First review for BEST WORST THING EVER COULD HAPPENED- Page 2

[dfrillsnedit]

Posted: 11/30/16 at 1:06pm

Saw the doc last night at IFC and absolutely loved it! I saw the Live Stream in theaters version of Merrily a few years ago, so it was nice to have this documentary is a companion piece in a way. 

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

Posted: 11/30/16 at 1:16pm

SomeoneinaTree2, I love your explanation. That paragraph alone would hook me. In a way, this documentary IS Merrily We Roll Along...its reincarnation as a new artistic medium.

[lucillefrank]

Posted: 12/1/16 at 8:41am

I saw it two weeks ago at IFC Center with the Q&A with Lonny Price and Bernadette Peters. It changed my life. What a brilliant documentary. As a Merrily fan, I think it was incredible. As someone who loves theatre, I think it was incredible. As someone who has dreams, I think it was incredible. The raw emotion displayed (and how Ann Morrison mentioned what it was like to watch your heroes fail) left me speechless. 

[Consistency]

Posted: 12/1/16 at 11:21pm

"C'mon people, we need some Merrily love for the nation's capital!"

Just got an email saying it'll be opening at the AFI Silver in Silver Spring on December 9th. It looks like it'll be playing for at least a week. 

 

[TweetyPie2]

Posted: 12/2/16 at 7:55am

Thanks for info! There's a blurb in today's Washington Post Weekend section saying it opens next week, but it doesn't say where. Guess I'm heading to Silver Spring next week. (I signed up for those emails, but I haven't received any.) Anyway, I'm happy!!

Updated On: 12/2/16 at 07:55 AM

[illiniparkie]

Posted: 12/14/16 at 11:27am

The documentary did not make the final cut of 15 for Oscar consideration.

 

http://www.oscars.org/news/15-documentary-features-advance-2016-oscar-race

[BroadwayGuy12]

Posted: 12/20/16 at 5:51pm

Finally found some time in my schedule to see this at Lincoln Center today and thought it was absolutely wonderful. MERRILY is my favorite musical so I entered with that bias, but I really think this is a beautifully done documentary about the rush of working in the theatre, the realities of show business, and how we continue to navigate our lives after our dreams come true and end up looking different than we expected them to. Can't recommend it enough.

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

Posted: 1/17/17 at 2:55pm

For those of us going to BroadwayCon on Saturday, there will be a panel themed to the documentary!

Link

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 1/17/17 at 3:24pm

The documentary did not make the final cut of 15 for Oscar consideration.

As much as *we* may love it, did any think it would actually make the cut?  

[Anshel2]

Posted: 1/17/17 at 6:12pm

I was surprised that Liz Callaway didn't participate.  In addition to Jason Alexander and Lonny Price, she has had continued to work in the industry.  I know she was just a member of the ensemble, but was hoping she'd make an appearance in the documentary.  I think there was just a quick shot of her sitting in the theatre when they did the concert a few years ago, but certainly nothing substantial.  Thoughts?

[karen24]

Posted: 3/5/17 at 8:59pm

Anshel2, I just watched this via iTunes (for anyone who doesn't know, it's now available there) and I wondered that about Callaway as well. She's one of my favorite performers and I hadn't even realized that she was in the original cast of Merrily. I also noticed the brief shot of her at the reunion concert and wondered why she wasn't interviewed for the documentary. I thought that possibly Price wanted to spend more time interviewing the actors who were in larger roles in "Merrily," whether or not they went on to fame and fortune. Or perhaps Callaway just wasn't available,  or just wasn't interested in doing it.  If I had to guess, I'd say that maybe the experience, being in a small role in the ensemble, didn't have as much of an impact on her as it did on some of the others. I know she's sung songs from the show with her sister and on albums, but I don't know if she's ever commented on her experience in the show at any of her concerts or in interviews. Since she went on to do "Baby" not long afterwards, and that was obviously a much bigger moment in her professional life, perhaps that's what she thinks of as the real start of her Broadway career. Just conjecture on my part of course!

 

[Chelsea4044]

Posted: 3/6/17 at 1:10pm

Or Donna Marie Elio/Asbury who's been in CHICAGO for years!

 

[thirtythirtyninety]

Posted: 3/6/17 at 1:12pm

...or Giancarlo Esposito...

[JoeyM3]

Posted: 3/6/17 at 4:26pm

I saw a talkback with Lonny Price after a screening when it was out in New York and he said his original plan was to include all of the original cast members in the film, but he found (like Sondheim and Prince did with the original production of MERRILY) that he had to focus in on a smaller number of characters to keep the storytelling clear. He said in early cuts where many more people were featured, it got very confusing about who you were supposed to be paying attention to. So he chose his five "leads" and then another seven or eight people from the cast to provide "color commentary." Apparently they interviewed nearly everyone in the original cast, including Liz Callaway. And I am pretty sure Donna Marie Asbury is in the film. I don't know about Giancarlo Esposito. But they ultimately narrowed down the number of people who actually appear in the final cut of the film. I would love to see those other interviews, though (and the full interviews of the entire cast!).

