It's not that I didn't like this new musical with book and lyrics by Kathie Lee Gifford and music by David Pomeranz and David Friedman. It's more that I was kinda of 'meh' about it and I'm not entirely sure why.
Saving Aimee is a biography musical that takes us from Aimee Semple McPherson's teenage years and through 3 marriages, 2 kids, a possible fling/kidnapping, and the development of an extremely influential religious movement.
I'm not very religious; not quite an atheist, but when people start putting words in Nollij's mouth I get a little suspicious. So when I first heard that a musical was underway based on the founder of one of the biggest church's in LA, I started thinking that maybe this would be the one that would break my streak.
I went to the Spotlight Night to see where they were going with this, and learned that Aimee led quite the scandalous life, (she was the evangelical Kim Kardashian, basically) and they were going to focus on her entertainment impact just as much as her religious one.
So I saw it.
It was good story, but there was a lot to cram in there (three and half love stories will do that) and I didn't come away humming any tunes (although the music was good). There weren't a whole lot of characters you could get attached to either, since Aimee was always in the center of it. If she wasn't on stage, they were singing about her. Props to Carolee Carmello for pulling it off, however. She was very talented as was the rest of the cast.
Maybe that was what made it 'meh' for me, Aimee had no outside foil. She was both Beatrice and Hero and that just means there was no one to root for/against. It just kind of was.
I don't regret going, but I don't think I'd see it again is what I'm saying.
No comments:
Post a Comment