FINDING NEVERLAND Previews- Page 11

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 5:20pm

"The last 20 minutes of Finding Neverland perfectly combine ridiculous spectacle with emotional heart tugging, which skews most theater-goers perception of the show."

Or it could just be as simple as people having a different opinion besides yours.

[LeTigre]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 7:01pm

Just as Weinstein, Barlow, Paulus & Co. got ripped to shreds for the craptastic
Radio City spring UNspectacular, they will get slammed again for this show. Everyone's work on this ranges from banal to pedestrian to painfully inept.

[CarlAlan610]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 7:22pm

Ok so it is no secret that I was a HUGE fan of this show at the ART - esp. of Jeremy Jordan. It was one of the most spectacular things I have ever seen on stage. I was not happy about Morrison's casting, however, I went in with an open mind when I saw the show last night and....

I was HUGELY disappointed. Morrison was as bad as I feared from the videos I saw from the press day. I thought he was dull, flat, and vocally unimpressive. I can not believe they cast him in this role over Jordan. It is a CRIME. Many of the songs are in lower keys for him - and the key change in "Neverland" which gave me chills when Jordan sang it was nowhere to be found.

I loved Laura Michelle Kelly at the ART and could not wait to see her again. However, I was underwhelmed with her as well. Her energy was low, and there was NO chemistry with Morrison. And her role seemed MUCH smaller to me.

I did not like the changes to All That Matters and missed the duet at the beginning with Carmello. I also did to like the changes to Play, or the Finale, which was a reprise of All That Matters in Cambridge and is now a reprise of When Your Feet Don't Touch the Ground. I also missed Rearranging the Furniture. I know many people did not like the dog being played by a human, but I did, and missed that as well.

My biggest complaint, however, was the way they beefed up the role of Frohman for Grammar to the detriment of the women. All of the major women's roles are underdeveloped and it seems a waste of the incredible talents of Kelly, Wicks, and Carmello.

Overall, I was incredibility disappointed and am sad they messed with what was, to me, a spectacular show last summer. Maybe if I had not seen it at the ART I would have felt differently. My friends who were with me, who has not seen the show enjoyed it very much, but even they were not impressed with Morrison.



Updated On: 3/29/15 at 07:22 PM

[rcwr]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 7:41pm

CarlAlan, Jeremy's key change in "Neverland" was one my favorite things I've ever seen (well, heard) in my lifetime. I still think about it all these months later.

What changes did they make to "Play," if you wouldn't mind describing? Are they changes to the song or the choreography?

[Bilbo3]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 7:46pm

"CarlAlan, Jeremy's key change in "Neverland" was one my favorite things I've ever seen (well, heard) in my lifetime. I still think about it all these months later."

I still listen to it every now and then. His voice soared on that score. Morrison doesn't have half the voice Jordan does, but I'm sure he is serviceable enough.

[Buddy Plummer2]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 7:47pm

My major disappointment with the show (which could, and should, really be something special):
The way they handled the romance between J.M. Barrie and Sylvia. They're not a couple. They can't be a couple. And whatever feelings they had were tied to the children and their collective imaginations. By playing up their romance in the way that they do, it's taking a story that's already really interesting, and just trying to make it as blatantly palatable and emotionally blunt as possible.
I hate to say this, but this plus the casting of Morrison (a somewhat more machismo figure than Jordan) makes it seem like the production is trying to dismiss the pedophile allegation solely by saying "Look: he's so manly, and he loves women".
It's also a part of a grander cheapening of the story: the jokes that pander to the lowest common denominator, the highlighting of every possible Peter Pan connection, making Barrie's wife into a raving bitch. I can see them trying to justify these moves as a way of relating back to how "Peter Pan" was a crowd pleaser that delighted children. The thing is: Peter Pan was a success because it connected to everyone's inner childhood innocence. Moments tap into this innocence: "Play", the children's second act song, Sylvia's exit. There's nothing innocent about a "cheers" joke.

[CarlAlan610]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 7:53pm

I agree the Cheers joke was SO CHEAP.

They added a much of nursery rhythm chants to play which I did like or understand. It also is focused much more on Frohman, and the choreography with the cups which I loved was gone.

I am sure people who have not seen Jordan in the role think Morrison is fine - maybe even good. I can not imagine ANYONE who saw Jordan liking Morrison or thinking he was better in any way, shape, or form

[Bilbo3]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 7:59pm

Great points, Buddy Plummer. But this show is trying to be the new WICKED. With a smaller budget and a creative team that wasn't desperately trying to lure children and their parents in with promises of magic and fluff, you would get the show you were hoping to see.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 8:04pm

"But this show is trying to be the new WICKED. With a smaller budget and a creative team that wasn't desperately trying to lure children and their parents in with promises of magic and fluff, you would get the show you were hoping to see."

Unfortunately, Weinstein scrapped the show Plummer wanted to see.

