Santino Fontana and Judy Kuhn in I can get it for you wholesale- Page 4

[Tenor8674]

Posted: 10/15/23 at 4:49pm

Rushed for the matinee today. $30.  The production is excellent.  Lester steals the show as Miss Marmelstein.   Go see it!

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 10/19/23 at 11:25am

Extended through December 17.

[inception]

Posted: 10/19/23 at 1:48pm

Come on people, sell this out so that they extend again at leat until the 24th.

[yyys]

Posted: 10/19/23 at 2:03pm

Didnt know there's rush for this?? Or is it the under 30 discount ?

 

Tenor8674 said: "Rushed for the matinee today. $30. The production is excellent. Lester steals the show as Miss Marmelstein. Go see it!"

 

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 10/19/23 at 2:07pm

Miss Marmelstein:

Barbra Streisand (1962) & Julia Lester (2023)

[KConradG]

Posted: 10/19/23 at 3:57pm

yyys said: "Didnt know there's rush for this?? Or is it the under 30 discount ?

There's a rush that opens 1 hour before curtain. 1 ticket per person. And there is a 35 and under discount, but I didn't see any green star seats when looking at dates I could see it in early December. So now I'm debating buying now vs rushing.

Updated On: 10/20/23 at 03:57 PM

[Tenor8674]

Posted: 10/19/23 at 6:53pm

I was there by 1 and the only person rushing on Sunday.  I had only been there once before to see ALLEGRO and I got in via rush too.  There were about 4 empty seats after the show started.  It was also the first matinee. 

Updated On: 10/19/23 at 06:53 PM

[LexiGirl]

Posted: 10/19/23 at 8:03pm

I had been waiting for this to extend since I will be in NYC a few days after the original closing date. Saved a Sunday spot for it and it happens to be one of the only Sundays they won’t have a show. Darn!

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 10/19/23 at 8:31pm

Trying to close the italics.


Nope. Didn't work. Updated On: 10/19/23 at 08:31 PM

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 10/19/23 at 10:42pm

this is worth seeing given the fine cast and interesting performances but theres a reason this show isnt produced often, and i agree with whoever said above we are unlikely to see a major production of it again. unlike classics that can survive decades of age, the dialogue is creaky, the jokes are stale and the plot is completely ridiculous.

i say all this even though i enjoyed watching so many fine actors do their thing. Fontana is fine, but his character is completely detestable start to finish. think of the jackass he played in Tootsie, but without any jokes or charm or character arc. With this sour hole in the middle of the show, where can it go? This production tries very hard give us an opening scene that will somehow contextualize him but its hollow and doesnt work.

Everyone else is pretty great though. Rebecca Naomi Jones seems miscast as the submissive, sweet, fool, but shes funny and regal. She is being directed to sing softly, I think, in the first act, but her character comes alive in a great number in act 2 that i thought she knocked right out of the park.  Joy Woods is phenomenal, singing her big numbers with ease, and Greg Hildreth is also doing great work here. Judy Kuhn was unsurprising but a pleasure to watch and listen to, and injected some heft and genuine mammaleh vibes into the proceedings. In much smaller parts, Adam Chanler-Berat and Sarah Steele especially should not be overlooked. And yes Julia Lester is a knockout, with the best numbers, and the critics are going to write her many love letters.

I am very curious if the ending, or at least the way its staged, is a Trip Cullman twist or was in the original. Given the screaming hoards in the streets these days, I thought the show finally found something to say only at the very end. 

[dennisferrari769]

Posted: 10/20/23 at 3:17pm

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That would be great :)

Updated On: 10/24/23 at 03:17 PM

[n2nbaby]

Posted: 10/20/23 at 3:54pm

Do they not offer the under 35 tickets for the extension? I’m not finding any

[Kad]

Posted: 10/20/23 at 11:24pm

Saw this tonight - it was one of the masked performances (thankfully there was no drama over that from audience members!)

Wow, it feels weird to say I was surprised by a show that’s 60 years old, but I absolutely was. I went in nearly blind, knowing only “Miss Marmelstein” as many others likely do. That charming comedic character song is not really representative of the show, which is becomes a rather searing drama. 

