Once: I'll say it, The Emperor is standing there naked (some spoilers)

[Wee Thomas2]

Posted: 2/19/13 at 2:56pm

and not in a good way.

OK, maybe it's because I saw it this past Saturday night, and there was no Kazee, no Milioti, no Davis, and one other substitute as well, but I can't remember the last time I was this bored on Broadway.

There was absolutely no spark between the u/s playing Guy and the one playing Girl. They were very good singers, and played their instruments well, but I just didn't see any sort of relationship there at all. Hey, maybe it's just because they don't get out there that often. Guess I should have known something was up when we got Row A in the Mezz online on Wednesday night. I'm sure someone turned those in when they saw the substituting going on.

But beyond that, it's painfully obvious where the show is going as soon as we find out about the girlfriend in America. So that kind of eliminates any "will they or won't they" concern you might have as an interested audience member.

And the songs? Does anyone leave the theater humming any of the songs? Could they put the songs on a big Wheel of Fortune type gizmo and spin it and play the songs in the order they come out in and would that change anything? The musicianship is fine, as is the singing, but *yawn*, there's no plot advancement as far as I could see or hear.

I swear, for the first time in more than a decade, I was counting down the seconds (an old college trick) for the last half hour just to keep from falling asleep (I snore, you see, and that would have been rude). I must say they do an excellent job of timing out the show, as I got to "zero" just as the final song was ending.

At least Virginia Woolf and Passions were excellent. But this just sucked. Next time I'll go see Mumford and Sons. Or Country Bear Jamboree instead when I want that kind of music.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 2/19/13 at 2:58pm

Have fun at Disney!

[Kelly2]

Posted: 2/19/13 at 3:00pm

I felt the same way and I saw it with Milioti and Kazee. One of the most overrated shows I've ever seen. You're right, there is no dramatic tension, the music is forgettable, and I was just bored.

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 2/19/13 at 3:05pm

Tell us more! There must be no other reports about this brand new show.

[After Eight]

Posted: 2/19/13 at 3:07pm

Wee Thomas,

The Emperor was just as naked even with the two leads, if that's any consolation.

Sorry you had to suffer through this excruciating evening. I certainly feel your pain.

"Does anyone leave the theater humming any of the songs?"

Well, at least one person here does, who proclaimed the score better than Rodgers and Hammerstein and My Fair Lady!

[Wee Thomas2]

Posted: 2/19/13 at 3:10pm

I should add, I did ask my wife if she had a cold, she was sniffling so badly. I was told, in no uncertain terms, that she was crying because of the story.

This is the same woman who cries at about half the episodes of "Judge Judy", though (and cries if Judge Judy is preempted), so I'm not sure how fair her opinion is (no, no, of course I value your opinion, sweetie).

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 2/19/13 at 3:12pm

Yeah, your wife sounds pretty unstable and totally unable to determine when she should be emotional. You should probably file for divorce ASAP.

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 2/19/13 at 3:14pm

Glad someone else is posting this assessment. That's how I felt when I saw Kazee and Millioti as well. Seemed every song was well-performed yet utterly divorced from the specifics of the scene in which it occurred. Lyrics so abstract that emotional connections failed on every level for me. I'd never encountered this in a musical play before; it's a new way to tell a story I desperately hope does not catch on. Utterly baffling to me how it received such wild raves (and from folks I respect).

Let the brickbats fall where they may.

[Wee Thomas2]

Posted: 2/19/13 at 3:14pm

Lovin' your contributions, JC. Please tell us more!

[dramamama611]

Posted: 2/19/13 at 3:16pm

Personally, I loved it. But you certainly aren't alone in your opinion.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 2/19/13 at 3:16pm

OK! To say that because your wife found it to be a beautiful story (like a LOT of others did) that somehow there's something wrong with her is a pretty shltty thing to say and I can guarantee you, you would never say that to her face.

Shall I go on?

[newintown]

Posted: 2/19/13 at 3:21pm

The score is non-theatrical, but many people seem to like that in the theatre (or at least producers believe they do): witness Jersey Boys, Mamma Mia, Spring Awakening, American Idiot, Spider Man, Priscilla, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Million Dollar Quartet, Rock of Ages, etc., etc., etc.

[Wee Thomas2]

Posted: 2/19/13 at 3:25pm

JC: I wasn't saying something is wrong with her, just that she cries at pretty much everything. I was trying to point out that I can understand how some people would enjoy the show much more than I did. She obviously got more out of the story than I did, but she agreed that the music added nothing to the story.

We grade every show we go to, from A+ to F. Over 200 shows in the past 10 years (we live 200 miles from NYC), there have been maybe 6 shows where our grades have been more than 1 full lettergrade off from each other. I gave Once a "D" (the singing and instrument playing were good), she gave it a "B".

