Catch me if you Can Preview Thread- Page 3

[After Eight]

Posted: 3/12/11 at 8:38pm

A major disappointment. It lacks zip, it lacks spark, it lacks sparkle. It just meanders along in a tale that is frankly, not that appealing. I expected much more from the composer and lyricist, whose work I've admired in the past. Sad to say, there's not a distinguished song in the bunch. The huge and unnecessary bandstand dwarfs the stage and restricts playing space. The sets as a result are skimpy. The costumes make little impression, likewise the choreography.

Norbert Leo Butz gives a good performance; he needs a better part and better songs. Aaron Tveit, so good in "Next to Normal," is bland here. Tom Wopat is again saddled with a drab part with awful songs. Kerry Butler is given a song to wail/belt which is wholly out of keeping with the character she is playing. Linda Hart, sorely underused, adds a welcome zest to the proceedings.

[TheatreFan27]

Posted: 3/12/11 at 10:59pm

I'm lovin' the good reviews!! I've got my tix for April, can't wait! :)

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 3/12/11 at 11:02pm

I don't know how I feel about the bandstand. I personally am just not a fan of onstage orchestras.

[Drunk Chita Rivera]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 12:49am

After Eight, your description is perfect. This seems like a cheap lifeless production. I think the material is actually good but it seems like dinner theater quality production. I wanted to LOVE it but I was underwhelmed. Certain songs that should have soared fell flat. The 2nd act was far better than the first though with some of the character bringing life to the show (Linda Hart and Kerry Butler)

[kyle4]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 1:04am

after eight and drunk....

i completely agree with you and said the SAME in my VERY sexy blog.... http://thetheaterbuff.typepad.com/the-theater-buff/2011/03/catch-me-if-you-can-first-preview-thoughts.html

what i did NOT say... and you BOTH did... was --

linda hart... in that TINY little part... DOES bring a MUCH NEEDED effervescence !!!

it really speaks of her talent that she can turn a "nothing" part into something memorable... she has a REAL knack for that !!! LOVE THAT WOMAN!!

besides being fun and adorable on the night i saw it (1st preview)... she was almost EATEN alive by the crazy ribbon/toilet paper/tentacled "tree" number !!! what an ODD piece of set design...

ms. hart deserves better!!!

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 1:30am

Sorry if this has already been answered, but does the show use the LCD screen the Seattle production used? Is the orchestra platform the same as Seattle?

[Sophiia]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 1:50am

I saw the first preview Saturday night and was surprised to absolutely love the show! I have been a huge Aaron Tveit fan for some time now- I saw him three times in N2N and find him to be the best leading man currently on Broadway- so I may be a bit biased but he was perfection. His voice was stunning and clear as everyone has said, hitting every note perfectly and literally bringing down the house with "Goodbye" (in my opinion, the best song in the show). I was worried about the cheese-factor of this show. So I enjoyed seeing that they didn't really take themselves too seriously- I loved having the characters talk to the audience and address the fact that it would be like a corny 60s tv special sort of thing...

Norbert was hilarious as Hanratty- his quirky dancing and mannerisms made the character come to life the same way I feel that Tom Hanks did. I did, however, miss his beautiful voice- you didn't get to hear his pure vocal talent with the songs he had...

Kerry Butler was my biggest complaint about the show. I was glad to see that she wasn't in it much, because I did not connect to her portrayal of Brenda at all. In my opinion Brenda is not a very lovable character in general, but I could picture a million different actresses playing her in a more likable way. The most frustrating thing is "Fly Fly Away" which is an amazing and beautiful song that I feel was ruined by her whiny voice. This is all taste factor for me though- someone else might have loved it, I just don't like her tone.

Tom Wopat had an amazing voice and played the father very well. The mother's French accent was horrible and incredibly fake sounding, but that didn't really matter.

I thought the set was great. I was impressed with the dancers- they had some gorgeous voices! Mostly the girls, though- I wasn't very impressed with the guys.

I'd love to answer any questions you guys might have!
Also I'm curious how many changes, if any, they make between previews and opening night?

[kyl3fong2]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 3:02am

Sophiia --- Could you possible post a song list of all the songs sung in the show?


I have heard rumors that Doctor's Orders has been cut since the Seattle Production and one other song as well.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 3:28am

B'wayphreak: someone posted earlier in the thread that the projections are gone. There is only one used with the Show Curtain of moving clouds.

It may be hard to post a song list, it's not uncommon for the musical numbers to NOT be posted in the preview Playbill so there's no "proof" of changes!

[steven22]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 3:38am

[Sophiia]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 3:40am

Trying to remember-

Act I:
Live In Living Color
Someone Else's Skin
The Jet Set
Breaking All The Rules
The Man Inside The Clues
Butter Out Of Cream
My Favorite Time of Year

Act II:
Doctor's Orders
Don't Be A Stranger
Little Boy Be A Man
Seven Wonders
Bury Me Beside the One I Love- I feel like it wasn't called this but there was a song with Roger, Carol, Brenda, and Frank at this point. Maybe called something more like "We're All Family" or something? Haha. They brought out these ribbon things and everyone jumped over them and we were all terrified someone was going to trip...
Fly Fly Away
Goodbye
Strange But True

Pretty sure Fifty Checks, Here I Am, You Gotta Pay For Love, and possibly Bury Me Beside the One I Love were cut... Anyone able to confirm?

