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"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe." -John Guare, Landscape of the Body

JoeyEvans1206

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Chorus Member
joined:2/19/15

Chorus Member
joined:
2/19/15

Death takes a holiday#3
Posted: 1/21/17 at 12:37pm

I would definitely skip it. The plot certainly had the potential to make a lovely musical, but as stated before it is relatively dull, uninspired adaptation. I will be in London with a friend (with whom I saw the off-Broadway production) this winter and we were both poking fun at how, of all shows, this one is getting a revival when we are in town. Needless to say, we won't be seeing it again. There was good reason why it died at the Roundabout.

muscle23ftl

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Broadway Legend
joined:12/19/04

Broadway Legend
joined:
12/19/04

Death takes a holiday#4
Posted: 1/21/17 at 12:40pm

Worst show EVER---a waste of time

"People have their opinions and that doesn't mean that their opinions are wrong or right. I just take it with a grain of salt because opinions are like as*holes, everyone has one". -Felicia Finley-

mamaleh

Broadway Legend
joined:5/11/04

Broadway Legend
joined:
5/11/04

Death takes a holiday#5
Posted: 1/21/17 at 2:17pm

I remember greatly enjoying a gorgeous voice I had previously been unfamiliar with: that of Julian Ovendon. But the material was at best mediocre.

BIG BALONEY

Featured Actor
joined:6/21/03

Featured Actor
joined:
6/21/03

Death takes a holiday#6
Posted: 1/21/17 at 3:04pm

Caught it twice at the Roundabout. I liked it and the cast shined.

qolbinau

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Broadway Legend
joined:6/29/08

Broadway Legend
joined:
6/29/08

Death takes a holiday#7
Posted: 1/21/17 at 5:36pm

Very boring, particularly as time went on. Death Takes a Holiday = Good Writing Takes a Holiday.

"It’s the fractured quality in [Bernadette Peters'] singing voice and line readings that puts across the character as someone for whom resentment is sliding into madness." - NYtimes on Follies (2011).

dlenxz

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Swing
joined:10/8/14

Swing
joined:
10/8/14

Death takes a holiday#8
Posted: 1/21/17 at 7:37pm

I saw this off-Broadway. Some of the music is absolutely gorgeous ("More and More" and "I Thought That I Could Live" I feel are incredibly strong romantic songs), and the performances from the cast were fine overall.

For me, the biggest issue with the material was its inconsistent tone. The first act awkwardly alternated between pastiche musical comedy and dark meditation on life and death, which made the first act wildly uneven. The second act selected the dark meditation route and therefore felt much more cohesive.

A nice show overall, but not something you should go out of your way to see.

Dollypop

Broadway Legend
joined:5/15/03

Broadway Legend
joined:
5/15/03

Death takes a holiday#9
Posted: 1/22/17 at 11:26pm

Enjoyed the show for what it was worth. Ovendon and Von Essen were excellent

"Long live God!" (GODSPELL)

Ptesan

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Chorus Member
joined:4/14/16

Chorus Member
joined:
4/14/16

Death takes a holiday#10
Posted: 1/25/17 at 7:50pm

I just saw this last week and it was painful. Beautiful to look at but the story is no bueno. To be fair I found Meet Joe Black a mediocre film but I was hoping this interpretation would be better. Towards the end when the More and More refrain was sung I was hoping that death would return from holiday and take me.

Harriet Craig

Understudy
joined:7/15/15

Understudy
joined:
7/15/15

Death takes a holiday#11
Posted: 1/25/17 at 7:59pm

These comments are making me glad I decided not to use one of the slots on my London theater trip in March to see Death Takes a Holiday. I was tempted, because I have listened to the music and found it appealing, but I had some doubts about the book, so I decided against it, and it sounds like I made the right decision.

if I lived in London and didn't have to ration my theater time there so carefully, I might still see the show, just to hear that score performed live, but as it is ... no.

tomwsjr

Stand-by
joined:5/9/05

Stand-by
joined:
5/9/05

Death takes a holiday#12
Posted: 1/25/17 at 8:30pm

There are so many shows in the west end that are so much better then Desth Takes a Holiday. Don't waist your time on this one.

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