The "Pretty" Return of ANDY KARL- Page 3

[Dancingthrulife2]

Posted: 5/23/18 at 7:22pm

I thought I was going to pass this one. Dang it.

[Dancingthrulife2]

Posted: 5/23/18 at 7:22pm

I thought I was going to pass this one. Dang it.

[EllieRose2]

Posted: 5/23/18 at 7:28pm

"This is all speculation of course."

Yeah, stick to that.  

Andy Karl was NOT planning this nor was he expecting this.  I think he is stepping in because he can be a charming and sexy Edward and because he gets to work with his wife.  He told me during Groundhog Day that he was was "going to take a long break from theater after this".  Sadly, I only bought a ticket to see Steve, so I was refunded this afternoon by Ticketmaster.  

[thebookofwhizzer]

Posted: 5/23/18 at 7:30pm

I think Andy will be absolutely wonderful in the show!

[Sondheimite]

Posted: 5/23/18 at 7:35pm

Get tickets to an early performance.

I'll never understand why producers feel like these type of shows aren't going to flop hard.  Especially this particular show.  Let's take the bland music, the bland lyrics, the bland direction, the bland book, the bland set, and the bland choreography out of the picture.  Let's even take away the fact that movie-to-musical adaptations that are like this show have always lost all their money.  Why on earth the producers think that people want to see the story of Pretty Woman on stage in a post-#metoo movement world?  How do they actually think this is going to make money?  

It will be closed well before 2019 starts.  I wager that it won't even make it to thanksgiving.  I wish I had $10-$20million to waste as often as producers seem to these days. 

 

Updated On: 5/23/18 at 07:35 PM

[Jessetenny]

Posted: 5/23/18 at 7:38pm

I don't understand the want for the show to fail.. So many people have such a negative opinion and appears as though they are hoping for the show to fail. I have seen the show and is it perfect? No. But it is a fun night of theatre, some extremely catchy songs, and great performances. Steve Kazee was the weakest link in the cast, and wasn't able to bring any depth to the role (it is written almost exactly the same as in the movie). Yes he has a fantastic voice, but Andy Karl is the first person that came to my mind when I was thinking they should replace Steve. My second thought was Hugh Jackman, but I want the focus of the show to be Samantha Barks who is truly sublime. 

I feel bad for Steve, but he was truly the weakest point of the show except for the lyrics.

I wish Andy, Samantha, Orfeh and this show the best of luck and I hope they fixed some things and it will be a huge hit.

[Sondheimite]

Posted: 5/23/18 at 7:40pm

Jessetenny said: "I don't understand the want for the show to fail.. So many people have such a negative opinion and appears as though they are hoping for the show to fail. "

My above post is not wanting the show to fail, it's being realistic.  Now, frankly I DO want this show to fail because maybe if enough movie-to-musical slogs (ft: no creativity) flop hard, the trend will stop.  If you're going to charge well over $100 for mediocrity, expect backlash.

Again, it won't make it six months.  You can quote me when it closes.  

Updated On: 5/23/18 at 07:40 PM

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 5/23/18 at 7:54pm

Sondheimite said: "Get tickets to an early performance.

Why on earth the producers think that people want to see the story of Pretty Woman on stage in a post-#metoo movement world? How do they actually think this is going to make money?



Let's not forget the all male creative team. Now plenty of men have written good (if usually still problematic) material for female characters. But this is a particularly tricky subject and I'm far from optimistic after the reviews I've read.

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 5/23/18 at 8:40pm

''Frankly I DO want this show to fail because maybe if enough movie-to-musical slogs flop hard, the trend will stop.''

Three of the 4 Tony nominees for Best Musical are movie-to-musical adaptations. And the 4th nominee is based on an animated TV show, so good luck with that. Movie-to-musical adaptations are here to stay. In order to be a hit, you need to sell tons and tons of tickets. You have a better shot at succeeding if your show is something with a title the public might recognize, especially since 61% of Broadway audiences are tourists. 

