WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN begins previews TONIGHT!- Page 4

[WhizzerMarvin]

For those wanting a song list here you go:
My Crazy Heart
Lie to Me
Lovesick
Time Stood Still
My Crazy Heart (Reprise)
Model Behavior
Island
The Microphone
On the Verge
Act 2:
Madrid
Mother's Day
Yesterday, Tomorrow and Today
Tangled
Invisible
Island (Reprise)
Marisa/The Chase
Lie to Me (Reprise)
Shoes From Heaven

Rocks- There was one gunshot.

[dshnookie]

How much stage time does Patti get?

[Michael Bennett]

It just kills me to have to report that the show is just a disaster- and I mean the score book and direction which take a brilliant screwball comedy and turn it into a flat., boring, unfunny and musically uninteresting evening in the theatre.

It just misses on every level - god love Laura Benanti though who makes gold out of nothing.

It's Avery sad night for me

[Brick]

The fact that we're sitting even discussing why and how a 1st preview of an original musical with no out of town tryout would be rough is ridiculous.

The technical issues will get worked out. They cancelled two previews because of it, so I'm sure they are aware of the work to be done. There are 60 set changes!

As for lost actors, see above.

As for material, let's all wait and see. Remember folk, no out of town tryout: this is the fist time this material has been in front of an audience. I promise some things will change. Maybe even songs out, songs in.

There have been horrible 1st previews turned into great shows, and horrible 1st previews that weren't. Like we say in every preview period, let's wait and see.

(As for audience expectations and ticket pricing, that is beyond the artists control. Talk to the producers. Or don't see a preview. )

[Michael Bennett]

The only way this will improve is if they cut about 2/3 of the book and add about 75 percent new musical material- I don't know how this got out of the reading state in it's present condition

[Trish2]

Just curious if there was much choreography in the show, and how was it utilized?

[CapnHook]

Also keep in mind that this show is a LIMITED ENGAGEMENT. It's not structured for a open-ended commercial run. I would hope that it one reason why it opened cold in New York.

PERHAPS after this New York outing, they will evaluate to see if the show has a possible life after New York and may give it an overhaul later, if not now during previews...and if at all.

[WhizzerMarvin]

I 100% agree. They almost need to start over again. It's really that misguided.

Patti has a decent amount of stage time. Too much for her character actually, and although she's trying I really think they got her all wrong. She also deserves a star entrance, and she is deprived of that by having a dull group opening number.

[Brick]

After reading the NY Times feature on it, I wonder if Sher was having trouble with the Almodovar tone. The "puh!"

Perhaps he downplayed the emotion to the point of killing the drama, stakes, and comedy. Fixable, only if he realizes now he's done it.

[Michael Bennett]

The problem isn't that he down plays the drama- the problem is he down plays the comedy by trying to flesh outthe characters in a farce and make them real-

Can you imagine a musical of Boeing Boeing in which most of the songs are ballads and about forty minutes of new scenes are given to flesh out the backstories of the characters to make them less stock? That's what's going on here....

[WhizzerMarvin]

He absolutely missed the tone of the piece. But so did the score and the book. It's easier to change bits of direction when you have workable material. He can't just ask for a new score next week.

Why does the show open with a super deary opening number? Why is the scene with Pepa and the receptionist (SO funny in the movie) just landing with a thud on stage? (None of the jokes are the same...they should have kept the line about "I'll dial one number and then second one after that.") They have turned Pepa into someone who dubs songs in films rather than just a voice dubber (good idea for a musical) but then she sings a snoozy worthy ballad with Stokes Mitchell. The show should be as zippy and peppy as the gazpacho!!

[Luscious]

P fuc#in' U.

[bwayfan7000]

This sounds like such a shame.

[LimelightMike]

Can we maybe jump to scenic elements, lighting mayhaps? I'm pretty sure we're all chompin' at the bit for details with regard to visuals...

[Michael Bennett]

I'm not going to say this is a missed opportunity because there is nothing about the movie that screams out to be musicalized- it's just a shame when talented theatre people come together to make magic and it doesn't work.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Another big problem with the show is that it gives away information about the characters that the movie kept secret for much longer. I don't know if this was to make things "easier to follow" for the audience, but it really takes away a lot of the humor and coincidence that is necessary to farce.

For example we find out in an early book scene ***possibly spoiler (for the movie, but not really the musical I guess)*** that Lucia is the mother of Carlos, and he is Ivan's son. Her past of being locked away for 19 years is revealed! It's all laid out for us immediately without letting us be surprised, and more importantly not letting us learn the information when Pepa does. Pepa is the heroine and central character. The story needs to be told with her in sharp focus. As Michael Bennett mentioned, this is in an attempt to flesh out the secondary characters, but it's all not needed. This should be the Sherie show. It should be told through her eyes, and we should learn about the other plotlines as she does. The rest is all wasted padding.

[bwayphreak234]

60 set changes? How is that accomplished?

[LimelightMike]

So, wait, wait ... No Overture?

[thetinymagic2]

I don't remember an Overture, just a short musical thing as the scrim rose. The orch. did sound very good though.

[WhizzerMarvin]

No Overture. There's about a 30/45 second prelude that reveals Sherie on a rotating bed. Then the phone rings and we hear Ivan's message. This could be a fine start, but then all the women enter singing this funeral dirge in black outfits. Why are all these women appearing? They can't be in Pepa's mind because she hasn't met them yet, save Candela.

So many missed opportunities. They cut that great scene in the movie where Pepa calls Lucia demanding to speak with Ivan. Wouldn't that have been comic gold with Patti and Sherie??

The set is constantly changing. There are two moving tracks that take set on and off. The lighting is fine. The projections are busy, but you actually barely notice them. For someone who asked about the choreography, there are sporadic moments of dancing, but the ensemble doesn't have all that much to do.

[leefowler]

Utter fiasco. I realize that it's a first preview, but I can't imagine how it could be fixed during the preview period. Frankly, I think there's a good chance it might not open.

[ljay889]

Yikes so um understudies anyone?

[bwayphreak234]

Maybe when the flow gets a little smoother and some changes are made it will be a little better. Just a thought.

[WhizzerMarvin]

ljay- there are a TON of understudies. Care if I just list the ones for the leads?

For Pepa: de'Adre Aziza, Samantha Shafer
For Marisa: Nina Lafarga, Yanira Marin
For Paulina: Nina Lafarga, Vivian Nixon
For Candela: Vivian Nixon, Jennifer Sanchez
For Lucia: Alma Cuervo, Rachel Bay Jones
For Ivan and Chief Inspector: Sean McCourt, John Schiappa
For Carlos: Phillip Spaeth, Charlie Sutton

[alawhat]

It's a star-studded $5,000,000 limited run LCT production, don't be retarded, of course it will open.
I really hope it becomes good. How it got this far without being good confuses me, though. I'd like to think disappointment is making the preview-goers see immutable awfulness when it's just mediocre.

We'll see.