BE MORE CHILL (Broadway) Previews- Page 7

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 2/18/19 at 10:34am

Nowadays, any changes during previews is pretty rare. It used to be where the creative team would really change what needed to be changed in order to make (what they considered) a good show. Now, when a show starts previews, it’s almost always frozen. And that’s really sad.

[Kad]

Posted: 2/18/19 at 11:21am

And if a show is as established as this one, the likelihood of any sort of substantial change is even more unlikely. You’ll just see tweaks that casual theatregoers would not even register.

[InTheBathroom1]

Posted: 2/19/19 at 9:02am

BREAKING IN THE BRIEFING: Be More Chill broke the house record at The Lyceum Theatre for a seven-performance week with a gross of $738,383.50, surpassing the previous record held by the 2008 production of Macbeth, which grossed $584,033, according to reps for the show.

I think people may be underestimating this show

[thealtoslament]

Posted: 2/19/19 at 9:31am

I would love to be underestimating this show because I really do like it, but I'd also be interested to see how the grosses hold up over the next couple of weeks. 

[massofmen]

Posted: 2/19/19 at 9:32am

i think all the "die hard" fans are aching to see their one true love as soon as possible. Lets see what happens after the "subscription" audience fades away. 
 

[vampire musical]

Posted: 2/19/19 at 10:27am

I've heard the running costs for this are extremely low. Little more than some plays. If they can keep up over $100K gross per performance then they are in for a long healthy run

[YvanEhtNioj]

Posted: 2/19/19 at 10:51am

I'm not saying people on this board "want" it to fail, but I think people are expecting it to fail a little too much. I agree that we may be underestimating the show. It's not the best, but it's fun.  I don't anticipate many Tony wins (maybe for Jason Tam) or crazy good reviews after it opens, but I feel like the general public enjoy it. 

I was at Marie's Crisis Sunday night. Usually it's a very pretentious crowd. I was chatting with some regulars and told them I saw it and we all pretty much agreed that it was a fun show that we enjoyed it. I was pretty surprised. 

I mean hey..it's #1 on the Ms.Mojo countdown lol..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKrsrcAxl34

Updated On: 2/19/19 at 10:51 AM

[InTheBathroom1]

Posted: 2/19/19 at 11:21pm

I enjoyed the show Off-Broadway and was in midtown today and snagged a rush ticket around 2.

And while not a perfect show by any means, it’s a lot of fun and sends a great message. I was also surprised at how good Act II was as a whole. Just solidly built and fast moving with great songs and staging.

Today’s show started about 7 minutes late and let out at around 10:40 so it is getting tighter and shorter but honestly the time flew by.

Also, it’s great to go to the theatre and see people around you truly in love with this show and falling in love with theatre. We’ve all been there at one point.

These cast members and creative team have been working hard for many years and I am so happy that this is happening. Just a bunch of people creating what they love and staying true to themselves got their small show to Broadway, and that is a fear that should be celebrated.

[Just_John]

Posted: 2/20/19 at 12:36am

I saw it tonight and Trot Iwata went on for Michael and was much better in my opinion. He has a stronger voice, is cuter and a better actor. All of the changes since off-broadway are for the worse. I really, really loved it off-Broadway and was so excited for tonight but was so disappointed. So many over the top moments played for laughs now and it really ruined the whole show for me. It looked like a good high school production. I really wanted it to win Best Musical before tonight, but now I wouldn’t be bothered if it wasn’t nominated.

ALSO, I don’t know why they got rid of Will Connolly. I thought the reason was he looked to old, but he looked more like a high school student in clueless than most of the cast did tonight. I agree with whoever said that it fits better in his voice and he’s a phenomenal actor, which I know from clueless. I really hope they make this a lot better before opening night. 

Updated On: 2/20/19 at 12:36 AM

[rattleNwoolypenguin]

Posted: 2/20/19 at 2:32am

There is a really weird undercurrent of resentment for this show. Just some of you should check in with yourselves.

I understand the fans may be annoying but if this show picks up a strong word of mouth it is in fact an incredible thing for how new musical theatre is going to come our way.

This show was brought here by online fandom. Not “what will appeal to tourists from outside New York” Not “this pop artist is a draw so let’s give them a musical.” And not Disney

This was a little show that theatre nerd teens took under their wing and gave it love on every online platform and created a chain of events that got a show that really could have faded into obscurity to here.

