KID VICTORY (Previews)

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Bradway2
#25KID VICTORY (Previews)
Posted: 2/24/17 at 12:09am

Sorry, off topic question, does anyone know if they sell magnets for this production?  Any info would be appreciated.  Thanks so much!!!  :)

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LuminousBeing
#26KID VICTORY (Previews)
Posted: 2/24/17 at 11:56pm

I saw it tonight. I didn't see any magnets.

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Bradway2
#27KID VICTORY (Previews)
Posted: 2/25/17 at 1:54am

I called the box office this morning and according to the gentleman who picked up, he said there are magnets.  I hope he didn't misunderstand my question.  Either way, thanks so much for the response LuminousBeing. :) Did you enjoy the show, I'm thinking about rushing it. :)

VintageSnarker
#28KID VICTORY (Previews)
Posted: 2/25/17 at 2:29am

You might have to ask them? When I went, I didn't see any merchandise for sale. It's a pretty small space aside from the theater. 

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Bradway2
#29KID VICTORY (Previews)
Posted: 2/25/17 at 3:16am

Hmmm? Interesting, I'll definitely have to look for it if I win rush.  When I hear mixed reviews about a show it's the magnet that is the deciding factor on whether I go to see it or not.  I know it's the silliest reasoning ever but as you might have guessed I collect theater magnets. Seeing them on my refrigerator reminds me of the show.  I swear I'm not as crazy as these posts suggest. (At least I hope not.)  KID VICTORY (Previews) Did you enjoy it V.S.?  And thank you both for taking the time to answer my initial question.  

LuminousBeing Profile Photo
LuminousBeing
#30KID VICTORY (Previews)
Posted: 2/25/17 at 12:56pm

Bradway2 - I did not care for it. In fact, I found it repulsive. Explanation to follow with

***MAJOR SPOILERS FOR ALL ASPECTS OF THE SHOW***
************************************************************************

I went into the show with high hopes, if not high expectations after seeing the mixed reviews on this site. I have long enjoyed "provocative" theater, such as "Cabaret" and "The Scottsboro Boys" (including many others with scores written by composers other than John Kander), and was excited to see/hear his latest work.

The first flaw of the show is that fundamentally, it is dramatically dead. Because the first stage picture is that of the main character (Luke) chained up, you know his "year away" was spent in some sort of captivity, and it takes little imagination to make the leap that he may have been raped and/or tortured while "away." Less than five minutes later, we see Luke is back home and his family is pushing him to re-integrate into society. So from the get-go, we know where Luke was when he was away, and that he came back, so there are no dramatic stakes except the exploration of Luke's internal journey, and waiting to find out the potentially gruesome details of his "time away."

Luke's family is portrayed as dogmatic Church-goers (and the score supports this) who misunderstand how to handle their child being back in a way that to me, was unbelievable. I understand the powers of denial, but Luke's mother showed absolutely no sympathy, empathy, or even interest in getting her son the help he needs to integrate his traumatic experience, beyond bringing a fellow church member "who's not a psychiatrist" to bring over some stupid marble exercise that is meant to cure a year's worth of trauma in three minutes. 

We meet the molester (Michael) fairly early on in the show, and are told in a non-linear way, how Luke and Michael meet and how Luke becomes Michael's prisoner. The creatives chose to give Michael tenor songs, most of which sound like old Broadway love ballads, and the actor's voice is quite pleasant to hear. I found the pleasing quality of the actor's voice and the lilting material he had to be disturbing (and not in a dramatically effective way). At a talkback I attended last night, the cast stated that "if [the creatives] could make Michael sympathetic, they wanted to try for it." So Michael's actions, which are grotesque, and his material, which is fairly bland Broadway ballad fare, do not align--and not in a theatrically moving or effective way. The show should have set out with a goal for Michael: is he an unsympathetic, basically evil person who may have a good quality or two, or is he a fundamentally troubled individual who can be seen as sympathetic, a la "Marie Christine?" If the former, don't give him pretty material in a high range. And if the latter, don't go for the chains, drugs, and psychological torture. If you're not sure what you're going for, don't put the show up until you've decided and written it accordingly.

