Revisiting this score via the album confirms my intial impression, which is that most of Wainwright's music is really beautiful, and that the lyrics are almost universally eye-wateringly bad.
The first time I saw this show, I had the creeping doubt that it was only as funny as it was because it was fresh. The second time, I had the creeping doubt that it was only as funny as it was because of Cole, et al. The third time, I have no doubts that Oh, Mary! isn't just a great star vehicle for Cole Escola (this is the first alternate Mary I've seen), but a great star vehicle period, and a much more flexible comedy than I first thought.
Kinda crazy to me that this was the worse of the two Bob Martin flops this season. Jasmine Amy Rogers is a powerhouse (amazing how she can dominate the stage in the first half of the opening number when all you can see is her face) and there are some respectable melodies, but the book and set are both weirdly claustrophobic. Martin sets up a bunch of t-balls for himself and then whiffs basically all of them, and every scene feels like it's from a different draft of the script. And then th
In particular, they've been working on it since it closed, including "some pretty big revisions to tighten the show" and are hopeful for future productions. Malloy also mentions that the Morris dancers scene reminded him of Frogger, "so the music there is a hybrid of traditional Morris dancing and the theme music to Frogger", which absolutely flew over my head - compare the Frogger theme to the bit at 2:50 in Don't Say Mice.
The main emotional impact I felt from Dead Outlaw was a sense of wonder at the fleeting smallness of life, which is kind of a cerebral reaction for a show to provoke, and it doesn't surprise me that that didn't translate into boffo box office. I can't say the advertising was particularly good, either, and I would even include the dryly succinct title in that.
Also, my god, is the Longacre cursed or something?
Owen22 said: "gibsons2 said: "Less weird, "passion project" stuff and more musicals people can see themselves in and relate to, please. Those tend to stick around for a while."
This gem of ashow was all about people. Real people who found they could express themselves to Elmer, sometimes their secret selves. One of the most human shows of the season. With the best score of TWO seasons!"
I really enjoyed this, even with some reservations, the primary one being that this really belongs off-Broadway. That's not a comment on the quality of the material, but the format itself, which reminded me of something like Ride the Cyclone or some of Malloy's smaller works. Shagginess can be a benefit to a show in a more intimate venue, but here I found myself wishing for just a little more. A little more structure, a little more spectacle, a little more body.
Not to kick a show right before it's taken off life support, but this was an absolutely bizarre misfire. I have to admit that I'm not at all familiar with the TV show, and I'd kind of hoped that that would make it more appealing, because a lot of the criticism seemed to revolve around the changes that were made. The fact that it's advertised as a "comedy about a musical" also lurked at the back of my mind.
Unfortunately, I don't think there was any salvagi
I've always loved "knitting sweaters and sitting still" and "living life in a living room" as Rose's examples of what "people who don't know they're alive" do.