[Broadwaylover2]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 8:07pm

11 million is not a lot of money for a show. American Idiot cost 10 million but was smaller. I think it should have been 20 million. I feel everyone has confirmed everything I thought it was. A commercial commodity rather than something that is actually a work of art.

I actually think that producers will nominate it. The problems is this trash will get nominated while something great like Matilda does not win

[Bilbo3]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 8:10pm

Finding Neverland was a relatively small film. Trying to turn it into a blockbuster musical never seemed quite right. I saw it at ART and while there was fluff, it didn't seem too big for it's britches like it does now in NYC.

[Broadwaylover2]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 8:12pm

I think that this or something rotten will win over the much better Fun Home from all reports. Its really why I love the public always trying to produce GOOD theatre over commercial theatre.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 8:22pm

Better Something Rotten than a neutered shell of what could've been a great crowd pleaser (yeah, I give up).

[Back Row]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 8:27pm

One thing that appealed to me about the A.R.T. production was the overall air of whimsy. Dancing servants and a man playing a dog were ridiculous, and yet they were key to the overall the appeal of the production. It would be a shame if they lost that as they mixed their concoction of T.V. stars and pop culture jokes in pursuit of the low hanging fruit of audience appeal.

[Bilbo3]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 8:32pm

I'm one of the few that loved the human dog. I found it really smart and charming, but it wouldn't have worked on a bigger, less intimate stage and setting.

[ebontoyan]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 8:46pm

I was only mildly interested in seeing this show for my May trip. I haven't even seen the movie. But reading the comments on here solidified my decision. Thanks to everyone's comments, this show will not be in my May lineup. I got tix to Something Rotten, Living on Love, Beautiful and On the Twentieth Century #2 and very excited for my choices!!

[Bilbo3]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 8:55pm

Ebontoyan, while there is a lot of fluff and doesn't really stay true to the original source, there is a good chunk of touching magic about this show. With or without Jeremy Jordan, I still think it's an endearing experience in the theatre. Yes it's fluffy, but the fluff works in most cases. The pop songs are a bit off putting but they aren't bad. I still get a bit misty eyed when I hear the song "Neverland". I wouldn't let our comments discourage you from seeing the show. It all depends on what YOU are looking for. Even with the fluff and flaws, it's still a magical show.

Updated On: 3/29/15 at 08:55 PM

[rcwr]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 8:56pm

Bilbo, me too about the human dog -- both that I loved it at ART and that I can see it getting lost without that small, intimate setting.

At ART, I loved the choreography when Porthos suddenly joined the ensemble and sang and danced upright for part of a song (still in his dog suit) and then rolled back onstage as Porthos. Oh, and during that horror dance at the end of Circus of Your Mind: when the dancer (Thayne Jasperson) playing the dog became one of the dancers in the ensemble that was mocking James, it was yet another rejection on top of the rejections he was facing from Frohman and Mary and Sylvia / Mrs DuMaurier in that song. Almost as if even his dog was rejecting him too -- I mean, of course Thayne had an emsemble costume on during that scene, not the Porthos costume, but his dancing is so distinct (and the Loeb Theater so small) that I found it easy to pick him out and see him dance-mocking James.

Then again, I know I'm in the minority with how many emotional layers I found in the show.

[ebontoyan]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 9:03pm

Bilbo3 thanks for the comments! I do make my own decisions but it's also good when I hear it back from other people. I have also read about what people like about it which is good. I may decide eventually to see it I know there are good things about this show! :)

[CarlAlan610]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 9:06pm

I also thought the human dog worked on many levels - esp because of the whimsy that Thayne Jasperson brought the role.

The dancing servants are also gone which I thought was a HUGE mistake. Instead, they have the servants "awake" and become part of "We Own the Night" at the dinner party which made no sense.

[rcwr]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 9:11pm

I loved those dancing servants. I found them hysterically funny, whimsical, and alarming -- alarming in a good way, because they revealed James's confusion about fantasy vs reality. In some performances he murmured something like, "Mary, what's happening with the servants?!"

Updated On: 3/29/15 at 09:11 PM

[HamBiggar]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 11:56pm

The Bloodbath Continues:

Apparently Weinstein continued the firing spree, with the music director getting the ax this week. Who will be next to walk the plank?

[rcwr]

Posted: 3/30/15 at 12:02am

HamBiggar, do you mean that Mary-Mitchell Campbell got fired??! Where did you see that?

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 3/30/15 at 12:26am

WHAT?!?!?!?

[Copperfield2]

Posted: 3/30/15 at 1:09am

I thought the human dog got much too cutesy at ART so I'm glad they got rid of it. And the number about rearranging the furniture, though fun, added nothing to the meaning of the show so I don't think I'll miss that either.

I was dreading seeing Morrison in the show instead of Jordan and now my fears may be confirmed.