#is the editing ugly as fuck yes will i ever improve no does using complicated editing apps make me happy yes
Text
#genuinely how i felt reading it#is the editing ugly as fuck yes will i ever improve no does using complicated editing apps make me happy yes#jane eyre#charlotte brontë
231 notes
·
View notes
Text
Below the fold you can read all about my time at Romeo e Giulietta in Milan (Friday, 12/10/18). I didn't want to forget anything so it's very chaotic, I'm sorry.
(edited on 29/01/19 - I added some things as well)
- I’d like to start by thanking the orderly who gave us 2nd category seats in the middle of the ground floor (we had 2nd gallery central tickets, aka almost the cheapest ones) because they didn’t sell out and he was impressed that we came all the way from Belgium to see the show. Grazie mille, sir! You made our night even better! He checked in on us twice during the break to ask if we liked our seats and the show, what a cutie.
- To understand why I would write an 2500 word post about this performance, you must know that I have been waiting to see this show since I was 6 years old (that’s 16 years!). I even have a very clear and detailed memory of the first time I heard a song from this musical, Koningen from the Flemish/Dutch production. This was my absolute number one bucketlist item and I still get teary eyed when I think about this experience.
- Lorenzo’s apprentice (I think his name is John in the play but don’t quote me on this) was scary as fuck before the show began. He was just roaming around the venue and stopped every once in a while to stare at someone without blinking for an uncomfortably long time.
- The costumes in this show are to die for! CAPES FOR DAYS!! This production works with the same choreographer and costume designer as La Légende du Roi Arthur and it’s just as beautiful.
ACT I
- Tebaldo just casually hanging around ‘Capuletti House’, applying his Scar-like scar with eyeliner and then falling backwards onto his crew (my friend had a fit, she did not see it coming and genuinely thought he was going to fall flat on his back).
- The prince may sing that two families make the laws in Verona, but everything about him says he is in power. He is just so impressive, physically and vocally so demanding.
- Our Benvolio wasn’t bad but he didn’t make the part as interesting as Riccardo did. His Benvolio was pretty plain, okay vocal performance but he didn’t bring the same flare to the part that Riccardo did. Benny isn’t the most interesting part in the show and he didn’t add anything more to it than what the songbook or choreography said. Ric’s Benvolio was every bit as playful, joyful and a player as the other to two in the main trio but there was such grace and gentleness to him, whereas our Benvolio was more like the ‘no fun, boring’ friend. The original Italian trio has great chemistry and he just wasn’t very convincing.
- Davide as Romeo: his singing has improved so much, he seemed to sing with so much more ease compared to the dvd-version. During ‘Io Tremo’ he had a lot more interaction with the Montacrew. I absolutely love his Romeo, Damien always was a bit to fatalistic for me. He is much more youthful and moves quite impulsively on stage. In dutch I would say he is a ‘kwajong’ and a ‘spring in’t veld’, Google tells me it’s a ‘rascal’ and a ‘little filly’ but I don’t know if that really covers what I want to say. (He kinda gives of the same energy as Maria during ‘how to solve a problem like Maria’ in The sound of music.)
- On a related note: I only realised during the show how different the two houses are. The Montagues seem a lot closer than the Capulets. The reds are a divided house, they seem a lot more competitive and aggressive, only Tebaldo has an obvious bond with the rest of his family (maybe even a bit too close to his aunt, this production hints on a possible incestuous relationship between the two). The fact that they have a pretty scary cat only proves my idea about the house.
- L’Oddio is a ride! I always loved the song but most of the time staging was off and boring which made it almost annoying to watch. I only listened to it but never watched any clips of it. This production however absolutely nails it and finally does the song justice. It’s one of my favourites parts in the show.
- Paride definitely changed a lot compared to the previous Italian production. He used to be innocent and polished, now he is arrogant and they changed his dancing style to a more modern vibe instead of ballet. Overall, I had a bad feeling about him and I was even happier that Giulietta didn’t have to marry him because she wouldn’t have been happy with him at all. I also miss Tebaldo singing the ‘give her to me’ part in the background,like they do in the French productions.
- I never liked the French Juliettes, Joy’s was like a spoiled brat sometimes and she wasn’t a great singer either. It’s mostly due to the way the production was written and the directors they worked with though. But Giulia Luzi is a perfect Giulietta for me, she is defiant, she has a mind of her own and her own ideas. This Giulietta isn’t a child, she is a young adult which makes more sense for a girl her age in this time.
