rOcKS @ 'Memphis'- Page 2

[Testing1232]

Posted: 9/27/09 at 11:20am

<< if it makes it to xmas it will close in Jan
>>

I NEVER want any show to close, regardless of my personal feelings about it ... that being said, I would be shocked if this show did not close shortly after the reviews come out.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 9/27/09 at 2:18pm

We must have seen a different show (my wife & I & the audience)

Thoroughly enjoyed it. Best show we have seen in quite awhile.

Updated On: 9/27/09 at 02:18 PM

[Testing1232]

Posted: 9/27/09 at 3:18pm

<< Best show we have seen in quite awhile. >>

Wow. Roxy, I am glad you enjoyed it, and respect all opinions. Just curious--- what did you like about it?

Book, score, sets, etc?

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 9/27/09 at 3:42pm

Everything

Gave it a ten

[Blockhead24]

Posted: 9/27/09 at 3:57pm

Mr. Roxy i have to admit that it's really good to know that I'm not the only one who enjoyed it..yeah it has flaws but i still like it

[Testing1232]

Posted: 9/27/09 at 5:47pm

<< Everything

Gave it a ten>>

Okay... at least I feel better now that I know you are just joking.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 9/27/09 at 5:53pm

I was not kidding. I am deadly serious. Thought it was great

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 9/27/09 at 8:30pm

Of COURSE you did Roxy. Anybody who has paid attention to your posts for the last five years knows how this sort of thing gives you a boner. But you know what, none of this puts you in a time machine and takes you back to see Carrie. You can see all the flops you want, but you didn't see Carrie.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 9/27/09 at 8:54pm

Hey moron (NAMO)

Kindly keep your trap closed if you haven't seen it. As far as the boner remark, it shows what a no class individual you are.

Go back & hide under your rock .

By the way, I could not & would not criticize or extol Carrie as I never saw it. Not seeing a show apparently is no obstacle for you to critique a show.

Updated On: 9/27/09 at 08:54 PM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 9/27/09 at 9:24pm

Boy you miss every point by a mile.

And I saw Memphis in 2003. So. There.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 9/27/09 at 9:42pm

Pay no attention to Namo, im starting to think he only comes on this site to act like a little b***h

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 9/27/09 at 10:14pm

You can write bitch, bitch.

Updated On: 9/27/09 at 10:14 PM

[AndAllThatJazz22]

Posted: 9/27/09 at 10:18pm

"Pay no attention to Namo, im starting to think he only comes on this site to act like a little b***h"

I know that Namo can be a pain sometimes...and sometimes his posts are less understandable than Sean Connery speaking Chinese with a heavy, fake southern accent, but 90% of the time he knows what he's talking about. Although he has a strange way of wording his opinions, a lot of them are very intelligent and I have never seen him judge a show he hasn't seen.

Just my .02

[Kalimba]

Posted: 9/27/09 at 10:29pm

I wasted a few hours of my afternoon at this dreck this past weekend. Chad Kimball really needs to find another career. How he got hired to begin with is beyond me. How this crap made it to the Broadway stage just boggles my mind.
Updated On: 9/27/09 at 10:29 PM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 9/27/09 at 10:38pm

I was merely pointing out that Roxy is a flop chaser. He runs out and sees anything with horrible word of mouth and bad critical reception. 75% of the time he reports either that he and Mrs Roxy "thought it was great" or that "the critics had it in for" the show.

I finally figured out he is hoping one day to be able to see the one show everybody wishes to have seen so he can get bragging rights. But that show was Carrie and he can't go back in time to see it.

Others have pointed out how funny it is that Roxy spends money to see flops while lamenting people can't afford theater tickets anymore.

That's all.

[CSonBroadway]

Posted: 9/27/09 at 10:43pm

I was excited for this but now that school is back in session and I am very busy and have limited time for city trips, I will probably cross this off my list and not waste my time.

[Josh Freilich]

Posted: 10/6/09 at 11:31pm

Mr. Roxy i have to admit that it's really good to know that I'm not the only one who enjoyed it..yeah it has flaws but i still like it

You might wanna count me in too. I give it an 8/10.

