I find the notion of doing this show with a minimialist design baffling. I saw it in London and although the show had some book and score problems, the over-the-top sets were spectacular and eye popping.
I feel like this is one show that should absolutely be an all-out specatacle. The idea of using an almost bare stage for the chocolate factory and asking the audience to use their imagination to fill in the gaps doesn't seem like the right ap
I caught this on Hulu last night. I'll give it one more episode before I pass on it but the only promising things from the pilot were the students.
The drama teacher was absoutely insufferable - the fact that the show demands that we root for him as he runs roughshod over everyone else to fulfill his artisitc impulse is ridiculous.
Having not seen The Greatest Showman or heard any of its music, I was actually a little underwhelmed hearing "This Is Me" for the first time last night. It just seemed like a standard pop anthem.
I actually wanted "Stand Up For Something" to win, even though I knew it wasn't going to.
Sorry, but Charlie was not a success. If you liked it, great. Don't let anyone else's reviews take away your enjoyment of it. I'm sure most of us are fans of some shows that are not widely considered "successes". I know I am.
As for Charlie, the London version was far from perfect, but it did deliver up the kind of grand spectacle that the source material lends itself to - there were some great moments of stage magic throughout. Going for minimalism on Broadwa
Wicked. For me, I think I was overwhelmed (in the best way possible) by the sheer spectacle the first time around, but the flaws in both the book and the score became glaringly apparent seeing it the second time. I wouldn't go so far as to say I dislike it but now it falls more into the 'meh' category as far as I'm concerned.
Not sure where the notion that they're 'holding back' some kind of more elaborate set piece(s) for Broadway came from when, like others have said, the whole reason for an out-of-town tryout is to get the entire show up on its feet in front of an audience.
I vaguely remember being 11 or 12 and seeing commercials for the Pokemon musical on TV. It must've been coming to my town.
Another good candidate might be Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch. The story is great, and is mostly straightforward. The score by Joe Hisaishi is fantastic, fully orchestrated, and was recorded by the Tokyo Philharmonic for the game.
A little sidenote: all of the game's gorgeous animation sequences were
JBroadway said: "James885 said: "Surprised nobody's mentioned Kingdom Hearts. The franchise's universe is expansive enough at this point that I think there's a enough material to draw from to make a musical."
I considered mentioning it. Kingdom Hearts is extremely near and dear to me. Like I said about the Final Fantasy series above,it's a profoundly emotional story that could easily translate well to being musicalized - perha
Surprised nobody's mentioned Kingdom Hearts. The franchise's universe is expansive enough at this point that I think there's a enough material to draw from to make a musical.
Jeffrey Karasarides said: I've heard some of the creative team talk about in interviews how the London production was in a venue much larger than any Broadway theater. So the producers decided to do a revamp in order for it to work in a Broadway house."
That makes sense. I wonder if they considered a modified/ scaled down version of the design from London. They really did a 180 for Broadway in terms of the sets!
That's too bad. I enjoyed the London production; despite its faults it was a theatrical spectacle and a true crowd pleaser - it ran almost 4 years, I believe.
I haven't the seen the Broadway incarnation, but everyone seems to agree that Christian Borle carries the show. I seriously wonder why they decided to go the minimalistic route with the set design for the New York production.
Janelle Monae's Electric Lady and The ArchAndroid both have a storyline and are intended to be listened to in one sitting, with each song leading into the next.
Everyone else has pretty much hit the nail on the head. It was a combination of the bad book which inflated the story, the additional songs by Menken/Slater, none of which matched the original Ashman/Menken songs (although I do like 'Her Voice', all of which add up to a mediocre show.
The Broadway production still is probably one of the ugliest shows I've seen - and I say this as a fan of George
Ughh. This is just a cash grab. Why mess with perfection?
Also it technically won't be live action, it'll be hyper-realized CGI animation, just like the animals in The Jungle Book. Unless of course, they can somehow wrangle real lions, warthogs, and meerkats to be in the movie, which I think would be too much even for Disney.
I'm sorry but this whole thing sounds absolutely ridiculous. I don't think any show is worth camping out on the street for 17 hours, especially in the forthcoming summer heat. I'm happy to wait a few years for the ticket prices to come down!
Great article. The role of bookwriter is one of the more thankless 'creative' roles. Like others have said, if the show is good, the bookwriter is virtually forgotten while people heap praise on the songs as well as the composer/lyricist. If the show is bad then the bookwriter gets blamed.
, all of which add up to a mediocre show.
