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alobearMerryn's Gift by Fiona McIntosh could probably have done with being several hundred pages shorter. I got into it around page 300 but lost interest again towards the end. It had impressive scope, and a really interesting idea somewhere in the middle, but I never felt it found its feet, and there were some stylistic surface issues (particularly point-of-view shifts) that stopped me from enjoying it that much. I think there was a lot about it to like - but it just didn't grab me, though annoyingly the last few pages were a very intriguing lead in to the next one.
On the other hand, if I had to describe the musical version of Zorro in one word, it would be exuberant. Fun, lively and quite exciting also spring to mind. It wasn't the best show I've seen, in production or performance terms, but the cast were obviously really enjoying themselves, and that lifted the whole thing onto another level. There was a hilarious moment in the middle when Zorro got his sword caught up in his cape, and the soldier he was about to fight had to wait for him to get it sorted out (while the heroine corpsed in the background), but that kind of thing can happen to anyone. There was real passion in the singing, and tremendous energy in the dancing, and enough attachment to the main characters for me to care a great deal what happened to them - all in all, an excellent show. I think my favourite bit was probably the curtain call song summary at the end, purely because the actor playing the bad guy took the opportunity to really throw himself into the singing and dancing, presumably because it was the only time in the show when he got to do any.
On the other hand, if I had to describe the musical version of Zorro in one word, it would be exuberant. Fun, lively and quite exciting also spring to mind. It wasn't the best show I've seen, in production or performance terms, but the cast were obviously really enjoying themselves, and that lifted the whole thing onto another level. There was a hilarious moment in the middle when Zorro got his sword caught up in his cape, and the soldier he was about to fight had to wait for him to get it sorted out (while the heroine corpsed in the background), but that kind of thing can happen to anyone. There was real passion in the singing, and tremendous energy in the dancing, and enough attachment to the main characters for me to care a great deal what happened to them - all in all, an excellent show. I think my favourite bit was probably the curtain call song summary at the end, purely because the actor playing the bad guy took the opportunity to really throw himself into the singing and dancing, presumably because it was the only time in the show when he got to do any.
