inconsistent entertainment

Just came back from Onstage at Greenbelt, where Nikki, Carl and I attended the opening night of Dreamgirls, an old Broadway musical about a group of black singers and their lives.

The play itself was sadly weak. I do not understand how it won anything Tony-wise during the year it racked up seven (I think). Must have been a slow year. There was truly nothing to elevate this play in terms of writing, structure or music.

The production suffered from numerous technical issues such as erratic microphones and misjudged lighting, but in general the performances were pretty good, especially the star turn of Bituin Escalante (and Jet Pangan, to a lesser extent). Sadly though, it sometimes became a matter of "look, I can reach a higher note!". And the accents were beyond terrible.

Still, it was money well spent, as I found myself happily tearing the play apart and occassionally being moved by powerful voices from the ladies of the cast (though I mistakenly thought it was budding beauty Anne Curtis in the play instead of Anna Fengi).

I miss theatre, and the playwright in me wanted to start writing then and there.