BRIDGES in its final week- Page 7

[Steve721]

Posted: 5/20/14 at 9:30pm

"This Disney-fication of Broadway is horribly disturbing, and depressing. It's crazy that audiences apparently need huge, shiny, over the top shows in order for them to go to the theater, and to make a show successful. Sigh."

This is not entirely true. Gentleman's Guide and Matilda don't fall into this category--both shows have original scores and no big stars, and neither show has been dumbed down. It's something of a mystery to me why Bridges didn't do better. Given her glowing reviews, I thought Kelli was a big enough star to draw enough of an audience to keep it going. And of course JRB's score is superb.

In some ways, what happened to Bridges reminds me of the response to Side Show. SS had a devoted core of people who loved it, but others could have cared less. And, like Bridges, SS never found an audience. It's really a shame, but that happens from time to time with shows that have a narrower appeal than one would have expected.

Updated On: 5/20/14 at 09:30 PM

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 5/20/14 at 9:43pm

Great post

In total agreement.

[After Eight]

Posted: 5/20/14 at 9:48pm

"we will all have a lifetime to wonder how things got to the state they are that a show so beautiful can't have a proper run"."

A lifetime? We don't even have to wonder ten seconds. The answer is as plain as day right before our eyes, and has been since the show began.

It wasn't good and it didn't run. And that's that.

[rjm516]

Posted: 5/20/14 at 9:51pm

I THOUGHT WE TOLD YOU TO STAY OUT OF THIS THREAD. GET YOU GONE.

[After Eight]

Posted: 5/20/14 at 9:55pm

^

I guess I don't take your orders. I'll summon the server for your table.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 5/20/14 at 9:59pm

After Eight

You are joking when you said it was a bad show right?

You cannot be serious.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 5/20/14 at 10:12pm

Roxy, of course he is serious. He pollutes our gorgeous Bridges thread with his hatred and asinine bulls*it. I also find it so funny he REFUSED to respond in a thread devoted entirely to him.

Get the fuq GONE!


After Eight, I thought this might help you put together your calender

[WholeLottaShakin]

Posted: 5/21/14 at 1:54am

ICYMI, one perspective from The Hollywood Reporter, including quotes from Kelli the day after closing...

In other news, can anyone report back about Stars In The Alley today?


THR interview with Kelli

[Blockhead24]

Posted: 5/21/14 at 1:58am

guys, just stop replying to him and maybe he'll go away

[avyrocks]

Posted: 5/21/14 at 2:01am

"guys, just stop replying to him and maybe he'll go away"

This!

Or just block him. :) Works like a charm.

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 5/21/14 at 11:12am

That Hollywood Reporter article mentioned above has some nice interview bits with Kelli, but boy does it get a summary of the current season on Broadway wrong.

"Moreover, rock-infused musicals, movie musical adaptations and jukebox musicals -- categories into which virtually all of this year's Broadway musicals except Bridges fall -- generally do not require an overture..."

I guess shows like Gentleman's Guide and If/Then with sophisticated newly written scores get forgotten if they don't fit the writer's general thesis.

[haterobics]

Posted: 5/21/14 at 11:22am

That is why he said *virtually* all. It removes your ability to come up with any examples that disprove the theory being proffered.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 5/21/14 at 11:26am

That Hollywood Reporter article really frustrated me because the writer just kept ignoring Gentleman's Guide, until it came time to bring up musicals adapted from movies. Even though Gentleman's Guide is not based on Kind Hearts and Coronets.

Also musical theater has been dying for its entire existence. Wasn't Bebe lamenting the death of the American musical in A Chorus Line? Why would we want our musicals to sound the way they did 50 years ago when everything else has changed?

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 5/21/14 at 11:37am

"What is the future? Is the future just revues and jukebox because that's what sells? Will people keep writing, or will they just write for film and television? I'm alive -- I'm in this world -- to find new music to sing because that's what I love to do, so the thought of it disappearing makes me question so much, makes me so sad and frustrated."

That's devastating. I'm glad people applauded her loudly and Harvey said that, it's so true, and this closing is definitely an eye opener. Sigh.

An interesting comment about the article regarding Bridges:

"New music of all styles is still very much a part of our Broadway landscape. But more care needs to be taken matching up the style of composer to the audience expectations of the music based on the source material. "

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 5/21/14 at 11:52am

"What is the future? Is the future just revues and jukebox because that's what sells? Will people keep writing, or will they just write for film and television? I'm alive -- I'm in this world -- to find new music to sing because that's what I love to do, so the thought of it disappearing makes me question so much, makes me so sad and frustrated."

That's devastating. I'm glad people applauded her loudly and Harvey said that, it's so true, and this closing is definitely an eye opener. Sigh.

Going back to 2000, only two of the musicals that won the Tony for Best Musical were jukebox or revues. Some of the biggest hits running now, like The Book of Mormon, Wicked, and Kinky Boots, have original scores. And as has been pointed out, this article pointedly ignores Gentleman's Guide and If/Then because they disprove the [flawed] argument.

