BANDSTAND Previews
Apr 13
2017, 03:32:26 PM
I saw Bandstand on Tuesday night and had extremely high exceptions for this show. I've been a huge fan of Laura ever since Grease and I love Andy's work so this seemed like a musical I would really enjoy. I wanted to like it so much but I felt like it fell short in more ways than one. From the second the show opened, I wanted them to push the set back a good 2 feet. Act 1 was entirely too crowded and it was really hard to find where the focal point was. This also limited the choreography completely. I saw some of the videos from their press event at 30 Rock's Rainbow Room and there was just so much more room and space! I also completely agree with DramaTech about the sound. When the actors were playing the instruments on stage, the music really popped and it was awesome. They had a standing microphone on stage for Laura and Corey that boosted their volume. However, when the offstage pit was playing, the music got lost and almost sounded like it was pre-recorded. My thinking was why go from something that sounds so great to a lesser sound? I absolutely loved the music though. The Act 1 finale was fantastic and I loved the Act 2 opening number. Act 2 was much stronger in general. The highlight for me was definitely "Welcome Home" as well. Another major reason I wanted to see this show was to see Laura sing "Love Will Come and Find Me Again". I've seen many clips of her singing it online and it sounded so powerful. I did not feel the same way at all when she sang it live and it was a major disappointment for me. I also had a hard time believing that Corey and the others were war veterans. I absolutely hate when people say things like that but I think it was a key aspect as to what the show is missing. Again, I wanted to root for this show so much and still hopes it succeeds, but for me it was a major disappointment. 
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