My son and I saw this in a laser theater. Now, I feel like I should see the regular version to compare -- except I didn't really enjoy it enough to see it again right away. I can't say for sure how the picture might have differed from regular movies, but there was certainly nothing wrong with it.
It was interesting looking up in the projector booth and seeing that the image was coming from a rectangular source, where something similar to the image on the screen was visible on the source.
This was the 8pm show. The theater was more than half full, I think, which was encouraging. I do like going to movie theaters. The three that were closest to my house have closed, which I find very discouraging, tho one has reopened under new management.
I had read that there was a lot of singing in the audience in some theaters. This one had an up front announcement not to sing -- and no one did that I could hear.
The instrumental music, unfortunately, seemed anemic to me. At home, I have a big woofer on my computer right over my head and I'm used to hearing more bass. I missed that sense of depth.
The great news was Cynthia Erivo. She is such a fabulous performer! She really drew me in with her portrayal of the bullied Elphaba. I should say that I have *not* seen the original musical on stage. I might the only person in NYC who hasn't. Still, I have heard Edina Menzel sing. I'm not a big Menzel fan. I'm glad I saw Erivo first.
I think these people are supposed to be high school or maybe college students. The performers all look considerably older. You have to suspend your disbelief. Jonathan Bailey (Fyero) is really 36 according to google. You can see a few wrinkles starting to form in his face -- definitely not a young student -- lovely voice, tho, and suitably sweet and high for a very young man -- also very attractive. Erivo is 37. There's no way either of them comes off as high school or college.
The special effects were excellent -- totally believable -- loved them. I also enjoyed the sets and costumes.
They didn't use little people for the Munchkins, I noticed. I'm still back in the old Wizard of Oz. Little people would have been a nice touch, I think. I did like the costumes and hairstyles of the Munchkins tho.
This tries to be a prequel to the Wizard of Oz. I have never read the Frank Baum sequels, tho. This might be consistent with the original movie as a prequel -- but I wonder it it fits in with the other Baum novels.
My son was frustrated that this was only part 1. He wondered how they were going to take a 2 hour play and make it into a 4 hour movie. He had seen the original somehow, even though I hadn't. He was annoyed by the parts that were added to make it longer. I, obviously, couldn't tell the difference, not having seen the original.
I was surprised at what a high voice Ariana Grande has. I haven't listened to her much -- but she can really do those very high notes. She often sounds more like a classical singer than a pop singer in this, which surprised me -- as I had taken her for a pop singer. She does a good job as the affected, rich, stuck up Galinda. I'm not sure it's entirely believable when she decides to be nice to Elphaba. She just suddenly starts feeling sorry for her.
I saw a youtube video about the filming of the library scene. That was quite a magnificent scene, which required a lot of work. They pointed out in the video that this scene was filmed on a stage.
Actually, I don't think much if any of the movie was filmed outdoors. It all looked like sets. That's kind of intriguing, really. You don't see that much any more. Perhaps that was inspired by the Barbie movie, which was so successful and was mostly filmed on sets. Sets seem to give a particular atmosphere to the movie -- accentuating the unreality or fantasy character of the show.
As usual, I might come back and edit this.
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