Great Comet TRUE STORY- Page 2

[Islander_fan]

Posted: 8/10/17 at 11:39pm

I honestly feel that there's a good chance that Casal "stood up" for Oak when it wasn't his thing to do. In other words it came across to me that he was stand up for Oak without talking to him first. Granted, I don't know if that's the actual story, just the thought I had when I read about it initially. 

Also, I think that the racial story that's part of all this is a bit silly. Let's be real here, they never had a good idea as to what to do in terms of casting after Groban left the show. They thought that, if they advertised the hell out of the fact that Oak was in Hamilton, that the Hamilton connection would work and sell tickets. Clearly that wasn't the case. And, even if Mandy did do the show, the bump in box office sales might have been enough to cover the wound but not stop the bleeding altogether. To me, this feels like a situation of the powers that be there simply dropping the ball and not planning very well long term. 

[JayElle]

Posted: 8/10/17 at 11:51pm

Poor planning?  Yup, no doubt.  Hedge fund folks are generally sophisticated gamblers.  Looks like Hagan didn't gamble right. They should've had a replacement lined up for Groban and Oak in early Spring.

I thought the show needed some serious editing to tighten up the story.  Sometimes being too busy isn't good.  Theater goers seem to like simplicity like DEH and ComeFrom Away. Simple story, easily told.

[theater_tech]

Posted: 8/11/17 at 12:10am

JayElle said: "I thought the show needed some serious editing to tighten up the story.  Sometimes being too busy isn't good.  Theater goers seem to like simplicity like DEH and ComeFrom Away. Simple story, easily told.

Personally, I thought Comet's storyline is one of the simplest out there; it's in a very straightforward, narrative fashion. There is a huge ensemble of characters with difficult names, though I had no problem with it by using the cheat sheet family tree in the playbills. Sure, it's a little harder to grasp than most Broadway musicals, but I didn't think it was confusing. 

I have been thinking on this topic for quite some time. DEH and CFA knocked it out of the park this season compared to Comet. Do you think it's because Broadway audiences like to be spoon-fed...? 

 

[Dancingthrulife2]

Posted: 8/11/17 at 1:02am

Would you mind editing this piece a bit so we can understand what happened EXACTLY? Some choppy and fragmented sentences are very vague and don't make much sense to me personally. The paragraph where you talked about how Rachel fired Oak being one example, what do you mean by what I presume to be "which isn't true"? Which of the two versions given here isn't true?

[Hellob]

Posted: 8/11/17 at 3:34am

Islander_fan said: "I honestly feel that there's a good chance that Casal "stood up" for Oak when it wasn't his thing to do. In other words it came across to me that he was stand up for Oak without talking to him first. Granted, I don't know if that's the actual story, just the thought I had when I read about it initially. 

Also, I think that the racial story that's part of all this is a bit silly. Let's be real here, they never had a good idea as to what to do in terms of casting after Groban left the show. They thought that, if they advertised the hell out of the fact that Oak was in Hamilton, that the Hamilton connection would work and sell tickets. Clearly that wasn't the case. And, even if Mandy did do the show, the bump in box office sales might have been enough to cover the wound but not stop the bleeding altogether. To me, this feels like a situation of the powers that be there simply dropping the ball and not planning very well long term. 

 

"

I find it hilarious that Casal re tweeted the Howard Sherman article and doesn't even realize how it makes his initial tweet even more idiotic. 

If he is RT a story that explains why the show was doomed anyway... then it means that you're buddy wasn't targeted for being black. 

Cynthia is still engaged in tweeting about it. Like, stop already.

Updated On: 8/11/17 at 03:34 AM

[raddersons]

Posted: 8/11/17 at 9:24am

Even if this were true I would still side with Rachel over Oak. She is one of the best and most well respected directors in New York right now. She's more of a star to me than Oak is - I saw The Royale at LCT just because she was directing. I barely knew Oaks's name before this controversy.

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 8/11/17 at 10:12am

"Which was untre."

Did you mean entrée? Delicious!

Otherwise, thanks for re-writing the Riedel article in your own words.

[JayElle]

Posted: 8/11/17 at 11:49am

theater_tech said, "DEH and CFA knocked it out of the park this season compared to Comet. Do you think it's because Broadway audiences like to be spoon-fed...? "

Yes.  That's American's in general, and always has been. That's what Madison Ave advertising is all about. People who r clueless about theater like simplicity.  Ask how folks get their news, i.e., reading various mags & newspapers, or twitter.  The latter is likely the answer. Even the guy in the WH prefers it to the press.  Social media tore thru this mess b4 the press did.

And that's what DEH is about. CFA is short, simple, and takes us back to a positive side of the 9/11 disaster.  Neither show requires a lot of thinking. Don't have to read or study-up to get it. 

I love TGC; saw it multiple times & going back for more. I sat in multiple areas and asked folks what they thought. A lot said they were confused, didn't like the disco, didn't know what was going on. Over months I heard negative feedback from folks leaving matinee as I stood on Ham cancel line.    Post intermission empty seats also speaks loudly, especially when it's quite a few. I wonder if they did a focus group like advertising folks do.  

