BRING IT ON Begins Previews Tonight

[GilmoreGirlO2]

Posted: 7/12/12 at 10:03am

Anyone going tonight? From Lin Manuel's tweets it sounds like they have made quite a few changes from the tour (I believe he said at least 3 new songs) and I am interested to hear about it.

[BwayEqs]

Posted: 7/12/12 at 10:42am

I saw the tour and thought it was pretty good.

[wicked4l]

Posted: 7/12/12 at 12:45pm

Got my rush ticket this morning, front row center! Very excited!

[FANtomFollies]

Posted: 7/12/12 at 1:37pm

wicked4l - what time did you get to the box office this morning? was there a line?

[wicked4l]

Posted: 7/12/12 at 2:03pm

I got to the box office around 8:50/9:00, I was 5th in line. They sell the first 14 seats in the front row, mine were in the center. My friend went around 10:30 and got 3rd row on the left side. So they must sell whatever is left on the sides once the front row is gone.

[ggersten]

Posted: 7/12/12 at 2:13pm

We saw the LA version. Had a great time. Our criticism was:
1. Takes too long to get to the second high school
2. The final cheer routine was not the best routine in the show and needed to be more to blow the audience away
3. The lead was only okay. She was outshone by the other leads.
4. SPOILER
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When the team loses, it's really not a satisfying ending. We thought it would be cool if they received a "judge's choice" trophy that would be twice the size of the winning Truman trophy. Don't know if that's been changed.

[Markecib]

Posted: 7/12/12 at 3:09pm

Lin also said they put in a new opening to the show. Anyone at last nights Gypsy run?

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 7/12/12 at 3:21pm

Wish I could see it again to see the changes. Really enjoyed the tour.

[BwayEqs]

Posted: 7/12/12 at 9:49pm

Wish I could see it again to see the changes. Really enjoyed the tour.


my thoughts exactly.

Lin also said they put in a new opening to the show.

Really? The no longer open with Skylar meditating?

[phan24]

Posted: 7/12/12 at 10:52pm

The first preview just finished, it was an electrifying night at the theater, there's nothing but positive things to say about the show.

I came completely unfamiliar with the material (except for the commercial) and was completely blown away by the whole production. From beginning to end, this show has charisma, the most talented dancers, and it is hard to believe that all, if not most, of the leads are making their Broadway debut in the show.

Taylor Louderman is amazing as the lead. She really has a great arc throughout the show, which I was skeptical about since she is a high shool cheerleader. Adrienne Warreb was also great in the role with amazing vocals and stage presence. Ryann Redmond is definitely a stand out, with a great "under-dog" character. Elle McLemore also surprised the whole audience with her talent and ability to pretty much steal the show at her petite stature. The whole book and score were great and you could definitely tell which parts were composed by who. The ensemble is just out of this world, with the most dangerous dance routines I've seen on stage and without a single slip up or mess up in the show's first preview.

The only mishap was a small microphone problem during Act II which made an annoying sound for only about 10 seconds.
Saw many Broadway veterans in the audience, it was a nice thing to see other performers come and support their colleagues tonight. There was an immediate standing ovation from the completely packed house at the end of the show. This show is in great, great, great shape. It felt like an openig night for me.

Would love to hear anyone else's thoughts about tonight.

Updated On: 7/12/12 at 10:52 PM

[TheatreKid3]

Posted: 7/12/12 at 11:59pm

It seems like they have an extension on their mind. The vibe from this show has slowly changed from "National Tour stop on Broadway like HAIR," to new Broadway musical. Did they use the National Tour set?

[After Eight]

Posted: 7/13/12 at 12:06am

The first act was innocuous enough; the second was drippy and dumb. A few laughs along the way, more than a few laughable lines and lyrics. The score was fairly humdrum. There's a sappy, cliché-ridden number in which a high school sage waxes poetic on how quickly time flies. Pretty painful. Also a grotesque dance number featuring a giant school mascot leprechaun. It's one of those "I can't believe what I'm seeing " moments that will have people chortling for years. That is, if it isn't cut.

The cast is energetic. The production is cheap, and looks barren on the vast stage.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 7/13/12 at 12:10am

So what was the recipe for Bring It On? Far as I can tell it was:

4 parts Baby It's You projections
2 parts Wonderland dialogue
2 parts Good Vibrations costumes
2 parts Good Vibrations sets
Spritz of In My Life lemon reference

Blend well and you'll be certain to feel a little tipsy after.

Seriously it's messy, too long, kinda trashy and has character and situations with nothing at stake.

I haven't seen the original movie for years, but the musical has as much in common with plot of the movie as Lysistrata Jones does. The only similarity, for better or worse, is that the story involves cheerleaders.

There are four screens that are omnipresent that have some of the ugliest, cheapest looking projections since Baby It's You or the recent Guys and Dolls revival. For the first 40 minutes I wasn't sure if we were even going to see a physical set piece. A bed and some lockers show up, but that's pretty much it. The stage looks so big and vast, but it's not used well. There are no level- no staircases, no tiers. It's very boring to watch two and a half hours on an empty stage, unless of course, you're watching A Chorus Line.

