Open Letter to The New Group: (Fool Me Once . . .)
Open Letter to The New Group: (Fool Me Once . . .)
#1Open Letter to The New Group: (Fool Me Once . . .)
Posted: 5/5/19 at 1:46pm
Dear New Group:
It's just not working. I think it's you. Or it could be me. Or it's us. But we're done.
You sucked me in a few years ago with Sutton Foster in Sweet Charity. The reviews weren't amazing, but we loved the show. Love Sutton, love Neil Simon. It really worked for us. But the rest of the subscription that year had two total dogs (All The Fine Boys, and Whirligig), and one show that was ok (Evening at the Talk House). 1 out of 4 just doesn't cut it, so we didn't renew.
And then this season you did it to me again. We love the movie "Clueless", so as a musical? Sign Me Up! And Alan Cumming, too? TAKE MY MONEY!! So we took a mini subscription (we are 200 miles away, after all) to make sure we could get tix. And OMG was Clueless terrible. Barbie Doll star with songs rewritten by someone with limited talent (hint: If you want to write song parodies, get Randy R.). And then you screwed up the tix for Daddy (the Alan Cumming show) so we were severely view-restricted and show was a total bore anyway.
Then last night we were back for Happy Talk. What a terrible title of a show. OK, better than the original title of "Yea, Sister", but still. Jeez, what a dreadful show. One interesting character out of the five in the play, and that character has the least amount of stage time. None of the others gives you ANY reason to root for them (ok, maybe grandma, but you never see or hear her . . . . hmmm . . . that might mean something) and we were mostly just hoping the show would end and the rain would have stopped. And both happened, so we got to celebrate some minor victories.
Love Pershing Square. Comfortable theaters, mostly good sightlines, and a great waiting area/gift shop/snack bar. So it's not the surroundings. And we've liked most of the other shows we've seen recently, like Constitution and Network, and True West (ok, not Gary, but everything else). So it's not us.
It's you.
Let me know if you can duplicate the Sutton Experience and I'll figure out a way to see that show. But you are NOT sucking me back into another relationship/subscription. Uh uh. No way. Not even with names like Cumming and Sarandon.
I wish you well. More theater options are always better than fewer theater options. Become a producer of better shows. Make me proud to say "I knew it when".
After Eight
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/5/09
#2Open Letter to The New Group: (Fool Me Once . . .)
Posted: 5/5/19 at 2:31pm
I didn't think Clueless was terrific by any means; but it was cute, well performed, and as it turns out, proved to be better than any of the other musicals I've seen this season.
Evening at the Talk House was a good play, and had Matthew Broderick giving one of his best performances of late.
Daddy was a bore, true, and Happy Talk was unfocused in the extreme. But again, I've seen so much worse than both.
Nowadays, everything's relative. I am grateful for the good things they've done.
#3Open Letter to The New Group: (Fool Me Once . . .)
Posted: 5/5/19 at 2:59pm
I know the point is having a public whinge, but... did you consider info@thenewgroup.org?
#4Open Letter to The New Group: (Fool Me Once . . .)
Posted: 5/5/19 at 3:33pmArtistic Directors love getting feedback. You should write them. Except I would spend more energy being specific with why you didn't like the productions, rather that generalized statements.
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle
--Aristotle
#5Open Letter to The New Group: (Fool Me Once . . .)
Posted: 5/5/19 at 4:51pm
The New Group has been made aware of our feelings in a less emotional and more detailed (regarding the shows) manner. My message board persona is a bit more dramatic than my business person.
#6Open Letter to The New Group: (Fool Me Once . . .)
Posted: 5/5/19 at 6:33pm
I sort of agree, sort of disagree. I've seen 6 New Group shows in the last couple years, and on one hand I'll admit that I've never once LOVED one of their productions. I've never seen one where I didn't walk out of it having some major criticisms. However, I've also definitely found value in a lot of them.
Good For Otto was very messy and severely in need of trimming, but ultimately I found the story very moving. Jerry Springer was bizarre and at times kind of awful. But it's an ambitious piece that was, IMO, well-directed and well-performed. The True was forgettable and didn't really amount to much, but I found it very watchable, and it provided Edie Falco an effective vehicle to showcase her talents. Peace For Mary Frances was long and poorly-written, but it provided an angle on hospice care and the last days of life that I found intriguing and unlike other plays about old age that I've seen. Daddy was unfocused on messy, but it was thematically and stylistically ambitious, and I found parts of it very exciting. (I won't defend Clueless, as I admit I thought it was utter garbage). And with almost all of these shows, they cast some of the most skilled actors working today, and for me that always provides some redeeming quality.
#7Open Letter to The New Group: (Fool Me Once . . .)
Posted: 5/6/19 at 6:42am
They do get incredible actors, and the acting in many of the shows is top notch. They just need better writers. Or stick to revivals of Neil Simon and Sam Shepard (we missed Buried Child) with great actors.
