ELF chose a good number to perform. Buddy had absolutely no energy at the end of the number and the TV cameras picked up on it: there was a half-ass kick in the choreo, and a half-ass smile on the button.
NICE WORK looked boring on TV. Ensemble was great, and Kelli has so much zest, I love her, but she and Matthew doing S'Wonderful is not exciting enough to keep one's attention in the excitement of the parade. It's hard to take in the energy of thousands of people then suddenly focus in on just two.
ANNIE was the most successful number. That performance will sell some tickets. It was smartly crafted and despite the director not landing some camera cutaways, it was still successful.
CINDERELLA was also successful, and the camera angles blended with the choreography to make some LOVELY pictures. Wish the prince's costume made him look more princely. When he was revealed, I thought maybe it was an ensemble member stepping in for the prince (thinking maybe something off-camera happened causing him not to go on).
BRING IT ON had so much going on, it was difficult to focus on each moment. That poor director who had to keep up! Love the show, and still had fun, but wish they would have done one of the cheer routine numbers instead.
Anyone see ONCE or NEWSIES?
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle
Once and Newsies were both prerecorded (I believe) and were in their theatres, which creates quite a different environment. To be honest though, it was far more conducive to showcasing their respective shows, vocals, choreography, etc.
Both were well done.
Scratch and claw for every day you're worth!
Make them drag you screaming from life, keep dreaming
You'll live forever here on earth.
S - Wonderful.... I had to laugh! Just proves that Lauer's generation (and younger) don't know the Gershwin repertoire!
Cast albums are NOT "soundtracks." Live theatre does not use a "soundtrack." If it did, it wouldn't be live theatre!
I host a weekly one-hour radio program featuring cast album selections as well as songs by cabaret, jazz and theatre artists. The program, FRONT ROW CENTRE is heard Sundays 9 to 10 am and also Saturdays from 8 to 9 am (eastern times) on www.proudfm.com
Loved the Cinderella number. Victoria looked and sounded terrific, so did Laura and the cast. I have a feeling this show is going to do really well.
Nice Work ... Matthew looked so restrained and cautious. Blah. He's uncomfortable to watch.
Annie -- I enjoyed the number, but that wig looks really bad on Annie. It's not doing her any favors. She looks like a mushroom. The cast was appealing though. I really like this Daddy Warbucks.
Bring It On -- seemed like this number was trying to be too many things. "Street" and "squeaky clean." Suffering from an awkward identity crisis. I enjoyed it enough, and it worked really well in this parade environment.
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
'Cinderella' was very good. I really do want to see it this spring. But as I mentioned earlier I was not crazy about the crown on Laura's head. It really did look like the one the White Witch wears in the 'The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe'. I would perfer to see her wear a traditional crown/tiara.
ANNIE and CINDERELLA gave the best performances on the parade today. Both story driven and will clearly sell tickets :)
WHY did Macys choose to let ELF do another performance over "A XMAS STORY"... Mistake I think... boring.
Nice Work's dancers were fantastic, then it died when Matthew and Kelli came out...
Bring it on I thought was great too, too bad they are closing and people really didnt give this show a chance... The choreography those kids do in that show is amazing. The show is so fun...
"TheatreDiva90016 - another good reason to frequent these boards less."<<>>
“I hesitate to give this line of discussion the validation it so desperately craves by perpetuating it, but the light from logic is getting further and further away with your every successive post.” <<>>
-whatever2
Is there any reason for Buddy, the Elf, to be so.... large?
I thought Victoria Clark looked washed out. And that dress...
Price Charming couldn't have been more plain looking.
"TheatreDiva90016 - another good reason to frequent these boards less."<<>>
“I hesitate to give this line of discussion the validation it so desperately craves by perpetuating it, but the light from logic is getting further and further away with your every successive post.” <<>>
-whatever2
Oh My God, (I'm old school no OMG for me) I laughed my ass of at Matt Laurer, introducing the cast of "Nice Work" and their, apparently, Spanish version of the Gershwin hit, "Ess Wonderful."
I thought all of the NBC performances were equally good this year; the first half of the "Nice Work" performance was great, all that energy in the dancing(the second half...meh). And I cringed when Matt said S Wonderful.
I thought the Annie number came off best. The Elf song was just bad. Bring It On's song sounded better than it did in the theatre. Nice Work was ok. I found the costumes in Cinderella to be quite ugly, and the Fairy Godmother's dress perfectly hideous. Luckily they didn't mess with the music.
The 'Ess Wonderful' gaffe reminded me of the moment in 'Glee' when the musically clueless high school principal referred to Ke$ha as 'Ke Dollar Sign Ha'.