There is also an ex-girlfriend who shows up, sings one song (with exquisite vocals) about how she waited for him despite having other opportunities to date and/or marry people while Luke "was away," even though Luke had been trying to break up with her for weeks before he was kidnapped and the girl didn't take the hint.

Oh, and Luke is gay, and in the closet, and had a failed off-brand Tinder hookup with another guy after being abducted. The actor playing the hookup character provided one of the most engaging performances during this number, but ultimately, we didn't really need this scene to know that this kid is gay.

We see a number of details of Luke's captivity, which is primarily occupied by Luke being drugged with an unknown substance (which, at the talkback, was revealed to potentially have been a drug popular in London in the gay club scene, though the show doesn't demonstrate exactly what the drug does to Luke besides make him sleepy and feel like hell). While under the influence of the drug, Luke is forced to listen to Michael give history lessons--since Michael is both a former high school history teacher and a wealthy trust fund baby who owns five expensive sailboats. The "history lessons" are a weak attempt to provide a point-counterpoint of Luke's "gayness" and the "uber-masculinity" of the Vikings. The song is cringeworthy, especially as Luke gets really, really excited about the sailboats the Vikings used in Newfoundland, and apparently forgets that the man giving him all this extraordinarily fascinating information about Vikings is also raping him every day, chaining him to walls, beating him, and keeping him from his family. And then we are supposed to have SYMPATHY for this child molester because Michael lets Luke go at the end of the show after singing a "soaring" "love song" in which Michael apparently has a change of heart about raping captive minors. So Michael gives Luke a bunch of money and then shoots himself in front of Luke as his parting gift. 

Especially damaging to the credibility of the show is a speech Luke gives his parents in which Luke reports that he had an opportunity to escape Michael's basement by "stealing a sailboat, hitchhiking two cars, taking a bus, and hitchhiking again" (or similar), and was standing on his parents' lawn on Christmas Eve. But he didn't knock on the door because his mother didn't look out the window, so instead, he went back "home" to his molester.

Oh, and there's a lady who is in love with kooky lawn stuff and has a daughter she wishes she'd aborted who becomes Luke's confidante, and while the actor is lovely, her material is beyond dreadful--and provides no dramatic purpose to any of the action.

I could go on. But I'll say here that my main problem with the show is that, leaving it, I was left with the impression that the show's primary message is that Luke's experience of being kidnapped, held captive, drugged, beaten, raped, and mindf*cked was the catalyst to Luke becoming a more self-actualized individual capable of living his dreams. At the end of the show, Luke leaves his home (which, while a cold and controlling environment, was presented as being populated by overall well-meaning people) to go to Newfoundland, Michael's heart-center place, to, um, maybe apprentice to someone who could teach him how to build boats, and...be out as a gay man?

Perhaps the intention of the creatives was to provide a demonstration of Stockholm Syndrome. Perhaps it was to create a complex character who is well-meaning but who does bad things. Perhaps it was to show how when you feel trapped (either by loving boats and growing up in a landlocked state, being gay in the Bible Belt, or being a person who loves independently reading a book in a community full of nosy busybodies), you'll go anywhere to get free, even into another cage. Any of these might make an interesting musical. Unfortunately, the dreadful score, poor bookwriting, and extremely uneven tone left me feeling like I'd just seen a disgusting, almost evil musical with a twisted message.

Background about me: I'm a therapist specializing in families who have experienced trauma, including survivors of sexual abuse (adults, children, and teenagers). I've been a theatergoer for about fifteen years, and I've never shied away from a "rough" show, like LaChiusa's "The Wild Party" or "The Pillowman." It isn't the content of the show I object to. It is the exploitation of the image of a minor being chained, beaten, raped, and psychologically tortured in the service of creating a "sympathetic" molester (whose "sympathetic-ness" was not supported in any way by the text) who, through his grotesque actions, created a more fundamentally self-actualized individual free to seek his own destiny. In Newfoundland.

**NOTE** If any of the actors in "Kid Victory" are reading this, please know that I think you all did a wonderful job with what you were given, and that your work is very strong all around. It is the piece I find challenging, not you or your performances!

