Bridges of Madison County Previews- Page 2

[h6p8gv]

Posted: 1/18/14 at 3:46am

Can someone please post a song list

[After Eight]

Posted: 1/18/14 at 8:13am

^


Act 1

To Build a Home- Francesca and co.
Home before You Know It- Bud, Michael, Carolyn, Fran
Temporarily Lost- Robert
What Do You Call a Man?- Fran
You're Never Alone- Bud and co.
Another Life- Marian
Wondering- Robert and Fran
Look at Me- Fran, Robert, Co.
The World Inside a Frame - Robert
Something From a Dream- Bud
Get Closer- Marge and Radio Singers
Falling Into You- Robert And Fran

Act 2

State Road 21/ The Real World- Band Singer, Michael, Carolyn, and co.
Who We Are and Who We Want to Be- Robert, Fran, co.
Almost Real- Francesca
Before and After You/One Second and a Million Miles- Robert and Fran
He Forgave Me- Chiara and Fran
When I'm Gone - Charlie, Bud, co.
It All Fades Away- Robert
Always Better- Fran, Robert, co.

[ZHerman]

Posted: 1/18/14 at 8:15am

I want to go, but I'm afraid Chris Christie may shut it down.

[mamaleh]

Posted: 1/18/14 at 8:36am

DramaTeach, was that song "Falling into You"? Because that's been my favorite from the score since Willliamstown. So beautifully sung by Pasquale and Shaddow, too.

[jayinchelsea]

Posted: 1/18/14 at 9:40am

Why bring Jessie Mueller into the conversation? Does everything concern the talented but not-well-showcased Ms. Mueller???

I saw the show at Williamstown, and much to my amazement, fell in love with it. I think the original novel is garbage, and the film is not really much. I am not a JRB fan in particular, but this is is one of the most beautiful, romantic scores I've heard since LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA. And yes, I was so bowled over by Elena in the role that I couldn't imagine Kelli. Yes, I know it was written for Kelli, but Elena was amazing, as was Pasquale, who truly comes into his own as a musical leading man of enormous power with a knockout voice.

I'm glad to hear the positive comments about Kelli, and it is only her first performance, so no doubt she will get better and better as the preview period goes on. BRIDGES is the show that ONCE pretended (and failed) to be: an honest, romantic, engrossing musical with a gloriously full-bodied score. I can't wait to see it again.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 1/18/14 at 9:50am

Not to thread-jack, but garbage? Wow! The novel is soooo beautifully written. Oh, well! To each their own.

[DramaTeach]

Posted: 1/18/14 at 10:15am

Grumpyoptimist, I was so thrown off by all of the noise backstage too! I stress the importance of silence in the wings with my middle school students, so I was shocked to hear so much happening in the wings of a Broadway show.

Mameleh, I'm pretty sure the song that struck me most was "One Second and a Million Miles." It was the moment that I finally felt their connection.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 1/18/14 at 10:17am

I was in the mezzanine so didn't hear that. What I heard, and everyone in the mezz, was the creative team in the balcony whispering (only not really whispering) throughout the entire show.

[grumpyoptimist]

Posted: 1/18/14 at 12:08pm

I was sitting directly behind what I believe was one of the producers (people before the show and at intermission were fawning over her, and I heard one gentleman tell her husband what a wonderful business partner she is). About midway through the second act there was a particularly loud crash...she just did a facepalm and shook her head. I'm confident it will be "addressed" :)
Jayinchelsea, I respectfully disagree with your analogy to Once. At times it felt like to me the score was simply highlighting the vocal range of Ms. O'Hara instead of connecting the character to the music.

[RW3]

Posted: 1/18/14 at 1:01pm

In the playbill did it say who was O'Hara's understudy or standby? I looked on the website and it didn't say.

[thebeautyis3]

Posted: 1/18/14 at 1:04pm

According to an interview with Kelli O'Hara and judging by Twitter, Elena Shaddow is O'Hara's standby.

Updated On: 1/18/14 at 01:04 PM

[promisespromises2]

Posted: 1/18/14 at 1:22pm

The reviews from you guys are super interesting so far. I love the book, not just for the writing, but the beautiful simplicity of the story. I haven't seen the film (and from what I've heard, the film isn't great). For the people who have seen the book and the film, which do you think the musical follows more closely? I still can't see how they could have made a musical out of the book, but I'm getting excited to see it in the spring.

