For the Most Part Excellent

Rating: 8/10 (5 April 2008)

I own the Broadway cast on DVD, saw the revival on Broadway with Beth Fowler and Bob Gunton, then saw the recent revival on Broadway with Patti LuPone and Michael Cerveris. I also think most adaptation of movie musicals suck as a whole. I was surprised and thrilled with this entire production with one exception. Helena Bonham Carter. She looked like she was on thorazine throughout the entire movie. Her affect was flat as a pancake. Her singing was also flat lacking almost any inflection whatsoever. I understand that these people are not Broadway caliber singers but it really wasn't noticeable because the acting for the most part was so strong. It just always seems that there is one character in any of these adaptations that just can't live up to the part. Unfortunately it happens to be someone is a crucial and significant role in this case. Just for the record, I happen to like her a great deal as an actress. She was seriously miscast in this role.