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 2/19/13 at 3:44pm

Newintown, interesting your use of the word non-theatrical to describe Once's score. I'm guessing you mean a score not originally written by stage composers and lyricists. And the list of shows you cite are instructive-- nearly all of them left me cold as well, which tells me there is a BRAND of musical-making that I guess is just not for me.

But then comes along a hybrid like American Idiot, which somehow made it's non-theatrical score link tightly arm-in-arm with its story, and that night I was blown away with the emotional impact that that play offered. When the magic works it just works, I guess.

[newintown]

Posted: 2/19/13 at 3:56pm

By "non-theatrical," I mean a group of songs that aren't particularly specific to character or story. Some may set a general mood, but the songs aren't specifically intrinsic to the play.

Some will disagree, and say that "Mama Who Bore Me" is as specific to the story of Spring Awakening and the character of Wendla as "I Put My Hand In" is to Dolly Levi and Hello Dolly. I can't say who is right, only what I perceive.

I do know that, in what I would call a non-theatrical score, the lyrics tend to be either difficult to make out, or go in one ear and out the other (to me).

Updated On: 2/19/13 at 03:56 PM

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 2/19/13 at 4:26pm

I was at Saturday night's show and had the complete opposite reaction. I thought it was one of the most captivating, quietly brilliant shows I've ever seen. Disappointed not to have seen Kazee and Milioti, but maybe I'll go again before she heads out.

For what it's worth, though, my mother fell asleep.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 2/19/13 at 10:10pm

Any piece of theatre is not for anyone-you act as though because you didn't like it is somehow exposed as an inferior work. Check yourself.

It's not a love story, it's a story about creation of art and how people get in their own way.

I'm with Jordan. You pretty much threw your wife under the bus and invalidated her feelings. You seem like a peach.

This needed its own thread. Just go see another show and get over it.

[Wee Thomas2]

Posted: 2/20/13 at 7:35am

Really? I threw her under the bus? I made a joke, I also backed off from it for those who read things waaaay to literally.

And "see another show?" Did you even read the end of my post? I did see two other shows and I enjoyed them.

I thought it worth bringing up another opinion of the show, and I used something called "hyperbole" when I made the Country Bear reference and the jokes about my wife. It's not like I'm saying they should shut the show or that it's worthless, just that it didn't work for me and why it didn't work. And I see others agreed with my opinion and others disagreed, and that's what message boarding is about.

Updated On: 2/20/13 at 07:35 AM

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 2/20/13 at 8:58am

The show has always just been twee garbage wrapped in downtown staging.

[Brian07663NJ]

Posted: 2/20/13 at 9:05am

I want to run a hot bath and slice my wrists everytime the commercial appears on TV. NO way I would even attend for free!

Wee Thomas2...now makes "that thread" from last week about someone attending Once on a regular basis all the more...OMG.

[suestorm]

Posted: 2/20/13 at 9:06am

WEE while youre entitled to your opinion, I cant believe you had such a bad time. I have seen the show a couple of times with both leads and with the girl understudy and i teared up both times as did my friends. Maybe you were just in a mood, or its possible maybe one of the leads was having a bad day.

[Wynbish]

Posted: 2/20/13 at 9:07am

Hey darion

[Brian07663NJ]

Posted: 2/20/13 at 9:49am

suestorm - good point. I have thought of that in the past when I saw a show and found I did not enjoy it. If you aren't in the mood an otherwise good show can crash for you. Last time I think that happened for me I actually went back and saw the show again...but I still didn't find it any better: Mary Poppins.

[jnb9872]

Posted: 2/20/13 at 10:01am

I've reached a point with ONCE where I don't take much offense with the people who didn't enjoy the show that I loved. No accounting for taste, mine or theirs, and no amount of arguing will solve anything.

Nor do I begrudge anyone coming to the boards to voice a negative opinion. Lord knows, some shows require it, and we all are entitled. Public forum and all.

What I truly don't understand is the impulse people have, specifically it seems as regards ONCE, to come to the boards with a negative opinion and address others who love the show about their *wrong* opinion.

"The Emperor is standing there naked..." "Does anyone leave the theatre humming any of the songs?" (incidentally, yes... each time I saw it) The rhetoric of the OP is not just a negative opinion, which I have no qualms with; it's an aggressively accusatory opinion. The show isn't just bad; anyone who loves it is wrong.

That's what ruffles feathers. It's worth addressing that, and not the show (of which no further conversation can be helpful, frankly), because the OP transgressed in my opinion.

[Wee Thomas2]

Posted: 2/20/13 at 10:15am

It was not my intention to tell others who enjoyed the show that they were wrong, I have always stressed that entertainment of all kinds is a matter of taste, that's why we have so many choices out there.

Was my post exaggerated and meant to draw attention? Of course it was. This is a theater board. Should I be posting theatrically on my stocks board? This place would be a total bore if negative opinions were expressed in a dull way.

And I sincerely did want to know if folks hum the tunes on the way out -- although my wife enjoyed the story, she did not think the tunes were in any way memorable.