FULLY COMMITTED Previews

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 3/29/16 at 10:12am

Preview performances for Jesse Tyler Ferguson's solo play Fully Committed begin this Friday, April 1 at the Lyceum Theatre. Opening night is currently slated for April 25, and the show is currently set to run through July 24.

Who's going?

[Auggie27]

Posted: 3/29/16 at 10:39am

Curious about: the text revisions, and, how well this is selling.  

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 3/29/16 at 10:49am

Had no idea this was even on till yesterday when an ad popped up on this site. 

[Alex10]

Posted: 3/29/16 at 10:52am

Auggie27 said: "Curious about: the text revisions, and, how well this is selling.  

 

"

What do you mean by text revisions? I know very little about the play and am curious.

[laughingplace]

Posted: 3/30/16 at 6:22pm

bump

[Relevance81491]

Posted: 3/30/16 at 10:04pm

Will anyone else be at the invited dress rehearsal tomorrow night????  

[Auggie27]

Posted: 3/31/16 at 10:05am

Apparently the play has had a substantial rewrite, to bring it into the present, update the references and celebrities.  I fear if I say too much someone will call this post a spoiler.  But it's known to now have a fairly significant revision. 

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 3/31/16 at 1:02pm

I literally keep forgetting this is happening.

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 3/31/16 at 1:09pm

I'm a little worried about this show, sales-wise. Looking at tickets available for the first preview (tomorrow evening), the orchestra is very well-sold, but literally 95% of the mezz remains available. About half of the balcony is unsold as well. I think they're gonna have to rely on word of mouth if it's good—but, as always, we shall have to wait and see!

[10086sunset]

Posted: 3/31/16 at 1:45pm

BroadwayConcierge said: "I'm a little worried about this show, sales-wise. Looking at tickets available for the first preview (tomorrow evening), the orchestra is very well-sold, but literally 95% of the mezz remains available. About half of the balcony is unsold as well. I think they're gonna have to rely on word of mouth if it's good—but, as always, we shall have to wait and see!

 

"

Tomorrow's opening popped back up on TDF yesterday.

[Ctay]

Posted: 3/31/16 at 4:43pm

Do you think that rush for this tomorrow will be slammed or empty or somewhere in between since it is the first preview? Trying to decide what time we should get there. 

[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 3/31/16 at 5:09pm

I remember seeing this about 15 years ago with Bronson Pinchot in the lead. It was very good, but I definitely think an updating is necessary...and shouldn't hurt it at all. 

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 4/1/16 at 11:38am

Did anybody go to the dress last night?

[lightguy06222]

Posted: 4/1/16 at 11:51am

$44 all week on Todaytix....

I'll be there tonight.  Will post thoughts.

[hypno68]

Posted: 4/1/16 at 11:56am

I was at the dress last night. It's in really good shape, a few flubs from Jesse but kind of expected when you're doing 90 minutes and 80 characters by yourself. The textual changes are subtle but work well. The one thing I'll say- they spent some money on the set and I thought it was PERFECT. There's a big physical effect of being in a basement, and I had flashbacks to some of my more questionable offices. The show should have a trigger warning for anyone from customer service because those phone calls are so true to life.

Updated On: 4/1/16 at 11:56 AM

[fyeahmaria]

Posted: 4/1/16 at 1:23pm

Did anyone rush today? Hoping to hear some reports before trying myself on Sunday

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 4/1/16 at 1:27pm

hypno68, do you think Jesse will be Tony nominated? I don't know the play, so I'm just curious.

[hypno68]

Posted: 4/1/16 at 2:13pm

Neon- hard to say, since I haven't taken a look at the others eligible for Actor in a Play. Awards-wise, the star of the original Off-Broadway run won an Outer Critics' Circle Award for the role in a tie with Olympia Dukakis.

[MyLife]

Posted: 4/1/16 at 3:52pm

Just wont he lottery for tonight's performance but you have to pick the tickets up by 7:00, which I did not know beforehand. Looks like I'll have to wait for another night.

[laughingplace]

Posted: 4/1/16 at 7:47pm

Does no one watch Modern Family ?

[miriam18]

Posted: 4/1/16 at 9:02pm

I do lol & I'm very excited to see the show thinking about rushing this sunday

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 4/2/16 at 12:26am

Anyone go to the first preview tonight?

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 4/2/16 at 9:24am

I was at the first preview last night and it wasn't in great shape to be honest. I think the large venue will play against the piece no matter how comfortable Jesse Tyler Ferguson gets with the role. 

 

Ferguson's main character is Sam, a struggling actor who has to work at a high end pretentious molecular gastronomy restaurant answering phones and taking reservations to pay the bills. He is in the basement of the restaurant and I'm sure in some little off-Broadway space you felt like you were down in that little dank space with him, but in the more elegant and spacious Lyceum that effect is lost. 

 

Ferguson takes on over 40 characters, all by changing his voice; there are no wigs/costume changes or anything like that. The other characters can be divided into three groups: people trying to make/confirm a reservation, the staff of the restaurant and personal calls made by family and friends. 

 

The last group was especially annoying because Sam could have easily just told his father and brother, "Hey, can I call you back in two hours when I get off work?" And that would solve all those problems. It's hard to feel for the guy trying to answer 6 phone lines when he insists on letting family and friend yak his ear off. 

 

The customers were the most distinctive and fun. "Bryce," Ms Paltrow's assistant, makes several funny appearances as her demands continue to escalate. 

 

The biggest problem area was the restaurant staff. Ferguson doesn't seem to have all of his accents rock solid yet and it was sometimes confusing who he was talking to. 

 

I like Ferguson a lot as an actor and find him one of the more dependable funny characters on Modern Family, but I wonder if he was the best suited for this frenetic material. Maybe it's because I kept thinking about Buyer and Cellar during Fully Committed, but I would love to see what Michael Urie could do in the role.   

[phantomcrazy14]

Posted: 4/2/16 at 9:35am

How full was the theatre? People in this thread were saying it hadn't sold well, but I was working for TodayTix there and it seemed like a lot of people were in line. 

[Auggie27]

Posted: 4/2/16 at 9:58am

This astute review ^ answers all the questions I had about the material, which by its very design is rigged for a small space. Intimacy is key, perhaps even more than other solo plays.  One guesses the success of "Buyer and Seller" led people to re-examine this piece as a vehicle for JTF.  On paper, it makes perfect sense.  Yet the play (a revision done two years ago at the Adirondack Theater Festival, though admittedly with an actor who wasn't ideal) isn't the freshest piece of material, even acknowledging its considerable charms.  In fairness, as you note: The size of the venue can disarm, an audience can feel as if they are eavesdropping on unguarded moments, the suspension of disbelief becomes part of the easy bargain.  But one you have a lot of space around the performer, we become acutely aware that we are in a Broadway theater watching a bravura turn.  If the turn is say, Jullie Harris as Dickinson or Plummer as Barrymore, or (more recent) Midler as Mengers perhaps we enter into the bargain more readily.  Watching a beleaguered restaurant staffer  have an especially challenging day, even with  opportunities for voices and lightning shifts of behavior, might just draw attention to contrivance.  On the other hand, that may be an appreciated level of contrivance for some, and the show could be a hit.