Bullets Over Broadway tour -- first review

[BroadwayBen]

http://www.morningjournal.com/arts-and-entertainment/20151008/theater-review-bullets-over-broadway-tour-enjoyable-but-doesnt-hit-bulls-eye

[mallardo]

Is this  non-Equity tour?

[bwayphreak234]

^ Yes. It is non-Equity.

[ErinDillyFan]

yes non-equity...

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/casting-announced-for-national-tour-of-bullets-over-broadway-356048

 

[bpstar]

This review is quite the opposite: http://www.cleveland.com/onstage/index.ssf/2015/10/bullets_over_broadway_at_playh.html

[RippedMan]

I really want to see the design. 

[JoseLee_]

Predicting that the set won't be half as big as the Broadway version but I still hope it doesn't look cheap.

[bwayphreak234]

I am also curious to hear what the set design is like for the tour. The Broadway set design was spectacular, but I know that they would not be able to retain even half of the Broadway set for a national tour.

[Scarywarhol]

The set was virtually the only virtue of the show on Broadway, cast aside. 

[Cupid Boy2]

JoseLee_ said: "Predicting that the set won't be half as big as the Broadway version but I still hope it doesn't look cheap."

 

I caught the tour about less than two weeks ago, and I wouldn't say it looked cheap. It was just extremely scaled-down in comparison to the original sets, which I also saw at the St. James. I thought the physical production was comparable to the treatment most national tours have been getting as of late.

 

[JoseLee_]

Is it Sister Act tour bad? or Ghost tour bad? Sister Act was equity and it looked so cheap. Ghost WAS non-equity and it looked fantastic to me.. but not to some people.

[Cupid Boy2]

Unfortunately, I haven't seen either of those tours and wouldn't be able to make a comparison. I honestly didn't find the sets to be bad at all. Other elements of the show, yes. But the physical production was not an issue for me. It just looked scaled-down, not cheap. 

[RippedMan]

My friend posted a pic from the show in upstate, and the show seemed dwarfed by the size of the theater. But the picture was just the Pre-show. 

[RaiseYouUp]

JoseLee_ said: "Is it Sister Act tour bad? or Ghost tour bad? Sister Act was equity and it looked so cheap. Ghost WAS non-equity and it looked fantastic to me.. but not to some people."

I saw both those tours (and have not seen either on Broadway) and maybe its just because they aren't my favorite shows, but I didn't think they were great tours, especially Ghost.

 

 

[Cupid Boy2]

RippedMan said: "My friend posted a pic from the show in upstate, and the show seemed dwarfed by the size of the theater. But the picture was just the Pre-show."

 

They did use their own proscenium, which was much smaller than the theater's actual proscenium. Sitting close to the stage, it didn't bother me, but I can see how it might affect the audience's stage picture from further back.

 

[RippedMan]

Oh interesting. I have a few friends in the tour, so hoping they'll post some better stage pics. 

[CATSNYrevival]

With the exception of a random 3 week engagement in LA it looks like this tour is playing a lot of 2 and 3 day engagements with even a few one nighters thrown in. I can't imagine the physical production being that impressive if that's their touring schedule.

[sbflyfan]

I saw it on Sunday in Cleveland.

The staging is scaled down but doesn't feel or look cheap.  There are numerous scrims used and many set pieces which are pushed or pulled, but in a way that tricks you into thinking they're automated.

The cast is in fine shape and I really enjoyed the show overall.  My only criticism is there were a LOT of missed mic cues.  I lost count of how many times the first word or first few words of a line weren't heard because an actor's mic failed to turn on in time. Very distracting.

This the was the last performance day of a two-week run in Cleveland, and the first show of this year's subscription series, (a non-equity tour with top ticket prices of $100? Really?), so I thought technical glitches should have been ironed out by now.

Here's a pic of the proscenium and scrim.

[Jakeevan942]

I think its worth noting that the Bullets Over Broadway tour is playing its only NY Metro Area engagement of the first year of the tour this Friday and Saturday in New Brunswick, NJ. It only an hour on the train if you want to see the changes made for the road in person.

[jacobsnchz14]

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/STAGE-TUBE-Watch-Highlights-from-BULLETS-OVER-BROADWAY-on-Tour-20151021

[RippedMan]

Looks like a non-union tour. Hard to compare it's production value - given its playing one night engagements sometimes - to something like Phantom. 

How's it going over in LA?

[WestCoastActor/Director]

It doesn't open in LA under January 5.  It mustn't be selling well because they had a sale on orchestra seats for $30.00.  

[Call_me_jorge]

I'm sorry if I'm getting this wrong, but it looked like a few of the actors had Broadway credits. Like they were on Broadway at some point. Wouldn't they be considered equity actors? Why would they be in a non equity tour?

[RippedMan]

No Broadway credits. It's non-Union. Not to say they aren't talented just none have been on Broadway. 

[Call_me_jorge]

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/STAGE-TUBE-Watch-Highlights-from-BULLETS-OVER-BROADWAY-on-Tour-20151021 in this links cast list they have Michael Williams listed who apparently was in the most recent Broadway revival of On the town and then they have someone named Jeff brooks who was in the Broadway production of Beauty and the beast. Unless they messed up with names I still see Broadway credits.