Is it wrong that I would be more interested if this was just a stage adaptation of Kung Fu Panda? I'm not saying it will be culturally insensitive... just, that I wouldn't be surprised if it is.
Wow. This was appallingly bad. Like, as I type this I’m struggling to decide where to even begin.
I guess I’ll start by saying that the writing was abysmal on so many levels. The dialogue was utterly laughable - except for the jokes, which were not funny at all (to give you an idea, there is some casual and entirely unnecessary incest, which is used for comedic effect). And to say that the structure is a mess is an understatement. The story is fairly simple, but each laboriously slow scene does the absolutely bare minimum to progress the plot. Meanwhile, because there are only a handful of scenes, several plot points were entirely glossed over, and there was 0 character development.
In a show like this, I might have forgiven some bad writing. It’s meant to be a spectacle, after all. But what really kills the show is that the pacing throughout was so painfully sluggish. Part of that might be the fact that it’s still early previews, but I don’t think so. It seems to me that this director just has absolutely know idea what he’s doing when it comes to telling a story, and dealing with actors. And speaking of, the acting was pretty terrible all around.
To call this a “musical” is sort of stretching it. There are about 6 songs, 3 of which are pre-recorded (sung by Sia), while only 3 songs are sung live. The live songs do absolutely nothing for the story except weigh it down even more. Not to mention these performers can barely sing.
And as for the spectacle elements, it’s not at all worth it. I’m not immune to the charms of great visuals and great physical stagecraft. For example, I had a fun time at King Kong despite the awful writing. And with this show, I won’t deny that the fight choreo/movement work is definitely impressive. But unlike with the King Kong puppet, there’s nothing jaw-dropping enough to make it feel worth suffering through the rest.
There are a few moments where the staging and projections make for some cool visuals, but most of the time it just feels loud and garish.
There were a lot of families with children there today, which I wasn’t expecting at all. It was only the 2nd preview of a brand new show in a brand new theatre, with no marketing directed at families as far as I could tell. How did all these parents find out about this show? Makes sense though, as this show felt like something you’d see at a theme park.
The program said this would be “90 minutes with no intermission,” but there WAS an intermission, and it was entirely unnecessary. Add to that that the show started almost 15 minutes late, the show didn’t get out until 5:00 after a 3:00 curtain.
This is how I felt about the show I saw there a month or two ago and exactly why I won’t be going back. It seems like they want to be artistic theater, but it’s all just bad.
DramaTeach said: "This is how I felt about the show I saw there a month or two ago and exactly why I won’t be going back. It seems like they want to be artistic theater, but it’s all just bad."
I was actually one of the few people on planet earth who really liked Norma Jeane Baker of Troy, but this wasn’t anything like that. This show seemed artsy on paper but like I said it felt like a theme park show.
I’m open to seeing what they do in the future. Especially since they JUST started their programming. I wouldn’t say I’ve sworn off the shed quite yet.
Arca has remixed some of sia´s songs especially for the show. The sound in this amazing space is great and it really works with some of the visual movements all the way through the show. Its great if you love kung fu fighting, visuals and music. The timing was spot on and the principals are multi talented . especially loved the visual strength of the show. I have not seen anything like this in new york for a while.
marie26 said: "Arca has remixed some of sia´s songs especially for the show.The sound in this amazing space is great and it really works with some of the visual movements all the way through the show. Its great if you love kung fu fighting, visuals and music. The timing was spot on and the principals are multi talented. especially loved the visual strength of the show. I have not seen anything like this in new york for a while."
I'm not usually one to cry "shill," but oh man this post just reeks of it. Is it just me?
JBroadway said: "marie26 said: "Arca has remixed some of sia´s songs especially for the show.The sound in this amazing space is great and it really works with some of the visual movements all the way through the show. Its great if you love kung fu fighting, visuals and music. The timing was spot on and the principals are multi talented. especially loved the visual strength of the show. I have not seen anything like this in new york for a while."
I'm not usually one to cry "shill," but oh man this post just reeks of it. Is it just me?"
I have to say that if this is the same show I saw the other night, 100% shill. I agree with a lot of what JBroadway previously mentioned. I think calling this a musical is a bit misleading and they should consider reworking their marketing in future productions.