The dialogue was awful and all over the place. One guy had a boner and the lead said to him, "You better shut the barn door because your horse is showing!!" One minute a character would be saying, "I'm pretty sure there's an app for that," and the next making a MISS CLEO (!!!) reference. When would this kids ever have heard about Miss Cleo! Another guy raps that he would be a basketball player like Scottie Pippen. Wouldn't be wanting to be like Kobe or maybe Lebron? The book makes you cringe, but it's often wickedly campy.

The greatest camp moment though is the evil cheerleader's big song in act two. It was worthy of something from Rachael Lily Rosenbloom, complete with (slight spoiler) tearaway clothing! It's called "Killer Instinct" and I greatly fear it will be cut. It's totally unnecessary to try to flesh out this character so late in the show and she's such a cartoonish villain; the number was bizarre.

There are two genuine problems that are fixable before opening. The plot hinges on the lead cheerleader, Campbell, getting kicked out of her school because of a new redistricting zoning law. She goes from popular cheerleader in a White, rich environment to a "gritty" Black/minority environment where she's the outcast. The Black school is WAY more fun than her old school, but it takes forever for the plot to get her there.

They don't have a cheerleading program there, but there is a street dance crew. There's major missed opportunities here to teach Campbell some "street" dance moves. She needs to adapt and this is a dance musical. Show us some dance! Integrate it into the story! Then Campbell must teach her new minority friends how to cheer. This is all done off stage. The montage in the movie where they watch Sweet Charity, learn different styles of dance etc, and then integrate them into the cheerleading would be perfect here. For a show about cheerleading and dancing they TALK a lot about it, but don't use it very well.

The other big fix needs to be that the characters have higher stakes. Once Campbell is kicked out of her school you are 100% rooting for her new school to win the competition. The movie kept it interesting by pitting Dunst and her squad against Union and the rival Black school (who were actually better/more exciting). Now that the two leading ladies are on the same team there's no tension. There's no wanting both teams to win. It's fluff, but they need to make the journeys worthwhile for the characters.

The score is forgettable, except for a catchy tune called "It Ain't No Thang," which is bubblegum pop and funny. There are way too many ballads, mostly given to Campbell, and they're rough. She tries her best, but is forced to stand downstage center and sing for 4 minutes about how hard her life is.

As junky as the show it is often very entertaining due the high camp value. My friends and I will be quoting lines for weeks. Weird that we had a thread about Wonderland today because this really reminded me of that.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 7/13/12 at 12:14am

After Eight! How could I have been so remiss to not mention the giant dancing leprechaun! It was another delicious camp moment. The act one final also reminded me of a mishmash of Don't Waste the Moon and Out For Blood.

You're right too about the high school senior singing about life passing you by. Their romance was forced and unbelievable. It was mentioned that he had written one of their songs, but that plotline was dropped.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/13/12 at 12:14am

Wait, so this musical doesn't even have the same plot as the film it's "based" on?

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 7/13/12 at 12:20am

Correct Jordan. It really is false advertising and may be the single biggest fault of the show. Why license the name and become part of the franchise if you're not going to musicalize the characters/story of the movie.

There is no Eliza Dushku character. No stealing the cheers from another school. No gay dance instructor they hire to make new routines. (There are no adult actors in the show.) It's weird they are marketing it as Bring It On the musical when it is no such thing. It is a musical about cheerleaders in California with a totally original story and songs.

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 7/13/12 at 12:21am

I seem to remember Lin-Manuel Miranda saying at some point that someone acquired the rights to the property and approached him about writing it and they never set out to write a musical version of the movie...so yes, they are basically just using the name and the cheerleading part.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/13/12 at 12:22am

That's....weird.

[latitudex1]

Posted: 7/13/12 at 12:23am

It's a spin off with the same underlying themes like the direct to DVD schlock that uses the Bring it On nomenclature.

What I haven't seen anyone do yet is compare to stuff like Bring it On: All or Nothing (the Hayden Panettierre one) or Bring it On: Fight to the Finish (the Christina Milian one) to see if it's better or worse than those piles (the musical was never going to be as good as the movie even if they used the same plot).

Updated On: 7/13/12 at 12:23 AM

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 7/13/12 at 12:25am

I guess I just don't get it. Why get the rights to write a Legally Blonde musical if you only wanted to write a musical about a girl in a sorority and her sisters?

I'm not arguing to have a scene by scene replication of the movie on stage, but to not even maintain the basic plot is odd in my eyes.

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 7/13/12 at 12:27am

I totally agree...I haven't seen the show and I'm not sure I will, but I thought it was odd that they bothered to license the name and the property and have it bear no resemblance at all to the original film.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 7/13/12 at 12:28am

latitude- I haven't seen any of the sequels to the original film so I can't comment on quality. If I had to venture a guess I would think it's on the same wavelength of a direct to DVD followup.

[JohnyBroadway]

Posted: 7/13/12 at 12:29am

Yeah I remember early articles about the creative team stating that the plot was original.

[TheatreKid3]

Posted: 7/13/12 at 12:30am

I guess it is kind of like SPIDER-MAN without a subtitle or THE ADDAMS FAMILY. Existing, well-known brand titles, but completely original plot lines.

Updated On: 7/13/12 at 12:30 AM

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 7/13/12 at 12:32am

I was hoping the pictures and videos that showed a pretty much bare stage with some video screens was not accurate in capturing the design of the show, but it sounds like it is ;/