HERCULES to Play the Public Theatre this summer!!- Page 14

[AmeliaBedelia]

Posted: 9/4/19 at 5:38pm

I'm also looking for someone to team up with for the standby lottery tonight. If anyone else is interested in teaming up to double your chances, PM me!

[Pine-Sol Scented Air]

Posted: 9/4/19 at 5:52pm

I'm also looking for someone to team up with for tonight's lotto. Kmac and AmeliaBedelia, do either of you still need someone?

[cougarnewtin]

Posted: 9/5/19 at 12:43am

Ahh congrats! I would have gone in person if I could have gotten out of work, haha.

LOL that’s exactly why I went today. I’ve been avoiding the other drawings just cause I’m a good 40+ minutes away from Manhattan but I had the day off today and I figured other people would be in work/school so I went down. It was still PACKED downtown, though I’m sure not as packed as the lotteries over the weekend were. They have out an insane amount of tickets though- they called numbers for forty-five minutes straight, and it seemed like about 1/3rd of the crowd won tickets. 

As for the show itself... I liked it! I’ll echo what someone said before: it seems like a really large, elaborate high school production, which is in NO away an insult. All the principal equity players are great and a lot of the featured ensemble members were pretty fantastic, too. I can definitely see this becoming a high-school staple and I’m sure they already have a JR version in the works somewhere.

That said... not a huge fan of the book. Got a couple audible groans from me sometimes (which admittedly added to my enjoyment). Roger Bart makes a weird reference to the movie Clue at some point? Which is very bizarre? And Hercules gets a boner? Besides the jokes the structure of it was extremely poor too, and a lot of things just seemed to be glossed over (Megs death, the climax of the show encompasses about five lines and a bit of movement here).

I’m extremely glad I saw it though. I couldn’t stop smiling the whole time. 

 

Updated On: 9/5/19 at 12:43 AM

[Kwoody66]

Posted: 9/5/19 at 11:41am

.

Updated On: 9/6/19 at 11:41 AM

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 9/5/19 at 12:00pm

^And I barely remember Hercules singing "Wait for Me" to Meg. Where was that?

Also, something I just remembered. Freaky Friday didn't even get Pre-Broadway tryouts and it still got a cast album. If Freaky Friday, a show made for licensing got one, so could Hercules, a Off-Broadway musical.

[Kea4]

Posted: 9/5/19 at 12:06pm

I've now lost the in-person standby lottery twice. I'm going back tonight though, I'm determined! Maybe three times will be the charm. :) 

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 9/5/19 at 12:15pm

My husband won the digital lotto last night, so I attended with him. I thought it was such a wonderful night of theatre. There was a feeling of community both in the audience and on the stage, very true to the Public Works mission. (And at the very least, Disney would be foolish not to license the show, even as is.)

[NYfanfromCA]

Posted: 9/6/19 at 11:33pm

Any reports from the lottery tonight? Did the weather make it less crowded?

I’m planning to try the in-person standby lottery on Saturday. Does anyone want to team up? If so, send me a PM.

[lindatnyc2]

Posted: 9/6/19 at 11:55pm

Hi NYfanfromCA - you don't accept PM, but I would like to team up.

[NYfanfromCA]

Posted: 9/7/19 at 12:00am

lindatnyc2 said: "Hi NYfanfromCA - you don't accept PM, but I would like to team up.
"

Great!  No idea why PM is not working since it has always worked in the past.  I’ll try to PM you. 

[AntV]

Posted: 9/7/19 at 1:08am

Tonight's lotto looked pretty full, but it was my first time. The person I paired with said Saturday was pretty much the same. BUT they did have a ton of tickets. I won at about 8:15 and there was only about 30 people left. Maybe everyone won eventually? Did miss the opening number of the show though. And more people were seated after the second number.

[thatstheone]

Posted: 9/7/19 at 9:10am

I won the in person lotto last night, at around 8:10, thankfully there were still some announcements and acknowledgments being made, so I saw the whole thing.  Sat center, row L.  I almost left at 8, so my recommendation is definitely don't lose hope at 8PM, they had runners coming down the hill with tickets at 8:05!

Overall, it had some weak points, but I very much enjoyed it.  Roger Bart is an absolute treasure, and the voices on the Muses blew my hair back.

[bwayobsessed]

Posted: 9/7/19 at 3:39pm

Anyone looking to team up for the lotto tonight message me.

[AntV]

Posted: 9/7/19 at 7:52pm

Can someone explain the joke Jeff Hiller's character says early on in the show when he impersonates someone saying Hercules? It got alot of cheers.

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 9/7/19 at 7:56pm

If I'm thinking of the correct moment I believe he does the first part of the Hercules Mulligan rap from Hamilton

[bwayobsessed]

Posted: 9/7/19 at 10:27pm

I just got out. Electric performance, the audience was loving it.