There will be good movie-to-musical shows. And bad ones.

The ticket-buying public will figure out which ones they want to see and succeed. No need to root for their ''failure.'' Besides, you don't have the power to end this ''trend.'' Many more are coming.

Updated On: 5/23/18 at 08:40 PM

[Marlothom]

Posted: 5/23/18 at 8:50pm

I wonder if casting Orfeh's husband, also signals that they will be toning down the simulated sex scenes between the two leads (to get more youngsters in the audience).   There is a line in the beginning of the show where Orfeh tells Vivian "you can have him" - which I am sure will now get awkward laughs.  

[Jessetenny]

Posted: 5/23/18 at 8:51pm

I completely understand wanting new and original works. I do. But it seems as though most people on this board have some vendetta against Pretty Woman specifically. And have from the get go. I hear excitement for success for Beetlejuice and Moulin Rouge specifically, and nothing but negativity for this show even when it was announced. 

Shows are not perfect. This show has some problems, but it is fun night out, and some fantastic performances are being given alongside some fantastic songs.

[Eliza2]

Posted: 5/23/18 at 8:59pm

Marlothom said: "I wonder if casting Orfeh's husband, also signals that they will be toning down the simulated sex scenes between the two leads (to get more youngsters in the audience). There is a line in the beginning of the show where Orfeh tells Vivian "you can have him" - which I am sure will now get awkward laughs."

I would guess that at least 80% of audience members will have no idea that they're married. Some may catch it if they read the cast bios in the Playbill but I also don't think very many people read those.

[SmoothLover]

Posted: 5/23/18 at 11:36pm

The fact that it is opening in the summer does not bode well. Andy has a more recognizable name so maybe that had something to do with the cast change. It sounds like Steve is not missing out on much. Maybe he left on his own accord. I was sorry that Andy's TV series did not get picked up.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 5/24/18 at 12:04am

You have to realize now, too, that being a success on Broadway isn't what it use to be. It isn't the end all. A lot of these shows just want to license themselves out. So they want the "Direct from Broadway" tagline. They can tour the show, license it out to regional theaters, etc. And make their money back that way. 

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 5/24/18 at 12:11am

Wayman_Wong said: "'Frankly I DO want this show to fail because maybe if enough movie-to-musical slogs flop hard, the trend will stop.'

Three of the 4 Tony nominees for Best Musical are movie-to-musical adaptations. And the 4th nominee is based on an animated TV show, so good luck with that. Movie-to-musical adaptations are here to stay. In order to be a hit, you need to sell tons and tons of tickets. You have a better shot at succeeding if your show is something with a title the public might recognize, especially since 61% of Broadway audiences are tourists.

There will be good movie-to-musical shows. And bad ones.

The ticket-buying public will figure out which ones they want to see and succeed. No need to root for their 'failure.' Besides, you don't have the power to end this 'trend.' Many more are coming."

I'm actually curious about this. Many of my favorite musicals are book to musical adaptations so I have no issue with a musical being based on source material. I just feel like the movie adaptations are generally less transformed because the creative team/producers assume (probably rightly) that most audiences want to see the movie and not some clever interpretation of the movie. In terms of purchase power, I certainly get where the movie adaptations are coming from. For some reason the older crowd seems to be targeted with jukebox musicals while the younger crowd is getting those 80's and 90's movies. But I feel like keeping it to those two decades to target particular demographics, they might run out of steam sooner than they think they will.

What's left? I don't think anyone's getting the rights for any superhero properties or Star Wars anytime soon (except as a off-Broadway parody). So... E.T., Ghostbusters, Indiana Jones, Back to the Future, Edward Scissorhands, Hook, Home Alone, Jurassic Park, Pulp Fiction. Do those sound like good musicals? I think part of the problem is that speaking of representation, a lot of top grossing movies were very (white) male centric until fairly recently.

