EMMA at the Old Globe?

[Famebroadway2]

Posted: 1/24/11 at 8:33am

Has anyone seen this? I know they are grooming it to come to NYC and I am curious to early reports.

Anyone?

Thanks,
R ;o)

[massofmen]

Posted: 1/24/11 at 8:47am

grooming it?

[Famebroadway2]

Posted: 1/24/11 at 9:31am

Really Massofmen? Really?

Sorry, Shaping, working, testing etc. Better?

[massofmen]

Posted: 1/25/11 at 12:42pm

how do you even know this? I mean is the creative team is sitting there thinking "how do we "groom" this for nyc.
Maybe they just wanna put it up in CA and make it a regional show like daddy long legs has been doing for the past few years. Or maybe they want to just tour it around like "bring it on".

Or do you actually know the creatives and know that they are "shaping, working, testing, etc" for broadway. JUst don't write stuff that you don't know about. Unless you actually do know. :)

[massofmen]

Posted: 1/25/11 at 12:47pm

maybe they need more grooming....


la times review of Emma.

[notzach2]

Posted: 1/25/11 at 12:55pm

I can't believe they closed First Wives Club for this crap.

[massofmen]

Posted: 1/25/11 at 1:04pm

wasnt first wives club like 6 months ago? and from what i heard first wives club was the worst thing on stage since moose murders.

[Amneris25]

Posted: 1/25/11 at 4:49pm

Has any of you actually seen this yet? This is a pretty great review of it:

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2011/jan/24/play-review-a-gem-of-an-emma/

And I saw First Wives Club. It was garbage on stage.

[ABB2357]

Posted: 1/25/11 at 5:46pm

I posted my thoughts in a thread someone started on the off-topic board and will repost here. massofmen, you are correct. FIRST WIVES CLUB was just about the worst thing on stage since MOOSE MURDERS, but it was of such spectacular incompetence that I loved it dearly for that very reason. It was the most "this-can't-possibly-get-worse-no-wait-it-just-did" fun I've ever had at a bad show.

Now, onto EMMA: while it wasn't a disaster, I wasn't blown away by it either. It's generally dull and desperately in need of some wit and chemistry (if anything, I walked out remembering what a fine adaptation CLUELESS was).

That's not to say the show is bad, it's just bland and uninvolving. The book is flat and the score is insanely repetitive. There are about four songs, all mid-tempo ballads, that go in circles endlessly. A few more upbeat songs, as well as those that give genuine insight into the characters, would up the energy quotient. It felt like we were seeing the same story beats throughout, with very little narrative progression and zero romantic intrigue.

Thankfully, the cast is capable. Patti Murin is a fine Emma, but the part as written restricts her from exhibiting more personality. For a major leading role (she's practically never offstage), it doesn't amount to much. Her suitors are interchangeable, and it seems like Emma is the last one to figure out who she's going to end up with, something that was apparent to me by the opening number. Dani Marcus and Kelly Hutchinson are two other standouts, but neither is helped by the fact that there's not much for them to do.

The maze set and turntable didn't work for me at all, and I felt like they restricted the playing area to a fault. (Characters regularly enter and exit via the maze, which opens up on either side for set pieces to roll on and off via turntable). I know Jeff Calhoun thinks this is a brilliant metaphor for Emma's romantic entanglements, but to me it was obvious, inappropriate, and not particularly clever.

Also, none of these ideas were reflected in the actual staging - you'd think Emma would always be in the middle of the crowd, butting in, observing things, etc., but she's more often than not downstage delivering her lines directly to the audience.

The lowdown: a decent production of a mediocre show that will fade from memory by the time you make it to the parking lot.

