Gigi Previews

[iholland95]

Anyone seen a Gigi preview? Share your experience here!

[abbagirl]

It starts Thursday. :)

[pippin423]

What are the odds of this succeeding? I got a flyer in the mail with a discount code and yet I'm still leery about shelling out dollars if this is going to be a bust. Any opinions?

[Phillypinto]

Im not sure, but I heard Vanessa Hudgens is incredible in it!

[Mr Roxy]

Doubt it will make it for a number of reasons

3rd transfer of an MGM musical to the stage this season
Not overwhelming raves in DC
The Neil Simon's reputation with new musicals flopping after opening.

[jnb9872]

You got two compelling reasons, Roxy, and one ludicrous one. Don't blame the Simon, as it ably hosted HAIRSPRAY, ANNIE and FORUM among other hits in years' past. Blame the shows for flopping.

I frankly am surprised at how many shows seem to carving up the same (or nearly similar) audience. This and AMERICAN IN PARIS both seeming to go for that classic, Parisian romance musical, and ON THE TOWN joining in the classic MGM movie-musical nostalgia parade, and then THE KING & I joining the Revival fun. At least ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY has a '30s feel (and roots in the '70s), otherwise we'd only have revivals with roots in the same ten-year stretch simultaneously.

[quizking101]

With Vanessa Hudgens on board (who arguably has more star power than anyone in the AIP cast), as well as a slew of Tony winners and nominees (Howard McGillin, Victoria Clark, and Dee Hoty) I have a feeling this could be a modest success.

I see AN AMERICAN IN PARIS closing in September and GIGI at least making it until January.

I'm going tomorrow night and I am rather quite excited as it's my first "first preivew"...

[Mr Roxy]

To jnb

Ludicrous in your opinion. At least you agreed on 2 points.Hair spray was the last musical that succeeded there. We're those that flopped all dogs in your eyes?

[Fantod]

All the Way recouped

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

^That was a straight play!

[Smaxie]

All the Way doesn't fit Roxy's premise, so it gets ignored.

[RW3]

Gigi Rush Info

[dramamama611]

Pippin -- just because it might not "make it" doesn't mean you won't enjoy it. Unless you only like hits -- which is silly.

The only reason to see ANY show, is because you WANT to.

[Fantod]

I'm so excited for this show. I love the movie so much and this production seems fabulous.

[Mr Roxy]

It all depends on her drawing power.

A revival of a show that previously flopped does not bode well. Time will tell.

[dramamama611]

Her "drawing power" has nothing to do with the quality of the show.

And I don't think she has much at all.

Fantod, I'm with you in hoping that it's delightful, I like the movie, too!

[Fantod]

I think the marketing campaign is brilliant for this show. Selling it on the romance and beauty of Paris in the early 20th century is a perfect route for this show, and I think it might pay off.

[Mr Smith]

I think that based on the clips I have seen. I could care less how bad the show is because Vanessa looks and sounds amazing. Her acting looks so great.

[Mr Smith]

I think that based on the clips I have seen. I could care less how bad the show is because Vanessa looks and sounds amazing. Her acting looks so great.

[Mr Smith]

I think that based on the clips I have seen. I could care less how bad the show is because Vanessa looks and sounds amazing. Her acting looks so great.

[jnb9872]

To accept the idea that the Simon, or any theatre, is in some way responsible for a show's success or failure, you have to imagine that patrons were on the fence about seeing a show, but decided against it because of the theatre. Of course, you can have productions that fail to suit themselves to the specifics of a theatre, such as its size or Circle in the Square's thrust, but the fault there is not in the theatre but the production. Thus, the idea is ludicrous.

Here's a legitimate question for those comparing the two Parisian shows: which movie do we think has more name-brand recognition today? I suspect it's AAIP but have no empirical evidence to support that. I suspect that the shows' brands are more valuable than either Hudgens' is to GIGI or the lack of recognizable names is to AAIP.

[Fantod]

Gigi seems to be picking up a lot more social media attention than an American in Paris, but it's hard to say.

[MCfan2]

I would guess that of the two movies, Gigi has more name recognition. It's not like you hear either of them mentioned often, outside of classic film fans' discussions, but I'm pretty sure I've heard it mentioned more often than AAiP.

[Buffalo Bill]

Hey Folks, I work at The Simon: I heard some of the rehearsal yesterday and a bit last week. It's literally some of the most gorgeous choral singing I've heard on Broadway in a very, very long time. I loved The Last Ship for many reasons (though the second act needed a major "reveal" to be compelling enough to really run.) Sting was an amazingly warm and wonderful man and his work displayed his heart-wrenching artistry. Gigi has so much going for it, that I caution anyone who really loves The American Musical Theatre: do not miss it. The costumes and set are absolutely stunning and the cast is first rate. They've really outdone themselves with the score, they've clearly bumped up all the soprano, alto, tenor harmonic lines in the chorus, it's really thrilling and much of the lushness feels (sounds) very new to me. All of the staff in the theatre just stops what they are doing to listen. Honestly. Don't miss it, it's really going to be lovely.

[neonlightsxo]

Buffalo Bill, we know you work at the Simon. Now go away.