ROAD SHOW Reviews...
ROAD SHOW Reviews...
#1ROAD SHOW Reviews...
Posted: 11/18/08 at 1:54am
ROAD SHOW opens tonight 
I know it is way too early for reviews, but I figured I would start the thread now so anyone can post the reviews as they came.
here's an opening night article
https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=aQl9DNVVdGUc&refer=muse
Can't wait for the reviews!
#2re: ROAD SHOW Reviews...
Posted: 11/18/08 at 2:05am
I love the ellipses in the thread title.
"ROAD SHOW Reviews"
...importance. Shining Gods of the Theater. The moment of our lives.
I hope a few critics (at least) recognize the good-ness of the score, and don't try and put it on the pedestal of Sondheim's previous works.
"Y'know, I think Bertolt Brecht was rolling in his grave."
-Nellie McKay on the 2006 Broadway production of The Threepenny Opera, in which she played Polly Peachum
-Nellie McKay on the 2006 Broadway production of The Threepenny Opera, in which she played Polly Peachum
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#2re: ROAD SHOW Reviews...
Posted: 11/18/08 at 2:54amThe problem is with every new Sondheim score it always seems that more critics than not complain about the score (and with newer shows say it doesn't live up to his classic ones). Of course then 10+ years later, it's revived and the same critic goes on about the score being a classic... This has happened at least from Company to Passion.
#3re: ROAD SHOW Reviews...
Posted: 11/18/08 at 3:36amKen Mandelbaum did a brilliant article, when Assassins was revived, where he went through the first production pan and revival rave, critic by crtic.
"Broadway...I'll lick you yet!"
#4re: ROAD SHOW Reviews...
Posted: 11/18/08 at 4:05pm
Well, here we go...
Newsday is Very Positive:
It has been a long and bloody road - specifically, two out-of-town tryouts, one workshop, four separate titles and three star directors over 10 years. But "Road Show," Stephen Sondheim's first new musical since "Passion" in 1994, finally opened in New York last night in a meticulous and playful production by John Doyle. And, if I hadn't witnessed a bit of its troubled history, I'd wonder what took the dear thing so long.
http://www.newsday.com/services/newspaper/printedition/wednesday/partii/ny-etshow5932066nov19,0,268947.story
"Y'know, I think Bertolt Brecht was rolling in his grave."
-Nellie McKay on the 2006 Broadway production of The Threepenny Opera, in which she played Polly Peachum
-Nellie McKay on the 2006 Broadway production of The Threepenny Opera, in which she played Polly Peachum
#5re: ROAD SHOW Reviews...
Posted: 11/18/08 at 4:48pm
^ That's a nice review from Winer.
Here's a great article on the show.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97154938
#6re: ROAD SHOW Reviews...
Posted: 11/18/08 at 4:56pm
http://weblogs.amny.com/entertainment/stage/blog/
Matt Windman gives it 2.5 out of 4 stars.
#7re: ROAD SHOW Reviews...
Posted: 11/18/08 at 5:45pmMatt Windman doesn's count. He liked the current revival of Grease. He's an idiot.
#8re: ROAD SHOW Reviews...
Posted: 11/18/08 at 6:19pm
AM New York gives the show 2 1/2 Stars out of 4:
Michael Cerveris is captivating as Willie. Often snorting cocaine, he displays a persuasive charm that often turns cocky, self-delusional and dangerous. Alexander Gemignani is also fine in the less showy role of Addison.
Though the score is character-driven and intelligent, it bears none of the incredible ballads that have sparkled Sondheim’s best musicals. Still, let’s remember that most of Sondheim’s musicals have not received great reviews in their original productions. Down the road, perhaps we’ll change our minds about “Road Show.”
http://weblogs.amny.com/entertainment/stage/blog/2008/11/theater_review_of_road_show.html
"Y'know, I think Bertolt Brecht was rolling in his grave."
-Nellie McKay on the 2006 Broadway production of The Threepenny Opera, in which she played Polly Peachum
-Nellie McKay on the 2006 Broadway production of The Threepenny Opera, in which she played Polly Peachum
#9re: ROAD SHOW Reviews...
