When I first read of this production, with Carol Burnett as the Queen, I was very excited! I thought it would be fabulous. I was wrong.
In the first 5 minutes I knew my popcorn would go unfinished, having lost my appetite when "Many Moons Ago" was chopped to but a few phrases. But when the cast started throwing away every good line with total disregard to the well-written tempo intended, I needed to get my Cast Recording ready and fire up the phonograph to get this director's bad taste out of my ears. Another reviewer mentioned the "rule of threes" - threes are everywhere in the script, but I don't think the delivery of ANY one was correct in this version. From the dismissing of Princess #12 ("Goodbye, good luck, now get out") to the discussion of Winnifred's test before "Sensitivity" ("Sounds fair (beat), seems fair, (beat), but isn't fair.") every opportunity to spin verbal straw into gold (I know, wrong fairy tale) was wasted. Larkin's revelation of pregnancy to Harry was real let-down. No build-up at all. She might as well have passed him a note.
I didn't have a problem with any of the casting based on age or appearance - both can be overcome & overlooked with a good performance. But the writers/director didn't give the cast any help, so the weaker performers fell flat and the veterans just collected a paycheck.
Where was the Minstrel? For that matter, where were the Jester and the King? Oh, the roles were there, but reduced to bit parts. The knights in "Shy" got to do more just by saying "Hey, Nonny nonny nonny, NO." Maybe Meatloaf thinks two-out-of-three ain't bad, but in this case, it IS bad. And I bet the writers thought they were clever switching the impetus for "Normandy" from "where can a pregnant Larkin go to hide" offered by the Minstrel to "where can Larkin go on a honeymoon" offered by Harry. Lame. And the Wizard as the Nightingale was just stupid. Hibbert's contract must have insisted on a minimum of screen time and since they eliminated the scene where the Minstrel schmoozes the Wizard, they made up for it with a chicken costume.
I've gone on far too long, but better you spend a few extra minutes here than waste a few hours on this production. Now if you watch it anyway, you look for the things all these reviews have warned you about and make up your own mind.
In the first 5 minutes I knew my popcorn would go unfinished, having lost my appetite when "Many Moons Ago" was chopped to but a few phrases. But when the cast started throwing away every good line with total disregard to the well-written tempo intended, I needed to get my Cast Recording ready and fire up the phonograph to get this director's bad taste out of my ears. Another reviewer mentioned the "rule of threes" - threes are everywhere in the script, but I don't think the delivery of ANY one was correct in this version. From the dismissing of Princess #12 ("Goodbye, good luck, now get out") to the discussion of Winnifred's test before "Sensitivity" ("Sounds fair (beat), seems fair, (beat), but isn't fair.") every opportunity to spin verbal straw into gold (I know, wrong fairy tale) was wasted. Larkin's revelation of pregnancy to Harry was real let-down. No build-up at all. She might as well have passed him a note.
I didn't have a problem with any of the casting based on age or appearance - both can be overcome & overlooked with a good performance. But the writers/director didn't give the cast any help, so the weaker performers fell flat and the veterans just collected a paycheck.
Where was the Minstrel? For that matter, where were the Jester and the King? Oh, the roles were there, but reduced to bit parts. The knights in "Shy" got to do more just by saying "Hey, Nonny nonny nonny, NO." Maybe Meatloaf thinks two-out-of-three ain't bad, but in this case, it IS bad. And I bet the writers thought they were clever switching the impetus for "Normandy" from "where can a pregnant Larkin go to hide" offered by the Minstrel to "where can Larkin go on a honeymoon" offered by Harry. Lame. And the Wizard as the Nightingale was just stupid. Hibbert's contract must have insisted on a minimum of screen time and since they eliminated the scene where the Minstrel schmoozes the Wizard, they made up for it with a chicken costume.
I've gone on far too long, but better you spend a few extra minutes here than waste a few hours on this production. Now if you watch it anyway, you look for the things all these reviews have warned you about and make up your own mind.