Side Show: Stating The Obvious
Side Show: Stating The Obvious
A Director
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/18/07
#1Side Show: Stating The Obvious
Posted: 12/13/14 at 5:41pm
Yes, "I Will Never Leave You" is a show stopper. IMO, it's a flaw in the storytelling.
After two hours and twenty minutes including intermission, Violet and Daisy realize,"I will never leave you/I will never go away...?" What took them so long? Of course, they will never leave you; they are conjoined twins. Any audience member who has been paying attention knows this from early in the first act.
This is the best Russell, Krieger and Condon came up with! Why state the obvious? Why write a musical about the Hilton Sisters in the first place?
#2Side Show: Stating The Obvious
Posted: 12/13/14 at 5:45pm
k.
tell that to them face to face instead of behind the confines of your anonymous username and then get back to us.
#2Side Show: Stating The Obvious
Posted: 12/13/14 at 6:11pm
As I recall, having the twins undergo separation surgery was discussed at length in both acts. You did see the show, didn't you?
Updated On: 12/13/14 at 06:11 PM
#3Side Show: Stating The Obvious
Posted: 12/13/14 at 6:18pm^ Exactly. They debate actually physically leaving each other. So "I Will Never Leave You" isn't obvious at all. It's the twins coming to a climatic decision.
#4Side Show: Stating The Obvious
Posted: 12/13/14 at 6:19pmA Director has always been trollish on here. Ask him about Patti LuPone and Gypsy.
#5Side Show: Stating The Obvious
Posted: 12/13/14 at 9:10pmLOL this made me bust out laughing!! A Director, you kinda sound ridiculous
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#6Side Show: Stating The Obvious
Posted: 12/13/14 at 10:12pm
You (Director) have obviously not seen the show. They could in this version decide to leave each other. But on a deeper note (that you obviously don't get) even someone who is conjoined can leave the other spiritually and mentally. The twins Chang and Eng did not speak to each other for18 years.
BB husband of Bill Russell
#7Side Show: Stating The Obvious
Posted: 12/13/14 at 11:27pmA Troll
"Carson has combined his passion for helping children with his love for one of Cincinnati's favorite past times - cornhole - to create a unique and exciting event perfect for a corporate outing, entertaining clients or family fun."
"In Oz, the verb is douchifizzation." PRS
"In Oz, the verb is douchifizzation." PRS
#8Side Show: Stating The Obvious
Posted: 12/13/14 at 11:42pmMaybe I'm an idiot, but I never interpreted the "I will never leave you" sentiment literally.
Mr Roxy
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
#9Side Show: Stating The Obvious
Posted: 12/14/14 at 12:00am
1.It's a show and is not real
2.Psychoanalyzing song lyrics?
3.What happened to seeing a show and just enjoying it without all of this silliness?
Poster Emeritus
#10Side Show: Stating The Obvious
Posted: 12/14/14 at 12:00amSeriously wrong... don't they get the whole "I will never leave you" sentiment is emotional not literal. People who think that are stupid.. #yesisaidit
"Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around."
#11Side Show: Stating The Obvious
Posted: 12/14/14 at 8:36amIt certainly seems the OP never saw the show if the whole idea about the twins leaving each other (one way or another) went over his head. But the more frightening thing is that particular poster names himself "A Director". Please God, keep this person away from attempting to direct any real theatre!
A Director
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/18/07
#12Side Show: Stating The Obvious
Posted: 12/14/14 at 2:40pm
>A Director has always been trollish on here. Ask him about Patti LuPone and Gypsy.
Dear ljay889,
I'm touched you remember. Ah, yes, the Patti LuPone production that ran for 332 performances. Given that she won the Tony, one would think her version would have a longer run. Tyne won the Tony and her version ran for 476 performances. Bernadette Peters did not won the Tony, but her version ran for 451 performances.
Hugs and Kisses.
Starship
Broadway Star Joined: 7/29/12
A Director
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/18/07
#14Side Show: Stating The Obvious
Posted: 12/14/14 at 2:46pm
Dear BB husband of Bill Russell,
Every playwright and composer has flops in their career, but for a playwright to have two flops for the same show is something unusual.