Posted: 11/18/08 at 6:24pm
The Daily News gives the show 3 Stars out of 5:
The score is filled with moody melodies and harmonies, as well as phrasings and lyrics that are quintessential Sondheim, along with a few songs (“The Game” is particularly chipper) that stay with you. What’s missing are numbers with points of view that extend beyond the plot. Which rules out the bloated and banal “Boca Raton.”
The show’s bigger sticking point is that it’s built around colorful characters who emerge as pale to the point of being bleached. The book, by John Weidman, who has collaborated with Sondheim on “Pacific Overtures” and “Assassins,” chief-ly catalogues exploits that took the sibs from 1890s Alaska, where they cheated at cards more than they dug for gold, to sunny 1930s Florida, where Addie became a change-making architect, and beyond. The only conflict is Willie’s ability to gum up his brother’s legit endeavors and affairs — with women and men. The show hints that the boys play fast and loose, even with the notion of brotherly love.
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/arts/2008/11/18/2008-11-18_sondheim_returns_to_broadway_with_road_s.html
"Y'know, I think Bertolt Brecht was rolling in his grave."
-Nellie McKay on the 2006 Broadway production of The Threepenny Opera, in which she played Polly Peachum
-Nellie McKay on the 2006 Broadway production of The Threepenny Opera, in which she played Polly Peachum
#10re: ROAD SHOW Reviews...
Posted: 11/18/08 at 7:16pm
The Associated Press is a rave
Money showers the stage like confetti in "Road Show," the exhilarating Stephen Sondheim-John Weidman musical that finally has surfaced in New York after a long, arduous journey that included several different titles, directors and casts.
Sondheim and Weidman have been as tenacious as their antiheroes, Wilson and Addison Mizner, whose constant pursuit of dollars and the American Dream has its ups and downs — mostly downs.
But persistence has paid off, at least for the show's creators. They have put together a small show about big ideas, an intelligent, fascinating examination of the American psyche, both good and bad. The musical opened Tuesday at the Public Theater off-Broadway.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/11/18/entertainment/e160056S92.DTL&hw=road+show&sn=001&sc=1000
Updated On: 11/18/08 at 07:16 PM
#11re: ROAD SHOW Reviews...
Posted: 11/18/08 at 7:20pm
Again, not sure if this holds any weight. But the Hartford Courant seems mixed to positive. Positive for the score and cast. But it's more of a synopsis.
"Road Show" proves a fascinating work as an essay on the failures of the American Dream. There is wit aplenty across the intermissionless evening, but the sense of misanthropy undercuts the fun. Yet Doyle's staging, which often has the agile Cerveris capering over the bureaus and file cabinets, gives the production a kinetic momentum that is sometimes exhilarating.
http://www.courant.com/entertainment/stage/reviews/hc-roadshowrevnov19,0,4066097.story
Updated On: 11/18/08 at 07:20 PM
#12re: ROAD SHOW Reviews...
Posted: 11/18/08 at 7:43pm
Positive from the Chicago Tribute
Tuesday night, “Bounce” officially opened in New York, although at the Public Theatre rather than on Broadway and with a new, equally apt name: “Road Show.” Weidman and Sondheim are surely having a little joke at their own expense.
For those of us long familiar with this piece, the differences from “Bounce” to “Road Show” are striking. Gone is the vaudevillian gestalt, the woman stuck between the brothers, the second act and many of the songs, including what was once the title number. In their place in John Doyle’s new, simpler production are two better-cast actors in the skilled persons of Michael Cerveris and Alexander Gemignani, many deeper individual moments, a newer emphasis on personal relationship, and a minimalist concept that looks more like one of those City Center skeletal stagings.
These are positive developments. Then as now, the show contains more infectiously beautiful, curious, and resonant music and lyrics than any listener has a right to expect. It has found its final resting place as a rich song suite, with mostly pleasurable theatrical eccentricities. No more, no less.
http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/the_theater_loop/2008/11/stephen-sondhei.html
#13re: ROAD SHOW Reviews...
Posted: 11/18/08 at 8:07pm
Vareity is up. I'm guessing this is mixed to mostly positive. The overall message is "this is not perfect, but do NOT miss this one."
Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman have cooked up a strange and beguiling musical in "Road Show." "In America, the journey is the destination," says one of the enterprising early 20th century brothers whose paths are unconventionally mapped here. That reflection captures not only a major theme of the show but also its shape, with a starting and finishing point that remain hazy compared to the steadily more seductive adventures that bump along between them on fortune's roller coaster. Is it a major new Sondheim work? No. But it's far from the failure its tortuous path to New York might suggest.
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117939058.html?categoryid=33&cs=1
#14re: ROAD SHOW Reviews...
Posted: 11/18/08 at 8:11pm
Murray hated it as expected. But he holds zero weight.
http://www.talkinbroadway.com/ob/11_18_08.html
#15re: ROAD SHOW Reviews...
Posted: 11/18/08 at 8:43pm
Does it really matter what morons like Windman and Murray have to say? All that really matters here is Linda, David Rooney, Clive (or whoever reviews for the Post now) and Ben.
By the way, where is Clive Barnes? Did he leave the Post? Is he ill? He hasn't reviewed in some time. The female critic (forget her name) reviewed 13 and Billy Elliot.
#16re: ROAD SHOW Reviews...
Posted: 11/18/08 at 9:02pm
USA Today is a big rave. 4 out of 4 stars
Money is literally raining on the Public Theater's stage, where Road Show (**** out of four), the taut, thrilling new musical by Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman, opened Tuesday. Bills pour down so fast and thick, one hopes the company has accident insurance. Nab a seat up front, and an actor may even throw a few your way.
http://www.usatoday.com/life/theater/reviews/2008-11-18-road-show_N.htm
Updated On: 11/18/08 at 09:02 PM
#17re: ROAD SHOW Reviews...
Posted: 11/18/08 at 9:14pm
The LA Times seems very positive
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2008/11/stephen-sondhei.html
Odds are that many of the critics who went ape for "Billy Elliot: The Musical," finding it a testament "to the power of the human spirit" to such an extent that all flaws were forgiven, will approach "Road Show" with daggers drawn.
No sentimental puppy, the work has the misfortune of being good without being sensational, artistically fascinating yet somewhat choppily constructed. Most damning of all, it refuses to pander, a sin that certain types of theater buffs consider unpardonable.
Ask me, I think it's one of the most compelling chamber musicals I've seen in ages.
Brick
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/21/06
#18re: ROAD SHOW Reviews...
Posted: 11/18/08 at 9:18pm
So far, so good.
And I love how many people here and on ATC have been trashing it...
Now, let's see what Ben has to say.
#19re: ROAD SHOW Reviews...
Posted: 11/18/08 at 9:20pm
I have a feeling Ben is going to like it.
Theatermania is negative. But again, they hold no weight.
http://www.theatermania.com/content/news.cfm/story/16285
#20re: ROAD SHOW Reviews...
Posted: 11/18/08 at 9:20pmHe looked happy coming out Saturday afternoon. I wonder...
#21re: ROAD SHOW Reviews...
Posted: 11/18/08 at 10:24pm
The preview of Brantley's review is up
It’s raining greenbacks in “Road Show,” the latest version of Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s long-aborning, ever-evolving and eternally slender musical about curdled American dreams, which opened on Tuesday night at the Public Theater. Throughout this short and sardonic production, directed by John Doyle and starring the marvelous team of Michael Cerveris and Alexander Gemignani, fistfuls of dollars are flung into the air with such enthusiastic frequency that by evening’s end they carpet the stage floor.
WiCkEDrOcKS
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/13/04
#23re: ROAD SHOW Reviews...
Posted: 11/18/08 at 10:29pm
Seriously...I don't see a word of opinion in that preview. Odd.
Well I'm kinda glad I was in the minority here. I'm always rooting for Sondheim's shows to do well critically. Sure they're not all raves but they're mostly positive.
#24re: ROAD SHOW Reviews...
Posted: 11/18/08 at 10:29pmAt least we know he enjoyed Cerveris and Gemignani.
My avatar = A screencap from Avatar, arguably the greatest animated show of all