ETA: OH. haha I could have just checked my Playbill, oops.
Updated On: 3/13/11 at 03:40 AM

[willrogers2008]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 8:52am

Please, tell me: did they cut the sing-a-long section which some people hated in Seattle? Thanks.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 11:39am

There was no sing-along section in the show Friday, so I assume it's been cut.

[kyle4]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 11:44am

SING A LONG section ??????? !!!!!!!!

[Patti4President]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 11:57am

Our Family Tree replaced the sing-a-long section. It's still not a great song, but you're distracted by the intricate (and random) ribbon dancing.

[kyle4]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 12:06pm

sure, linda hart almost broke her leg ( http://thetheaterbuff.typepad.com/the-theater-buff/2011/03/catch-me-if-you-can-first-preview-thoughts.html ) ...

but the FINE ART of RIBBON DANCING was kept alive !!!!!

shoulders and legs... then off to vegas!!!

[ReggieonBway]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 12:39pm

Went to see the show last night - absolutely BLOWN AWAY. I actually enjoyed it much more than I did Hairspray back in the day, though that may be more due to the talent involved than anything else.

First of all, I have to address future Tony winner Aaron Tveit. I thought he was jipped out of a nom in n2n, but there's absolutely no chance of that this time around. His voice is clear as a bell, even if he doesn't access his vibrato quite as much as I would like, and he was absolutely breathtaking in Goodbye (my personal favorite song in the show) and if he doesn't win I'll actually be a little angry. I was pleasantly surprised by Daniel Radcliffe, even thinking after I saw How to Succeed that he had a real shot at the Tony, but Aaron was pure perfection.

Norbert Leo Butz was hilarious (as usual), and will no doubt get a nom. His voice was a little - uh - not fantastic, but I heard something about vocal nodes from a friend of mine, so I'll attribute it to that.

NOW, my only real issue with the show: Kerry Butler. Fantastic actress, fantastic singer, bad role. The role of Brenda Strong (in both the movie and the musical) is almost hastily addressed in the story. She has this breathtaking power ballad (Fly, Fly Aaway, as if you all didn't already know) but you never really care about her character. Not only that, but she turns Frank in right after claiming to be his "alibi". On the other hand, I can see how her turning him in was a way to get him to return to her ("maybe it's because he'll fly back home to me, one day," as she says) but either way Frank is clearly betrayed.

I'll post more later.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 1:07pm

With Book of Mormon, this season is off to a smashing start.

This comment made me LOL. I am glad this show is going to be a hit, but to say this and Book of Mormon get this season off to a smashing START is hilarious. Perhaps saying these two show might have a chance of saving a crappy season (financially, if not artistically) might be more appropriate.

Have we forgotten:

That Spider Show
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
The Scottsboro Boys
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Elf

And that is just the musicals!

[NotYourMemories]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 1:29pm

I saw Catch Me in Seattle - I thought it had a great score and an amazing cast, but it just didn't work due to an incoherent book and inconsistent use of the "TV show" framing device.

I saw the 2nd Broadway preview and I think it's Brilliant!. They've kept the fabulous cast, improved the score and fixed everything else.

There is no LCD screen, I don't miss it a bit. One of my complaints in Seattle was how poorly Kerry Butler's role was handled. She was just sort of brought out to be a quick love interest in Act 2, and "Fly Away" seemed to come out of nowhere.
I'm going to disagree with those who are criticizing the Brenda role in the current version. Brenda represents the ordinary, honest life that Frank has left behind and yearns for. I think it's great writing that Frank, a master con-man, falls in love with a girl who can't lie, and that her honesty leads to his capture.

There's only one change I would suggest, and it involves a spoiler, so please read no further if you haven't seen the show yet.

SPOILER SPACE








Frank's big number "Goodbye" is what he thinks is the closing number of his personal "show within a show". At the end of it the audience thinks the show is over, but Hanratty is still there, which leads to the real finale "Stuck Together".

Since this show is all about misdirection, why not make more of "Goodbye" being the show's supposed finale? Let the house go dark, start to play the bow music, have the ensemble come out to bow and let them run into Hanratty who is still standing on stage. When the bows fall apart a puzzled Frank comes out...

[steven22]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 1:37pm

So excited to see this! Got tickets for April 23 Mat. First row orch dead center!

[After Eight]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 1:46pm

"I saw Catch Me in Seattle - I thought it had a great score and an amazing cast, but it just didn't work due to an incoherent book and inconsistent use of the "TV show" framing device.

I saw the 2nd Broadway preview and I think it's Brilliant!. They've kept the fabulous cast, improved the score and fixed everything else."

"Great score" ?!?! Now that's a good one.

First, if it's such a great score, why did it need improvement?

Second, if this can be called a great score, what adjective would apply to the scores of shows like "Kiss Me, Kate," "Show Boat," or "West Side Story?"

[ReggieonBway]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 2:59pm

All scores have room for improvement - and frankly, not everybody thinks the world of Kiss Me, Kate or Show Boat. West Side Story is of course one of the greatest musicals ever written (if not THE greatest) but the two aforementioned scores leave quite a bit to be desired.

[kyl3fong2]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 3:09pm

I am really surprised to read all the poor reviews on Kerry Butler on here. I thought she would be one of the shows' highlights given her song "Fly Fly Away" is one of the big numbers in this show right?

[ReggieonBway]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 3:25pm

It's nothing to do with Kerry or her song - it's how she and her song fit into the overriding storyline. Which is to say, awkwardly.

Posted: 3/13/11 at 5:33pm

It's always amusing to read folks argue the the "truth" of their opinions. God knows, some fools say Passion is Sondheim's best score.

It's just an opinion.