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Happy Opening "Next to Normal!!!- Page 2

Happy Opening "Next to Normal!!!

Roscoe
#25re: Happy Opening 'Next to Normal!!!
Posted: 2/13/08 at 4:53pm

I wouldn't worry about a Broadway transfer for this drab little show. It will have its little run, probably record a little cast album, and then mercifully vanish into well-deserved oblivion.


"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." Thomas Pynchon, GRAVITY'S RAINBOW "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Philip K. Dick My blog: http://www.roscoewrites.blogspot.com/

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alfgiotir
#26re: Happy Opening 'Next to Normal!!!
Posted: 2/13/08 at 5:08pm

I totally disagree with you. Even thoguh I haven't seen the show, I am hoping for it to have life past 2nd stage. I have heard the music and it is great. This musical is something refreshing. It was not a movie nor a book, but a new idea made to be a musical. Here's hoping for positive reviews.

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KChenowethfan
#27re: Happy Opening 'Next to Normal!!!
Posted: 2/13/08 at 5:33pm

I found a nice little interview with Alice Ripley about the show: http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2008/02/actress_alice_ripley_on_fallin.html

I don't think this show is perfect (no show is- but this one is better than many, many, many others) but I wish the cast a great show tonight.


"Why do you care what people might say? Why try to fit into their design?" (Side Show)
Updated On: 2/13/08 at 05:33 PM

jake6970
#28re: Happy Opening 'Next to Normal!!!
Posted: 2/13/08 at 5:33pm

Roscoe- your personal opinions aren't going to stop the creative team from bringing this show to Broadway. Luckily, they don't give a damn how much you hate it.

snl89
#29re: Happy Opening 'Next to Normal!!!
Posted: 2/13/08 at 5:52pm

Wow, you'd think this was the only show ever to have stairs or slippery surfaces or... *gasp* running! The melodrama from fans is going to get old reaaaally fast.

Anyway, here's to fingers crossed for good reviews for this fantastic little show.





lol, no I'm really not that worried about it. But, no joke, this show, out of all the shows I've ever seen, is probably the one that has most potential for injury based on the set and staging. It's not even so much that it has 3 levels and stairs. It's the way they move around those three levels and stairs so quickly, and the fact that sometimes the stairs are moving. And the way they like.. swing around poles and stuff haha. There's just a LOT of times where you go "wow, if they fell doing that it could be disasterous". Again, really more for Aaron than for anyone else.

But yeah, I'm not too worried. I'm sure all the necessary safety precautions have been taken and such!



ANYWAY:
gahhh I cannot wait for reviews!! *prays they'll be great like the show*


I don't need a life that's normal. That's way too far away. But something next to normal would be okay. Something next to normal is what I'd like to try. Close enough to normal to get by.

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jaystarr
#30re: Happy Opening 'Next to Normal!!!
Posted: 2/13/08 at 5:59pm

Quick Question:

Is this picture from "Feeling Electric" number? I assumed Asa Sommers is singing the song on verse 1...

re: Happy Opening 'Next to Normal!!!


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LeaGirl
#31re: Happy Opening 'Next to Normal!!!
Posted: 2/13/08 at 6:02pm

No that's from the "Catch Me I'm Falling" number


Now what would you say if today I started over? Without a thing but this taped together four leaf clover And I'll pretend like everything is already alright And I'll run toward the sun till the castle's out of sight

joniray
#32re: Happy Opening 'Next to Normal!!!
Posted: 2/13/08 at 6:02pm

It's from "Catch Me I'm Falling" which has been significantly rewritten since Feeling Electric.

snl89
#33re: Happy Opening 'Next to Normal!!!
Posted: 2/13/08 at 6:04pm

^shoot.. I'm actually not positive which scene that is from. But I DO know it's not from Feeling Electric- Feeling Electric is very, VERY distinctive. Trust me, if puctures appear from that number, you will KNOW it's that re: Happy Opening 'Next to Normal!!! (hint: TONS and TONS of lighting from the back, and the illusion that she's laying on a hospital table)

edit: YES. Catch Me I'm Falling. That's it! haha. I totally knew that :P



I don't need a life that's normal. That's way too far away. But something next to normal would be okay. Something next to normal is what I'd like to try. Close enough to normal to get by.
Updated On: 2/13/08 at 06:04 PM

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jaystarr
#34re: Happy Opening 'Next to Normal!!!
Posted: 2/13/08 at 6:08pm

Just got our seats for ROW E seats 5, 6 & 7- that's a good seats? I hope so ...

J*

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KChenowethfan
#35re: Happy Opening 'Next to Normal!!!
Posted: 2/13/08 at 6:19pm

A little close, but you should have a full view.


"Why do you care what people might say? Why try to fit into their design?" (Side Show)

snl89
#36re: Happy Opening 'Next to Normal!!!
Posted: 2/13/08 at 6:36pm

yeah, it's kind of annoying with this show actually, because it's awesome to be up close because the acting is AMAZING and it's amazing to see all their facial expressions really well and stuff, but then at the same time I sat toward the back of the theater when I saw it and it was SO great because you really got to see the full spectacle of it. It felt almost like watching on a tv or movie screen. So I would imagine that eliment might get a little bit lost if you're sitting up close. But.. you know, you just go more than once and sit in different areas of the theater, is how you solve that one :P


I don't need a life that's normal. That's way too far away. But something next to normal would be okay. Something next to normal is what I'd like to try. Close enough to normal to get by.

