2h 30min | Music | Episode aired 2 November 2018
2h 40min | Musical | 16 May 2018 (UK)
2h 40min | Musical | 16 May 2018 (UK)
Jerry Mulligan is an American GI striving to make it as a painter in a city suddenly bursting with hope and possibility. Following a chance encounter with a beautiful young dancer named Lise, the streets of Paris become the backdrop to a sensuous, modern romance of art, friendship and love in the aftermath of war.
Directors: Christopher Wheeldon, Ross MacGibbon
Stars: Leanne Cope, Robert Fairchild.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9627100/
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7877016/
watched OTA/dvr, burned to dvd. That length is now 2h 12m. I dozed off during replay of the disc, so I don't know if there is a gap/jump (or many), but it seems unlikely that it lost 18 minutes in single frames (almost 26k of them?) It certainly began and ended without incident (1 pixelated moment).
This has a double listing on IMDb because it was shown first outside of GP, then as an episode. Much more information is on the non-GP page (2nd).
18 songs according to the Wikipedia page.
The 2 stars are super-threats; they don't just sing/dance/act, they dance ballet/jazz. If anyone tap danced, it escaped me.
In this play, it seems we have 3 men interested in LC: the struggling American painter, the established French entertainer, and the struggling composer (Oscar Levant in the film). I don't remember her encouraging the composer, but he sings about her plenty. The rich American woman is here too. Having all the major characters from the '51 film make comparison unavoidable.
The acting is not great, or maybe it's the direction. Or maybe it's the large-venue stage, but they're mic'd. The acting is very broad, seemingly shouted to the ceiling.
I don't love the dancing. It's too close to straight ballet: technique-centered rather than designed to convey emotions.
I found myself missing the Vincente Minnelli sets and cinema, and missing Gene Kelly in a big way.
Interesting that it boasts 28 5-star reviews. Probably from theatre critics, and not cinephiles.
Rated 8.3 (137)
PBS, dir. Wheeldon & MacGibbon; 6