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 10/6/09 at 11:42pm

I saw it Saturday afternoon. Didn't think it was as horrible as people are saying it is. Mind you, it's not great by any stretch of the imagination. Chad Kimball and that ridiculous accent (to me, he's channeling Dubya) need to go. But while his character is not likeable, some of his songs are quite good, even the title number. Montego Glover is fine, but I found her singing voice not as inspiring as I'm sure as the producers think it is. The brother either needs to go, or at least get rid of that HORRIBLE "she's my sister" song. The mother's song in act two need to go too. It's so far left field from her character in act one, and it's not that pleasurable either.

I think what they really need to do is take a hatchet to the show. But I think what might be left might actually be good.

That said, the audience, including some groups I notice, were eating it up. I think it really fits in line in what people think they want to see - bouncy tunes, a love story, some great production values - and skip the fact that it's not a great show. Hell, it worked for some other far more wretched long-running shows (fill in your own blank).

[BillFinn]

Posted: 10/7/09 at 2:41am

My 2 Cents:

I didn't think it was HORRIBLE!!! as I had heard it made out to be. The way I came out of the theater was the same way I came out of Mamma Mia; it was fun and superfluous. I mean, I swore it was a Jukebox Musical but I was corrected soon after. They do beat you over the head with the racism issue. That got tedious 10 minutes into the show. I actually thought Montego Glover was working her butt off in terms of acting/vocals, but Chad Kimball. It's not that he's bad. He's a hard worker, but he's terribly miscast. I don't even know if I would say Chad is leading man material for this piece. Maybe if the material were stronger and tailored to his strengths, but right now we're fighting more for the lead girl when we should be fighting for the lead guy.

I feel like this show had a lot of potential, but needed a better book writer who wrote for the character more so than writing for the cheap joke. Another thing that bothered me was the 11 o'clock number sung by Chad Kimball, "Memphis Lives in Me". If your main character is going to bring down the house with a number, stating that this city he loves and cherishes lives within him (a city we have been shown NOTHING about except that people shoot guns and beat interracial couples...), then the city needs to be a character. The environment and atmosphere must be more, more present. We need to be thrown into what Memphis means way before the 11 o'clock number. i.e. Grey Gardens... if you're an outsider coming into that musical, the sets/Act 1 Big Edie and Act 1 Little Edie all tell you how much this house means to them and how beautiful it is, an oasis right? That's sort of what Memphis needs right now. It's not worthy of having the 11 o'clock number unless you can show it sooner.

That all being said, I will say the performances saved it and I'm glad I stayed for Act II for Cass Morgan. It was a ridiculous number, but she belted IT!

Updated On: 10/7/09 at 02:41 AM

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 10/7/09 at 9:06am

The difference is that between this and a jukebox musical is that jukebox musicals, have GOOD songs.

I actually think MEMPHIS would benefit from being a jukebox musical.

'Cause the actual songs from this period are far better than anything they're singing on stage.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 10/7/09 at 9:28am

I agree. There's SO much great music from this era. Where did this score come from? Its so unmemorable and it really doesn't feel authentic.

[massofmen]

Posted: 10/7/09 at 12:31pm

ugh i saw this show a few days ago and it was awful.
In this economy there is no way this show will last. People are going to use their money to see something that they KNOW is good and that the word of mouth is "oh you have to see it" like how people come out of ROA, not "eh it was fine" like how people come out of shrek.
This show will be dead by jan.

[iWannaBEaSedaris]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 6:20pm

Chad Kimball gives me hope. He shows anyone with charisma and endurance can make it, even if they aren't right for the part!

[Sleeper2]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 10:37pm

I didn't think it was AWFUL; it was more like the ugly stepchild of Hairspray and Dreamgirls who got adopted at the end by the Jersey Boys. I mean, was there enough unnecessary dancing??? (please Sergio Trujillo, stop already) Diction was terrible but what I understood was shocking. A song called "Everyone Wants to be Black on Saturday Night"????!

Still, I didn't completely hate it.

But the really laugh out loud moment was the super effeminate disc jockey talking about his wife. Was this a joke or just poor casting? People sitting around me didn't know whether to laugh or gasp. I don't know who played that role -- he was in the ensemble dancing in the finale and dude can move despite his size and age.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 10/15/09 at 12:16pm

I have spoken to two non-BWW folks who walked out...one BEFORE intermission!