Exceptions to that which could actually be decent musicals... A League of Their Own, Death Becomes Her, Practical Magic, and Titanic... and maybe some of the 90's rom-coms that don't involve prostitution. I could also see a She's All That musical along the lines of Legally Blonde and Heathers and Mean Girls but I don't know if it has the same kind of fanbase and the original movie is real weird if you watch it again.

[gleek4114]

Posted: 5/24/18 at 12:16am

People need to stop speculating. I have it from a reliable source that this is all due to the tragedy in Kazee's personal life. There was no plot to buy Kazee out and bring Karl in. The entire cast is heartbroken to be losing Steve. Kazee had to make the tough choice of walking away and caring for his father, because there's no way he could've done both. All this being said, I'm very happy to have Andy back on the boards, and I can't wait to see what he does with the role.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 5/24/18 at 12:41am

Man, this board is rough. I didn't realize so many people had such a low opinion of Kazee here. I know Andy Karl is one of the board's chosen favorite actors, but I wasn't expecting these sorts of posts. I hope this doesn't ultimately turn Kazee away from Broadway. I know working actors are tough and deal with these things all the time, but it's got to be a rough time all-around and I hope the situation is as gleek4114 described and not the alternative. If the problem audiences and critics had was with the way Edward was conceived and written (maybe thinking Kazee's strength lied in a more depressed and brooding Edward) then Andy Karl stepping in may give the creatives what they need to reconceive the character to make him somebody the audience and critics will enjoy seeing.

[gypsy101]

Posted: 5/24/18 at 1:06am

gleek4114 said: "People need to stop speculating. I have it from a reliable source that this is all due to the tragedy in Kazee's personal life. There was no plot to buy Kazee out and bring Karl in. The entire cast is heartbroken to be losing Steve. Kazee had to make the tough choice of walking away and caring for his father, because there's no way he could've done both. All this being said, I'm very happy to have Andy back on the boards, and I can't wait to see what he does with the role."

 Couldn’t he have done the show and paid for someone to take care of his father?

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 5/24/18 at 1:15am

Not to speculate too much about a situation that we obviously have no personal knowledge of, but it may be a situation where he needs to be there for this father in person and on a regular basis.

[Elegance101]

Posted: 5/24/18 at 1:23am

gypsy101 said: "Couldn’t he have done the show and paid for someone to take care of his father?"

Or maybe he wants to be there for his father? What kind of thinking is this?

[RippedMan]

Posted: 5/24/18 at 1:45am

I get that, but also, this show is $$, so why not make the $$ and also pay someone to take care of his father and take off a few days here and there? But, I suppose we're all different. 

[EllieRose2]

Posted: 5/24/18 at 2:15am

  "Couldn’t he have done the show and paid for someone to take care of his father?"

You're despicable.  

[yesraccoons]

Posted: 5/24/18 at 7:07am

I personally have never heard of Kazee before this thread but for me and people I know Andy Karl is a draw. I wasn’t planning on seeing Pretty Woman but I’ll definitely be trying to get tickets now. He was great in Groundhog Day and I look forward to seeing him again!

[Broadway Joe]

Posted: 5/24/18 at 7:13am

Wow this is surprising, I just got the flyer in the mail yesterday for the show with Steve on it.....I like Andy way more but I'm still meh on seeing this show.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/24/18 at 7:47am

theaterdude2 said: "Steve Kazee is much more suited to a Richard Gere type than Andy Karl.

Andy is talented and charismatic, but wrong for the part.

Was looking forward to seeing Steve on stage again, it's been a long time since Once. Very sad news about his family, I wish him all the best.

Someone on this threadwrote that he was fired. Would they really use a tragedy like that as an excuse, instead of saying he was let go?

I highly doubt it."

I'm sure IF it were a "cover" (to help protect image) it was done so with permission.   

 

I like Kazee, but am more apt to see it with Andy Karl.