La Jolla THE WIZ - official reviews- Page 2

[i*heart*fame]

Posted: 10/12/06 at 7:33pm

Where would it go? Cry Baby already postponed because of the lack of space.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 10/12/06 at 7:38pm

Truthfully, CIRCLE IN THE SQUARE would make the most sense for the "environmental" stuff they are talking about, though its possible that it could take the Hirschfeld instead of CURTAINS after WEDDING SINGER closes in December.

The producers had/have their eye on the ST. JAMES but apparently Mel Brooks is obsessed with getting YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN there, even if THE PRODUCERS doesn't make it through the winter.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 10/12/06 at 7:56pm

It doesn't really need an environmental space. Circle in the Square was the first theatre I thought of too, but after seeing the show the Mandell Weiss Theatre was/is a proscenium stage, and for The Wiz they just sort of mask that by having the audience seated "on stage" in what is essentially the off stage wing area of stage left and right. the actors enter and exit the stage through the back, through the trap center stage, though what is usually the orchestra pit, and through exits created in the vicinity of the fire curtain on the left and right that give access to what is left of the remaining backstage area. I would imagine that they could do that to almost any theatre.

[marcmcmartin]

Posted: 10/12/06 at 10:02pm

I think the only recent successful revival to be "re-imagined" and I use that loosely was "Cabaret". It was darker, grittier, less flashy and less "Broadway". However, I honestly believe that if it wasn't a British import, the critics would have trashed it. Our critics have a tendency to embrace anything British as if it is theatrical gold, even when it's not. For that reason, I will be curious to see how Caroline, or Change does with the critics in London. I wonder if that works in reverse? Personally, I thought Caroline did an immense amount for breaking down existing walls in musical theatre. Was it perfect? No. But it was exhilarating nonetheless. Trust me, if that show had COME from London, the critics would have more than likely said it was genius.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 10/12/06 at 10:05pm

How about Chicago?

Sweeney did well.

[marcmcmartin]

Posted: 10/12/06 at 10:17pm

You got me.....sort of
The only reason I didnt include Chicago was because it was a direct transfer of an Encores--the reimagining was due to the contraints of Encores, and when it worked, hey why spend more money to resdesign!!

Sweeny, yes, but the poster said financially successful, and again that was a British import (the bastards!)

I loved Kiss Me, Kate, but that never made its money back.

[lite2shine]

Posted: 10/12/06 at 11:43pm

I really don't understand why writing how I felt after seeing the show from a house seat would be discrediting the positive reactions. There is no room for dissenting opinion on this board?

And I did felt as a regional theatre production, it was great. I think La Jolla Playhouse is one of the best regional theatres on West Coast.

But I felt the same way when I saw Palm Beach: The Screwball Musical two years ago or so at La Jolla. I remember some people raved about the show and said it was ready for Broadway, which I didn't agree. I did think as a regional production, it was well done and fun but I didn't think it's strong enough for a BW show. (the show didn't transfer to BW after all)

I also felt the same when I saw Times That They Are A-Changin' at Old Globe that the show wasn't ready for BW critics or savvy theatre goers. Yet some people raved like they saw the Second Coming. It did go to BW but look what kind of word of mouth responses it's getting now.

[musicaltheater1]

Posted: 10/12/06 at 11:48pm

You nailed it marcmcmartin.
But, Cabaret (The Broadway Revival) wasn't truly reimagined. The current London one, maybe. The former was a very good production and financially successful. I still watch a show based on the story and music and not waste my time on critics and purists' negative reviews and comments.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 10/12/06 at 11:52pm

Cabaret also came from London.



I'm just playing with you now.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 12:02am

CABARET was reimagined. Maybe on a lesser scale than something like SWEENEY, but it still was.

And so was BIG RIVER.

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 12:35am

Circle in the Square is indeed one of the main theaters they are looking at on Broadway.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 1:41am

I was hoping not. It's right next to the Gershwin. that would be lame. and Spelling Bee would either have to move theatres or close. if I could pick I'd choose the Hirschfeld Theatre. has Wedding Singer switched to black and white playbills yet???
Updated On: 10/13/06 at 01:41 AM

[alterego]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 1:59am

From everything I have read about this "reimaging" of THE WIZ I just hope it dies a quiet painless death at La Jolla.

