THE LOOK OF LOVE
Brook Atkinson Theatre
May 24, 2003
Oh dear. What was The Roundabout thinking? After giving us some great shows this season (Tartuffe, Joe Egg and Nine) how could they give us such dreck? The Look of Love is based on the music of Burt Bacharach and the lyrics of Hal David. It was directed by the much "overrated Scott Ellis"* and choreographed by Ann Reinking. There is no book, whatsoever. The direction lacked any vision and the choreography was ill conceived. Reinking even had the audacity to try to use Bob Fosse style to What's New Pussycat?. Huh - what was that all about? Please dear, let him rest in peace. There was excellent talent - Liz Callaway, Kevin Ceballo, Capathia Jenkins and Janine LaManna, to name a few in this ensemle cast. Never have I seen such talent wasted. I was truly embarrassed for them. This is not a Broadway show and has no business being there. It may have made a good cabaret show, and might have even been better if it was. I am a Bacharach/David fan (unlike most of the critics) but I was bored and even angry at times. I swear, the conceivers of this show (Reinking, Ellis, David Thompson and David Loud) must have been toasted one night when they came up with this idea. My question remains, why did Roundabout let this fiasco ever happen???
*quote: J. Gordon, NY, NY |