JBroadway said: "marie26 said: "Arca has remixed some of sia´s songs especially for the show.The sound in this amazing space is great and it really works with some of the visual movements all the way through the show. Its great if you love kung fu fighting, visuals and music. The timing was spot on and the principals are multi talented. especially loved the visual strength of the show. I have not seen anything like this in new york for a while."
I'm not usually one to cry "shill," but oh man this post just reeks of it. Is it just me?"
Marie is 26, graduated from NYU, and the sheds newest unpaid intern, and broadway worlds newest profile.
This was awful-cannot understand how they at the shed think sophisticated theater goers or arts patrons would like this under rehearsed, poorly written show. I felt like I was watching a power ranger show at Nassau coliseum. The dancers were in good shape but completely underused-we hoped for something new and exciting-instead it was all slow, deliberate and painstakingly dull and unoriginal They couldn’t sing, act or do believable fight choreography. The most exciting thing was the water feature broke and it took almost a half hour to watch them wipe and squeegee the floor. I just don’t know, other than 8 year old, who this will appeal to. I am sorry-hoped the shed would be an exciting new destination
Everything involving The Shed makes me cringe so hard. Their insanely overpriced tickets, their mission statement, their pathetic customer service, and now this.
I seriously regret becoming a Shed member. I paid for a membership based on the promise of a new cultural institution led by the former artistic director of one of my favorite arts spaces in the city and some of the programming descriptions. Everything I’ve seen here has been godawful. Reich Richter Part and Sounds of America felt like they were quickly thrown together in a day, Norma Jeane Baker of Troy was one of the most miserable things I’ve ever seen, and the general customer service experience was very off-putting. I have tickets to this tonight, but based on word of mouth here and from a couple folks in person, I’m just going to skip it. Won’t be subscribing to the Shed anytime in the future unless I hear their programming starts to become worth it.
I’d rather see an institution that takes risks on unpolished new talent than torturously boring and pretentious work by established artists. It’s the least they can do given how consumeristic the surrounding area is.
I was shocked at how barebones the space Reich Richter Part was presented in. A white box. Terrible acoustics. That seating arrangement. It was the kind of presentation I'd expect at a free gallery opening, not a brand new performing arts venue.
I also have tickets to Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise tonight and after reading impressions here and on Show Score am desperately trying to offload them on Stubhub.
They were also supposed to refund the $10 they conned people into spending for a membership to access Björk tickets. They never did. The tickets were impossible to get and inSANELY overpriced. Pretty disgusting because they keep pushing this “affordable art for the people” nonsense which is such a joke.
I don’t know about the Bjork thing, but I can’t say I’ve been disappointed with the pricing so far. I only paid $45 or so for Norma Jeane right when they went on sale, and it seemed like discounts were all over the place once word of mouth spread. And I only spent $30 for my ticket to Dragon Spring, for a perfectly good seat. And that wasn’t a discount, it was full price.
I haven't seen anything there yet, but they have been offering residents of my building some really attractive ticket pricing (I live in a building primarily for people in the arts right near by). So they do seem to be, at least for now, really trying to create some sort of sense of community outreach.
Did you know that every day Mexican gays cross our borders and unplug our brain-dead ladies?
The only tickets this season that were pricey or hard to get were for Björk. Everything else was very easy to get and had more affordable pricing options than literally any other theater offers besides Signature’s fixed pricing model.
The problem is not the ticket prices. The problem is that The Shed was pitched as an arts institution that would foster emerging talent and instead we got a bunch of crap from established artists, most of whom aren’t even based in New York.
I couldn't get rid of my tickets and wound up going last night out of morbid curiosity. Complete waste of time. I walked out during intermission, but was itching to do so 5 minutes in, realizing I made a huge mistake.
I can't believe something so amateurish and cringeworthy made its way to a stage here. I don't have much to add beyond what was already written here, but ugh, I feel so duped after having spent money on this. The creative team should feel ashamed to have their names associated with this.
Also, there were a lot of weird logistics problems. There's no lobby space directly outside the theater entrance, which lead to dangerous overcrowding conditions at the top of the escalator - I'm surprised they didn't shut the escalator off. I was in row L, in front of an aisle, and about a half dozen people were sitting on the floor in front of me. About 10 minutes into the show, staff came in with a bunch of folding chairs and fumbled around trying to set them up, all while blocking our view.
joined:10/3/14
joined:
10/3/14
Posted: 5/23/19 at 12:56pm