[fengshuihellnyc]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 2:54am

personally I hope the show doesn't die a death. I want all of the no brained cynical idiots who post reviews and say see I told you so... when they haven't even seen the show themselves. People On here.. I swear they are absolutely F-ing Brilliant.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 11:42am

SAN DIEGO UNION TRIBUNE is mixed:

"On opening night, though the $2.8 million show was packed solid with invention, there just wasn't enough there there. The charming L. Frank Baum story feels wrong for the high-gloss hippified treatment, more buried than animated by the effects."



http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20061013/news_1c13wiz.html

[erikaamato]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 11:57am

Variety has a RAVE!

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117931842?categoryid=33&cs=1

OOPS! Somehow didn't notice the eariler post with the same info. Sorry.
Updated On: 10/13/06 at 11:57 AM

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 12:21pm

Wow, it's only a $2.8 Million dollar production? How the hell did Sweeney cost $3 Mill.?

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 12:31pm

Union costs for Broadway push up the budget, RENTBOY. That and advertising costs (NY TIMES, etc). Obviously, in a regional theatre setting that production of SWEENEY could have been mounted unbelievably cheaply.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 12:36pm

Oh okay. I always forget about the Union and whatnot. I suppose it would have to be cheap for a regional theater anyways. But considering everything is built, the main cost would be covering the actors/musicians?

[dented146]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 1:55pm

Actually a move to NYC would require the total revamp of a new theatre and most things would need to be redone. I've heard guesstamations in the 12M range for a NY tranfer.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 2:02pm

Hm. I think it might do well in the city. It's a fun show but not in the way Wedding Singer is fun, it does have some depth and some great performances from what the reviews have said. It will be interesting to see if it does indeed open this season.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 10/13/06 at 2:21pm

No the main cost would be in advertising and stage union costs (which I guess does include actors/musicians, but also crew, design team and even ushers.) The creative team also takes a higher percentage of gross on Broadway.

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 3:05am

All shows at the playhouse are a lot cheaper than on BROADWAY.

If THE WIZ goes to Broadway it is estimated to cost between $$10-12 Million

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 3:59am

The LA Times is Mixed:

"Condensed to a little over two hours, McAnuff's electric if not particularly emotionally stirring rendering features a dazzlingly innovative multimedia staging that revealed a few kinks on opening night. Twice the show was stopped for glitches, with the director having to grab a microphone and play emcee as a stray drilling sound was tracked down and a computer rebooted.

Robert Brill (billed as the "scenic and environmental designer") has reconfigured the theater so that the yellow brick road runs through the audience. It's a nice touch, though it leaves little room for dancing, and Sergio Trujillo's choreography seems clumsily confined.

Brill and projection designer Michael Clark, however, succeed magnificently in creating a 21st century look for the show. The array of technical wizardry on a darkened stage outfitted with video screens may have a disembodying effect, but it lends freshness to familiar antics.

Dramatically, the work may have been boiled down a bit too much. At times, the new version feels like musical-theater postcards from Oz. But then Brown's clunky book was never easy to make fly.

Mostly, this latest "Wiz" amounts to a celebration of Smalls' music, which has been given a subtle yet highly effective hip-hop face-lift by musical director Ron Melrose, with singing that ranges from good to transcendent. Much on display is top-drawer, yet something fundamental seems missing.

When "The Wiz" was first done, it was historic, not simply because an all-black cast was triumphing on Broadway but because they were doing so in a classic that Judy Garland had made a staple of childhood. McAnuff approaches the material as though the time for cultural correctives of this kind is behind us. Apparently we've come to point where we can all appreciate "The Wiz" on purely theatrical grounds, potholed though it may be.
_______________________________________________________________

Striving to be inclusive, the utopian production casts the good witch Addaperle with Heather Lee, a white actress who's like a cross between Shelley Long and Carol Kane, decked in wacky Cyndi Lauper threads. Her ridiculously kooky performance seems bizarre even in a land overrun by flying monkeys.

But how does "The Wiz" speak to us today? I'm not sure that a white director, even one as abundantly talented as McAnuff, is the person to most compellingly answer this. Hypothetically speaking, a staging by George C. Wolfe might be just as otherworldly, but I'd expect he'd confront the issue of race with more complexity than simply providing Burgess' big sissy Lion with some "Oz bling."
http://www.calendarlive.com/cl-et-wiz14oct14,0,3515259.story?coll=cl-home-top-blurb-right

[alterego]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 9:52am

"yet something fundamental seems missing" -Could it be heart? Updated On: 10/14/06 at 09:52 AM