TROUBLE IN TAHITI

[ClapYo'Hands]

I was wondering what you guys thought of Trouble in Tahiti?

I'm thinking of buying the DVD as well...what do you guys think of it as a representation of the show?

I'm a huge fan of Bernstein's music, and I think it's something that would be worth getting...

[sparrman]

Trouble in Tahiti is brilliant. The DVD is TERRIBLE. It omits an entire, beautiful, crucial duet for Sam and Dinah. The work is short enough already, why cut it? Inexcusable. Performances aren't great either, and the man who sings Sam is often VERY flat. Avoid it like the plague. It's a TERRIBLE representation of a brilliant work.

[ClapYo'Hands]

Do you know who sings Sam?

[sparrman]

Karl Daymond.

[sondhead]

Remember there are TWO DVDs of Trouble in Tahiti. I've only seen the other one, and aside it being a little weirdly presented (it looks to be pretty low budget but they tried to make it look like the actors are in a cartoon) I liked it a lot. The piece itself is really great. I've not seen the entire other DVD, but what of it I have seen looks much slicker.

[sparrman]

I have the audio recording with Nancy Williams and Julian Patrick, the stars of the other DVD, and they're pretty good. But avoid the Stephanie Novacek/Karl Daymond DVD.

Here's Nancy Williams from the other DVD.

[ClapYo'Hands]

Thanks very much :)

[david_fick]

ClapYo'Hands wrote: I was wondering what you guys thought of TROUBLE IN TAHITI?

I just discovered TROUBLE IN TAHITI recently, while preparing to review a local production for BWW. I think the score is delightful. I've got two different recordings of the score now, but maybe I should have a look at the DVDs mentioned in this thread too. Going by the comments provided above, I guess I know which one I should start with!


BWW Reviews: TROUBLE IN TAHITI Full of Promise and Proposals

[egghumor]

I was either 1976 or '77 when I saw a network broadcast of the semi-animated version of TROUBLE IN TAHITI with Nancy Williams and Julian Patrick. It completely knocked me out! I loved the juxtaposition of the jazz chorus against the operatic leads. I encourage anyone seriously interested in musical theater to see it -- that version especially. The hidden jewel from the brilliant Leonard Bernstein.

[GavestonPS]

I haven't seen a DVD, but I saw the piece live recently and loved it all over again. (I also loved the 70s broadcast.)

[ErinDillyFan]

I rented the DVD from Netflix years ago and liked it. I am seeing the Shaw Festival's (Niagra-On-The-Lake, ON) production on Thursday. Only 6 hr drive from NYC, for those interested. But, my guess it has been sold out for awhile, very few seats left when I ordered tickets in April.

[EricMontreal22]

While I usually loathe green-screen, I really liked the recent-ish BBC production (plus there's male nudity in the gym scene! lol). It's a gorgeous little piece--I first saw it almost by accident as a kid at a fringe festival (my grandma for some reason was sure it was West Side Story). I'm also a big fan of A Quiet Place its much more grand opera sequel (which uses the entire Tahitti), though it's a MUCH harder sell, and I understand the criticism some have for it.

[temms]

I agree, EricMontreal22. I saw "A Quiet Place" at NY City Opera last season and absolutely loved it. I didn't really know much about it going in, and it was completely absorbing and engrossing. I had no idea it was over three hours long and was shocked when I checked the time at the end of the performance.

It's dramatically far from perfect, but something about the piece in performance just really grabbed me and stayed with me.

And I can't possibly imagine cutting the Dinah/Sam duet - why do the piece at all if you lose that? The choices people make baffle me sometimes...

[EricMontreal22]

Cutting that duet baffles me as well.

I certainly get the criticism of A Quiet Place (apparently Sondheim was quoted as saying it suffered from a case of "self-importantitus" and some critics said it played like an episode of All My Children as an opera--then again I like All My Children...). In Seacrest's bio of Bernstein, they talk about how Bernstein would be just in tears at every single rehearsal, and it sounds like he saw himself as the bisexual character who kinda saves the family, emotionally. BHut something about it I also find very compelling. I was glad to see NYCO gave it another look, at any rate. It was televised in, I believe, Germany of all places in the 1980s La Scala staging--I have a decent DVD copy of it.