Skintight (previews)

[cjmclaughlin10]

Posted: 5/31/18 at 10:37am

They start tonight folks!!! Reports on run time and early previews are appreciated as always

[ilysespieces]

Posted: 5/31/18 at 3:20pm

I put it off for too long but ended up getting a ticket for the Saturday matinee. I'm looking forward to this and I'll def share my thoughts.

[Alfie6]

Posted: 5/31/18 at 5:19pm

Going tonight! Looking forward to it, the website says the runtime is 2:15 with a 15 min intermission. I have  a feeling since it is first preview it will run closer to 2:30.

[cjmclaughlin10]

Posted: 5/31/18 at 5:26pm

Can’t remember the last time I saw a straight play Off-Broadway play that was over 2 hours. Exciting!

[JBroadway]

Posted: 5/31/18 at 5:43pm

cjmclaughlin10 said: "Can’t remember the last time I saw a straight play Off-Broadway play that was over 2 hours. Exciting!"

 

Ha! On one hand, you're lucky! On the other hand, I can think of some very good plays you must have missed. 

[Relevance81491]

Posted: 5/31/18 at 6:23pm

out of curiosity, which off-broadway straight-play within the past season or two am I forgetting about that hit the two hour mark (besides Hangmen which I loved and just popped into my mind) 

[raddersons]

Posted: 5/31/18 at 6:29pm

Lots of off-broadway plays are longer than two hours... off the top of my head, I'm thinking of Light Shining in Buckinghamshire at NYTW, which is playing right now. At The Public, there was The Low Road this past season, and Hamlet last season, which was (an exhilarating) four hours. 

Updated On: 5/31/18 at 06:29 PM

[JBroadway]

Posted: 5/31/18 at 6:34pm

Relevance81491 said: "out of curiosity, which off-broadway straight-playwithin the past season or two am I forgetting about that hit thetwo hour mark(besides Hangmen which I loved and just popped into my mind)"

 

Well, there's most Shakespeare productions (of which there have been a fair number in the past few years Off-Broaday). And just from this season, we've had:

 

A Breif History of Women (59e59) - 2h30m

Peace For Mary Frances (New Group) - 2h40m

Good For Otto (New Group) - almost 3 hours

The Low Road (Public) - 2h30m

Pygmalion (Bedlam) - a little over 2 hours

An Ordinary Muslim (NYTW) - 2h30m

Describe the Night (Atlantic) - close to 3 hours

People, Places & Things (St. Ann's) - 2h30m

Torch Song (Second Stage) - about 2h40m when I saw it 

 

And those are just the ones I saw! 

[Relevance81491]

Posted: 5/31/18 at 6:48pm

my god! i saw most of those as well (4 to be exact.  I think both productions at The Signature I saw recently hit the mark as well).  Anyway, back to the threads original intent.  Apologies for the diversion 

[Matt Rogers]

Posted: 5/31/18 at 8:08pm

cjmclaughlin10 said: "Can’t remember the last time I saw a straight play Off-Broadway play that was over 2 hours. Exciting! "

This playwright's previous play, Significant Other, premiered at the Pels and when I saw it early in previews, it clocked in at nearly three hours.

[jbird5]

Posted: 5/31/18 at 9:07pm

Oslo also premiered off Broadway and ran for three hours with two intermissions.

edit: obviously you’ve never seen anything by Annie Baker.

Updated On: 5/31/18 at 09:07 PM

[cjmclaughlin10]

Posted: 5/31/18 at 9:39pm

I saw Oslo and most of the Annie Baker play in their original Off-Broadway productions. It was my fault for not thinking clearly before posting about the rarity of a straight-play that runs 2 hours or more

Back to Skintight! I’m anxious for reports

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 5/31/18 at 10:46pm

Just between us squirrelfriends, here’s what I thought: the show is often entertaining, though both acts tremendously lose steam in their last 20-25 minutes. This doesn’t hit the heights of Significant Other, but it’s nowhere near the pain that was Bad Jews. Like Significant Other, we are asked to root for narcissistic, petty, self-involved people who sometimes have redeeming qualities. The leg-up SO had was Gideon Glick’s bravura performance and the fact that, as discussed by many here on BWW, it was easy to relate to his selfishness and loneliness by many gays in their 20’s and 30’s. 

Out of six characters in Skintight, all four male characters were gay or bi, and I just couldn’t relate to any of them. Whereas Glick and Mendez’s characters felt so real, these characters were straight-up cartoons. The jokes are raunchy, but in a sitcom-y way. Like if FX had produced 2 Broke Girls instead of CBS. 

The performances by the two, young men were so far over the top...I mean, I laughed a lot, but often out of disbelief than anything else. Idina was very good I thought, but damn is her character a self-absorbed; she has a joke in the last five minutes that makes her character borderline hateful. Jack Wetherall plays a Calvin Klein type- rich fashion designer who always has a g4p boy toy hanging around. 

I was disappointed with a turn the play took in the last half hour and found it totally unbelievable. 

Still, if you are gay and/or an Idina fan it’s worth checking out. 

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 5/31/18 at 10:58pm

WhizzerMarvin said: "Just between us squirrelfriends, here’s what I thought: the show is often entertaining, though both acts tremendously lose steam in their last 20-25 minutes. This doesn’t hit the heights of Significant Other, but it’s nowhere near the pain that was Bad Jews. Like Significant Other, we are asked to root for narcissistic, petty, self-involved people who sometimes have redeeming qualities. The leg-up SO had was Gideon Glick’s bravura performance and the fact that, as discussed by many here on BWW, it was easy to relate to his selfishness and loneliness by many gays in their 20’s and 30’s.