[djdan1079]

Posted: 1/19/14 at 12:44am

I was at the second preview tonight. Limke others, I walked in with no prior knowledge of the movie or novel. I was blown away by how much I loved this show. JRB's score is rich, beautiful, and perhaps his best work. My only experience with Pasquale's stage work prior to this show was in "Far From Heaven", where I was completely unimpressed with him. However, he is fantastic in a role that he feels born to play. It's truly a tony worthy performance he's giving and his voice is incredible. I really didn't expect to buy into O' Hara as a frumpy, italian, housewife, but she is flawless. You have to imagine she still has further room to grow, as she was not with the production in Williamstwon. The set design and lighting were tremedous. Cass Morgan is a standout in a supporting role. The weakest thing in the showis Derek Klena, who might be the most age inappropriate casting decision ever. He doesn't come close to reading as a 16 year old onstage.

[drewmangroup]

Posted: 1/19/14 at 12:49am

Never read the book and saw the movie back when and liked it okay... Got rush ticket and LOVED IT! I'm so impressed by how they made it into more of an ensemble musical and this seemed to be an accomplished second preview. I like brooding musicals and this fit the bill somehow. Didn't mind obstructed view - Row K far stage right. Kelli O'Hara must have the best voice on Broadway right now.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 1/19/14 at 12:57am

what is the set like?

[grumpyoptimist]

Posted: 1/19/14 at 6:12am

Lots and lots of moving pieces, most of them on wheels. Like a single doorframe, kitchen frig and oven, window with planterbox, etc...all individual pieces. Got to be distracting to me at times. Often, the other players are sitting off to the sides ala Once, presumably to make it easier for them to move set pieces. And from the sixth row, you could often hear said pieces being rolled around backstage after being taken off. Permanent (oak?) tree always in the background. Won't spoil the bridge set but that didn't work for me so well...

[Phantom of London]

Posted: 1/19/14 at 9:54am

Is the set heavy reliant on projections?

[TheaterBoy7777]

Posted: 1/19/14 at 10:57am

How did the theatre itself look after it's renovation?

[RW3]

Posted: 1/19/14 at 11:01am

I can't stop listening to "Falling Into You" Jason Robert Brown wrote a phenomenal song.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 1/19/14 at 12:07pm

There are no projections, far as I can remember/tell.

I didn't even notice the renovation, to be honest.

[jv92]

Posted: 1/19/14 at 12:20pm

There may be spoilers below, though I tried not to give too much away...

I saw what will potentially be a beautiful show yesterday. The music is gorgeous. If it feels like Brown is writing too much in 6/8, I think it's purposeful. The whole romantic part of the show feels like a rhapsody. His lyrics are equally adept. Marsha Norman's book, particularly her scenes dealing with love-- whether it be Francesca and Robert's love, or the love between Francesca's two older neighbors-- is quite wonderful. The show looks beautiful. I had hoped Whitney Bashor would get a chance on the New York stage after seeing her sing with Adam Guettel, and boy has she ever with two wonderful songs and two good roles to play. Kelli O'Hara and Steven Pasquale are touching and marvelous as ever, and damn sexy to boot.

When the show veers off into dealing with Bud and the tension between the two kids, it loses me. Maybe if someone with a little more gravitas than Hunter Foster were playing him...maybe if the kids weren't so shrill and obnoxiously played (or better developed)...but that's where it loses focus and that's where to get the scissors out. If they cut Bud's number towards the end of the first act in the bar and a few of the pointless shrill screaming matches between the unconvincing teenagers they'd have 15 minutes gone from a too long first act. If they cut the very awkward...and that's what it is, awkward...second act opening, and start with the two leads in bed, and maybe do the "time jump"/major life events sequence less slowly, they'd have 20 minutes gone from a WAAAAY too long second act. Right now, the show is a little over three hours.

When we have the romance onstage, it captivates. And that's what this show is about: two lost people connecting for one brief moment. Not Hunter Foster lunching around and bellowing a Southern drawl at various intervals. I doubt they'll cut down his part because he is something of a major actor, but I would hope the opening of Act 2 is fixed, and that the kids are reduced to pleasantly confused and lonely souls, not the screaming maniacs they are now.

I really think that within a week or two, this will be even more beautiful than it is now. I can't wait to return to hear this score again, or for the cast album.

[xoffender45]

Posted: 1/20/14 at 11:27am

Has anyone rushed yet? I did it this morning (Monday, 1/20) and there were maybe 20 people in line. I did get a ticket, but it's listed as Obstructed View. I asked the gentleman at the box office how obstructed it is, but he wasn't able to tell me. Does anyone know how much I'll miss, being in the last row of the orchestra, to the far left?

[RippedMan]

Posted: 1/20/14 at 4:47pm

Prob sounds like just the back corner.

Where's Whizzer? he's been slow on these preview threads lately.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 1/20/14 at 5:16pm

Whizzer's preview reviews are like the New York Times reviews for me - most anticipated.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 1/20/14 at 6:30pm

Kelli O'Hara originally played Franca in The Light in the Piazza, so I imagine she'd be pretty good at portraying an Italian woman.