Did Anyone See "A Bed & A Chair" At City Center Tonight?- Page 4

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 11/15/13 at 11:19am

Brantley pretty much said what I wrote on Wednesday.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 11/15/13 at 12:03pm

Yah I noticed that too Jordan. Your review was the only other one on here that seemed mixed.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 11/15/13 at 12:06pm

And it's not that I didn't like it! It just really was like a high priced variation of the same ol' cabaret act that wanted to pass itself off as something other than what it really was.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 11/15/13 at 12:33pm

I was ASTOUNDED when I looked at the prices. For a revue, high quality or not, those prices seem so steep.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 11/15/13 at 12:37pm

I was in the cheaper seats so I didn't mind what I paid at all. $30 wouldn't even get you in the door at most Cabaret acts nowadays, not to mention the 2 drink minimum.

But City Center is charging close to $200 for every orchestra seat now. WOW

[CukorLover]

Posted: 11/15/13 at 12:39pm

Though she likes Bernadette.
Bernadette Peters rescues ‘A Bed and a Chair’

[macnyc]

Posted: 11/15/13 at 12:43pm

I haven't seen this show on TDF. With empty seats to fill, that seems odd.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 11/15/13 at 10:51pm

There were no empty seats tonight. I apparently bought one of the last seats available in the balcony. I was literally in the last row. They were chairs, not seats.

I would say it was fine. I wasn't amazed, but there were some pretty moments. I really enjoyed the staging and the way people slowly walked on and off and sorta slinked out of the picture. They never used the wings, which was kind of a nice change.

I'm probably the only gay man alive who doesn't understand Bernadette Peter's appeal. She's fine, but I feel like she makes one little noise and the entire theater was on the floor with laughter. I just don't get it. I keep waiting for that moment where I'd be like "Wow" but it just never happened.

Everyone was in great voice, and I loved the jazzy singer. And honestly the dancing was really breathtaking. I loved the movement, I just thought the singers/dancers were costumed for different shows. The dancers felt like Music Man or something.

There were some great moments, but again, I was waiting for that "OMG" moment. It sort of came with "Loving You" only because I think Norm Lewis' voice is next to Godliness, but I still was just sort of like "eh."

But I'd say see it. I thought the orchestrations were really great throughout. Just didn't love all the song choices.

[ljay889]

Posted: 11/15/13 at 10:55pm

Dont know why, but I just don't have interest in seeing this.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 11/15/13 at 11:00pm

I was there tonight as well and I thought it was underwhelming. It's a glorified "concert;" I'm not exactly sure what cohesive story they were attempting to tell. Each performer is entirely equipped to perform their songs, and the orchestra is strong, but the trouble is nothing really stands out as being unique, either in terms of arrangement or performance. Yes, there are jazz influences throughout, but not many of the songs seems to be all that "changed" for something that was so hyped up as a side of Sondheim we hadn't yet heard.

The only sequence that stuck out from the pack like a sore thumb was the thrilling, funny, and inventive "Ladies Who Lunch," et al. mashup. I liked the dancing as well. The projections, not so much. They were just distracting to me. The whole thing just never really came to life, or even came together, in the way I hoped it would. Updated On: 11/16/13 at 11:00 PM

[RippedMan]

Posted: 11/16/13 at 12:30am

Agreed, Wicked. That mash-up is what I went into this expecting to hear. But after the first four or five solo songs, I was like "eh, it's just a revue."

I was tentative coming into this after seeing "After Midnight" and not liking it. And this jazz-influenced/heavy dance/revue show had me a little worried. I didn't hate it, but I'm glad I paid my $30.

When it ended I was like "Oh, that's the finale?"

[yfs]

Posted: 11/16/13 at 10:42am

Maybe it's because I'm older than some posters here, but I found the "story" completely clear and heartbreaking, and very true to life. And the musical treatment of Sondheim was extraordinarily fresh while still being respectful of what the composer wrote. The possible exception was "It Would Have Been Wonderful", which was nearly unrecognizable. But for me the show was a fresh way to do narrative and a fresh way to play and arrange Sondheim -- and that was way more than enough.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 11/16/13 at 10:46am

"Maybe it's because I'm older than some posters here, but I found the "story" completely clear and heartbreaking, and very true to life."

Ok, Yoda. Would you tell us what the "story" was?