THAT is something producers will pay attention to in the future. I don’t care how you feel about the show, everyone should want this to succeed.
It can be such an incredible game changer for what gets green lit and and opens a wide door for new musical theatre writers.

Theatre teen nerds are a demographic and a large one and creating theatre that caters to them that makes them want to make animations of songs, perform the songs in every capacity at their school, get them involved with theatre, is nothing but positive.

Every. Single. Original musical in our current time is a WIN. And the journey of this musical to the great white way is nothing short of extraordinary.

And let’s say you hate it and have every right to dislike it, if this succeeds better things will come our way via the power of online fandom.
 

 

And just overall I’m ecstatic that there are so many young people passionate about new musical theatre to sell out an off broadway show.

Updated On: 2/20/19 at 02:32 AM

[bk]

Posted: 2/20/19 at 4:08am

InTheBathroom1 said: "BREAKING IN THE BRIEFING: Be More Chill broke the house record at The Lyceum Theatre for a seven-performance week with a gross of $738,383.50, surpassing the previous record held by the 2008 production of Macbeth, which grossed $584,033, according to reps for the show.

I think people may be underestimating this show"

"According to reps of the show."  Uh huh.  Also, ticket prices in 2008 were quite a bit lower than they are eleven years later.

[dshnookie]

Posted: 2/20/19 at 4:25am

rattleNwoolypenguin said: "There is a really weird undercurrent of resentment for this show. Just some of you should check in with yourselves.

I understand the fans may be annoying but if this show picks up a strong word of mouth it is in fact an incredible thing for how new musical theatre is going to come our way.

This show was brought here by online fandom. Not “what will appeal to tourists from outside New York” Not “this pop artist is a draw so let’s give them a musical.” And not Disney

This was a little show that theatre nerd teens took under their wing and gave it love on every online platform and created a chain of events that got a show that really could have faded into obscurity to here.

THAT is something producers will pay attention to in the future. I don’t care how you feel about the show, everyone should want this to succeed.
It can be such an incredible game changer for what gets green lit and and opens a wide door for new musical theatre writers.

Theatre teen nerds are a demographic and a large one and creating theatre that caters to them that makes them want to make animations of songs, perform the songs in every capacity at their school, get them involved with theatre, is nothing but positive.

Every. Single. Original musical in our current time is a WIN. And the journey of this musical to the great white way is nothing short of extraordinary.

And let’s say you hate it and have every right to dislike it, if this succeeds better things will come our way via the power of online fandom.




And just overall I’m ecstatic that there are so many young people passionate about new musical theatre to sell out an off broadway show."

Love this <3 (and I haven’t seen the show nor have any interest to) 

[Lifesmellsweird]

Posted: 2/20/19 at 6:59am

rattleNwoolypenguin said: "There is a really weird undercurrent of resentment for this show. Just some of you should check in with yourselves.

I understand the fans may be annoying but if this show picks up a strong word of mouth it is in fact an incredible thing for how new musical theatre is going to come our way.

This show was brought here by online fandom. Not “what will appeal to tourists from outside New York” Not “this pop artist is a draw so let’s give them a musical.” And not Disney

This was a little show that theatre nerd teens took under their wing and gave it love on every online platform and created a chain of events that got a show that really could have faded into obscurity to here.

THAT is something producers will pay attention to in the future. I don’t care how you feel about the show, everyone should want this to succeed.
It can be such an incredible game changer for what gets green lit and and opens a wide door for new musical theatre writers.

Theatre teen nerds are a demographic and a large one and creating theatre that caters to them that makes them want to make animations of songs, perform the songs in every capacity at their school, get them involved with theatre, is nothing but positive.

Every. Single. Original musical in our current time is a WIN. And the journey of this musical to the great white way is nothing short of extraordinary.

And let’s say you hate it and have every right to dislike it, if this succeeds better things will come our way via the power of online fandom.




And just overall I’m ecstatic that there are so many young people passionate about new musical theatre to sell out an off broadway show."

