“August Rush: The Musical” is now in previews and runs through June 2 at the Paramount Theatre, 23 E. We’ll just have to see where “August Rush” finds itself to be. And for their part, the creative team will get to try their ideas before an audience of Chicago-style theatergoers, all ready to receive. Whatever the result, Paramount at least now has its toe in the pre-Broadway waters, and it has the chance to introduce its audience to something none of them will have seen before.
Or it could have no commercial future at all. Perhaps more likely, it could get a subsequent staging at a regional theater as part of a longer process. “August Rush” could go to Broadway (with the level of people involved, that would not be a surprise). Various scenarios present themselves as agents and potential producers head to Aurora, beginning Friday.
#August rush paramount reviews movie#
But even magical realism needs to be grounded in a compelling narrative.Ĭatey Sullivan is a local freelance writer.All of these artists said that they really don’t yet know what they have, even if Broadway invariably is the goal for any project involving a movie from a major studio with an interest in expanding its footprint.
Hunter’s choreography has a hallucinatory feel as the ensemble twirls around that piano.
#August rush paramount reviews series#
Scott Pask’s set is composed of a gleaming black grand piano that whirls across the stage alongside a series of shifting screens that alternately reflect images of stars, music notes and a kaleidoscopic vision of the title page from Evan/August’s “Rhapsody.” Joann M. Abud brings a quirkiness and intensity to neo-folk tune “Pig in the Moonlight,” while Lyla’s “If Only I’d Known You” could be tear-jerker were it part of a better plot.Īt times, it seems Doyle is aiming for magical realism. She makes the anthemic affirmations of “You Are a Symphony” soar. His powerful, poignant “I Can Hear You” reveals a young talent who - like the character he is playing - just might be a musical prodigy. Throughout, director John Doyle has the cast splintering the set with their scenery chewing. As of June 2020, the film holds a 37 approval rating on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on. In addition to Lewis, Lyla, the Wizard/Father and Evan (who changes his name to “August Rush” for reasons largely unexplored), there is a violinist named “Hope” (Leenya Rideout) who serves as some kind of spirit guide to Evan as he makes his way through a series of disconnected scenes. August Rush received mixed reviews from film critics. Instead, Mancina and Glen Berger (lyrics, book) provide the thinnest of stereotypes and put them in situations that fall somewhere between fever dream and opioid stupor. These plot holes that could be overlooked if the characters were developed beyond paper cutouts. Jack McCarthy (center) plays August Rush/Evan Taylor in Paramount Theatre’s world premiere of “August Rush: The Musical.” Also pictured: Brad Giovanine (from left), Leenya Rideout, Ginna Doyle, Matt Deitchman and Lizzie Hagstedt. But who taught Evan to read and write music? We can see its intricacy via Joe Burke’s algebraic-reminiscent projection design. Related: If Evan’s music is so important to the Wizard’s survival, why does the Wizard deafen Evan with the headphones torture? How does Evan even know his parents are in New York?Īnd crucially there’s this: Evan pens a “Rhapsody” that Gershwin would be proud of. Why can’t Lewis check the concert listings to see where she is playing and thus reconnect? In what sort of hospital can an old man forge adoption papers and give away a baby while that baby’s mother is right there and clearly wants the baby? What is the Wizard’s deal? He’s presented as something of a musicians’ pimp. Evan’s father Lewis (George Abud) is sad because he lost track of Lyla after their one night of love.Īt this point, I began noting my questions: Lyla is a concert cellist. Maybe the torture was a dream? Moving on.Įvan’s parents? His mother Lyla (Sydney Shepherd) is sad because her evil father (also Hickok) told her Evan died at birth. He falls in with a sinister “collective” led by a Wizard (John Hickok) who we know is a villain because he talks like Snidely Whiplash and, in one truly grim scene, tortures Evan with a pair of special headphones that burst the poor child’s ear drums. He goes to New York City where he tries to find his parents by listening for them (I know. Young orphan Evan Taylor (Jack McCarthy opening night, Huxley Westemeier at some performances) runs away from foster care.
0 kommentar(er)