[yfs]

Posted: 11/16/13 at 11:49am

Sure. Two couples. The younger one is new to each other, more or less. They have a great encounter in bed, and then begin immediately wondering and doubting, in “Happily Ever After”, whether they really want to be together or just enjoy the sex. Meanwhile an older, long-committed couple is having trouble admitting that what they have might not be enough – he sings “So Many People” about her, but he’s not really focused on her. In “I Remember” they both admit, reluctantly, to a kind of alienation from real feelings, and they drift. He encounters the young woman, and beds her, but immediately feels cold. His partner begins an affair with the young man, which is playful and makes her feel alive (in “Buddy’s Blues”) but somehow she knows it can’t last. All of the new connections have a value, but they’re doomed to a limited life – “With So Little to Be Sure Of”.

After a drunken evening in which everyone complains cruelly (though it’s pretty damn funny) about how difficult their various lovers are, the older couple reunites, understanding, in “Loving You” and “Rainbows” that they are connected forever, and that it’s far from perfect, but it’s what they have. In “I Wish I Could Forget You” they also acknowledge what their younger partners have given them, and they turn ruefully to “what’s left of” their lives.

At least that’s what I took away, and it moved me pretty deeply.

[PianoMann]

Posted: 11/16/13 at 6:20pm

The possible exception was "It Would Have Been Wonderful", which was nearly unrecognizable.

Agreed; when I looked at the song list after the show, I didn't remember it at all.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 11/16/13 at 9:30pm

In regards to the high prices, wasn't this a fundraiser? Or was it at some point? Or is everything from Encores technically a fundraiser? I just assumed that's why top price was so ridiculous.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 11/17/13 at 4:10am

I don't get why people get so up in arms about the top ticket price. There are plenty of $30 tickets. I bought one an hour before the show.

[bundy5000]

Posted: 11/17/13 at 7:26am

Where is the stage door for city center? And is it busy after the show?

[After Eight]

Posted: 11/17/13 at 6:01pm

I must confess to feeling quite out of sorts by the time this sour mash came to a close. Sitting through it called to mind Sartre's evocation of hell in Huis Clos.

Why is the lighting so dark and dismal? Why are these people so downbeat and miserable? Why are these songs so tenaciously abrasive, enervating, and miserable? They're ugly enough to begin with, but as presented here, they sound even worse!

Oh well. It's always good to see Bernadette Peters, even when she is poorly served by the material. The band played well, but my oh my, what they had to play!

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 11/17/13 at 6:25pm

Yeah, that Sondheim; what a hack.

[GoSmileLaughCryClap]

Posted: 11/17/13 at 6:57pm

Hey After Eighty. Do you realize that Addison DeWitt was written for a movie that came out in 1950? That would be 63 years ago. His was a really terrific character, but it was fiction and it was 63 years ago. Why do you write with a style that is not only archaic, but clearly based on an insufferable archetype?

You ape DeWitt's syntax perfectly, but when reading your posts other voices come to mind. A little bit of Mercedes McCambridge in Johnny Guitar slips in now and then. Always wafting in your posts is a hint of Percy Dovetonsils mannered opulence. Every once in a while I hear a little bit of Peter Lorre. Clifton Webb is in there as well. All dead and gone, along with their pretense.

I guess it's a blessing that every arch post of yours drips with a sort of faux sophistication. It renders the content of most of what you write inconsequential and disposable.

By the way. Forty Carats is never coming back. Or The Star Spangled Girl, or No, No, Nanette, or the dozens of other middle brow boulevard comedies and pink gelled musicals that made you happy some time ago.

So I guess all I'm getting at is that you should think about tipping your toe in the 21st century. Forty Carats ain't coming back.

Thank you.

[After Eight]

Posted: 11/17/13 at 7:25pm

Uh..... GSLCC,

Sorry to disillusion you, but I don't "ape" Addison DeWitt's syntax or style, or anyone else's, for that matter. My style and syntax are my OWN, and always have been.

I am relieved to hear, though, that Forty Carats, or any of the other wonderful shows of yesterday will not be coming back. For if they did, they would only be ruined by people, I suspect, who think just like you. I'm glad to have the memories of what they were, and were supposed to be.

[GoSmileLaughCryClap]

Posted: 11/17/13 at 7:46pm

Oh c'mon! Pulling a Countess Aurelia now? You have no pride.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 11/17/13 at 8:21pm

...or teeth.

[indytallguy]

Posted: 11/17/13 at 9:06pm

"I'm glad to have the memories of what they were, and were supposed to be."

Of course. After Eight is Grizabella.

Up, up, up, up to the Heaviside layer / Up, up, up past the Jellicle moon.