Word: enough
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Unfortuneately, Steven Jacob's Candide isn't exaggerated enough, and seems very flat against the background provided by the rest of the production. He sings very well, but his acting relies too heavily on blow-dried good looks and glassy stares, even for a character as naive as Candide. The fault may be with the director for trying too hard to make Candide reflect the contrast between Dr. Pangloss's world view and the world itself. The result, however, is a boring character substituted for a sympathetic one. Jacob's performance doesn't hinder one's enjoyment of the show...
Fittingly enough then, the band is the star of this show. You'll like them if you liked The Who, a band I like very much. Tommy is the closest thing around to rock's Messiah, and it is as sacreligious to rape the "Acid Queen" as it would be to rearrange the Hallelujah chorus. The band is tight, clean, and faithful to the original...
...work. Some of the tableaux used by Drury early in the show are starkly evocative of the emotions of Tommy's early life. But the static presentation at the beginning of the show becomes boring. After more characters appear on stage, the drama becomes complicated enough to demand some movement on stage beyond that of a chorus wheeling in straight lines, or squatting, then standing, in unison...
...other actors find difficult to do. Bob Cunningham, as Nora's lover/accomplice Frank, sings adequately. Once away from the mike however, he presents either exaggerated venom or a sense of being out of place. Lowell McKelvey, as the young Tommy, is supposed to look like an ingenuous child. Sure enough, he looks like one. He even speaks acceptably...
...suggestions were seen as an effort to fill positions for which there are not enough blacks and an attempt to assuage criticism of the nation's racial policies...