Here's the song list:

ACT I
Hartfield - Company
I Made the Match Myself - Emma, Mr. Knightley
A Gentleman's Daughter - Emma, Company
The Portrait - Mr. Elton, Mr. Knightley
The Argument - Mr. Knightley, Emma
Should We Ever Meet - Emma
The Argument (Reprise) - Mr. Knightley
Have a Piece of Cake - Miss Bates, Emma, Jane, Harriet
Mr. Robert Martin - Harriet, Emma
Home - Mr. Churchill, Emma
The Recital - Company

ACT II
Pride and Sense - Company
So This is How Love Feels - Emma
Mr. Robert Martin (Reprise) - Harriet, Robert Martin
I Made the Match Myself (Reprise) - Mrs. Weston, Emma
The Conviction of My Indifference - Emma
Humiliation - Harriet
Emma - Mr. Knightley
Stranger Things Have Happened - Emma, Harriet
Box Hill - Company
Badly Done - Mr. Knightley
The Epiphant - Harriet, Emma
Humiliation (Reprise) - Harriet
Emma (Reprise) - Mr. Knightley
Finale - Company

A few samples from the score Updated On: 1/25/11 at 05:46 PM

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 1/25/11 at 7:26pm

I really want to see this, but I just don't have the cash right now. I love the demo desperately, and I'm kinda bummed that the show isn't getting better reviews.

[Amneris25]

Posted: 1/26/11 at 12:10pm

The LA Times was the only negative review this show has gotten so far. Variety raves about the show:

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117944403/

My cousin saw it last night and said it is amazing. And he's a 35 year old straight man!

[newintown]

Posted: 1/26/11 at 12:25pm

I don't know the book, but I do know the score, and, sadly, it's an amateurish and generic snoozefest. I don't know for certain, but I would guess (by the bland ineptitude of the writing) that the composer is one of the musical illiterates discussed in another thread.

Why is public domain English literature so badly served by American musical theatre writers (Jane Eyre, First Impressions, Tale of Two Cities, Jekyll & Hyde, Scarlet Pimpernel, etc.)?

[massofmen]

Posted: 1/26/11 at 1:38pm

oh good, glad to see its getting better notices than the LA times.

[CockeyedOptimist2]

Posted: 1/27/11 at 12:59am

Just listened to most of those tracks linked above. It seems uncompelling. Some of the melodies are nice... some of Mr. Knightley's song "Emma." This is my favorite book, so if it's going to ever come about on Broadway, I hope it's reworked quite a bit to try to do the book justice. The language felt too much like it came directly from the book most of the time, with brief instances of less Austen-like lyrics mixed in. What it made me really want to do is read the book again or watch the awesome Gwyneth Paltrow movie.

[dented146]

Posted: 1/27/11 at 2:09am

I saw it on Sunday. I felt the Times review was too harsh. The Variety review is closer if a bit too kind. I liked it. It was very cleverly done. And I suspect that trying to do a score which contains both the humor and ideals of 1800 England must be extremely challanging. Murin was wonderful as was Grodner.

[Wicked Fanatic]

Posted: 2/9/11 at 11:07pm

I saw it today. ABBB2357's review here is exactly how I felt when I saw this play: Dull and bland storytelling with the second act much better than the first; a very repetitive score with the best song "Emma" going to Knightley played nicely by Adam Monley; a set that looks nice when you first see it but the revolving stage gets old pretty fast; an excellent cast headed by Patti Murin but the real scene stealers are Dani Marcus (Harriet Smith) and Kelly Hutchinson (Mrs. Elton); score has not changed since the one that's posted here.

Wouldn't expect this to reach Broadway but maybe Off-Broadway. Last summer's "Robin & the 7 Hoods" was light years better than this show and more worthy of a trip to Broadway!

Noticed that Jerry Lanning (OBC Patrick in "Mame" among many Broadway credits), was listed in the program as Mr. Woodhouse, but Richert Easley who played the role at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park is playing the role now. Wonder if Jerry Lanning played any performances at all or whether he was never in the SD production and they couldn't change the program?

It has been extended till March 6th. Songs got polite applause and some in my row including myself didn't applaud for every song. Nice ovation at the end but no one stood or whooped until Dani Marcus came out. Out of 4 stars I'd give it 2 1/2!