Set in the magical world of La Belle Epoque in turn-of-the-century Paris, GIGI is a timeless romantic comedy about a young woman groomed in the custom of her family to be a companion to a bored, wealthy playboy, until the two unexpectedly realize this is in fact true love.
This year marks the 40th Anniversary of the debut of Gigi on Broadway. Lerner and Loewe's Tony Award-winning score was first heard in the 9-time Academy Award-winning Best Picture of the same name, directed by Vincente Minnelli. The movie, which was the last of the classic MGM musicals, was based on the Broadway play by Anita Loos and the popular novella by Colette.
Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's beloved musical GIGI will return to Broadway in a production directed by Tony Award-nominee Eric D. Schaeffer (Follies), in a new adaptation by acclaimed British playwright and Emmy-nominated screenwriter Heidi Thomas ("Cranforde," "Upstairs Downstairs," "Call the Midwife".)
...Thomas has gone about jiggling Colette's story of a young girl being trained as a courtesan and a rich family friend who grow over time into lovers. But the misguided Thomas only succeeds in denaturing Colette so that Gigi (Vanessa Hudgens), now older, and eventual swain Gaston Lachaille (Corey Cott), now younger, progress to a happy ending with any number of destructive changes to the story...The damage that politically correctness has done to the arts only worsens as time goes on...Clark shows off her clarion voice and otherwise does okay as Madame Alvarez, or Mamita...McGillin smiles well as the compering Honoré Lachaille. His duet with Clarke on 'I Remember It Well' is the one musical highlight. Cott does passably as Gaston...Firstly, congratulations to [Hudgens] for taking on a role associated in the mind of many a Gigi fan with Audrey Hepburn and Leslie Caron. She sings perfectly well and dances nicely. She does everything competently, but as Gigi she doesn't have the essential ingredient: charm. If it comes to that, this whole Gigi is lacking in charm, if not nerve.
The new Broadway production ofGigi (**½ out of four), starring an adorable Vanessa Hudgens, begins with a giddy orgy of pastels...The choreography...is exhilarating, the mood buoyant. If only the fun would last. Unfortunately, in her current incarnation, the heroine...is showing signs of age, and self-consciousness...Ironically, though, Gaston's courtship of Gigi comes across as creepier here than it did when a thirtysomething Louis Jourdan pursued a dewy Leslie Caron (then Hudgens' age) onscreen...Cott's Gaston, under Eric Schaeffer's direction, rather suggests a handsome but awkward college boy who turns into a stalker upon recognizing his female friend's newfound maturity. The wistful romantic ballad that is Gigi's title song is staged as a near-nervous breakdown, with the robust-voiced Cott breathing heavily and looking alarmingly unsettled...This Gigi fares much better when it emphasizes old-fashioned virtues. Bergasse and Schaeffer provide several exuberant production numbers, and Hudgens, despite over-enunciating her lines, does perky and elegant with equal poise. Little girls, clearly, still grow up in the most delightful way.
2015 | Washington, DC (Regional) |
Kennedy Center Production Washington, DC (Regional) |
2015 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2015 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Costume Design | Catherine Zuber |
2015 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical | Victoria Clark |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical | Victoria Clark |
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