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luvtheEmcee
#37re: Happy Opening 'Next to Normal!!!
Posted: 2/13/08 at 6:42pm

The theater is what, 300 seats? Even the back isn't exactly far away.


A work of art is an invitation to love.

snl89
#38re: Happy Opening 'Next to Normal!!!
Posted: 2/13/08 at 6:50pm

^no, no it's not. I was like 2 rows from the back and it was TOTALLY not bad. I'm just one of those people who usually LOVES to sit ALL the way up in the front so you can see eeevery little expression and bit of amazingness that goes into the acting haha


I don't need a life that's normal. That's way too far away. But something next to normal would be okay. Something next to normal is what I'd like to try. Close enough to normal to get by.

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luvtheEmcee
#39re: Happy Opening 'Next to Normal!!!
Posted: 2/13/08 at 6:51pm

In a big Broadway house, I can see that being an issue -- but at a place like Second Stage, saying that you can't see facial expressions from the back of the house is just going to unnecessarily make people worry.


A work of art is an invitation to love.

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adamgreer
#40re: Happy Opening 'Next to Normal!!!
Posted: 2/13/08 at 6:52pm

Here's the first review...it's Matthew Murray's Talkin Broadway review, which is not favorable. Not that I suspected it would be. He's rather predictable.

http://talkinbroadway.com/allthatchat/d.php?id=1529152

Updated On: 2/13/08 at 06:52 PM

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luvtheEmcee
#41re: Happy Opening 'Next to Normal!!!
Posted: 2/13/08 at 6:53pm

Hah. Why do we even pay attention to him anymore?


A work of art is an invitation to love.

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KChenowethfan
#42re: Happy Opening 'Next to Normal!!!
Posted: 2/13/08 at 6:57pm

I don't, that is for sure.


"Why do you care what people might say? Why try to fit into their design?" (Side Show)

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BustopherPhantom
#43re: Happy Opening 'Next to Normal!!!
Posted: 2/13/08 at 6:59pm

Here's the thread where we can collect all these reviews:

https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?thread=957255&dt=0&boardid=1


"Y'know, I think Bertolt Brecht was rolling in his grave."
-Nellie McKay on the 2006 Broadway production of The Threepenny Opera, in which she played Polly Peachum

snl89
#44re: Happy Opening 'Next to Normal!!!
Posted: 2/13/08 at 7:00pm

In a big Broadway house, I can see that being an issue -- but at a place like Second Stage, saying that you can't see facial expressions from the back of the house is just going to unnecessarily make people worry.

haha, in that case I shall make very clear:

you CAN def see expressions and such even from the back of the house at 2nd Stage :) It really was a very good view. I'm just talkin' if you want to see EVERY little detail of the acting, it would probably be nice sitting up closer.


I don't need a life that's normal. That's way too far away. But something next to normal would be okay. Something next to normal is what I'd like to try. Close enough to normal to get by.

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jordangirl
#45re: Happy Opening 'Next to Normal!!!
Posted: 2/13/08 at 7:34pm

Exactly snl ~ it's the staging. I'm sure there are precautions, but it's still kind of nerve-wracking to watch some of them (when Aaron lets fly and swings all the way around one of the poles removing his feet from the floor ~ he did that once when I saw the show), or when Alice jumps on the movable stairs during "Didn't I See This Movie" (in slipper socks...granted with the little traction thingies, but those can be hit or miss) and even though Aaron's holding them, they still move a bit. But yeah ~ it's mainly joking with the no break a leg thing like there was around Xanadu. :P


Experience live theater. Experience paintings. Experience books. Live, look and listen like artists! ~ imaginethis
LIVE THAT LESSON!!!!!!

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alliez92092
#46re: Happy Opening 'Next to Normal!!!
Posted: 2/13/08 at 7:39pm

So they're about an hour into the show now (6:45 curtain). I hope it's going great!

And jordangirl, you're going next Tuesday night? Me too! I'm so psyched.

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luvtheEmcee
#47re: Happy Opening 'Next to Normal!!!
Posted: 2/13/08 at 7:46pm

If you think a movable staircase is dangerous, did you sit there holding your breath through the entirety of Tarzan? Moveable staircases are like, staples of high school theater. They're not exactly the height of risky tech design. IMHO, it seems not so much a concern for safety precaution as it does an attempt to make everything out to be soooooo much more dangerous than it really is in order to put the performers on some irrational pedestal. But whatever.


A work of art is an invitation to love.

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jordangirl
#48re: Happy Opening 'Next to Normal!!!
Posted: 2/13/08 at 7:50pm

Alliez ~ Yep Next Tuesday night. :)

Emcee ~ With Tarzan when I saw it, I was too jarred by one of the gorillas getting thisclose to my face in one of the numbers to really pay attention. And no ~ not really. At least I don't intend it that way. But whatever. :) It's all good.


Experience live theater. Experience paintings. Experience books. Live, look and listen like artists! ~ imaginethis
LIVE THAT LESSON!!!!!!

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luvtheEmcee
#49re: Happy Opening 'Next to Normal!!!
Posted: 2/13/08 at 7:53pm

Okay, but they're flying. Versus standing on a platform with wheels. If you're concerned for the safety of actors, it'd be much more worth the energy to worry about people who are suspended from wires, not standing on things that have been used in the theater for ages. Hell, they have movable ladders in bookstores. They're not something to get all "OMG I'M GONNA REBEL AGAINST TRADITION!!!" about. That's all. =P


A work of art is an invitation to love.