Out of six characters in Skintight, all four male characters were gay or bi, and I just couldn’t relate to any of them. Whereas Glick and Mendez’s characters felt so real, these characters were straight-up cartoons. The jokes are raunchy, but in a sitcom-y way. Like if FX had produced 2 Broke Girls instead of CBS.

The performances by the two, young men were so far over the top...I mean, I laughed a lot, but often out of disbelief than anything else. Idina was very good I thought, but damn is her character a self-absorbed; she has a joke in the last five minutes that makes her character borderline hateful. Jack Wetherall plays a Calvin Klein type- rich fashion designer who always has a g4p boy toy hanging around.

I was disappointed with a turn the play took in the last half hour and found it totally unbelievable.

Still, if you are gay and/or an Idina fan it’s worth checking out."

Well, this is disappointing. This is the first production of my 7-night/8-show (9 if you consider both parts of Angels in America separately) in June. Maybe they’ll make significant improvements before I see it on June 19th. Oh well, I am gay and an Idina Menzel fan (stood outside until midnight at stagedoor after If/Then just to get her signature and take pics of her as she rushed through the line - she was recovering from the flu - in chilly November weather with wintery drizzle in the air). So I guess I am the target audience. Lol

[RippedMan]

Posted: 5/31/18 at 11:16pm

Does anyone know how HipTix works? Is there a way to search for the next available ticket like LincTix at Lincoln Center? Or do I just have to keep clicking on random days? 

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 5/31/18 at 11:20pm

I mean, I don’t think you should be disappointed. It was supposed to be a comedy and I actually laughed a lot. That’s more than I can say for most purported comedies I see. I do think it was far more success at being funny than by trying to get across the tacked-on “deep” message about beauty and how idolized it is in our culture. Just let it be the sitcom it wanted to be and let us laugh without the shallow lesson. 

I wouldn’t recommend see this immediately after the excellent Boys in the Band revival, but as an appetizer to the main course it might whet the appetite. 

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 5/31/18 at 11:25pm

WhizzerMarvin said: "I mean, I don’t think you should be disappointed. It was supposed to be a comedy and I actually laughed a lot. That’s more than I can say for most purported comedies I see. I do think it was far more success at being funny than by trying to get across the tacked-on “deep” message about beauty and how idolized it is in our culture. Just let it be the sitcom it wanted to be and let us laugh without the shallow lesson.

I wouldn’t recommend see this immediately after the excellent Boys in the Band revival, but as an appetizer to the main course it might whet the appetite."

Thanks! I’m seeing it a day before the Wednesday marathon of Angels in America and four days before I see The Boys in the Band. 

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 5/31/18 at 11:25pm

Whizzer - what was the running time? Seeing it tomorrow.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 5/31/18 at 11:28pm

It ended at 10pm on the dot. 

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 5/31/18 at 11:33pm

Thank you!

[JBroadway]

Posted: 5/31/18 at 11:43pm

Miles2Go2 said: "Well, this is disappointing. This is thefirst production of my 7-night/8-show(9 if you considerboth parts of Angels in America separately) in June."

 

With no disrespect intended: if you already have tickets, and if one mixed report was going to make you feel disappointed, why look at this thread? I can understand feeling disappointed by negative word-of-mouth (though in this case it's only one person's opinion), but why not just avoid the thread if other people's opinions will sway your feelings about a show you already have tickets to, and are excited about? 

I don't mean to single you out - you're certainly not the only one on this board who operates in this way. But I've never understood it, and I've always wanted to ask what the mentality is behind it is.

 

 

 

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 5/31/18 at 11:49pm

JBroadway said: "Miles2Go2 said: "Well, this is disappointing. This is thefirst production of my 7-night/8-show(9 if you considerboth parts of Angels in America separately) in June."



With no disrespectintended: if you already have tickets, and if one mixed report was going to make you feel disappointed, why look at this thread? I can understand feeling disappointed by negative word-of-mouth (though in this case it's only one person's opinion), but why not just avoid the thread if other people's opinions will sway your feelings about a show you already have tickets to, and are excited about?

I don't mean to single you out - you're certainly not the only one on this board who operates in this way. But I've never understood it, and I've always wanted to ask what the mentality is behind it is.”

This is no mere review. This is a WhizzerMarvin review. You clearly have yet to be exposed to the awesomeness that is WhizzerMarvin. Lol. 

[JBroadway]

Posted: 5/31/18 at 11:53pm

Miles2Go2 said: "This is no mere review. This is a WhizzerMarvin review. You clearly have yet to be exposed to the awesomeness that is WhizzerMarvin. Lol."

 

Haha, I've been reading Whizzer's first-preview reports on this board for years! I have a lot of respect for him too, but he's just one person with his own personal tastes, just like all of us. Anyway, I don't mean to derail the thread again, I've just always been a little perplexed by reactions like yours, but I don't judge you. Live your life! 

 

[haterobics]

Posted: 6/1/18 at 12:03am

JBroadway said: "if you already have tickets, and if one mixed report was going to make you feel disappointed, why look at this thread?"

As someone who also has a ticket, I am here to make sure it isn't being trashed as an un-savable train wreck, in which case I'd flip my ticket before bad word of mouth gets out and see something else. But since I liked Significant Other and Admissions, I am interested to see more from this author in general.

 

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 6/1/18 at 12:09am

Believe me, I have seen and loved many a show that many critics’ and board members’ disliked including Idina’s If/Then. Hell, I even enjoyed Spider-man even while acknowledging its flaws. I’m more than capable of making my own mind up about a show. But part of the anticipation for my NYC trips is reading about the shows I’m seeing even if they’re not all raves. If anything it may help me go in with more realistic expectations which may very well be exceeded!