Pitts gives us an Ann who is brave and determined, as if she were playing one of Disney's recent self-possessed heroines. We already know how this will all play out. The mighty creature captures Ann, they bond, and Denham abandons the film idea and decides to capture the ape, take it back to New York, and put it on display.
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Before you know it, he whisks her off on a voyage to make a movie on Skull Island, where they meet up with Kong. Ann Darrow (Christiani Pitts), an aspiring but down-on-her-luck actress, meets up with an aspiring filmmaker, Carl Denham (Eric William Morris). Here, he adds little to what the screenwriters of the original 1933 movie came up with.
Playwright Jack Thorne is certainly no stranger to devising scripts to accompany stage magic, having done the same for the phenomenon that is Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. If gasps accompany the ape's arrival, following a lead-in from Marius de Vries' foreboding deep, deep bass-y musical score, be on notice that it is coughs that spread through the theater during the Kong-less stretches, when the only ones onstage are human performers acting out Jack Thorne's script, singing Eddie Perfect's songs, and dancing to the energetic and athletic choreography devised by Drew McOnie, who also directs the show.
There is nothing like a close-up view of the gigantic animatronic/robotic puppet that dominates every scene in which it appears. The further away you sit, the less of a visceral thrill you'll experience. That's where you'll realize the fullest effect, especially at one point when Kong moves downstage, rises upright, and reaches out into the audience. I would advise, however, that you spring for a downstairs seat, preferably in the first few rows. If this is what you are looking for, then by all means pick up a ticket and head on out. Not to mention those teeth! Julie Taymor, eat your heart out!Īll praise, then, to the technical team, with a special hats off to Sonny Tilders, creative director of the Australia-based Creature Technology Company, who is identified as the "creature designer." Indeed, all of the design elements, from the inventive use of projections (the seasick-prone might want to look away during the ocean crossing to Skull Island), the curvature of the set, the sound, the lighting, even the scrims, contribute to the overall effect. Standing twenty feet tall and weighing in at 2000 pounds, this is a real Broadway baby, with the most expressive eyes you can imagine. There's really only one thing anyone wants to know about King Kong, the new musical opening tonight at the Broadway Theatre. Theatre:Broadway Theatre, 1681 Broadway at 53rd Street Lane, Marty Lawson, Jonathan Christopher MacMillan, Danny Miller, Brittany Marcell Monachino, Jennifer Noble, Kristen Faith Oei, Eliza Ohman, Roberto Olvera, Jaquez André Sims, Khadija Tariyan, Jena VanElslander, Scott Weber, Jacob Williams, Lauren Yalango-Grant, Warren Yang, and David Yijae. Cast: Christiani Pitts, Eric William Morris, Erik Lochtefeld, Ashley Andrews, Mike Baerga, Rhaamell Burke-Missouri, Chloë Campbell, Leroy Church, Peter Chursin, Jo,van Dansberry, Kayla Davion, Rory Donovan, Casey Garvin, Christopher Hampton Grant, Jon Hoche, Gabriel Hyman, Harley Jay, James T.
Production manager Juniper Street Productions. Associate Kong/aerial movement director Leigh-Anne Vizer. Vocal arrangements by Eddie Perfect and Michael Gacetta. Music direction and additional arrangements by Michael Gacetta. Video and projection imaging content by Artists in Motion. Kong/Aerial movement director Gavin Robins. Scenic and projection design by Peter England. Directed and choreographed by Drew McOnie. Score composed and produced by Marius de Vries. Theatre Review by Howard Miller - November 8, 2018