Anyone seen "The Kid"?

[GottaHaveAGimmick]

off-broadway? Curious.......

[April Saul]

I'm seeing it tonight and will report, but a few people posted comments on All That Chat already!

[Papacusco]

I was there last night and loved the show.
I laughed and cried and really loved the story.
I thought the ensemble was excellent and Chris Sieber was in top form.
The musical numbers were most pleasing. The show needs a little tightening.
I found the story line kept me involved and the emotions of adoption and raising children well done.
I was able to identify with the two male adoptive parents having adopted a son.
Will go back and see it again after it opens.

[rmusic11322]

Does anyone have a cast list?

[Papacusco]

Cast Members Chris Sieber, Kevin Anthony, Jill Eikenberry, Jeannine Frumess, Ann Harada, Tyler Maynard, Brooke Synny Moriber, Justin Patterson Lucas Steele, Michael Wartella

[taylorPHENOMENON2]

I thought Susan Blackwell was in this?

[rmusic11322]

^ I was going to say the same thing.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Haven't seen it yet, but the couple of songs from it that were part of the 2008 BMI Showcase were some of my favorite that year.

[April Saul]

I liked it, but felt strongly that it was a lovely gem of a hundred-minute musical that clocked in, with intermission, at two-and-a-half hours! Sieber and company were engaging, the songs were clever, the story makes you laugh and even cry. But in my opinion just WAY too much show, with some characters that were superfluous and scenes that dragged. So for me, it was enjoyable, but I was left wishing they'd tightened it and brought it from a "B" grade to a solid "A." We discussed this on the ATC board earlier today, if anybody wants to check over there for more...

[After Eight]

Painful.


Anyhow, two suggestions for the creators.

1) Gloucester is pronounced glawster, and not like the "ow" in cow. And that goes double for double gloucester.

2) If a character offers brie to a visitor, don't have him hold up a cube of Velveeta while enunciating "brie."

[RoslynReynolds]

It should win the Pulizter.

[Insider2]

I saw it and it is wonderful. I'm surprised all the title of show fans haven't rallied around this since their goddess Susan Blackwell is in it. She's actually fantastic, now that she has found herself a real role in a real musical, and the rest of the cast is just as great. Chris Sieber is giving an award-worthy performance. The set is genius and the direction is very clever. The music and lyrics are lovely. I highly disagree that it is too long. Every freaking thing does not have to be 90 minutes.

[Musiquer]

Saw it last night and REALLY enjoyed it! The cast did very well, and Chris Sieber especially was a stand-out.

[After Eight]

"It should win the Pulizter."

Considering the "taste" of the so-called "experts" who choose the finalists for this award, I would not be in the least surprised if it did.

[sadephram]

Do you guys ever get tired of bashing N2N ?

[mc1227]

Saw this last night and loved it. So creative and well performed by entire cast, especially Seiber and Lucas Steele who were both wonderful as the gay couple trying to adopt. It was also great seeing Jill Eikenberry, who was solid. The crowd seemed to enjoy it as well. Another outstanding production this year by The New Group.

[broadwaybabe1234]

if i lived in NYC i would so go see this. The cast is superb, im very interested in how the reviews will pan out...

[romgitsean]

Agh I wanna see this so bad!

And who had fun with Susan Blackwell's wiki?

"Susan Blackwell is an American actress, writer, singer and vampire slayer."

>>

[scaryclowns2232]

I have to disagree with pretty much everyone in this thread.

I thought that, though the show kept my attention, it was hopelessly pedestrian and a bit muddled. The songs were all predictable, and I've heard them all before. That is, the good ones. The bad ones (most notably "Spare Changin'" and "Behind the Wheel") I haven't heard before and hope to never hear again, because they were simply boring. I don't know whether it was the writing or the actors (likely both), but those two didn't build at all, had no way of advancing the story, and simply repeated themselves over and over. (This can be said for most of the songs.) Each could have been replaced with one line of dialogue, likely to greater effect.

I thought the book was fine, though I would have loved to have seen more into Dan's point of view from the beginning. The most interesting part of the story was Dan's emotional confusion about having the kid, and I didn't get enough of that before the end. Also, regarding the book, I hate that they used direct address. Its a cop out, and an unnecessary one. Literally everything said directly to the audience could have been accomplished in dialogue.

Also, Jill Elkenberry's character, though interesting when confronting Dan at the end, was probably unnecessary, and her little comic shtick at the beginning (clearly inserted to beef up the role) was both unnecessary and unfunny.

It is a shame that these writers got the rights to turn this into such a mediocre musical, because it could have made a wonderful play in the right hands.

On the positive side:

-The last twenty minutes or so (starting with, SPOILER: Melissa crying at the hospital) were breathtaking. If the rest of the show could balance comedy and drama like this, it would have been much better.
-Sieber was excellent, as was Lucas Steele. The ensemble did a nice job (though the dude with the dreads grated me. Not sure why.) The girl who played Melissa did a nice job, though they need to find out a way to make a character who is intentionally affectless more interesting- especially during her song.
-Did anyone notice that there was a very sexual connotation to the wallpaper- as if it were an inseminated vagina? I'm not sure if I'm going out on a limb when I say that, but I thought it was a pretty cool, sly scenic touch.

Overall, I just left thinking that I wished the material had been put in the hands of a more innovative, creative and daring creative team. This could've been a wonderful chamber musical. Instead, its a cliched big musical stuck on a small stage.

[twogaab2]

A lovely little show. Very nice score. Strong performances throughout. A perfect old fashioned off-Broadway musical. Good luck to all for a successful run. 1st rate show-----See it!!!

[newintown]

I'm in agreement with scaryclowns. Terrific talent inflating a feather of a show. I admit that I find the theme of parenting (gay, straight, adopted, inseminated, etc.) an utterly uninteresting premise for a show. I also admit that Savage's relentless self-promotion turns me off, as well. So, I suppose, unless the writers were more genius than simply adept, I wasn't going to react to the show.

[RoslynReynolds]

In a word, it is total Scheiss.

[MemorableUserName]

Sorry to bring up this old thread, but Amazon's new show Modern Love readapted the Dan Savage adoption story from The Kid (which he later wrote about in a Modern Love column, used as the basis of the TV adaptation). That got me thinking about this show, which I didn't get to see. The TV episode might have been okay for viewers unfamiliar with the story, but for anyone who read the book or read the column, it had to seem hopelessly sanitized. I have to believe the musical was better, even if it evidently didn't have much life after that brief run. Any additional thoughts from those who saw it? Maybe it seems better or worse in retrospect?

[SisterGeorge]

I'm sketchy on the details, and can't tell you a thing about the music, but I do remember it being a winning production with wonderful performances from all, especially a very likable Christopher Sieber and Lucas Steele, who was hot long before Anatole came along.

[jewishboy]

I really loved the title song to this show. Does anyone have an audio copy of the title song? Good memories, yes Lucas Steele was a standout then as well.