KING KONG - Previews

[dramamama611]

Tjones....also hard to imagine you joined BWW today - JUST to have an opposing opinion.  You are entitled to THAT opinion, but it all sound suspicious.

 

I still plan to see it - as I do want to see the puppet.  (Regardless as to how sophisticated it is, it IS still a puppet.)

 

[tjones2]

Well, I'll take that as a compliment. It actually took me over an hour to move my thoughts to the written word.

I should have added in my review..... I took my 9 year old son to the second performance I went to and he absolutely loved it. Wasn't scared at all.  Only the loud sound effects at times made him stick his fingers in his ears.

[tjones2]

Yes, I did join this today as I could not find many reviews from people about the show. I was curious to what others thought.  Not just the positive energy from the audience during and after it ended.  Stumbled across this site and saw the negativity and just felt I wanted to voice my opinion.

Perhaps many here compare it to some great piece of work.  I see the difficulty in bringing Kong to Broadway, overlook comparisons and accept it for the attempt made to capture Kong on the stage. For that reason and others stated, I liked it.

Oh, and what really bothers me about the word "puppet"?  I think of that from the old days with one person controlling a wooden object moving it around with fingers.  This is another level entirely.  14 individuals plus the actors on stage, all the other behind the scenes workers, musicians, etc…  all moving in fluidity and perfection capturing the senses of the audience, with many getting emotional over a “puppet”.  To me that’s extraordinary!

[BroadwayConcierge]

Another thought of mine: I liked the projections and set design well enough, but why was there steam EVERYWHERE in the projections? Was it the most humid day in human history when this all took place?

[MyLife]

tjones2 said: " I agree the time on the boat takes too long to get to skull island and the“prop” on the right side needs to go. But that’s what previews are all about. To work out the kinks and fine tune. "
 

 

What's the "prop" on the right? I can't seem something there that was out of place.

[robskynyc]

MyLife said: "tjones2 said: " Iagree the time on the boat takes too long to get to skull island and the“prop” on the right side needs to go. But that’s what previews are all about. To work out the kinks and fine tune. "




What's the "prop" on the right? I can't seem something there that was out of place."

its supposed to be like his cave/hideout i think?

 

also yeah, hella SUS tjones lol

[Bettyboy72]

The word of mouth on this reminds me of Rocky. Everyone just talked about the ring going into the orchestra. That never amounted to ticket sales. I think this will suffer the same fate. 

[kdogg36]

tjones2 said: "It’s quite shocking to read the negative reviews about King Kong on this board. It shows the limited capacity for people to immerse themselves in the beauty of this production."

Whether you've been here one day or ten years, your opinion on a show is welcome here. However, you hurt your cause when, right out of the gate, you insult those who disagree with you. Among those you accuse of having a "limited capacity" are some very well-respected members of this board. 

I'm looking forward to seeing the King Kong puppet, and hopefully being pleasantly surprised by the rest of the production, next month.

[broadway.4me2]

Did anyone else have an "Oh, Hello" moment at the ending of this show? The second the lights went down I said: "Is that really the f*cking end of the play?" 

[GreeneStreet]

broadway.4me2 said: "Did anyone else have an "Oh, Hello" moment at the ending of this show? The second the lights went down I said: "Is that really the f*cking end of the play?""

I thought you liked the breathtaking scenes  

 

just kidding!

[broadway.4me2]

[broadway.4me2]

GreeneStreet said: "broadway.4me2 said: "Did anyone else have an "Oh, Hello" moment at the ending of this show? The second the lights went down I said: "Is that really the f*cking end of the play?""

I thought you liked the breathtaking scenes just kidding!"

Hahaha Yep! I loved the show! Just the ending was off. lol

 

[\_(•_•)_/]

For me the ending was like phantom when the chandlier crashes. Like imgaine the show just ending after that and you just think wtf

[kclahar]

broadway.4me2 said: "Did anyone else have an "Oh, Hello" moment at the ending of this show? The second the lights went down I said: "Is that really the f*cking end of the play?""

