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review noted: "It hits all its marks well, but never has quite the "oomph" needed to put it over the top. This may be due to
Graciela Daniele's direction and choreography which are fine but unexceptional, never completely communicating in the same urban language that drips from every LaChiusa's score
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Don Shewey noted that the musical "departs from any kind of traditional book musical structure. Charlotte's tale emerges in vignettes that flicker and flash, zooming back and forth in time, held together by a narrative thread as tenuous as her nonsmoking sanity." Further, the music is "eclectic" and
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starts to lose its shapely, sharp-edged contours and turn into a sentimental, well, blob... Mr. LaChiusa...and Ms. Daniele has done a swell job of fashioning a lively musical about what it means to feel lifeless in contemporary
Manhattan...Like many American musical composers under 50, Mr. LaChiusa
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In the present time, Charlotte, in her early 30s, lives in New York and is a short-story writer. She has given up smoking cigarettes, but without them she sees herself clearly, and believes that it is not an attractive picture. She is frightened by her new-found reality, thus her friends Marco and
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Both
Daniele and LaChiusa said Charlotte's struggle to quit smoking is "a metaphor for the crises that force people to reconsider who they are and what is important." Mr. LaChiusa said the musical was his oblique response to September 11: "After that happened, nobody was thinking about how to get
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Charlotte thinks back to 1993, when she lived in
Buffalo with her lover Robert, in his 40s, and she studied English Literature with him. She reflects on her childhood heroine, Anne Frank, who warns her about flotsam: emotional "debris" that blocks the flow of life. As Charlotte sees that she has
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rich and famous. You wanted to be around the people you love." LaChiusa went on to add that "But after you've been here in a while, you realize that you don't always have to swim upstream and battle the elements. When you're a little fish in a big pond, it's safer to swim in schools."
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and libretto... LaChiusa can and does impress, time and time again, though perhaps never more effectively than in
Charlotte's late-show song, "Simple Creature." It's one of the most stirring and artfully constructed musical scenes to hit the New York stage in years."
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And Mr. LaChiusa's
Charlotte, like Mr. Sondheim's Bobby, is a wistful, disengaged soul who is surrounded by people who advise her on how to live... The problem, as the show goes on, is that there's an inevitable monotony to Charlotte's interior life."
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The
European premiere was at the Finborough Theatre, London, from October 27, 2009, through November 21. The production was produced by JQ Productions and directed by Adam Lenson, with the cast featuring Ashley Campbell, Michael Cantwell,
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Certainly, Riccardo Hernández's terraced, silver-toned set, with its evocation of concrete canyons enhanced by Peggy
Eisenhauer's shifting lighting, brings to mind Boris Aronson's fabled designs for the original
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Kathy suggest various activities, such as collecting dolls or a new drug. However, she opts for what is presumably the least silly; swimming.
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been addicted not only to cigarettes but "fleeing", she is able to connect with her friends and her writing.
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in New York City on
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The cast recording of the Blank
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as Marco. During the run educational workshops were run by Tracy Bersley.
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is an artistic descendant of Mr. Sondheim, and in many ways,
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LaChiusa at doollee.com, with plot synopsis of "Little Fish"
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includes "Latin, jazz, rock, there's pure urban noise."
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109:. The musical is suggested by two short stories by
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479:"Theatre:She Sings the Body Desperate for a Smoke"
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445:westend.broadwayworld.com, November 21, 2009
302:"In Two's and Three's" - Charlotte, Company
157:in the lead role of Charlotte and featured
121:. It concerns a group of friends living in
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239:"The Pool (Part 1)" - Charlotte, Company
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260:"Cigarette Dream" - Charlotte, Company
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275:"Mr. Bunder/By The Way" - Mr. Bunder
254:"John Paul/Disco" - Charlotte, Kathy
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248:"Short Story" - Robert, Lifeguards
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711:Musicals set in New York City
611:Chronicle of a Death Foretold
534:Internet Off-Broadway listing
296:"Simple Creature" - Charlotte
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230:"Days" - Charlotte, Company
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299:"Gallery/Perfect" Reprise
287:"Poor Charlotte" - Cinder
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454:LaChiusa, Michael John.
432:review, October 19, 2007
407:review of "Little Fish"
155:Jennifer Laura Thompson
674:The Gardens of Anuncia
236:"It's A Sign" - Cinder
141:The musical premiered
706:Off-Broadway musicals
585:Michael John LaChiusa
430:The Los Angeles Times
284:"Little Fish" - Marco
278:"Remember Me" - Kathy
242:"Lockerroom (Part 1)"
107:Michael John LaChiusa
54:Michael John LaChiusa
44:Michael John LaChiusa
35:Michael John LaChiusa
667:First Daughter Suite
639:See What I Wanna See
318:, reviewing for the
290:"The Track (Part 2)"
272:"The Track (Part 1)"
233:"Robert" - Charlotte
167:Jesse Tyler Ferguson
147:Second Stage Theatre
131:September 11 attacks
75:by Deborah Eisenberg
544:"CurtainUp Review,
498:Off-Broadway review
421:Stoudt, Charlotte.
412:, February 14, 2003
281:"Anne" - Young Girl
193:Katie Foster-Barnes
516:2008-12-03 at the
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482:The New York Times
410:The New York Times
361:Ghostlight Records
257:"He" - Robert, Men
197:Laura Pitt-Pulford
137:Production history
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293:"Flotsam" Reprise
251:"Perfect" - Kathy
111:Deborah Eisenberg
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632:Little Fish
604:Hello Again
546:Little Fish
496:Little Fish
456:Little Fish
424:Little Fish
383:as Cinder.
331:Little Fish
326:Little Fish
163:Lea DeLaria
161:as Robert,
159:Hugh Panaro
127:Little Fish
98:Little Fish
90:2009 London
80:Productions
24:Little Fish
690:Categories
387:References
371:as Marco,
355:Recordings
441:New Desk.
185:Hollywood
514:Archived
340:Company.
335:Company.
307:Response
203:Synopsis
216:Concept
145:at the
119:Flotsam
103:musical
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41:Lyrics
653:Giant
225:Songs
101:is a
83:2003
59:Basis
31:Music
460:ISBN
346:The
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115:Days
63:Days
50:Book
66:by
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