Updated On: 2/26/17 at 12:56 PM

Lot666 Profile Photo
Lot666
#31KID VICTORY (Previews)
Posted: 2/25/17 at 2:26pm

Bradway2 said: "...I collect theater magnets. Seeing them on my refrigerator reminds me of the show.  I swear I'm not as crazy as these posts suggest. (At least I hope not.)  KID VICTORY (Previews) "

I think it's adorable.

 


==> this board is a nest of vipers <==

"Michael Riedel...The Perez Hilton of the New York Theatre scene"
- Craig Hepworth, What's On Stage

RippedMan Profile Photo
RippedMan
#32KID VICTORY (Previews)
Posted: 2/25/17 at 10:49pm

Agreed. It's just a stupid, weird show. Hopefully this is the last we hear of it. It's awful. 

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steveshack
#33Correction to above synopsis..
Posted: 2/25/17 at 11:34pm

SPOILER-Y:








In the synopsis above, it was mentioned that "Grindr" hook-up happened before the abduction. It actually, chronologically, happens after the abduction. At the end of the number, just as he kisses the new boy, he flashes back to his abductor.

That's Blake Zolfo as the potential hook-up. New to NY stage, this is his first show. (He's a friend).

Steve Schalchlin

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Bradway2
#34Correction to above synopsis..
Posted: 2/26/17 at 12:06am

Thanks for the comment Lot666, you definitely made my day!!!!I  Correction to above synopsis..  --  I just got home from seeing the show and they do have magnets.  They sell them at the box office for $5.00.  I was lucky enough to get the $20 standby ticket even though the box office people tried to sell my ticket to the people behind me.  I'm not sure if they were having a bad night, are just disorganized, or didn't like me.  Anyway the manager was there and she made it right.  I was really surprised by the way I was treated because I've been to the Vineyard before and I really like them.  And on a side note I heard the house manager dealing with customer issues tonight and she was extremely helpful and polite.  Kudos to her!!! --- As for the show itself I didn't dislike it as much as many of the people here but I agree there is a lot of room for improvement. The performers were definitely top notch though!!!!  LuminousBeing, I really like your review, thanks!  I think your constructive criticism would actually help the show be better.  Hopefully they read what you and others wrote and keep working on it till it can be the best it can be.  :)

LuminousBeing Profile Photo
LuminousBeing
#35Correction to above synopsis..
Posted: 2/26/17 at 12:20am

Thanks, Bradway2, that's why I spent so much time writing it!

Lot666 Profile Photo
Lot666
#36Correction to above synopsis..
Posted: 2/26/17 at 8:53am

Bradway2 said: "Thanks for the comment Lot666, you definitely made my day!!!!I  Correction to above synopsis..  --  I just got home from seeing the show and they do have magnets.  They sell them at the box office for $5.00."

I'm glad you found what you were looking for. yes

 


==> this board is a nest of vipers <==

"Michael Riedel...The Perez Hilton of the New York Theatre scene"
- Craig Hepworth, What's On Stage

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MrsSallyAdams
#37Correction to above synopsis..
Posted: 9/30/17 at 9:29am

The cast album for Kid Victory has been released. Playbill's giving it an early listen:
http://www.playbill.com/article/exclusive-listen-to-the-full-cast-album-of-john-kanders-kid-victory

This show is not what I want. So what is it?

The protagonist is not getting help with his recovery from trauma. The message instead is that he needs to leave his hometown before he can start his recovery. The flashback story of Luke and his abuse takes a back seat to his clash with the idiot townsfolk. They serve as the primary antagonists.

His three allies, the shop keeper, the date and (eventually) his father, sing about Lukes’ conflict with the town more than his trauma. Even the ballads for the predator emphasize this theme.   

The too-cheery music combined with ugly behavior worked in Chicago, Cabaret and Kiss of the Spider Woman (mostly) but creates tonal whiplash in the Scottsboro Boys and here. I’m trying to respect what they’re experimenting with but I’m not a fan of the result. I guess when a subject as heavy as this is introduced I find it disrespectful to handle it so lazily. That’s on me as much as the show.


threepanelmusicals.blogspot.com
Updated On: 9/30/17 at 09:29 AM