Same here!  It looked like someone forgot to pay the light bill or something.  Didn't like that at all.

[broadwayrocks2]

broadway.4me2 said: "Did anyone else have an "Oh, Hello" moment at the ending of this show? The second the lights went down I said: "Is that really the f*cking end of the play?""

Now that was funny !!

[YvanEhtNioj]

My friend posted this to Facebook after he checked-in at the show. Because everyone was Harassing him to tell them how it was, at intermission he said “The king Kong puppet is really ****ing amazing...But other than that the show is making me pretty sleepy LOL”

[musikman]

Good lord, what an epic dumpster fire of a musical. I really can’t even say much else. This maybe belongs as a 30 minute theme park show with just the King King puppet doing some cool things, because holy wow is the rest of the show just utterly inept. Thank god for that puppet !

Oh yea, and that ending is so...awkward. The audience kinda barely clapped and then OH WAIT the ensemble is about to take their bow.

[Jordan Catalano]

I don’t even know how to review this show. The puppetry is fantastic. The staging with the ship was impressive and Kong running through the streets was pretty awesome. Other than that it was...fine...?

I’ll never have a need to listen to any of the music again or think “Man, I want to see how King Kong is doing, I should get a ticket and go again”. My friend and I were also confused at the casting and were like “These were the best people that auditioned?”

And yeah, the ending was awful. Nobody knew it was over and people were just confused.

[aasjb4ever]

So I definitely don't plan on seeing the show, can anyone spoil the ending beat by beat for me? Someone earlier mentioned (spoiler tag below) but I think they left some stuff out?

 

Unless they didn't...

 

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

Ann is up on the Empire State Building, but then the rest of the cast walks onstage and at some point, there's a blackout?

 

[Mister Matt]

All these bizarre reviews make me really want to see this.

Good lord, what an epic dumpster fire of a musical.

That comment immediately makes me think of Hot Feet.  It can't be worse than Hot Feet.  Or Brooklyn!  Certainly, it's not worse than Brooklyn, is it?

[juice23]

I think it's worse than BKLYN. BKLYN at least had some decent vocal performances (Eden, Ramona, Karen), as horrible as the book was.

The music being awful in KONG would have been one thing, but it also wasn't sung particularly well. Ann Darrow really struggled vocally last week when I saw it. 

[musikman]

Mister Matt said: "All these bizarre reviews make me really want to see this.

Good lord, what an epic dumpster fire of a musical.

That comment immediately makes me think of Hot Feet. It can't be worse than Hot Feet. Or Brooklyn! Certainly, it's not worse than Brooklyn, is it?"

Those productions at least followed a somewhat traditional musical construction with actual songs.   King Kong has maybe 3 or 4 songs at most   Everything else is just random underscoring, 5 lines here or there, or some weird techno dance floor number.   The singing is completely uneccessary  here.   There were a few cool underscoring moments while Kong was running through the streets, though   

I agree with jordan in that it’s hard to review this show because it’s just so utterly incomprehensible and inconceivable.   The choreographer made Rob Ashford’s work look subtle and the singing was severely lacking.  The gorilla was by far the best performer on the stage (ouch!).

What makes this all so much more confusing is that the artistry and wizardry that went into creating the actual puppet, and the athleticism of the puppeteers is absolutely incredible.  

 

[jayinchelsea]

Rob Ashford choreography subtle? Every time I go on Youtube to watch one of the old KCH programs, I am stunned by what a bad and obvious choreographer he is. And how he mostly ruined HOW TO SUCCEED and PROMISES with his inept staging. How could the choreo in KK be any worse?

[Mister Matt]

musikman - Everything you said sounds infinitely better than what I watched happen on stage in Thou Shalt Not.

[Jordan Catalano]

Besides the puppet, everything else is just so boring. It’s not a <<edited by  BWW staff>> like BKLYN or SPIDER-MAN. It’s worse than that because it’s all just so unnecessary.