Profile for Auggie27

I agree with Sutton. In hindsight, I'd add: the decision to turn Wicked into two films was a sound - even brilliant - commercial decision yet a questionable one artistically. The second film is harder to even remember, 6 weeks after a viewing. It doesn't have the event status, and only one standalone signature numbers; and even its high points are buried in a lot of expository sequences to move the story's wrap-up forward. I now see how one brilliant 3 hour movie mig

"Floyd Collins was a very strange choice for Lincoln Center..."

With all due respect, I don't think Floyd Collins was a strange choice for Lincoln Center at all. It was probably an unpopular choice for Jordan fans, and the word of mouth among 'em was: you can skip this one. (I heard some at intermission express disappointment that "this was the show he chose to do." A man next to me, a fan dating to Newsies, left ) An

Prada and Beaches in the same season feels like too much of the same general sub-genre (understanding that one is edgy-ish comedy, one a tearjerker-ish; both have chick-lit-like origin stories) for the same target audience. I'm reminded of Smash on the boards with Death Becomes Her.  Yes, I know these show can be pulled apart and viewed differently from one another. Yet they seek the same general audience. By Tony time, cli

Thanks once again to TDF, I was there this afternoon in a packed house, an audience that leaned forward almost en masse in rapt attention. The unhurried, low key naturalism that slyly  launches the action as the characters gather to celebrate of happiest night of their lives feels like an especially brilliant directorial choice in hindsight. The play's journey toward revelation upon revelation via 2500 year-old plot machinery makes the suspension of disbelief a de

Jordan isn't an obvious choice, but does tour with his own rock band and thus this sort of presentational turf isn't alien to him. Yet I agree: will he sell tickets? The show is a unique synergy of specific performer, who nursed the project, and song catalog. It needs a winning personality who can morph before an audience's eyes, with a pop singer's voice and a hipster sophistication. (Morrison seems closer to me than Jordan on this point).

Listen to the (brilliant

It's been interesting to note now often Redwood is cited as context. Yet other than the obvious connection to Chenoweth, its a show with almost zero parallels to Queen. In content, style, and comparatively modest presentation, not similar at all. It offered a relatable tale of a grieving woman's journey to self-forgiveness if not closure. We can mock its wide-eyed belief in Thoreau's Walden for spiritual and corporeal reinvention, its New Age twee-ness (nami

"Don't blame Arden. No one could make this work."

Arden was involved almost from the outset, one of the first tier creatives. The show had a high profile out of town engagement with mainstream reviews that proved prescient in their diagnostics. Arden shepherded the piece through every step, the artistic team leader tasked with finding solutions to problems identified by consensus. We can lose the word "blame," but to pretend his hands-on input was

The post-closing deconstruction of Arden and company's justification in this thread is so persuasively argued, the last thoughtful word on this show; and as someone who's been here two decades - and saw Queen, for the record - the kind of discourse this board is known for. Thank you, smart folks.

I'll just add: Blaming this debacle on misogyny is rich indeed. The show is a celebration of a navel-gazing woman who has no skill, no discern

Count me among the disappointed. I wanted to love it, and the first 10 minutes gave me hope, since it begns in medias res. Yet. This take will infuriate those who were enchanted, yet ... from strictly a craft standpoint, it must be noted that an efficient hour second act on Broadway has been expanded to 2 hours 17 minutes, and the resulting padding (a wedding, origin story flashbacks, 2 new but unmemorable songs, one with almost indecipherable lyrics) leaves the audience co