Once it got 12 Tony nods, I had to see it myself. I was hooked, but I took the time to listen to all the music w/lyrics prior to the show. And even with that, depending on where you r in the theater, some of the music is so loud it's hard to hear the lyrics. I don't know if that's acoustics. I also get headsets to compare music w/wo.

A lot of folks like it b/c it gets standing ovations.  But it's busy.  I still don't know what that opera scene was with the virtually naked guy w/a Stat.of.Lib. crown on his head holding the equally naked actress as she grunts while snow falls on them, or the next portion where Sonya sings about contrabass & gravestones. Malloy said he took the contrabass from the book.  Unnecessary detail.  

[adagio]

Posted: 8/11/17 at 1:49pm

Regarding the opera:


For context, Tolstoy despised opera, and that comes across very clearly in the original novel. The avant-garde vocals and over the top acting/dancing in this scene are meant to demonstrate to a modern audience how Natasha would interpret what she was seeing - tacky and "unnatural", far from the modern view of opera as stuffy & old-fashioned - and to differentiate that portion from the rest of the score.

Including the opera scene is important because of its effect on Natasha - she's so overcome by the evening that she becomes giddy and "intoxicated", and that mood primes her to fall under Anatole's spell.

All that being said, I do wonder what a more dumbed down, commercially appealing opera scene might have sounded like. I absolutely adore the score overall, and appreciate artistically what he was going for with the opera, but if Malloy had capitulated on making the opera scene more digestible, would that have had any effect in retaining the audience members that were supposedly too confused to follow the show?

I do feel bad for anyone that chose to leave after intermission, as they're missing the stronger half, and completely missing the emotional payoff in the ending. The contrast between the over the top opulence and the simple, stripped down ending is powerful.

[Audrey33]

Posted: 8/11/17 at 1:54pm

^Wonderfully put.

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 8/11/17 at 1:55pm

Tolstoy's attitudes towards opera (and music in general) are vividly described in Sofia Tolstoy's diaries. Sofia was a great enthusiast of music, opera, and theater and one of their (many) tensions was that Tolstoy did not support those interests at all and insisted that Sofia put all her interests aside to cater to his interests.

[schubox]

Posted: 8/11/17 at 2:42pm

adagio said: "Regarding the opera:


For context, Tolstoy despised opera, and that comes across very clearly in the original novel. The avant-garde vocals and over the top acting/dancing in this scene are meant to demonstrate to a modern audience how Natasha would interpret what she was seeing - tacky and "unnatural", far from the modern view of opera as stuffy & old-fashioned - and to differentiate that portion from the rest of the score.

Including the opera scene is important because of its effect on Natasha - she's so overcome by the evening that she becomes giddy and "intoxicated", and that mood primes her to fall under Anatole's spell.

All that being said, I do wonder what a more dumbed down, commercially appealing opera scene might have sounded like. I absolutely adore the score overall, and appreciate artistically what he was going for with the opera, but if Malloy had capitulated on making the opera scene more digestible, would that have had any effect in retaining the audience members that were supposedly too confused to follow the show?

I do feel bad for anyone that chose to leave after intermission, as they're missing the stronger half, and completely missing the emotional payoff in the ending. The contrast between the over the top opulence and the simple, stripped down ending is powerful.

 

"

That was my thoughts about people leavin at intermission. Act 2 is so good. Defintitely the stinger half, and it's just one big crescendo to an emotional payoff 

[JayElle]

Posted: 8/11/17 at 3:30pm

Thanks Adagio for the invite.  I never read W&P.  I did read the lyrics and listen to music a gazillion times. I just couldn't get what the St.of.Lib. half naked guy was doing w/the other weirdly dressed woman. I wondered if one was the sun and the other the moon with the moon setting and sun coming up.

Much like Ham, it helps to know the backstory, but how many folks take the effort.  I read last year a bus of women showed up to see Josh and were in tears that he called in sick.....and one referred to it as the "Josh Groban Show."  All of these intricacies would've been gone.

I'll confess I'm wasn't a Met opera fan b/c I don't know the stories and don't speak Italian/German. And high-tone sopranos kinda get to me like nails on a board.  Denee is as beautiful as her voice.  She's got decades of success in front of her as do many of the cast.

Well I learned a lot from these chats. Never knew about blocking, replacements, types of voices, intrigue behind the story and actors, etc.  Kinda like seeing behind the Disney fake buildings.  Looks great from the orchestra when it's a show sitting on a volcano.   Amazing.

 

[JayElle]

Posted: 8/11/17 at 3:40pm

Once I saw show from orchestra, I had to get stage seats. It was there I noticed the post-intermission seats that had bodies in them before....in the orchestra and mess/balcony.   For business, I get to take folks so I dragged them along and got stage seats each time and nothing changed.  Folks would leave.

I actually saw a guy pull out a paperback who was sitting in one of those bar seats in front of the Salon. One in the "bleachers" looked like he was napping.

On my most recent visit, I was at the table where Sonya/Natasha pull up their stools.  That was thrilling to see and hear.     

Prior to the start of show, the usher reminded us "not to fidget."  I started laughing and asked what that meant.  She said, "swing your arms around, singing," and then she shrugged her shoulders and said kids & others in those seats have been an issue.   They must've had some weirds on that stage.

Damn, I'm gonna miss that show.  It's so much fun.