LEMPICKA Reviews- Page 21

[hearthemsing22]

Posted: 5/22/24 at 10:38am

veronicamae said: "hearthemsing22 said: "Yesterday Eden posted a story saying they would have been doing act II by now.

Matt Gould posted something as well that I almost rolled my eyes at.

Here come the tributes, but now they're just annoying me so much."

You can unfollow them if it bothers you, you know.

People are allowed to "grieve" the closing of something they cared so much about and invested so much of their time and energy in, even if some of them made a poor showing about why it closed."

Oh I'm well aware. I muted the show on twitter. Yes, they are allowed to mourn. But they just can't blame anyone else at this point. 

[LYLS3637]

Posted: 5/22/24 at 11:06am

verywellthensigh said: "All right, now. The show is closed. Y'all can just stop.
 

To quote our nation's greatest Press Secretary: "Oh my God-- day three..." The glee in which some people are still expressing over this show bombing is making me run into the arms of the creatives... I see now why they're so bitter.



 

[hearthemsing22]

Posted: 5/22/24 at 11:12am

LYLS3637 said: "verywellthensigh said: "All right, now. The show is closed. Y'all can just stop.


To quote our nation's greatest Press Secretary: "Oh my God-- day three..." The glee in which some people are still expressingover this show bombing is making me run into the arms of the creatives... I see now why they're so bitter.



"

I'm not happy it closed. I was just very, very turned off and it was difficult to feel sorry for them after the way the fans reacted to the show, and the speeches some of the creatives made at closing.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 5/22/24 at 11:20am

I’ll never not enjoy people saying that people are allowed to say what they want to say while telling someone here not to say what they want to say. 

[hearthemsing22]

Posted: 5/22/24 at 11:45am

Jordan Catalano said: "I’ll never not enjoy people saying that people are allowed to say what they want to say while telling someone here not to say what they want to say."

Personally I always enjoy when people post subtle jabs at others like they've never done anything wrong, and they're such angels on here. So wonderful 

[JSquared2]

Posted: 5/22/24 at 1:55pm

How long until we get LEMPICKA: The Reunion Concert! ???

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 5/22/24 at 2:32pm

"How long until we get LEMPICKA: The Reunion Concert! ???"

I know this post was probably half meant as a joke, but I can almost guarantee there would be more interest in this reunion concert than there was for How to Dance in Ohio.

[binau]

Posted: 5/22/24 at 3:45pm

Updated On: 5/26/24 at 03:45 PM

[hearthemsing22]

Posted: 5/22/24 at 3:56pm

I love weird. I try to see weird as often as I can. But it doesn't mean I'm going to say yes it's weird and there's a former Elphaba in it so it must be good. We've learned that the Critic's Pick label doesn't really hold much significance lately. 

Of course investors wouldn't put money into something they don't believe it. But that doesn't mean the theatergoing public is just as willing. 

Just because one song is memorable for some, doesn't mean it is for everyone. I respect what you wrote, but also don't believe all of it as a reason why this show should have stayed open, if that's what you're hoping. 

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 5/22/24 at 10:36pm

So with the cast recording coming out on digital next week, is it normal that there's just no promotion for it?

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 5/22/24 at 10:45pm

TheatreFan4 said: "So with the cast recording coming out on digital next week, is it normal that there's just no promotion for it?"

No use promoting a niche product that isn't available yet.

Tracks might not be ready to tease out yet.

I'm sure they'll try to drum up some press for it next week surrounding its release.

As with any show, once it's closed, the social and advertising teams aren't paid anymore so they're typically not going to be posting content.

[bwayobsessed]

Posted: 5/23/24 at 7:36am

I think this is one of the few scores this season where after I walked out I could tell you about almost any song in the show whereas so many of the new scores I truly couldn’t identify much beyond the main one to three tracks in the show. 

[hearthemsing22]

Posted: 5/23/24 at 8:31am

bwayobsessed said: "I think this is one of the few scores this season where after I walked out I could tell you about almost any song in the show whereas so many of the new scores I truly couldn’t identify much beyond the main one to three tracks in the show."

I love that for you! 

That doesn't mean it will apply to everyone. 