I’m not sure I would call this a lost gem- the score is merely okay and a lot of the lyrics are clunky, and the central plot is handled in rather broad strokes. However, that seems intentional, and the show embellishes its thin story by giving the ensemble quite a lot of moments to shine- basically every character is pretty well rendered. It’s definitely more of a curio than a gem, but as a curio I think it holds quite a deal of worth due to its themes and subject. Although it’s about Jews and deals with antisemitism- several characters remark on how antisemitism has affected them- it’s not another story about overcoming bigotry and persevering. Rather, it’s about how the determination to overcome bigotry at all costs in order to, to paraphrase a character, prove something can end up breaking you from your culture and traditions. It’s an interesting depiction of the effect that bigotry can have.

The cast here is absolutely stacked and elevates the material. It’s an excellent mix of reliable performers and ascendant stars like Joy Woods and Julia Lester. Lester, in particular, steals the show between “Miss Marmelstein” and leading the big second act number “What Are They Doing to Us Now?”, a searing, almost Brechtian number that lands like a gut punch. 
 

Fontana is excellent in an increasingly detestable role, which he is not shy about leaning into. Rebecca Naomi Jones begins so naively charming and over the course of the show is increasingly chilled until she is able to break free in a great second act number. Kuhn, Steele, Chanler-Berat, Hildreth, and Woods are all terrific as well, bringing a lot of humanity and depth

This is a production worth seeing- as others have said, it’s doubtful we’ll get many chances to see this show - and I think this bodes very well for CSC as it moves out of the, frankly, self-indulgent tenure of John Doyle.

[Idiot]

Posted: 10/21/23 at 12:52am

I saw this tonight and was delighted by it in unexpected ways.  As others have said, there are a few performances well worth seeing and the show itself is actually quite surprising.  I had no idea what the show was about and very much appreciate when the form allows itself to go deeper into the dark side of human nature.  Sometimes it's refreshing when shows don't insist on a typical happy ending.  

[Synecdoche2]

Posted: 10/21/23 at 3:24am

The ending of this version of the show is significantly different from the original, which concluded with Ruthie and Harry walking offstage hand-in-hand. I think they added text from the original novel to darken Harry's character, particularly in the trial scene. But Weidman's original book is a sort of dark comedy itself — this new version is a tragedy.

[JasonC3]

Posted: 10/22/23 at 5:24pm

My one-word review: delightful!  No notes.  High quality in all aspects anchored by Fontana in a role that showcases all his gifts, particularly just impeccable vocals.  Julia Lester deserves all the raves and her performance here has me ready to see her Adelaide and as Smitty in How to Succeed.  In fact every once in awhile during the first act I would get a touch of How to Succeed vibes.

I sat in E305, top row house right about center.  My full-price ticket was $97.  The show is so well-staged with everyone playing to all three sides regularly that I'm glad I didn't pay more just to be in the center section. And somewhere John Doyle is smiling that so much is made out of tables and chairs once again.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 10/22/23 at 8:07pm

I think Santino Fontana is worth the ticket price alone, and of course, Lester, Kuhn, Steele, Hildreth, Berat and Hayes are great. The show is certainly flawed, but it's one of those shows that almost bring you back to a different time, because this show would never be on Broadway now. Especially now with the war in Israel. If anyone finds out that Ephie Aardema is performing, please let me know. 

[slow_the_rain]

Posted: 10/30/23 at 10:19am

I caught this production this past Sunday and found very little to enjoy. It seemed the only discussion in the theatre during intermission and after the show was centered on Barbra Streisand, which speaks volumes about how thought provoking and stimulating the show feels in 2023. So many of the themes feel timeless, but they are wholly let down by a clunker of a book, and one-dimensional characters.

Santino Fontana and Judy Kuhn do decent work, but the real standout of the cast is Joy Woods. She is obviously on an upward trajectory, and will become the Streisand "I saw her when" member of this cast. She's painting in broad strokes at times, but so is much of the cast. Julia Lester held her own, though some of her top notes were a bit shrieky. Rainy Sunday matinee vocals, I'm sure. Rebecca Naomi Jones is vocally miscast, but I generally enjoyed her acting. I found Sarah Steele and Adam Chanler-Berat very underwhelming. Steele has very little command of the stage, and gave, in my opinion, a high school level performance. Chanler-Berat's character is underwritten, and his performance one note. 

Over all, it's just not a good show. None of the songs are memorable, nor is it a good example of integrating book and score. Its strongest virtue is its nuanced portrayal of Jewish community and culture and how it relates to the cutthroat world of a perpetually industrializing America. That idea as a concept is far more interesting that what was put on the page and subsequently on the stage. 