As other posters have said the big group numbers: Zero to Hero, Great Bolts of Thunder and A Star is Born are jaw dropping. The energy coming from the stage is palpable. I thought Jelani was great and his big emotional scene was incredibly moving. Phil’s reprise of One Last Hope/Go the Distance was the new highlight for me. I thought it was a super beautiful moment for James (who is excellently cast). I loved Roger as Hades although I wasn’t into his costume and felt like the placement of his song felt jarring. Liked Krysta a lot and her new moments. The Muses stole the show tho. They’re just stunning, I wanted more.

The book left some to be desired for me. They actually condense the book moments quite a bit and I’m not sure if that was in service of the plot. Things felt rushed at times. Also, I found the thought that they don’t show Meg’s death to be a mistake.

Also I know they wanted to show off the puppets but I felt dramatically they didn’t build the tension.

[LightsOut90]

Posted: 9/9/19 at 1:19am

i would be very surprised to not see this pop up again in some shape or form....you don’t spend two years working on something like this to run a week...

[Kea4]

Posted: 9/9/19 at 11:04am

I saw this on Friday, my fourth time trying the in-person lottery. I absolutely loved it, what a special night. My favorite part was sitting in front of whole family who's mom/sister/aunt had a small speaking role. They were SO EXCITED and yelled "That's my mom!" at one point. That really drove home to me what the Public is all about. 

 

 I do think that this production works so well because it is made for the Public Theatre with a Public Theatre audience. I could see it being licensed for regional productions, but a lot of the jokes and references wouldn't work for a different crowd. 

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 9/9/19 at 11:09am

I was at closing night last night. What a special show! Jelani Alladin was crying through most of the scene where he decides to stay on Earth. I really hope this show has a solid future in some form, even if it's not Broadway.

There was a little girl in front of me who couldn't have been older than 3. She was so into it that she barely said anything to her parents (except when she wanted a snack) and she would wave her arms when the muses waved their arms. Then she would wave her arms with the community chorus in the finale. So cute!

[RexInLights]

Posted: 9/9/19 at 3:32pm

I was at the final performance last night and it was truly a magical evening of theater. The sense of community (on stage and off) was palpable and beautiful. The performances across the board, from the leads - Jelani was perfect and incredibly moving - to the community ensemble members, were fantastic. The puppetry was delightful. Everything about this was moving and wonderful. If it transfers in some capacity it will never capture the same feeling of this Public Works production, but I still think it should. The adjustments they've made to the narrative are strong and the ideas about what it truly means to be a hero and the feeling of justice and community resonated strongly. We'll see what happens, but regardless I'll lever forget this night. 

[bekk99]

Posted: 9/9/19 at 5:14pm

I have a feeling this could pop up at the Muny in 2020 or 2021...

[JBroadway]

Posted: 2/26/20 at 11:30am

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/BWW-Exclusive-Thomas-Schumacher-Reveals-Next-Steps-for-HERCULES-AIDA-More-20200226

Bumping this thread because of Thomas Schumacher's recent comment on Hercules. 

There are no plans to bring the property to Broadway, and instead they will go the licensing route - just as many people on this board correctly assumed. 

[ccbway]

Posted: 2/26/20 at 12:21pm

JBroadway said: "https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/BWW-Exclusive-Thomas-Schumacher-Reveals-Next-Steps-for-HERCULES-AIDA-More-20200226

Bumping this thread because of Thomas Schumacher's recent comment on Hercules.

There are no plans to bring the property to Broadway, and instead they will go the licensing route - just as many people on this board correctly assumed."

It's hard to say because of the way the article is written and the interjection of the line about Princess Bride and Hercules - but isn't this quote still referencing Aida?

 

[ellbellthomps]

Posted: 2/26/20 at 12:23pm

I knew this was the case, but it's not any less sad. Hercules is one of if not my favorite movies, and I couldn't make it to the public. 

[JBroadway]

Posted: 2/26/20 at 12:45pm

ccbway said: "JBroadway said: "https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/BWW-Exclusive-Thomas-Schumacher-Reveals-Next-Steps-for-HERCULES-AIDA-More-20200226

Bumping this thread because of Thomas Schumacher's recent comment on Hercules.

There are no plans to bring the property to Broadway, and instead they will go the licensing route - just as many people on this board correctly assumed."

It's hard to say because of the way the article is written and the interjection of the line about Princess Bride and Hercules - but isn't this quote still referencing Aida?

"

I see why you say that, but no. This quote can't be referring to Aida for a number of reasons: 

1. The sentence right before the quote very clearly changes the subject from Aida to Princess Bride and Hercules. And the sentence is structured in such a way that Hercules is clearly the main subject (i.e "while" Princess Bride develops, they also have Hercules...). 

2. The headline specifies that the Schumacker revealed the next steps for Hercules, and that's the only quote in the article that could refer to Hercules.

3. The quote says that they are turning it into a 2-act show. Aida was already a 2-act show.