Why did MEMPHIS not run longer? - Page 2

[Jarethan]

Posted: 1/14/19 at 7:36pm

I have to say that I really enjoyed it when I saw it (the day after it opened, got much better reviews than I expected, and I happened to be in NYC).  That said, I never bought the cast recording and I never had any interest in seeing it again, so I must have realized deep down that a huge portion of my enjoyment was probably due to the the cast's energy levels, probably amped by getting much better reviews than anyone expected.  

I also felt that the show had no competition that season for regular theatre goers, i.e., not most of the people on this board), who wanted to see something new, fairly 'traditional', and reasonably well reviewed.  That left out Fela, American Idiot and The Addams Family, which had good audiences until I guess Nathan Lane left (but which was terrible and got terrible reviews).

My conclusion: it was enjoyable, energetic, forgettable, and lucky that it ran for three years.

PS -- I tried to watch the taped performance and turned it off pretty quickly (maybe half hour in) because Chad Kimball's performance had evolved to the point where he seemed to be channeling Leonardo DiCaprio's Howard Hughes, during his most extreme phase, and I just couldn't sit through it.

[TheGingerBreadMan]

Posted: 1/14/19 at 8:02pm

Hogan - I'd never heard that argument before. It makes sense. Thanks for clarifying.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 1/14/19 at 8:05pm

Jordan Catalano said: "Mediocre is a very kind word to describe it."

I thought the single performance broadcast on PBS lasted three years!

[Sauja]

Posted: 1/14/19 at 9:55pm

I truly cant pass this thread by without commenting on what got garbage this show was. The racial politics were troubling at best, and even if you werent offended by it, I cant imagine how one could be interested in it. In a year that gave us Fela and American Idiot, which were divisive but at the very least also ambitious, its horrifying that this POS won Best Musical. I wouldve given it to Fela (along with Best Book), and Best Score should have gone to a play for the first timeBranford Marsalis Fences score was lovely if unassuming which is miles more than can be said for Memphis. I also hated Million Dollar Quartet that year and still dont understand how Levi Kreis won Featured Actor over literally any of the other nominees. Let us not have a Tonys year that dreadful again...

[LuPita2]

Posted: 1/14/19 at 10:35pm

God, the haters saying "the show was LUCKY it lasted as long as it did".  It made money, was successful and people loved it.  Resist the urge to sh*t on something people loved for a long time. 

I tried to watch the taped performance and turned it off pretty quickly (maybe half hour in) because Chad Kimball's performance had evolved to the point where he seemed to be channeling Leonardo DiCaprio's Howard Hughes, during his most extreme phase, and I just couldn't sit through it.

He had severe nerve damage and was still performing through the pain.  Have a seat.  

[Jarethan]

Posted: 1/14/19 at 10:55pm

If it was going to impact his performance that badly, then he should not have performed.  They would have been better off with an understudy.

I do remember a topic on this board (while he was still in it) discussing why his performance had become so idiosyncratic to the point of bizarre.  So this is not one person's opinion.  He was horrible in that recording, which is why I turned it off 30 minutes in.

[ljay889]

Posted: 1/14/19 at 11:01pm

I couldn't stand this show. I remember cringing through a preview, and being extremely bored. 

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 1/15/19 at 12:36am

"If it was going to impact his performance that badly, then he should not have performed.  They would have been better off with an understudy.

I do remember a topic on this board (while he was still in it) discussing why his performance had become so idiosyncratic to the point of bizarre.  So this is not one person's opinion.  He was horrible in that recording, which is why I turned it off 30 minutes in."

Well, he got Tony Award nomination for his performance before the nerve damage issue so he must have been fairly good in the role (lol).

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 1/15/19 at 12:44am

"Mediocre is a very kind word to describe it."

I just looked back and read the NY Times review when it opened and that is basically the review (mediocre) it got.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 1/15/19 at 9:55am

This was actually the first Broadway production I ever saw. I was visiting NYC for the first time with some friends and one of my friends is super Type A and planned the trip ahead of time (which as I'm older and now host friends and family in NYC realize you sort of have to do that) and decided to buy tickets to Memphis. I actually enjoyed it and I think the Second Act sort of critiques the whole white savior thing with how his actions that no black character in the show asked for was his downfall and the black characters move on from him. I think I was just so excited to see a professional show that my memories of it are better than the show itself probably. However, I was NEVER interested enough to buy the cast recording or to even watch the live recording of the show. I didn't see it with Glover or Kimball but rather with their replacements.

[Kad]

Posted: 1/15/19 at 11:05am

LuPita2 said: "God, the haters saying "the show was LUCKY it lasted as long as it did". It made money, was successful and people loved it. Resist the urge to sh*t on something people loved for a long time."

People have as much right to express their dislike for it as you do to express your love for it. It doesn't diminish your experience or opinion, and no one has attacked you for liking it. 

The fact that the show has pretty much fallen out of the theatrical landscape is telling, though. Its songs haven't made their way into cabarets or repertoires, it's barely discussed, and it's not produced very much. If it had not opened in that particular reason, it is extremely doubtful it would have been as successful.