[Huss417]

Posted: 5/23/24 at 9:12am

hearthemsing22 said: "bwayobsessed said: "I think this is one of the few scores this season where after I walked out I could tell you about almost any song in the show whereas so many of the new scores I truly couldn’t identify much beyond the main one to three tracks in the show."

I love that for you!

That doesn't mean it will apply to everyone."

I don't see where they implied anything other than what they felt. But I do feel you saying  "I love that for you." does sound somewhat condescending.

Personally less than an hour after seeing the show I couldn't recall any songs from the show.

[OhHiii]

Posted: 5/23/24 at 9:15am

Can we just please for the love of god let this one go? People who don’t like hearing criticism about something they enjoy, you shouldn’t be on a discussion board where people are empowered to give their opinions. And perhaps you should also question your inability to enjoy something without having someone else’s opinion affect your experience with that something. Otherwise, what is it that’s really driving your enjoyment? Is it the imaginary clout you get from being someone on the “well maybe you just don’t *get* it” high horse? Or what? Either way, obnoxious and insufferable. 

[hearthemsing22]

Posted: 5/23/24 at 9:15am

Huss417 said: "hearthemsing22 said: "bwayobsessed said: "I think this is one of the few scores this season where after I walked out I could tell you about almost any song in the show whereas so many of the new scores I truly couldn’t identify much beyond the main one to three tracks in the show."

I love that for you!

That doesn't mean it will apply to everyone."

I don't see where they implied anything other than what they felt. But I do feel you saying "I love that for you." does sound somewhat condescending.

Personally less than an hour after seeing the show I couldn'trecall any songs from the show."

I definitely could have phrased that better- you're right. I love that it hit home with a lot of people and that they felt moved by the score. But I also agree with you, that I couldn't remember any songs either 

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 5/23/24 at 9:16am

Y’all know this show closed on Sunday, right?

[hearthemsing22]

Posted: 5/23/24 at 9:27am

ColorTheHours048 said: "Y’all know this show closed on Sunday, right?"

After a show closes, especially if people believe the run was cut short prematurely, there will always be people commenting about it, mourning it, saying "a plague upon the houses of those who did not give this movie a chance!" So. Feel free to ignore this thread. But the mourning doesn't end just because the show did 

[hearthemsing22]

Posted: 5/23/24 at 11:14am

I wonder why Playbill waited until after the show closed to post this article https://playbill.com/article/our-time-inside-lempickas-devoted-mostly-queer-fanbase

[veronicamae]

Posted: 5/23/24 at 1:34pm

TheatreFan4 said: "So with the cast recording coming out on digital next week, is it normal that there's just no promotion for it?"

It might actually not be out next week; there's been confusion about this. Eden stated last Saturday that it was delayed (she didn't know how long) and Playbill, later that day, re-tweeted their article about the album which said it will release on physical AND streaming on July 8.

And since the show closed, their advertising agency, which makes their graphics and videos and runs their social, will be largely decommissioned as they won't be getting paid. Until/unless they move the social accounts over to the hands of like....Gould (eep!), we won't see much from them save for key moments like the album release, a Tony win (if it were to occur), and nothing else.

[MezzA101]

Posted: 5/27/24 at 4:31pm

Behind the Scenes of a Short-Lived Broadway Musical

 

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/06/03/behind-the-scenes-of-a-short-lived-broadway-musical

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 5/27/24 at 5:04pm

MezzA101 said: "Behind the Scenes of a Short-Lived Broadway Musical

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/06/03/behind-the-scenes-of-a-short-lived-broadway-musical"

Thanks for this link. All visitors to this thread should read it. It puts into words much of what we already knew, with some interesting contradictions (Chavkin asking her friends to text criticism, asserting that she loves feedback), and we learn that the failure really was a self-fulfilling prophecy courtesy of the creatives - like Chavkin’s “It’s a mess! It’s a mess!” quote. 

We also learn that the Chavkin Way thing was organized by marketing. Here I was naively assuming the local council had generously arranged it. But nope, just underhanded ego-jerking-off. 

