The funniest part of this 'docu-comedy' are the ones-liners by Phil Rosenthal in moments when things look bleak. Such as "K&R insurance" (kidnapping & ransom insurance); apparently it happens often enough over there that not only do they have an abbreviation for it, they evidently actually do sell this form of insurance to tourists who travel to countries where this is an issue of some concern, such as Russia. And commenting about the creepiness of "Gorky Studios", where it seems that the horror movie "Saw" may have been filmed... And commenting about the relatively young age of the kids doing rehearsals. Etc.
Costume Designer Elena Starodubtseva was an interesting character. I felt the tension & difficulty that was obviously in the room...between her & others in general, especially Phil Rosenthal. She seemed to have a burning desire to not get along with people. Maybe the job description that she was given by whoever hired her, for her job, is a different job description than the one given to costume designers elsewhere, such as in Hollywood; but, by giving a damn about fashion, the way in which she did, I can not begin to see how she was not doing a massive injustice to the show. She was very self-absorbed, very arrogant. She obviously didn't care about the show. At all. And only seemed to care about how she would be perceived if the characters wore clothing that was not 'fashionable'...
And while I am not entirely certain how they do it in Russia, I quite heavily get the impression that she goes to a hardware store to buy her make-up! I just can not honestly imagine Russian's selling paint, spackle & paste, of that thickness & type, in pharmacies or beauty supply stores. With that, easily, 40lbs of makeup on her face, ..honestly, she barely looks like a human being. Tammy Faye Baker is salivating with jealousy, spinning in her grave, no doubt! (Phil is, obviously, a very smart guy; there's no way in hell he didn't notice this about Elena Starodubtseva. But, maybe it was considered to be to harsh to bring up... Maybe he just needs to grow a pair.)
