If/Then

[theatregeek6]

Posted: 6/17/14 at 10:09pm

Not a huge Idina fan....

But


Just a superb performance she owns the stage. The rest of the cast is superb as well. And the story actually had me tearing up at the end


But Idina was beyond awesome. And again_not (previously) a huge fan

Great night at the theatre

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 6/17/14 at 11:16pm

I agree. I went to see this out of pure curiosity back in March, and I absolutely fell in love with the show itself and Idina Menzel. I found it to be a great piece of theatre, and I can't wait to go back and see it again.

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 6/18/14 at 12:07am

I was there tonight as well and surprisingly fell in love with it. I've always been a bit skeptical of Idina and all her legions of fans but she was truly electric. The show is certainly flawed and veers into the campy and preachy too often, the score is repetitive and frankly disappointing after the high bar set by Next to Normal, the choreography is uninspired at best, but somehow it all still worked.

I don't think I breathed once during "Always Starting Over." Absolutely incredible to see live. I may slowly be converting over.

[TFMH18]

Posted: 6/18/14 at 12:27am

Totally agree. Truthfully, I never cared about Idina before If/Then-- knew she was talented but didn't particularly die for her. This show completely changed that. Yes, it is flawed, but what piece of worthwhile art is not? It has stuck with me in a way that no other show this season (or the last couple) has. And I just love the fact that it takes place in present day NYC, you can't see that anywhere else on Broadway. It's a really special experience to have in the theater.

(Let's see how long it takes for the naysayers to tell us how wrong we are)

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 6/18/14 at 1:28am

I saw it last month, with a bunch of other shows. Of those that I saw, it was one of the shows that stayed with me.

Idina and LaChanze were both fantastic.

[binau]

Posted: 6/18/14 at 4:35am

"frankly disappointing after the high bar set by Next to Normal"

Yeah I think this might be one of its biggest downfalls. NEXT TO NORMAL is one of those shows (I know this is cringeworthily gushy) that completely changes your perspective on what musicals are and how they should be. Just thinking about Alice Ripley on tour gasping/belting out the line in Light "And you try to find some way to survive", or Marin Mazzie crying between "I Dreamed a Dance" and "There's A World" or her shouting during "You Don't Know" makes me miss the show so much. There were so many moments that kept you on the edge of your seat and the show had so many widely difficult leading performances (Alice RIpley, Marin Mazzie, Pearl Sun, Jessica Phillips). The show could be funny and so depressingly sad but then also hopeful.

If/then looks much worse than it is when you compare it to next to normal. A show that, even though it did have some clumsy lyrics now and again, deserved its Pulitzer Prize and should have won the Tony for Best Musical.

Updated On: 6/18/14 at 04:35 AM

[Up In One]

Posted: 6/18/14 at 7:44am

Agree with all above, I am one who calls her screechy, thought she had a tank of helium tucked away somewhere to make some of those sounds and I avoided If/Then until a friend desperately wanted to see her. I was completely taken by the show and its challenging, if not always successful structure and I can not stop playing the score while I work or drive. I did not realize the full affect until after it was over and I want to go back now that I am familiar with the score. It is staged at such a quick pace and the book crams so much in while flipping back and forth between Elizabeth versions that I think it is a show that will be even more appreciated the second time around. And.. I had lousy TDF seats in the rear mezzanine first go round.

Updated On: 6/18/14 at 07:44 AM