The staging was never distracting, but also never particularly memorable, excepting the final tableau of the show. I rather liked the use of the floor as opposed to a raised stage, though it did feel and look a little cluttered at times. Over all though, the show felt longer than this year's Camelot. It's not the fault of the direction, just the fault of a book lacking in momentum and compelling dramatic structure.

I would say roughly 15-25% of the seats were empty, with maybe 7 people total under the age of 50 in the audience. It has its audience, and they enjoyed it, but I can't help but want a little more from Classic Stage.

(Also would it kill CSC to better label their seats? Or even put an arrow on the existing labels? If you know, you know. Every time I go, a couple minutes before curtain, we all have to stand up and shift one to the right or to the left because the seats are numbered in a way that never fails to confuse someone.)

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 10/30/23 at 11:41pm

A mixed but extremely well-written review from Jesse Green, which probably kills its commercial backers' hopes of a transfer.

He likes the score, the performances*, and the basic idea of the show, but feels they haven't cracked the show itself –– and he hates the staging, design, orchestrations, and intimacy forced upon all of it by CSC.

* there's a lot of subtext in the fact that he only mentions Fontana as a parenthetical for a role as big as this.


"In trying to achieve a balance among its various styles, the musical’s book never solved the problem of being too many things at once: a romance with a heel for a hero, a lovingly Jewish show about a Jew behaving badly, a Broadway comedy with a downer of a message. Near the end, “What Are They Doing to Us Now?” — an angry chorale in the Marc Blitzstein manner — offers this advice for future generations: “Don’t get born.”

This revisal doesn’t solve those problems, and makes others worse. Harry’s new narration, though smart, exacerbates the stylistic mishmash. At times, the schmaltz is so thick that we seem to be in the Anatevka of “Fiddler on the Roof,” not New York City 30 years later. ... To be fair, the revisal also makes some improvements. The [three] songs pulled from the Rome archive are excellent."

Updated On: 10/31/23 at 11:41 PM

[inception]

Posted: 10/31/23 at 9:24am

Interesting to read the reviews of the original production - even then it didn't get a great response.  If it hadn't starred Elliot Gould & featured Streisand, would people even remember the show?  Sort of like how Flora, the Red Menace is only remembered because Liza was in it.  Even the revised version of that is pretty lousy.  

Edit: having said that, if this production of Wholesale extends for another week, when I will be in NYC,  I would totally try to see it - even if it means giving up something else I already have tickets for (probably the Devito play)

Updated On: 10/31/23 at 09:24 AM

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 10/31/23 at 9:32am

inception said: "If it hadn't starred Elliot Gould & featured Streisand, would people even remember the show?"

Streisand is pretty much the only reason why a miniscule number of people still remember the show today. Even Jesse Green couldn't help himself by making her the lede of his review. It's not a show with any cultural significance, and these reviews don't make the case for it.

[jayinchelsea]

Posted: 10/31/23 at 2:36pm

Count me as one of that "minuscule number." I saw the show twice in 1962, one of the first times I was allowed to go from Brooklyn to Manhattan via subway by myself. 

Always felt the show had taken a very back seat to Streisand's performance. Yes, she was great, but there was a lot more  to the show. Herbert Ross' dazzling choreography was amazing, especially as danced by Sheree North and Harold Lang, two expert dancers, but also by a very hard-working Elliott Gould in the lead. At $5.50 a shot, I could afford to sit in the 5th row, and I had never seen anyone sweat as much as Gould, who flew fleetly around the stage all night. 

After reading so much criticism of the show some 60 years later, I played the CD for the first time in years, and found a great deal of pleasure in hearing Harold Rome's score.

Wish I could get back to NYC now to see this, but I was just there earlier this month. Oh well...

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 10/31/23 at 8:02pm

I thought Jesse Green's review was spot on (praise for Fontana's charm, for Kuhn, for Jones, for Lester, for some of the songs, but ultimately thinking this piece just doesnt come together) and confirms that a transfer doesnt make alot of sense.

Still the other reviews Ive read were way more positive, so they do have the pull quotes they need? 

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 10/31/23 at 8:08pm

I don't know how likely it is, but I do hope we get a cast album out of this.  I love a lot of the score and it would be lovely to hear the new songs recorded as well by this cast (not to mention that the old cast album feels very dated in terms of audio quality).

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 10/31/23 at 8:14pm

Amen. I went and found "A Funny Thing Happened" and "What Are They Doing to Us Now?" online and neither of them had the pop/power that Jones and Lester were able to bring live. Id LOVE a cast album.