[newintown]

Posted: 5/21/14 at 11:55am

You see, the problem with trying to forbid anyone with a differing opinion from expressing it is that you blind yourself to the fact that there are significant people in significant numbers who don't think the show was as good as you do.

You can throw stones at After Eight (or me, too - I thought the show was bland, humorless, shallow, sentimental nonsense); but are you really going to pretend that the Tony Award Nominating Committee (comprised of people who all know more about theatre, and have achieved more in the theatre than anyone posting here) is wrong about this show, simply because you love it to the point of suffering from a "broken heart" when it closes, and they don't?

That's just... weird.

By all means, hold on to your love of the show, but I would advise against castigating those who didn't think it was very good.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 5/21/14 at 12:08pm

Givesmevoice, I think they were talking about the musicals with original scores in the vein of traditional Golden Age musicals (Bridges, Piazza)

Yep, the committee got it wrong. They voted for Aladdin over Bridges of Madison County for Best Musical. They are wrong 100%. That isn't a secret or news how much of a joke that is.

Yes, you can express your opinion and complain about the show in review threads, not in a thread about a show's last week and how sad it is for fans. There's a place for things, and him bringing in hatred about a show that we LOVED isn't welcome and is terribly misplaced.

[haterobics]

Posted: 5/21/14 at 12:09pm

I adored the show, but recognize that my opinion was not universal, the box office sucked, and it was a long shot for it to recover. But, I do try and focus on the fact that I found something that did affect me, that I did find beautiful, and that a small group of people found something special happening up on that stage.

I don't think the negative sentiment toward After Eight has to do with his differing opinion, but that it was not a new opinion he was expressing. The people tracking the show in its final week were almost entirely people who adored the show, so I guess I'm unclear what the point is to say, once again, that you disliked a show, in the midst of what was essentially a celebration.

So, I don't think it's about shutting down his (or any differing) opinions, but how and where (and how often) he chooses to express it. And, he does go out of his way to visit shows thread for things he reviles (Fun Home is another example of this, as well).

But we weren't discussing the show in previews anymore, or poring over reviews, or debating Tony nominations at this point, merely celebrating the show as it was headed to its final performance.

So, isn't coming in to indicate, once again (after saying the same things in many previous thread already), that you think the show deserved to close, since it was awful.... isn't that equally weird?

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 5/21/14 at 12:13pm

Givesmevoice, I think they were talking about the musicals with original scores in the vein of traditional Golden Age musicals (Bridges, Piazza)

Does having a score in the vein of traditional "Golden Age" musicals make it categorically better than one that doesn't? As someone on ATC said in their thread about this article, why are people insisting that the music in the American musical should be the same as it was 50 years ago? We don't demand the same thing of any other art form.

[newintown]

Posted: 5/21/14 at 12:15pm

"Yes, you can express your opinion and complain about the show in review threads, not in a thread about a show's last week and how sad it is for fans."

If you want to be happy, you may need to accept the fact that not everyone will agree or comply with that.

[Kad]

Posted: 5/21/14 at 12:15pm

The Hollywood Reporter also neglects to mention that Bridges had a terrible advertising campaign for quite a while - that awful TV spot, the vague image of wood planks. It was unappealing and unexciting. Even when the campaign was altered, it STILL wasn't effective.

It was a show that ultimately had to almost exclusively rely on word of mouth, which is basically impossible on Broadway now. It's hardly the first show to close early despite critical success and a dedicated following, and is hardly emblemic of a greater issue with Broadway.

Updated On: 5/21/14 at 12:15 PM

[newintown]

Posted: 5/21/14 at 12:18pm

"So, isn't coming in to indicate, once again (after saying the same things in many previous thread already), that you think the show deserved to close, since it was awful.... isn't that equally weird?"

I can understand the desire to only share ideas with the like-minded; but every thread on this site is an open forum for any point of view. Disagree if you like, just try not to turn it into a remake of Shirley Jackson's The Lottery.

[haterobics]

Posted: 5/21/14 at 12:18pm

"Does having a score in the vein of traditional "Golden Age" musicals make it categorically better than one that doesn't?"

No, but no one's saying that. And lots of art forms move forward AND honor the past, it's not either/or.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 5/21/14 at 12:19pm

"But we weren't discussing the show in previews anymore, or poring over reviews, or debating Tony nominations at this point, merely celebrating the show as it was headed to its final performance."

Exactly. If you didn't like the show, don't come to a thread about the final week of that show and bitch. No one wants to hear it.

Sorry newintown, my happiness isn't based on a Broadway message board.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 5/21/14 at 12:20pm

No, but no one's saying that. And lots of art forms move forward AND honor the past, it's not either/or.

I just keep getting the vibe from people involved in the show and articles like this, that because Bridges did not have a pop or rock influenced score, it was somehow nobler than the shows that do. That must've been an misinterpretation on my part.