Ain't Too Proud Officially Heading to Broadway

[bwaylinds]

https://www.broadway.com/buzz/193118/temptations-musical-aint-too-proud-to-arrive-at-broadways-imperial-theatre/

Don't know how to feel...

[Miles2Go2]

And The Illusionists are returning to the Marquis for holiday engagement.

[Bwayfan292]

Sigh. Not everything needs to come to broadway. But congrats to the actors and stuff.

[BroadwayNYC2]

One of the blandest shows I’ve ever seen. Don’t waste your time.

[Phantom of London]

What Broadway needs right now, another jukebox show.

[IdinaBellFoster]

Another rough year for Original Score.

GETTIN’ THE BAND BACK TOGETHER
PRETTY WOMAN
KING KONG
THE PROM
TOOTSIE

Looks like another Yazbek win unless HADESTOWN comes in.

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Would Hadestown even be eligible for Original Score given that a lot of its content already came from a concept album?

[bwayphreak234]

But like... why?

[GeorgeandDot]

If Evita and Jesus Christ Superstar were considered original than I don't see why Hadestown wouldn't be considered original.

Also, not excited about this at all. I'm just over jukebox musicals unless they're something like The Girl From the North Country. I don't want another jukebox biomusical.

[BroadwayConcierge]

Already bored.

[Bwayfan292]

I dont see the lasting, with Donna summer and Carole King and Cher all playing as jukebox musicals, I dont see someone going hmmm lets watch the temptations musical.

[NievesG]

Ugh, why at the Imperial, too?

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

GeorgeandDot said: "If Evita and Jesus Christ Superstar were considered original than I don't see why Hadestown wouldn't be considered original."

I also just saw that Anaïs Mitchell actually wrote 15 new songs for the stage, so she's apparently written more than enough to be eligible for an Original Score nomination.

[reginula]

I was really hoping Hadestown would get the Imperial.

[everythingtaboo]

Assuming "Summer" is still running, Des and Sergio are going to have two jukebox musicals running simultaneously on Broadway - three if you count "Jersey Boys" across 8th Avenue. 

Huh.

[yankeefan7]

"What Broadway needs right now, another jukebox show."

It is almost getting absurd, what pop/rock star does not have a Broadway musical done about them - lol.

[Sauja]

The only encouraging thing about this is that Dominique Morrisseau is attached as the book writer, but...Des hasn’t done a good show since Jersey Boys, and I just can’t get excited about this. At least let Summer close first. Jeez.

[BroadwayNYC2]

Oh the book is horrible. Don’t expect anything. We need to stop confusing “having decent songs” with “having a song worth telling.”

[JBroadway]

Jeffrey Karasarides said: "GeorgeandDot said: "If Evita and Jesus Christ Superstar were considered original than I don't see why Hadestown wouldn't be considered original."

I also just saw thatAnaïs Mitchell actually wrote 15 new songs for the stage, so she's apparently written more than enough to be eligible for an Original Score nomination."

 

We discussed already this in another thread (I confess I can't remember which). Basically, I think the key thing to note is that the show had a couple of developmental stage incarnations before the concept album was made. So the album was always meant to be a recording of a score meant for the stage. It's just been a long, slow journey to Broadway. So it shouldn't matter how much of it is new - the whole score should be eligible, just like the scores for Evita and JCS were eligible. The situation is not comparable to something like American Idiot, where even though the album was kind of a "concept album" of sorts, it was really designed to be a piece of mainstream music, which was then later adapted for the stage. 

[Miles2Go2]

I don’t consider Jersey Boys to have a solid book. I’m no prude, but it felt like they just decided to have the “boys” say the f-word as often as possible to make the language feel “authentic and distract from the laziness of the dialogue. The reason to see Jersey Boys is the music.

Ain’t Too Proud somehow feels like Motown: The Musical redux, at least to me.

[bwaylinds]

This is playing near me in Los Angeles and tickets are available for $39 on today tix. Worth it?

[Robbie2]

Sauja said: "The only encouraging thing about this is that Dominique Morrisseau is attached as the book writer, but...Des hasn’t done a good show since Jersey Boys, and I just can’t get excited about this. At least let Summer close first. Jeez."

 

Encouraging...heard the book is terrible and that was mentioned in most of the reviews

[Sauja]

Ha. Well, I liked the plays I’ve seen by Morrisseau. Consider my last shred of optimism dashed.

[JBroadway]

Not sure why you all are so upset. Every time another one of these jukebox musicals fills up a Broadway theatre, I breathe a sigh of relief knowing that's another $40+ I DON'T have to spend on a rush ticket this year!  This trend is making Broadway a lot more manageable for me! 

[RaisedOnMusicals]

It’s hard to believe what I’m reading here. I saw the show in DC and absolutely loved it. It’s non-stop entertainment, with a book that’s anything but awful. It’s an interesting story, and while it relies a bit on narration, so did Jersey Boys. So far the show has broken box office records at the two venues it’s played, and my guess is there’s a reason for that. 

It will be interesting to see what the LA critics think of it after it opens tomorrow night at the Ahmonson  

My prediction is that it will garner a Best Musical nomination and might, repeat MIGHT, be a strong contender for the Tony.