I couldn’t agree more. There is a bitter resentment on these boards about this show and it’s really sad that people cannot just be happy for them. I have seen the show and I love the show so I really don’t get it. It may not be for everyone but I’m not sure why we can’t be happy for people that love it. Obviously everyone is entitled to their opinion but there is a tone that does not sit well with me at all. It seems like everyone wants this to fail and that is such a bummer considering we are all theater fans here.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 2/20/19 at 7:37am

“Every. Single. Original musical in our current time is a WIN.”

I strongly disagree with this statement and am confused by it in this context seeing as Be More Chill is not an original musical.

Gettin’ the Band Back Together was an original musical and that wasn’t a win for anyone, least of which the audiences who had to endure it!

Good musical theater is good musical theater, whether its an original musical or not. Some of the greatest musicals ever were not original: Hello, Dolly, My Fair Lady, The Most Happy Fella, Oklahoma- the list goes on and on.

Even most of the cream of crop in the past decade or so has not been original. Light in the Piazza, Fun Home, Grey Gardens, Bridges of Madison County, Wild Party, American Psycho- none of it original!

Dreck like In Transit, Amazing Grace and Scandalous were all original musicals and they were terrible.

Why exactly is it better to have original musicals on Broadway?

[Annette170]

Posted: 2/20/19 at 8:19am

“I couldn’t agree more. There is a bitterresentment on these boards about this show and it’s really sad that people cannot just be happy for them. I have seen the show and I love the show so I really don’t get it. It may not be for everyone but I’m not sure why we can’t be happy for people that love it. Obviously everyone is entitled to their opinion but there is a tonethat does not sit well with me at all. It seems like everyone wants this to fail and that is such a bummer considering we are all theater fans here."

I completely agree with this. I’m older (50) and love the idea of all types of shows coming to broadway in hopes that different groups are encouraged to attend. Oklahoma may be someone’s cup of tea but may not be to a 14 yr old. Personally, I’m not a huge fan of Les Mis. Love the music but it’s way too damn long and they can shorten it by a lot. I’m for anything that encourages teens, Hispanics, blacks, etc. to attend their first show. All we need is that one show that brings them in and they may fall in love with live theater. That initial visit may show a child that their love of music and performing has a place and encourage them to follow their heart. 

We are set to see BMC on 3/20  I have a 14 yr old daughter that is my therater partner and she’s been dying to see this show. Will I like it? I probably will but I loved Dear Evan Hansen and I loved The Prom too. I enjoyed Mean Girls a lot more than I thought I would and I loved Harry Potter even though the running time was a initially a turn off. Glad it proved me wrong...it’s phenomenal. I’m not going into BMC with my nose up in the air. I’m going to attend BMC with my typical excitement that we are fortunate to have a night out at the theater. 

 

[RaisedOnMusicals]

Posted: 2/20/19 at 8:26am

I InTheBathroom1 said:

“Today’s show started about 7 minutes late and let out at around 10:40 so it is getting tighter and shorter but honestly the time flew by.”

If you mean that the 8pm show started at 8:07, then it started precisely on time. Almost all Broadway shows start precisely seven minutes after their announced curtain time  

 

[rattleNwoolypenguin]

Posted: 2/20/19 at 10:23am

WhizzerMarvin said: "“Every. Single. Original musical in our current time is a WIN.”

I strongly disagree with this statement and am confused by it in this context seeing as Be More Chill is not an original musical.

Gettin’ the Band Back Together was an original musical and that wasn’t a win for anyone, least of which the audiences who had to endure it!

Good musical theater is good musical theater, whether its an original musical or not. Some of the greatest musicals ever were not original: Hello, Dolly, My Fair Lady, The Most Happy Fella, Oklahoma- the list goes on and on.

Even most of the cream of crop in the past decade or so has not been original. Light in the Piazza, Fun Home, Grey Gardens, Bridges of Madison County, Wild Party, American Psycho- none of it original!

Dreck like In Transit, Amazing Grace and Scandalous were all original musicals and they were terrible.

Why exactly is it better to have original musicals on Broadway? "

Its based on a YA book, a successful book maybe but not a household name and definitely not a runaway box office money maker like Frozen so from a producing standpoint it is essentially an original musical. Trust me, most people don’t know the Ned Vizzini book exists.

And why is it better to have original musicals on broadway? Because Broadway producers financially can easily always rationalize “why take a risk on something new when we could adapt a movie that has a guaranteed draw?” Essentially there is a world in which original musicals could stop getting green lit altogether.

