This show was wonderful. I really had no idea what to expect going in, and I loved it. The beginning was just beautiful...it's called "The Old Red Hills of Home", and it begins with just a young soldier coming out and singing to the crowd...a very different way to begin a show! It then moved into the Confederate Day parade, when the young soldier is now old, and introduced us to Leo and Lucille Frank (Brent Carver and Carolee Carmello). Brent was absolutely incredible. There are not really words to do his performance justic. The sets were all really effective...I loved the streetcar during "The Picture Show", which was just a really cute number all around.

"Big News!" was an interesting number...a really good way to introduce us to the reporter. The funeral scene was one of the most moving scenes I've seen in a theatre, and the song, "It Don't Make Sense" was just gorgeous. One character I felt was a little underdeveloped was Tom Watson...throughout the entire show, I wasn't sure just who he was or what he had to do with anything. But Herndon Lackey was very good as Dorsey. The trial overall was a really stunning scene...I loved how they acted out the testimony...and seeing Brent crawling across the table during "Come Up to My Office" was worth the price of the ticket. :-) "My Child Will Forgive Me" was a lovely piece of music, and Leo's statement was gorgeous as well.

I'll just sum up by saying Act Two was just as good as the first act. :-) I really enjoyed "This is Not Over Yet", and the way that Leo and Lucille grew closer together. "All the Wasted Time" was the only song I'd heard before I saw the show, and I found it really effective in context. The ending was incredibly moving...I was crying quite a bit, and the way they reprised "The Old Red Hills of Home" was wonderful. This was my first hearing Jason Robert Brown's music, and I was immediately hooked.

The staging was very interesting - the stage at the Vivian Beaumont is not a typical theatre stage, so there was a lot of use of trap doors and other things that showed some true inventiveness. The show also felt more intimate in this type of theatre, which definitely worked to its advantage.

I only wish the show had got better publicity, so that it could have run longer. But as it is, I feel very privileged to have seen this original cast, and I would love to see the show again sometime.