!
And then on to the "Big Three"...
8) Caren Lyn Tacket as Sheila -- Honestly, she didn't leave much of an impression. She has a nice voice and I liked her interpretation of Sheila just fine, but she tended to get a little lost in the shuffle sometimes. Granted, I was mostly focusing on Paris and Steel and Sheila has never been my favorite character, so that could well have played a part in my failing to notice her. ^_^ And man... she is tiny! O_O
9) Steel Burkhardt as Berger -- Oh Steel... you are awesome. ^_^ It would be very easy for Steel to fall into the trap of copying the great Will Swenson. He looks like he could be Will's brother and has a touch of the same "crazy" about him -- just enough that he might even be able to pull of some of Will's... well... "Willisms." ((Yeesh. Can you tell that I've come back to work on this at 11:15 PM? O_O)) Anyway, it would be very easy for him to do it and because it's Steel, it might even work. You know what, though? Major props to Steel... that's not what he does. ^_^ I'm glad he had three months working opposite Gavin in London to grow into the role because boy, oh boy, has it paid off!
Steel's Berger certainly has plenty of crazy left to him. He's wild, he's wacky, he's flamboyant... but he also has a more mature side. This Berger occasionally flirts with responsibility. It was a little odd to see at first, but it fits in with the character nicely. You can clearly see how he takes care of everyone in his little Tribe and how he worries about each and every one of them, from Claude to Woof to Jeanie. They all look up to him and you can see those moments when he's fretting about something happening to one of them -- especially Claude. And his moments with Claude... *_* He and Paris have some unbelievable chemistry together, but I'm not going to expound on that, now. I know I've missed a lot here, but I'm tired and I'm sure
zoicite will help fill in the gaps. ^_~Though I will mention one thing that we noted at the end of Act I and it sort of fits in with what I was saying about Steel's Berger looking out for everyone. At the end of "Where Do I Go?" when the alarms go off and everyone runs off the stage, Woof is wandering around, looking a little lost. Berger walks over, grips his arm and meets his eyes to reassure him. Once he settles, they both nod and finally walk offstage. It was a touching little moment... and it didn't hurt to have a naked Steel and Matt on stage for a little extra time, either. ^_~
OK, one more thing: his opening monologue was pretty fun, too. ^_^ When he first yelled "Hello!" no one answered. He kind of scoffed and then said, "Maybe you didn't hear me. I said, 'Helloooooooooo!'" ^_^ And when he went to go stand up on the end seat, apparently the woman there blocked him from getting up on the seat -- which he naturally ragged her out for, then wheedled her into giving him a hug. But the best part (and man, I hope I didn't create this in my head, but I think I'm remembering correctly...) was with his "mom." If I remember correctly... she slapped his ass. XD And as he walked away he said something to the effect of, "Mommy!" *turns to the audience* "Mommy spanked me!" LMFAO! I do love Steel. ^_^
10) Saving the best for last... Paris Remillard as Claude -- OK, you've heard me expound upon my love for Paris and his Claude, before. I'm not going to repeat it all, because it's nothing new. ^_^ Except... it is. Oh, G-d, it is. *_* When I reviewed Paris as an understudy for Claude, I described him as follows: he was stronger, more of a leader, a little more comfortable in his own skin and... well... straighter, for lack of a better word. (Original review can be found here.) After the first few scenes,
zoicite turns to me and says, "Wait... you said he was like, 'straight Claude.' I'm just not seeing it. What were you talking about? He doesn't seem particularly straight to me!" And all I could say in response was, "I know!! *_* *_* He totally doesn't!"Allow me to explain. After much discussion and mental acrobatics, we thought we figured out what happened and it puts me even more in awe of Paris as an actor. ^_^ First off, he completely reinterpreted the character for the tour. There are elements of his original Claude in there (playing up the brattiness, his underlying strength -- all of that is still there), but what he reinvented was Claude's relationship with Berger. He incorporated some elements of Gavin's Claude in his performance -- notably that there were scenes where he came off a little more lost and broken than he used to -- and he and Steel have some unbelievable chemistry together. Holy. Shit. More on that later, though. The second half of the explanation stems from that, though. Other than this being a new interpretation for Paris, I think Steel had a lot to do with it. As a reality of being an understudy, you can't develop quite as much of a chemistry with your costars as you would if you were in the role every night. You just can't. (The only exception I've ever noted was Gavin and Bryce, but that was because they had a chance to develop some chemistry by being Claude and Woof together. Some of that was bound to translate over.) Anyway, that notable exception aside, Ace and Paris just didn't have that great a chemistry together while Ace and Diana most certainly did. Also, Ace played a straighter Berger than most. Between those two, Paris' Claude, by necessity, came off as straighter because of the lacking chemistry and because Sheila became a more important corner to the triangle as a result.
The other new interpretation was throughout the Act II drug trip. Gavin's Claude took most of that trip in stride and just tried to fit himself into each scene however was appropriate. There were moments in there that he looked confused or lost, but for the most part, he just went with the flow through all of it and that was extremely consistent with how he played Claude for the rest of the show. Gavin's Claude didn't make decisions -- they made him. If something was happening, he generally went along with it, whatever it was, whether he truly wanted to or not. Paris' Claude, like I said, was a little stronger than that. He at least knew who he was, even if he didn't always like himself. And his reaction to the trip was in keeping with that. Paris' Claude did go with the flow of the trip as best he could, but every now and then when something particularly oddball would happen, he'd stop, pull back and look around with this pure look of, "What the flipping fuck? What the hell part of my subconscious did that come from?" on his face. *dies laughing* It was priceless. It was a new way to break down the fourth wall, without being obvious about it, because every one of those moments were the ones where the audience is most likely saying the same thing. :D
|--- Random side note: Paris... OMG, your hair! O_O They didn't just cut it, they shaved it all the fuck off! He's got a true army cut under that wig! O_O He's still adorable, and he totally rocks the short hair cut, but... geez, if you're going to shave off that man's gorgeous mane of hair... at least give him a good wig! The one he was wearing on Saturday looked like a greasy, wet mop died on his head. *sweatdrop*
zoicite assured me that Gavin had his share of "wet dog" wigs, too, so I can only hope he'll get a better one as the tour continues, because really... no one should have to see that wig. :-P But something adorable that came out of it? You can totally tell that Paris isn't used to the haircut yet. ^_^ At the end of the first encore (Hair), when he and Steel sing, "Flow it, Show it, Long as G-d can grow it...!" he normally flips his hair around. ...He tried! XD And the look on his face when nothing happened was so damned adorable, I wanted to hug him. He looked shocked for a moment, then pouty, then sheepish. He even looked out at the audience and shrugged, like he was saying, "Oops -- sorry about that." Then he picked up Steel's hair, put his head on Steel's shoulder and draped Steel's hair over his head. *_* Have I mentioned how much I adore this man? He's too cute for his own good! ^_^ ---| Addendum 12:50 AM -- from Gavin's Twitter...
gavincreel Gavin Creel
dragged it up, opening night PRISCILLA in toronto. bravo to everyone, especially my hippie leader.
21 minutes ago
*just dies* Really, Gavin? Really? *_* So adorable. So much love. It's been almost 5 months (?) since they last did Hair together and Will is still Gavin's hippie leader. *_* Lovelovelove! Is it fair to say that Will will always be the Berger to Gavin's Claude? I think so. ^_^ They make it so easy... they really do. ^_^
Go back to Part 1 | Part 2 | On to Part 3!