It didn't help that the poster for the current production looks similar to the poster for the movie Dreamgirls. Was this an attempt to trick the theatre going public?
Hugs and Kisses.
#15Side Show: Stating The Obvious
Posted: 12/14/14 at 2:59pm
No kisses please. I would hate to catch your infection.
Side Show has had productions all over the world since 1997. It will continue to do so.
I hope in your life you find the happiness that I have found but never anonymously and at the expense of other people's feelings,
Huss417
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#16Side Show: Stating The Obvious
Posted: 12/14/14 at 3:51pmSeems he wants to get a rise out of everyone. Move along all nothing to see here.
"I hope your Fanny is bigger than my Peter."
Mary Martin to Ezio Pinza opening night of Fanny.
Auggie27
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/13/03
#17Side Show: Stating The Obvious
Posted: 12/14/14 at 7:31pm
As I said after the original production closed: if someone needs the eloquence, and simple effortless elegance, of "I Will Never Leave You" explained, the entire show has been lost on such a person. The profoundly moving aspect of the song is its sweetest of ironies: that this journey has brought these two women back to a place that was there all along. A powerful recognition of what's most important in their lives: each sister's realization that she has shared her experience on this planet with her true soulmate. It's another expression of "no place like home," it's the epiphany that all that is most precious in our lives is often taken for granted, or not fully realized until its full impact can be measured.
When people raise the lyric as some sort of camp statement of the obvious, the entire journey has been missed. And the lyricist's artistry overlooked. But dramatic literature is full of similar moments. I remember telling some one in 1997 that the song's poetic dimension reminded me of the last line of Paul Zindel's Pulitzer Prize Winner, "...Man-in-the-Moon-Marigolds..." The mother simply says "I hate the world," and for a moment an otherwise trite bit of cynicism acquires the power of an Emily Dickinson poem. But in the musical theater, look no further than Sondheim for similar power in abject simplicity: "No One is Alone," almost a cliche, rendered heartbreaking in context.
"I Will Never Leave You" is, if anything, daring in its ability to take the obvious and render layers of meaning. It's beautiful, but then so is the show that delivers this tender message in its close.
"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling
#18Side Show: Stating The Obvious
Posted: 12/15/14 at 9:53am
Well stated Auggie27
I saw the show this weekend and it was my first real exposure to the material. I found the show and the message very heartbreaking. The song "I Will Never Leave You" captures the entire message of the show.
But, (since I also have a twisted sense of humor), it does make for a great "Forbidden Broadway" or SNL number if you want to take it literally. :)
#19Side Show: Stating The Obvious
Posted: 12/15/14 at 10:06amThank you Auggie for your eloquent explanation. Perhaps A Director should see the Wizard and get a heart and soul like this production already has.
"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
A Director
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/18/07
#20Side Show: Stating The Obvious
Posted: 12/16/14 at 12:40am
>But in the musical theater, look no further than Sondheim for similar power in abject simplicity: "No One is Alone," almost a cliche, rendered heartbreaking in context.
"I Will Never Leave You" is, if anything, daring in its ability to take the obvious and render layers of meaning. It's beautiful, but then so is the show that delivers this tender message in its close.
Auggie, I own the OCR of Side Show and am familiar with the score. I don't find many layers of meaning in "I Will Never Leave You." One or two ideas are expressed, that's it.
On the other hand, only the title "No One Is Alone," is almost a cliche. There are many riches in the lyrics. The song is about, growing up and becoming an adult, forgiving parents' mistakes, realizing everyone makes mistakes, and remembering other people's point of view is different from our own. It's also about being a socially responsible person in the world.
#21Side Show: Stating The Obvious
Posted: 12/16/14 at 12:06pm
"Every playwright and composer has flops in their career, but for a playwright to have two flops for the same show is something unusual."
To A Director:
What an incredibly nasty and personal post, being directed to Bill Russell's husband.
And if your definition of flop is the commonly understood "failure to recoup", then I guess some guy by the name of Sondheim would have experienced the same thing, at least once. "Follies" is one example, and I think there are others (perhaps "Company", perhaps others as well).
And great post, Auggie27.
CZJ at opening night party for A Little Night Music, Dec 13, 2009.
