After reading the novel, I was a bit surprised at the musical… in a good way. Personally, I love musicals so I was very interested to watch it. The atmosphere of the musical was definitely a lot more cheerful than what I expected; the musical aspect of it made the show have a more positive tone in some parts. There was also a lot more humor to it compared to the novel so it was very enjoyable to watch. In the novel, Bruce is portrayed as a father who didn’t care about his children and only seemed to “use” them when he needed help, but on stage, I felt that he was more of an ideal father. He actually smiles and seems to be more present in Alison’s life. For example, in NYC before he sneaks out, I could really see the fatherly aspect of Bruce when he sings Alison to sleep.
I also liked how it was a nonlinear narrative in both the book and the musical. During the show, it was interesting seeing the grown up Alison looking back at the young Alisons in childhood and college. Actually seeing Alison develop throughout the show made it more clear to me as to how Alison was changing. I personally liked the show more because on stage, there can be a lot of things happening at the same time while in the book, the author must draw a new frame in order to portray another scene. In the show, the audience is able to see Alison writing her story and also see the scenes that she is writing about. Also, I liked how they used the stage curtains to show that Alison was drawing while certain scenes were playing. Many times, we see the current Alison looking over the small Alison writing in her diary, which again shows two different things happening; Alison looking back at her childhood and the actual scene of when small Alison was writing.
I was talking to other classmates and we were a bit surprised that the show did not mention about how she used to write, especially in her diaries, with lines and indecipherable writing. I thought it was quite important as she was developing during her childhood, but I guess they thought only the mention of her writing in a diary was important enough.
Lastly, I really liked how they started and ended the show. The show started with Alison and her father playing “Airplane,” and the show ended with the same song, which brings the story back to the beginning, except Bruce wasn’t there anymore. It was also very interesting how the show ended with all three Alisons singing, which I thought was a great way to conclude the show. The show was able to bring out more emotions; when I was reading the book, I didn’t really feel sad that her father had died but at the end of the show, I was quite sad and even sympathetic for Bruce.