Profile for Seperite

I'm trying to whet the appetite of someone with slim-to-zero exposure to theater about some of my favorite musicals...

...the question is, what version should I show her?

For Les Miz, I thought the 2012 Hollywood version did not do the show justice (Crowe, Jackman both terrible) but the only other iteration I can seem to find on streaming apps is the 35th anniversary staged concert. Is there another version out there I'm not aware of? Since my target audience is som

A scene depicting Christine training with the Phantom, or of the Phantom's early life, would have added to/deviated from the novel no more or less than the actual product. In the actual show, the fact that Christine has been taking lessons from the Phantom is discussed by other characters on multiple occasions. And the Phantom's backstory -- his escape from the circus (?) and ostracization -- is explicitly explained by Giri. But here is where Lloyd Webber broke the cardinal rule of th

I read that the Vegas rendition, which evidently closed after running for many years, was a trimmed-down version that cut the length of the piece down to under an hour.

THAT would be an improvement. I saw Phantom this past weekend for the first time in many years, and man, I forgot how much of the show is devoted to utterly blah scenes of palace intrigue between the new owners of the theater and the cast, rehearsal for the operas, performance of the operas, etc. Probably a third to hal

The show feels...incomplete. Like an early draft from an exceptionally talented musician/scorewriter, but far from a final product. There are far too many undeveloped or underdeveloped plot points (the death of Angel, for example, elicits an extraordinary sense of sadness from all of the characters, but up to that point, we are given no indication that any of them, other than Collins, had any kind of relationship with her). One gets the sense that if Larson had lived, the final version of Ren

I was at the third preview, and absolutely *LOVED* the show.

Yes, the score is bad -- putridly so. There is not a single hummable or memorable song. The score is horrendous and grating on the ears from the first note to the last. And the sound design is such that it is very, very hard to hear many of the lyrics. So you're stuck listening to awful music, and not even understanding how the plot or characters are developed while the songs are screeching in your ears.

But the bo

Is there a reason that people go apopleptic when white actors depict characters of color, but when a story about white men and their effort to forge a new nation is set to rap by a cast of almost no white people, it is celebrated?

The irony of progressive thinking is that while it gives lip-service to the notion of eliminating racism and prejudice, it is progressives who are constantly and breathlessly keeping count of how many people from what race are represented in this or that fiel

So, if I'm understanding you correctly, GeorgeandDot, you're of the opinion that Rapp should be unequivocally supported, and that it's entirely appropriate for Spacey's career, reputation, and life to be destroyed, because Rapp alleged that Spacey picked him up and fell on him more than 30 years ago? Are you serious?

Please do not denigrate me by characterizing my opinion as "blaming the victim." Michael Jackson, Jerry Sandusky, Bill Cosby...these people

I love how terms like "victim-blaming," "slut-shaming," "whitesplaining," "mansplaining," and other such constructive, empowering words/phrases are used to foster healthy debate and respectful dialogue. The logic behind them is that if you have an opinion -- that's fantastic...but only to the extent it agrees with mine. If it doesn't, you're nothing more than a [insert term here], and thus, not eligible to participate.

So nauseating.<

Plotline is actually quite similar to "Can't Buy Me Love," the 80s movie that made Patrick Dempsey a star. Social outcast comes up with a seemingly harmless scam that makes him the most popular kid in the school. He gets The Girl he always dreamed of and all seems right with the world. But then he becomes too addicted to the popularity, and mistreats the only friend he had in the pre-cool days. The turning point comes when he publicizes a private poem Th

Surprised to hear all the criticism levied at the lack of comeuppance. Haven't we all seen enough Disney movies, ABC after school specials, action movies, and their morally equivalent parallels in the world of Broadway to not need yet another story where the good people prevail and evil fails? I personally liked the fact that EH hatched and executed a diabolical and deranged plot and (largely) got away with it. I don't need to have my own morals validated by seeing him get punished --

Thanks for the link...it is indeed validating, I suppose, to hear some criticism, but their only gripe is with the moral message of the show. That isn't what bothered me...it's the relentless melodrama from first note to last that I found overwhelming and stifling. To my mind, any musical/drama/movie/book has to take you on a journey that reaches occasional (or an ultimate) emotional peaks in order to be effective.  But when you're at a level of unbridled

Finally saw DEH for the first time tonight....was absolutely *floored* by Michael Lee Brown's spectacular performance. This kid is the real deal. I saw Ben Platt in Mormon, and have also seen various vids of his Hansen performance, and he is certainly excellent. But MLB was really something to watch. He gives such a raw, emotional, deeply 'truthful' performance...it is truly mesmerizing to watch. For anyone who has been hesitant to see the show during the days Platt is absent, I *

No, Margo319, the show is closing because a bunch of boys (and girls) cried wolf, invented, out of whole cloth, a racist motive for a sensible business decision, and thus engulfed the show with so much controversy that *no one* with a prominent name (and thus, the capability to automatically raise ticket sales) would dare step into the morass. That's what's closing the shows.

Words have consequences. People with megaphones (i.e. twitter accounts) claiming that other people

Why is it an "error" to replace a virtual unknown, who has not succeeded in driving an adequate number of sales, with a mega-watt Broadway star with a much larger fanbase?

I wouldn't be so quick to say that people who got a quirky, avant-garde show that required a full-remodeling of a Broadway house (done at their expense) to run on Broadway for a year, and who attracted serious stars to perform (Groban, Patinkin) committed "error after error from

Think Oak and Casal are the only ones who risk adverse career consequences? Au contraire.

If I'm a producer, I'm now reluctant to cast *any* African-Americans in a Broadway show, for fear that the role will then be perceived as permanently limited solely to Black artists. Knowing that no actor stays in a role forever, even if I have my eye set on a Black actor who I think would be perfect for a role, I'd be reluctant to cast him/her, for fear that when the time comes t

I must disagree with the rave. Over 24 hours later, I'm still reliving various scenes from the play in my mind, because it was gritty, interesting, entertaining, thought-provoking, and enjoyable. One does not always (or often) get the privilege of watching a play that is so...timely.

But it was far from perfect. While the characters and story of very interesting, the play itself feels like it drags on and on and on. The first 90% of the play felt as though the characters and story