Profile for robjohn99

re: comparing Dance of the Vampires - - did Dance of the Vampires manage to stay in the top 3 even during a disastrous preview period, or, for that matter, to make 1.7 mil in a week? Spider-man, if it's shown anything thus far, it is precisely the sort of staying power (despite scathing reviews during it's preview period) which demonstrates that it may be tapping into something (for some here, I'm sure, for better or worse!) potentially resonating with a broad and potentially long-lasting aud...

I'm not sure how you would define "smash hit" - Wicked had only so-so reviews when it first came out: http://www.stagegrade.com/productions/359 (a "C+" here vs. C for Spider-man) My point is that even with poor reviews, Wicker has now been on for 8 years, which for Spider-man would be more than enough to presumably recoup. As far as positive word of mouth, Spider-man must be getting SOME sort of positive buzz among actual "people" or it wouldn't be bringing in 1.7 million in a week.... My two...

re: Spider-man breaking even - Hey, Wicked did it (and their reviews were also pretty bad ) - just sayin'... - robjohn

I've actually been a big supporter of Turn Off the Dark and have sincerely been rooting for them (and am looking forward to seeing the revised version after having seen 1.0 twice, etc., notwithstanding the carping that has persisted on this board )...However, I have to say that I'm quite turned off by how cynically they distorted this review from the Chicago Sun-Times (particularly annoying since there were actually plenty of "sincerely" positive reviews or at least potential quotes for them ...

Staying far away from the sniping , I wanted to add a couple of more observations about what has changed between the version I saw last night and the version from the Fall: - generally, anytime they could, they tried to quicken the accompanimental musical pace, even when singing what were previously slow, lyrical sorts of melodies overtop (vs. before when they tended to remain ballads in feel, which dragged the show down)...This was particularly noticeable in Peter Parker's climactic "running...

Just saw Spider-man TOTD for the 2nd time (the first time I saw it was the 3rd day of previews last Fall) and (I have to admit) really loved it this time (so let the sniping begin )… The first time I saw it, I generally found the first act to tell an enjoyable, coherent, Spider-man "origins" story, but found the 2nd Act (as have apparently many) confusing plot-wise, with too many plodding-paced ballads and directorial indulgences… While I can't give you a point-by-point comparison of what exa...

She DID work on the damn thing for 10 years (good or bad) - cut her some slack! robjohn

I really liked it, too - felt like good publicity for the show. Nicely evolving song, understated and well arranged (with some good video shots in the background for extra promo value )... - robjohn99

Hey, we're just happy to have gotten seats while my family is still in town! (that was the only possible alternate date/time besides our original opening night tickets, and there were just 3 orchestra seats left )...But I hear you and it should be interesting... Best - - robjohn

True ...Actually, we have an ultimately happy outcome (under the circumstances) - my family just spent a couple of hours on the phone with Amex and Ticketmaster and managed to get the 3 remaining orch. seats for the day-after's 2 pm matinee (!)...thanks to everyone for their input! Robjohn

One word: "bummer" ... - robjohn

But the performance ISN'T cancelled - just my tickets ..

I would welcome any advice. My brother happened to purchase tickets a week ago Spider-man for Tues, Mar. 15th, which as of two days ago we just found out has now become OPENING NIGHT (needless to say, we were thrilled). Now he just received an email from Ticketmaster stating: "Attention ticket holder! We just learned that your upcoming event has been canceled: Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark Foxwoods Theatre Tuesday, March 15th at 8PM" with options for swapping or a refund. This is outrageous! D...

So which seats would be better: Orchestra Row K (towards the middle), or Flying Circle Row D (towards the middle?) Thanks for any advice! - robjohn99

Another quite cogent assessment of the state of the show (both positives and negatives); http://jkstheatrescene.blogspot.com/2010/12/spider-man-turn-off-dark-5th-preview.html - robjohn99

I think this posting someone did on the whole Spider-man discussion sums things up (at least for me): http://jkstheatrescene.blogspot.com/2010/12/schadenfreude-of-spider-man-turn-off.html - robjohn99