#describing their dynamic as being one of any implicit mutuality is inaccurate and ''clingy'' is not the case for either of them

[unproduciblesmackdown]

since summer stock's Official like press opening was wednesday, there's a couple reviews i've found (without extra digging) and they don't have a world of relevant information but a tiny bit

nyt made it a critic's pick so that's as a rule helpful for the show, says orville "has a secret — no, not that one" in an unisolated and unsurprising instance of prioritizing the critic's own general savviness over actually giving the reader info. i'm assuming this Quip means to imply "his secret is not being closeted (gay style)" but there's nothing further on this point. also says that gloria's character is "beefed-up" which like, you figure all the roles, plotlines, themes are, but one might especially hope for it for gloria b/c really that's who the film is meanest to, and the review says that she has involvement in like created backstory/explanation for aesthetic elements of the "get happy" number (also present in the film's of course) which is truly great and generally encouraging for the role, who in the film despite being responsible for bringing about the whole premise of "her sister discovers following her passions. which are also gloria's passions btw" really only gets the role in that finale of "staying out of jane's way" so, already knew the musical was handling these things v differently but confirmation is nice. the review also mentions will's performance, among others', is always funny.

and that review and the also positive one from the hartford courant also provide the lore that margaret wingate "wants to own all the land in the region. The Falbury farm is in her way, and forcing a marriage between her son Orville." the sentence, surely erroneously, cuts off there: i'm guessing it's like "and Is forcing a marriage between Jane And her son Orville." explains the mystery of "hmm what's that possible map framed on the wingate house set panel" (and maybe what orville's got rolled up underarm in that next gif) and also does help kind of enhance the film's points where like, it doesn't seem like orville and jane Don't like each other or anything, they Are already engaged (probably not the case in the musical), but also orville's dad is pushing it and getting in the way b/c this is like [the town is implicitly named after both wingait and falbury] but no particular Practical reason given. like how he mentions like "yknow jane your great great great grandfather falbury was the one who made Acting illegal here" (like lmao what?????) and this is not explained further nor reckoned with further b/c nobody actually tries leveraging this lol. and he's also like got this shop and presumed local influence and is well off while jane is in some financial straits and that's relevant but like, all via the tractor that they absolutely did not want to put in this stage show (as everyone agrees with lol) and this would make things more direct. and it also says the show within the show is partly a fundraiser for the farm which also makes everything work better with more cohesion and relevant stakes lol

and also everything (even via reading between the lines of a [not officially published] review where they didn't happen to like it much) saying what was also what i figured (based as well as like, what people involved were just telling via interviews) that like nothing's really trying to "subvert" the movie even as they're being completely flexible with reworking it; "book writer Cheri Steinkellner stuck to the movie’s spirit rather than its letter" as the nyt review says. with the review that didn't like it pointing to that the person did not like that spirit lol like well yeah then that adds up. but that's what i've learned from that press opening so far: Orville's Secret and Margaret's Land Scheme

#summer stock #orville wingate #will roland #nyt review also charmingly descrives orville's combo film/this stage show role as an ''oaf'' like uh #that's not a word i would ever employ lol but i also don't even think it's accurate #imo the usage would imply like Physical Clumsiness which was actually left to the other funny guy and not at all orville #like we all agree he's hapless too but. and that [whoops. physical comedy hapless] role is now phil filmore #who i of course don't know if he's tasked w/physical comedy but it's not mentioned; And neither review specifically mentions him. so #and the hartford courant review describes the film's element of orville and his father's dynamic as ''oddly clingy'' Also Inaccurate #the whole deal is the dad is overbearing interfering in charge of orville's life and can/does get all browbeating about it #describing their dynamic as being one of any implicit mutuality is inaccurate and ''clingy'' is not the case for either of them #gotta do every damn thing yourself....did everyone like re/watch the movie for their reviews? they did not say if so #one of those [you can pick out threads in the aggregate whether reviews liked the show or not] elements being ''too many songs'' ok