- La Nutrice and both Ladies are such impressive vocalists! An absolute joy to hear them live!
- Il re del mondo live made me sooooo happy! (I don’t think I stopped grinning until the Duel started anyway)
- Luca GF!! What a performer!! You simply can’t look at anyone else when he’s on stage. He has such a fascinating way of moving around the stage and his vocals! I don’t have words! He was out of this world and I feel incredibly privileged to have seen him live. I was looking forward to his falsetto notes, but the dvd recording did not prepare me for his normal singing voice. The recording in no way does justice to how full and warm his voice is.
- The ball: they got rid of the ugly masks (thank the gods). This scene is so beautiful and I love the costumes. There is just so much going on I feel like I’d have to watch it at least 5 times to fully capture everything.
- The big ‘smack’-sound every time R e G kiss, because the microphones picked it up pretty hard.
- I like the order of the song better in this one then in the French production, it works better for the story (especially Tebaldo’s songs and the Verona reprise) and the acting is so much better!
- I have a hate-love thing going on for count Capulet. He seems tired of the feud when he fights with Tebaldo during the ball but he is such a dick to Giulietta and then has this solo song with a ‘Man only realise women are people once then have a daughter’-theme. Don’t get me wrong, I love this song and it’s always a song I look forward to in any production. You have to applaud the actor though for going from ‘Vedrai’ to ‘Avere te’ so fast, that’s one hell of an arc in so little time.
- I don’t get Belli e Brutti and I don’t think I ever will. But it gives me more stage time with the trio so I’m a happy girl. Also, the Montacrew eavesdropping on Romeo and Nutrice was really cute.
- The Balcony scene is so cute and I ship this R e G so hard. I usually care more for the supporting characters then the main pair in this story but I really believed these two.
- The official, original Shakespeare dialogues work better for me then the R et J dialogues.
- Romeo’s relationship with Lorenzo is so wholesome, I love them.
- Tebaldo had a throne!! Like, Yaaasss Bitch!! I loved the choreo for this song (I’m a sucker for swords), especially is contrast with his other solo song. This one is pure lust and anger while the other is so much more intimate and shows his yearning for love. The musical has made me love Tebaldo so much as a character and Gianluca did a great job. I always underestimate him for some reason, he sometimes sounds like he won’t make it but he always hit’s the notes perfectly.
- Nutrice’s solo song gets me every time, fantastic performance. I think she had a problem with her earpiece because she kept fidgeting with it but it didn’t affect her singing at all.
- Ama e cambia il mondo was so beautiful and emotional. I really like this tagline for the story, it perfectly captures the message I take from it. This song is such a victorious celebration of love (and it has no gender pronouns) and I’m living for it. Lorenzo is like the head of R e G shippers, such a proud and smiley dad.
ACT II
- Yes, thank you, a short version of ‘on dit dans la rue’ is enough. We don’t need a whole song about his friends knowing who he married and being unsupportive little shits.
- IL POTERE!! Need I say more? One of the songs I was looking forward to most. It suits this Prince so well and the whole scene is so beautiful! The choreo and the stage setting, ugh, so pwetty.
- I just want to hug Tebaldo, what a lost puppy.
- the side door entrance of the Montacrew before the Duel! They were so close to us!!
- La Follia. That’s it. Just La Follia. I have no words.
- Okay, I have a few words: that last note. The entire audience lost their shit and was clapping and screaming for what felt like ages and he was still holding on to that note when we finally calmed down!! Again, what a performer.
- The Duel is a journey. What a scene! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more complicated and impressive scene in any show I’ve been to. I also want to take some time to talk about the ensemble in this show. These people are great dancers but their acting was so on point! Especially the crew guys. A show is nothing without the ensemble and they did so much more than just support the story. They really lift it to another level.
- That piece of bloody cloth they pull from Mercuzio’s wound had me gagging. I could almost feel it.
- I knew there would be a kiss when Mercuzio’s died but this was a full make out session. I was like ‘yeah, same, Mercuzio’. I made the mistake of looking at Benvolio during this scene. Pro tip: don’t. Just don’t. It’s painful and you don’t need more pain at this point.
