We've gone to see two of the Dallas Summer Musicals so far this year. I'd never been to Fair Park, and it's been years since I've seen a professional musical production, so I was super excited about seeing "The Wizard of Oz" last Friday. I was pretty disappointed. It was exactly like the movie with very little creative license taken by the writers, director, and even the actors. They pretty much did impersonations of the film actors, and it fell a little flat. That's not to say the performances weren't good - they were. So were the singing voices. I really like the movie, so it was still very fun to watch the play. The Wicked Witch of the West was particularly good, and I think it's because she wasn't just trying to copy Margaret Hamilton. She actually had her own interpretation of the character.
The dancing, though, was abysmal. I think my high school drama department could have done just as well. And these people are being paid to dance for a living. Pretty sad. Given that it was a national touring company, I figure that they're probably working with less than they would have if they were on a permanent stage. Like, maybe half their set was missing for some of the numbers or maybe there just isn't room on the Fair Park stage for them to do a big fancy dance number or something. Anyway, it was pretty mediocre. Not terrible, but certainly not fantastic.
So, when we went to go see "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" last night, I was apprehensive. I just hoped it was as good as "The Wizard of Oz" - which is to say disappointing, but it didn't ruin the show or anything. I expected them to cut some of my favorite parts from the movie in the interest of time or money or stage size or whatever. I was WRONG. It was fantastic! They had all the big dance numbers with great choreography (Toot Sweets and Me Ol' Bamboo), they kept all of my favorite parts (ie, the breakfast machine), and y'all, that flying car was awesome! Sooooooo good. And I think the best part of it all was this adorable little boy sitting in front of us who was totally into it. He was talking back to the actors on stage ("Dude, say please!"), he was terrified of the child catcher, and during the song where Mr. Potts is rallying all the children, this kid was pumping his arms in the air in time to the beat. He was so cute and he was having such a great time. Which is kind of the whole point, right? Kids are supposed to love this show. I did when I was a kid, and this little kid's enjoyment of it made me like it even more as an adult.