[gypsy101]

Posted: 3/22/17 at 2:33pm

just found out this is now on Netflix and I'm watching it now and really enjoying it!

[Valentina3]

Posted: 3/22/17 at 3:05pm

gypsy101 said: "just found out this is now on Netflix and I'm watching it now and really enjoying it!"

 

Thanks. I was all out of Untucked episodes and it's not yet time for me call it a day and leave work yet.

 

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

Posted: 3/22/17 at 3:09pm

Valentina3, that might be the most thespian-y thing to ever be said on Sondheimas. "I'm all out of Untucked episodes so I think I'll watch the Merrily documentary."

To quote Jack Warner in CAGNEY: "I love it!"

[NYfanfromCA]

Posted: 3/22/17 at 5:41pm

Do you know where I can buy the original cast recording--digital or other--for "Merrily"?  I saw some on amazon for quite high prices.  There were some collections, but nothing looked complete.  I am listening to the Encores 2012 recording right now.  

 

Loved Best Worst Thing...it had me choked up and teary-eyed.

[uncageg]

Posted: 3/22/17 at 5:55pm

Just watched it on Netflix. Excellent. I was choked up for the last 15 minutes. Will probably watch it a few more times.

[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 3/22/17 at 8:24pm

NYfanfromCA: Amazon is selling the remastered OBC Recording for $8.99. 

[newintown]

Posted: 3/23/17 at 9:02am

Finally saw this, and like most such documentaries, it's a strange combination of satisfying and frustrating. It ignores more questions than it answers, I think, including:

1) Why is there SOOO much Lonny Price? (This one we can answer, of course.)
2) Why does Jim Weissenbach disappear from the film completely after his firing? Why doesn't he get to talk about how that felt, or how if affected his life? And why is there no mention that Weissenbach's father was a close friend of Hal Prince?
3) Why is there SOOO much Abby Pogrebin? It's not like she became that significant in her somewhat successful later life.
4) Why is there SOOOO much Terry Finn, who never had much of a career, and had all her songs cut from the original production? Why didn't she talk about having all her songs cut?
5) Why is there absolutely not even a mention of poor Sally Klein, who played Beth, one of the leads - a bigger role than Terry Finn's and Jason Alexander's? Why did everyone seem to hate her so much that her very identity has been erased? Why didn't she do the reunion concert? Why was "Not A Day Goes By" taken from her and given to Walton? (She sings perfectly well on the rest of the recording.)
6) Why is there not even a mention of other cast members who have stayed in the business with some degree of success - Liz Callaway, David Loud, Giancarlo Esposito?
7) Why no talk with George Furth, who reportedly felt single-handedly responsible for the show's failure, and forbid the use of the original book ever again? He died in 2008 - did Price begin his interviews later?

I did appreciate the footage of Weissenbach in performance; I've never seen it before and always wondered how bad he could have been, poor guy.

Overall, an interesting watch, and it made me nostalgic for NYC and Broadway in the early 80s. But I can't help feeling that it could have been shaped infinitely better, could have delved far deeper, rather than settling for a rather facile sentimentality.

[OddAdri]

Posted: 2/19/19 at 12:13pm

thirtythirtyninety said: "...or Giancarlo Esposito..."

 

I wondered that too! Saw the documentary on Netflix last night and really loved it, but...

 

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 2/20/19 at 2:10pm

I've seen some YT videos with Lonny Price talking about the making of this documentary and it seems that over the years many of the OBC have remained extremely close friends. This is the group that also happens to still be close to Hal Prince. Best Worst Thing seems to heavily favor that group over the group that might not be that close to Lonny Price and his OBC friends. I think they're still close -- a group fot eh OBC went to Fiasco's Merrily.

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 4/10/21 at 4:26am

newintown said: "Finally saw this, and like most such documentaries, it's a strange combination of satisfying and frustrating. It ignores more questions than it answers, I think, including [...] But I can't help feeling thatit could have been shaped infinitely better, could have delved far deeper, rather than settling for a rather facile sentimentality."

Just watched it on Netflix and yes, pretty much all of this. I do think it's worthwhile but there was something more interesting to mine and it was strange who and what the movie decided to focus on. 

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 4/11/21 at 9:48am

Liz Callaway and countless others were filmed but didn’t make the final cut. Lonny Price stated that it was hard to follow focus with so many so it was decided to focus on just a handful of cast members. Sadly, unlike most documentaries, the DVD edition doesn’t include any bonus deleted scenes/interviews.