- Romeo stabs Tebaldo in the stomach and not in the back, I don’t know what the original play says about it but I feel like it fits Romeo’s character better. My boy is no backstabber.
- La Vendetta and Duo de désespoir broke me. The Prince seemed really sad about losing his cousin. Lady Montague’s acting in this sequence was perfect. Lady Capulet is more sad when Tebaldo dies than when her own daughter does, he must have had a golden dick. Tebaldo and Mercuzio are dead on stage for a long long time, kudo’s to the actors for putting up with that and actually looking dead.
- The Prince saying ‘mercy is the killer when it’s granted to the killer’ (that’s the best translation I can come up with right now) was such a deep mood, I haven’t stopped thinking about it.
- Giulietta’s duet with Romeo’s Mom is the only time she wears her house color. For Tebaldo? I don’t know, if anyone has a theory on this please let me know.
- Romeo and Lorenzo crying next to each other at the altar. Romeo curled up like a baby, so sad. Poor, poor child.
- Romeo’s pj’s are really funny.
- Vedrai is such a heavy scene to watch. It’s very painful but I like it better than the French version. I was pretty mad at Lady Capulet for not standing up to her husband but she did push his hand away Melania-style when he tried to touch her after calling their daughter a whore. Also, Nutrice was so hard on poor Giulietta, I felt betrayed. I can’t help but feel like Count Capulet would have given his blessing for a wedding to Romeo if he had known, Lady Montague maybe too, she really did want her son to be happy. Lady Capulet would have been a problem though.
- Giulietta turning to Lorenzo for help and him turning her down! He is the only one they have left and he doesn’t want to help (at first)!
- Romeo being all alone during Mio Dio.
- There were Giulietta look-a-like dancers standing around her bed before she drank the poison and it was very creepy.
- The Verona reprise with a teary eyed prince like: “Look at this place! You thought I was joking the first time I said this?”
- another side door entrance for a very anxious Montacrew and Benvolio almost fainting when he hears the news about Giulietta’s death. These people are A+ friends. The stage was too small for the original choreo of ‘con che pieta’ but it was really beautifully staged anyway.
- Okay so now it’s time for one of my favourite solo songs in the whole entire show: Mai piu. I was very nervous for this one because it’s so important to me and our Lorenzo looked so much younger than others I’ve seen online, I was really curious as to how he would interpret the song. Throughout the musical the theme of doubting their religious beliefs is very present and it’s come to a climax during this song. Most interpretations I’ve seen where very angry and questioning, some even go slightly mad, but after the first few lines you could already see this Lorenzo had an entirely different take on the song. He was very accusing at first toward the crucified Christ and after a while he looked so disappointed and angry with himself for what he had done. He took of his robe and I thought it was a symbolic gesture to show he would leave his function, but he took of his belt to punish himself and it was so intense and sad and I was shocked at how beautifully raw and human he portrayed his character. Like I said, this performance would make or break the show for me for a big part, but it was so much better than I could have ever imagined.
- The songs Romeo and Giulietta sing before they die usually don’t really interest me on dvd because they drag on for too long in my opinion, but when you watch the show live you really need that time to process everything that has happened. Especially after such an intense Mai piu. The scene looks pretty uncomfortable on the tilted stone bed, I was scared that Romeo was going to fall off.
- GIULIETTA WAKES BEFORE ROMEO IS FULLY DEAD!! HOW RUDE!! Why would you do that to me?
- Paride wasn’t killed even though this one deserved it more than the babyface from the 2013 version but he does appear next to Mercuzio at the end, I don’t really know why, it’s not like anyone cared about him anyway.
- Culpa Nostra is so beautiful. Everyone was dressed in white so you couldn’t see who belonged to which house. I’m pretty sure Benvolio forgot to put on his blue vest when they first came on because everyone takes their house colors off on stage except for him, he was already completely in white. Maybe because he is actually an innocent smoll bean? I do think he forgot though, because him and one the dancers had a short interaction with him nodding to Benny’s clothes with a confused face that seemed out of place. And the Ama e cambia il mondo reprise/theme; very strong ending for the musical.
End of PSA.
#romeo e giulietta#ama e cambia il mondo#davide merlini#giulia luzi#luca giacomelli ferrarini#gianluca merolli#leonardo di minno#retj#romeo et juliette
33 notes
·
View notes
Last Seen Blogs
