Boy, after seeing the musical adaptation of this comedy classic, it's never been more clear what the state of the American Broadway Musical is in...and it isn't exactly healthy.
The WHY? is missing from every part of this musical.
1) there is no message here. What the film did so great, during a relevant time in woman's rights, is show that he can pretend to be a woman all he wants, that doesn't mean a man can EVER fill a woman's shoes. And
Well the writing certainly wasn't helping them any, but they both feel wrong the parts, too young, and not making engaging enough choices to be memorable. I'm not certain this has piqued my interest enough for the second park. I'm dissapointed for sure. heard great things about this.
So I was at the first preview of the show last night, and I have to say, (cast withholding, it's previews they'll get better) this show is just flat out over hyped. The writing is just not special enough to be anything but trite. There's no central conflict so scenes go on and on without engaging the audience. And quite frankly there is just no real character development here. Sorry not sorry, Matthew Lopez is not the next great american gay writer....that takes revealing hard tru
I just happened to be in town during the run and saw this.....am I alone in thinking this is not going to be a hit?
I have to say I found the score unmemorable and more ear grating and annoying than hummable. the set seemed completely over designed (they barely use more than a square inch of most of it.) Poor Lilli Cooper was terribly miscast. I still think Sarah Stiles plays the same character in everything. Santino Fantana is good in it, b
I found it to be one of the ugliest in recent memory. Notice how the proscenium looks like donald trumps hairline. It looked like bad contemporary art. The projections worked nice inside but otherwise a total miss for me.
In a better year for musicals....sorry, not many. I mean it has 0 sophistication. Not that musicals have to have it, but to be a hit on Broadway it needs some. This is for kids. It literally plays like a project that a bunch of high school students wrote in their drama class. The cast is talented, but there is no Tony worthy performance happening here.
My feeling about that is...then why do it. Yeah, it's a great platform for the estate, I guess. It stays in the public eye, but I'd rather them bleep out a word or two then edit it. The lyrics are so important to who these characters are.
people adore Shakespeare plays where characters kill everybody and bake them in pies for their enemies to eat. Art is not about being the morality police. Lester Burnham is a fascinating character. His imperfections are what attracts people.
Well, the fact that Kevin Spacey is in the film or that the character is attracted to a teenage girl is beside the point. That doesn't take anything away from the fact that it is a brilliant piece of art. The writers and filmmakers aren't moral arbiters. They are jus trying to present the truth of the character/situation...the fact is things like that do happen. But I'd heard rumors that producers where wanting it as a play so I though someone on here would know.
I keep hearing rumors that Alan Ball is developing his screenplay into a stage play. Anyone know if there is any truth to this? I've always thought this could have been an incredible theater piece.
i did speak for myself, and I can have my own thoughts on my own thread, why does that offend you so much. I didn't know that you were part of the thread police
There is no doubt this story is still relevant in 2019. I applauded it when I heard it was happening and I was very excited to see how Bart Sher and Aaron Sorkin would interpret the classic novel (especially considering the current adaptation for the stage is some what of a bore). I have tremendous respect for both their talents. But in all honesty, this is a miss on almost all artistic fronts. It's interesting, Sorkin is a master screen and television writer, but his pass
absolutely agree. He's better than most of the overall shows he's been given to write. I just haven't heard about him in a while, wondered what project he's up to
Anyone know what Lawrence O'Keefe is working on right now? I think he's one of the most underrated Musical composers. I really hope we hear more from him in the next few years.
I think there are a lot things these lists expose.....
1) That "Non-commercial" (I put that in quotations because I'm not even sure what that means) shows will have an even harder chance of making it to a Broadway stage than ever before. Thats for a lot reasons, but one is that Broadway is now a full tourist market. New Yorkers used to set the trend on what was worth seeing, and they were more sophisticated then visitors because of the very nature of living in an affluent
With Hadestown coming in this season I could the Tonys having a very split year. With all the good word of mouth coming from Chicago about Tootsie, I could see it winning best musical and Rachel winning best director (if the show is as imaginative as people say it is)
