Ordinary Days at Theater Row

[j.garcia]

Posted: 10/9/18 at 10:24am

Anyone gone yet? I have tickets for tonight and am going in pretty blind, aside from listening to "Fine" from the album a few times. 

[InTheBathroom1]

Posted: 10/9/18 at 10:59am

I went last week to the first preview and thought it was absolutely stellar.  I knew very little about the show except for a few songs and was really shocked by how much I liked the show itself.  It's a lovely little musical about New York and the people who inhabit it and the music is absolutely gorgeous.  The production was also quite moving.  The cast does really great work all around, but major props to Whitney Bashor (Bridges of Madison County) who really steals the show with the 11 o'clock number.  There are some truly great moments in this production and there was not a dry eye in the house by the end.  Funny, touching, sad, hopeful, and joyful all at once.  And it's beautiful in such an intimate space.  I hope you enjoy as much as I did.

[jawjuhh]

Posted: 10/9/18 at 11:35am

I was there last Saturday and thought it was an enchanting little evening of theater. The set is bare (nonexistent, really) but loved the costumes, the actors were in great voice and all had excellent chemistry. I prefer their renditions to the cast recording.

[Theater3232]

Posted: 10/9/18 at 11:57pm

Show runs only 90 minutes but it's beautifully done, with gorgeous voices and strong singing.  Later on in the show, we learn why one woman doesn't want to "let go" and throw out some of her belongings. Deeply touching show with a stellar cast.  The entire show is sung through.  Highly recommended. 

[JBroadway]

Posted: 10/10/18 at 9:59am

I didn’t expect to like this as much as I did.

I had heard a few songs from it before, but they never did much for me. I’m not a fan of that “contemporary MT” style with the bouncy music and the rambling, 2-dimensional lyrics with all the quirky, hyper-specific references (think Andrew Byrne’s “Contemporary Musical Theatre Song” parody). I usually find it kind of grating, and Ordinary Days does frequently fall into that category.

But I’ll be damned if this show didn’t leave me with tears in my eyes and a big smile on my face at the same time. It’s charming, it’s heartfelt, it’s uplifting, and it’s easy to fall for. I think where the show succeeds is that after all of those “relatable,” declarative lyrics, Gwon always manages to get somewhere deeper by the end of the song. What might start out as a superficial anecdote always ends up having deep emotional significance for the character’s current situation.

The production is very low-budget. It feels like something I’d see at a small non-equity regional theatre, but that just goes to show that looks are deceiving. Whether you’re in regional theatre, college theatre, Off-Broadway, or wherever, you don’t need to have a sleek, glossy production to tell a human story well.

I’d definitely recommend this one, even to the skeptics like myself.

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 10/10/18 at 2:55pm

What's the orchestra like? The original cast recording was just a piano, and I heard Bruce Coughlin wrote new arrangements.

Also, I adore this show. I'm really hoping for a new recording.

[sondheim94]

Posted: 10/11/18 at 12:12am

I also saw the first preview. Whitney Bashor was lovely - if still finding her character. The actress playing Deb can SINGGGG. The actor playing Warren was good too. Overall it felt very much like "this is our first time in front of an audience" -- however I very much enjoyed my 90 minutes in the audience.

The new orchestrations - to answer your question - are piano, bass, and reed. The reeds player plays clarinet, oboe, i want to say some kind of saxophone... maybe not... it's been a few days now, and flute. It added SO MUCH from the original album. I loved the new orchestrations.

[j.garcia]

Posted: 10/11/18 at 10:20am

I enjoyed it MUCH more than I thought I would, plus Bashor crushed "I'll be Here," not a dry eye in the house. 

The plot broadcasts itself pretty clearly, and a great deal of it I would describe as "twee." These things would normally turn me off, but it was a piece that sneaks up on you and the enjoyment isn't fully felt until the end. I am curious as to how well this story plays to someone unfamiliar to NYC, as a basic understanding of bustling city life is integral to the plot. 

[JaglinSays]

Posted: 10/11/18 at 6:58pm

Boring.  Plain.  Plainly boring.

[little_sally]

Posted: 10/17/18 at 9:39am

I thought this was fine. The cast was very talented, and there were some pretty good songs but ultimately it felt like a BFA showcase.