City Center Encores! 2023-24 season: PAL JOEY • ONCE UPON A MATTRESS • JELLY'S LAST JAM • TITANIC- Page 15

[pagereynolds]

Posted: 3/5/24 at 3:04pm

Wardelljclark2018 said: "The complaints about the book don't matter, just look at the Tony nominations and wins from the 1992 production."

This is just a weird thing to say. 1992 was 30 years ago The complaints about the book working now absolutely matter.

[Wardelljclark2018]

Posted: 3/5/24 at 3:11pm

Synecdoche2 said: "Wardelljclark2018 said: "The response from dear friends, artist in the community, and at large have been overwhelming to this production. You come on this board, and mostly complaints...its fascinating,"

It's a time-honored tradition. White shows are "surprisingly good" whereas Black shows are "disappointing".

In reality,Robert O'Hara's productionis spectacular, with dozens of artists performing at an insanely high level. And Wolfe's book is actually very strong, with snappy dialogue and a real sense of dramatic and socialheft. But reading this thread, you'd think it was nothing special."

Literally this! And this isn't the only show by far, but this was one that really bothered me. It's incredible, most of the people on this board don't even WORK in the American Theatre. Sheeesh. We need our patrons and fans, but when it's like this it is very obvious why things struggle the way they do.

 

Re: pagereynolds -

How many shows have we seen at Encores or revivals otherwise with the same book? Can I go down the Sondheim list? What does 30 years ago have to do with it not working? I'd even argue the book of Shuffle Along doesn't work as well as Jelly's but it not working, has nothing to do with time period at all. 

 

Updated On: 3/5/24 at 03:11 PM

[Fan123]

Posted: 3/5/24 at 3:15pm

chrishuyen said: "Is there a comprehensive list of the original songs that the show is based on? Wikipedia lists some of them and I think people have said that Last Chance Blues is based on Blue Blood Blues, and George C. Wolfe has also mentioned Jungle Blues in interviews, but I can't find a list online that has each corresponding track. Or is it just that the arrangements have "remixed" some of them enough that they wouldn't necessarily be recognizable? I'd love to compare the original Jelly Roll Morton songs to the way they ended up being done for the show."

I don't know if this will give you more than you already know, but the Original Broadway Cast Recording liner notes state:

"The following songs were originally known as:

2. The Jam - KING PORTER STOMP

3. In My Day - WILD MAN BLUES

5. The Whole World's Waitin' To Sing Your Song - MY LITTLE DIXIE HOME

8. Somethin' More - PRETTY LIL

10. The Chicago Stomp - BURNIN' THE ICEBERG

11. Play The Music For Me - DEAD MAN BLUES

12. Lovin' is A Lowdown Blues - JUNGLE BLUES

16. That's The Way We Do Things In New York - SHREVEPORT STOMP

18. The Last Chance Blues - BLUE BLOOD STOMP"

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 3/5/24 at 4:07pm

Thank you, Fan123! It definitely helped me fill in some gaps.

Also, I'd say it's a bit reductive to say we shouldn't critique a book just because it won a Tony or it was from 30 years ago.  What makes Encores fun is seeing how those shows from before can be presented now, whether changed or not.

Fwiw, I thought the book generally worked fine and did provide an interesting narrative of the conflict between Jelly and Chimney Man's goal of getting him to admit to his Black heritage.  The main thing for me was that it felt a little lopsided, with a lot of great storytelling in act 1 and a very short act 2 that sped through Jelly's struggles and seemed to tie up the whole thing in a bow a little too neatly.  But despite that, I had a lot of fun and thought it was a fantastic show to see.  I kind of doubt they will transfer it, but I do hope they make a new recording for it (which I know is also a somewhat slim chance)

[UWS10023]

Posted: 3/5/24 at 11:08pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "UWS10023 said: "In regards to the NY Stage review I think the mission of Encores has changed. The changes have been publicly stated as well as written about by the artistic director. The mission echos the mission of the theatre in general."

This is all true, though the function of Encores within NYCC has also changed. What started as "hey this would be a fun way to fill a theatre with lesser-known shows for 3 weekends a year" has now become a significant revenue stream forCity Center. City Centeralso benefits greatly from enhancement money from commercial partners (which they had on Pal Joey, Parade, and Mattress)and from commercial transfers.

My assumption is that Lear and Jenny Gersten werehired with the directive of "we need to increase revenue from Encores shows.""

I would agree with you 100%. I have heard that the summer off Broadway encores series was discontinued because it was not profitable.

 

Updated On: 3/6/24 at 11:08 PM

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 4/10/24 at 12:41pm

This complete Titanic cast is giving me LIFE!

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Ashley-Blanchet-Adam-Chanler-Berat-More-Complete-the-Cast-of-TITANIC-at-Encores-20240410

[BETTY22]

Posted: 4/10/24 at 12:42pm

Fabulous casting.

I love CHIP......

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 4/10/24 at 12:43pm

Conrad Ricamora will be fabulous as Thomas Andrews.

Chip is so vocally different from what we're used to for Isador Strauss but looking forward to seeing him.

Also of note: Rob Berman will conduct the run.

[berniesb!tch]

Posted: 4/10/24 at 1:29pm

CONRAD!!!

[rattleNwoolypenguin]

Posted: 4/10/24 at 3:24pm

I have a possibly inflammatory question about Titanic…

 

is it a good musical? 

It is truly never talked about so I have no consensus on how people feel about it and I have never seen it.

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 4/10/24 at 11:39pm

rattleNwoolypenguin said: "I have a possibly inflammatory question about Titanic…

is it a good musical?

It is truly never talked about so I have no consensus on how people feel about it and I have never seen it."

I enjoyed it a lot based on the UK version that aired in theaters recently, and I've fallen in love with the score--one of the most beautiful chorales in musical theater.  I'd love to get another cast album out of this, since it seems like there's no other English language recording at all.

[Broadway61004]

Posted: 4/11/24 at 9:36am

rattleNwoolypenguin said: "I have a possibly inflammatory question about Titanic…



is it a good musical?

It is truly never talked about so I have no consensus on how people feel about it and I have never seen it."

Titanic is an absolutely beautiful score with a horrendous book and a concept that is almost impossible to stage effectively, regardless of how big your stage or budget is. That's why I feel Encores is the perfect place for it--instead of getting caught up in "how to stage this", have a semi-staged concert version of it with a full orchestra and gorgeous voices and it will be absolutely beautiful.

[rattleNwoolypenguin]

Posted: 4/11/24 at 9:59am

You can tell it's from a different time in Broadway cause it came out after the movie and is not based on the movie.

Which nowadays they would scramble to make sure they could base it on the James Cameron movie.

[Broadway61004]

Posted: 4/11/24 at 10:17am

rattleNwoolypenguin said: "You can tell it's from a different time in Broadway cause it came out after the movie and is not based on the movie.

Which nowadays they would scramble to make sure they could base it on the James Cameron movie."

It actually came out before the movie. Same year, but the musical opened in April and the movie didn't come out until December.