Another choice line that sums it up for me, proving that even those closest to it didn’t even have a handle on the show’s identity: ‘The composer of “Lempicka,” Matt Gould, wrote the score in the spirit of eighties blockbuster musicals. “I’ve been calling this show ‘Lez Miz,’ ” he said‘

Updated On: 5/27/24 at 05:04 PM

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 5/27/24 at 5:08pm

MezzA101 said: "Behind the Scenes of a Short-Lived Broadway Musical

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/06/03/behind-the-scenes-of-a-short-lived-broadway-musical"


That's a great piece, even if it really doesn't dissect much of what didn't connect with the masses for LEMPICKA and doesn't touch on her relationship with the producers at all.

A few other takeaways:

1) I'd still like to see her SUNDAY IN THE PARK (which was supposed to happen at Williamstown in 2017 before it got scrapped due to the Gyllenhaal revival).

2) These sentiments make me want to walk into traffic. Amber Gray, a mixed-race actress and TEAM member who played the original Persephone in Chavkin’s “Hadestown,” told me that her relationship with Chavkin has grown strained over time owing to issues of compensation. As the director, Chavkin receives royalties; as an actor, Gray does not. Chavkin told me that she plans to share her royalties with the show’s original Broadway leads, but that she has faced bureaucratic hurdles in doing so. Gray said, “I think some of her morals and ethics—there’s not space for them in those commercial machines.” Still, she gave Chavkin credit for trying to put her ideals into practice in a “yucky, antiquated” system. “Commercial theatre is not about camaraderie. It’s not about the art. It is about making money,” Gray said, adding, “That eats people alive.” A director is a leadership role and a director must be comfortable with asserting that authority over other collaborators who, as valued as they may be, are subordinates. The director must be "The Muscle" on the show, as William Goldman said, and there may have been no muscle on Lempicka. The line about the Bolsheviks strikes a similar tone.

3) This kind of sums up what drives her and it really seems like she's not happy in the commercial space. I usually like her as a director, but maybe she needs a break from commercial theatre after Gatsby. Afterward, on a car ride back to Brooklyn, Chavkin stared out the window. “I often felt, with the Team, that we were too warm or emotional or whatnot for downtown,” she said. “And then, uptown, I feel very welcomed, but also often have felt like my taste doesn’t align with a lot of what gets celebrated or sustained.” She went on, “I won’t speak to this season at all, for a number of reasons, but in previous seasons I will see stuff and I will just be, like, I don’t understand. I am genuinely confused by what ‘good’ is. It’s something about the comfort of the familiar, when what I’ve always been most exhilarated by is, I’ve never seen that before.”

Updated On: 5/27/24 at 05:08 PM

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 5/27/24 at 5:13pm

BorisTomashevsky said: "We also learn that the Chavkin Way thing was organized by marketing. Here I was naively assuming the local council had generously arranged it. But nope, just underhanded ego-jerking-off."

There was never a question about this being organized by anyone but the shows' press agent. This stuff doesn't just happen out of the goodness of NYC's heart –– not for a figure as relatively minor as a theatre director. It's also only a temporary, honorific naming that lasts about 24 hours. It's no longer called Chavkin Way. Permanent namings take much more work. So yes, you're naive.

Updated On: 5/27/24 at 05:13 PM

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 5/27/24 at 5:23pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "BorisTomashevsky said: "We also learn that the Chavkin Way thing was organized by marketing. Here I was naively assuming the local council had generously arranged it. But nope, just underhanded ego-jerking-off."

There was never a question about this being organized by anyone but the shows' press agent. This stuff doesn't just happen out of the goodness of NYC's heart –– not for a figure asrelativelyminor as a theatre director. It's also only a temporary,honorific naming that lasts about 24 hours. It's no longer called Chavkin Way. Permanent namings take much more work."

All true; I suppose I just never imagined any director agreeing to something like that if it had come from within the production. I’d expect a reasonable person to demure to the very suggestion rather than stand there posing for photos on the street. Which all made me think it was “bestowed” by some city department that promotes getting audiences to the theatre or something. And I know it was temporary (just like the Kander & Ebb thing) but the article says that anyway; thanks for the education all the same. 

Oops, I posted before you edited in your last jab, but naively assuming doesn’t make me naive. 

Updated On: 5/27/24 at 05:23 PM