As we all know, Hollywood thinks very similarly.

Also your cream of the crop musicals you listed were ALL financial risks from a producing standpoint similar to genuine original musicals, and some of them are critical wins and financial flops. Fun Home’s main draw was not “Oh wow! This non fiction graphic novel that everyone loved” and for that matter Fun Home and maybe Light in the Piazza as lovely as they were received an admirable moderate level of success but neither of them were run away money makers.

Updated On: 2/20/19 at 10:23 AM

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 2/20/19 at 10:54am

A musical is either an adaptation or original. There is no “essentially” original musical. Light in the Piazza was not a well-known film at the time at the time the musical came out (if it ever was), but that doesn’t stop it from being an adaptation. Light in the Piazza is neither an original musical nor an “essentially” original musical. It is an adaptation. 

The statement I quoted that I disagreed with was that every single original musical in our current time is a win. I do not believe that every original musical is a win- I listed a few total stinkers and could list many more (First Date- oy vey!) and the statement also implies that musicals that aren’t original musicals are somehow “less than.” The original musical is “pure” and the adaptation is “sell out,” designed only to be shallow cash grab. 

Be More Chill is not an original musical. It doesn’t matter if the book is obscure or not. It is an adaptation period. Original musicals are not inherently better. They do not need to be celebrated outside of the novelty [tos] song that lists many of them. 

I didn’t say anything about the financial outcomes of original vs adapted works. I was talking about quality, and there is no link between quality and whether a work is an original musical or not. 

Putting up ANY Broadway musical is a huge financial risk, unless its starring Hugh Jackman or its name is Hamilton. Was there less risk involved putting up Catch Me If You Can, 9 to 5 or Big Fish than Dear Evan Hansen? I don’t think so. 

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 2/20/19 at 11:02am

WhizzerMarvin said: "A musical is either an adaptation or original. There is no “essentially” original musical. Light in the Piazza was not a well-known film at the time at the time the musical came out (if it ever was),but that doesn’t stop it from being an adaptation. Light in the Piazza is neither an original musical nor an “essentially” original musical. It is an adaptation.

The statement I quoted that I disagreed with was that every single original musical in our current time is a win. I do not believe that every original musical is a win- I listed a few total stinkers and could list many more (First Date- oy vey!) and the statement also implies that musicals that aren’t original musicals are somehow “less than.” The original musical is “pure” and the adaptation is “sell out,” designed only to be shallow cash grab.

Be More Chill is not an original musical. It doesn’t matter if the book is obscure or not. It is an adaptation period. Original musicals are not inherently better. They do not need to be celebrated outside of the novelty [tos] song that lists many of them.

I didn’t say anything about the financial outcomes of original vs adapted works. I was talking about quality, and there is no link between quality and whether a work is an original musical or not.

Putting up ANY Broadway musical is a huge financial risk, unless its starring Hugh Jackman or its name is Hamilton. Was there less risk involved putting up Catch Me If You Can, 9 to 5 or Big Fish than Dear Evan Hansen? I don’t think so."

I wholeheartedly agree with you, Whizzer. Also, I would much rather see a great stage adaptation of a previously known property than a subpar or terrible original musical any day.

[rattleNwoolypenguin]

Posted: 2/20/19 at 11:46am

Catch Me if You Can, 9 to 5, Big Fish

are movies people know but are not universally beloved and not universal draws also.

 

Updated On: 2/20/19 at 11:46 AM

[Skip23]

Posted: 2/20/19 at 11:48am

WhizzerMarvin said: "A musical is either an adaptation or original. There is no “essentially” original musical. Light in the Piazza was not a well-known film at the time at the time the musical came out (if it ever was),but that doesn’t stop it from being an adaptation. Light in the Piazza is neither an original musical nor an “essentially” original musical. It is an adaptation.

The statement I quoted that I disagreed with was that every single original musical in our current time is a win. I do not believe that every original musical is a win- I listed a few total stinkers and could list many more (First Date- oy vey!) and the statement also implies that musicals that aren’t original musicals are somehow “less than.” The original musical is “pure” and the adaptation is “sell out,” designed only to be shallow cash grab.

Be More Chill is not an original musical. It doesn’t matter if the book is obscure or not. It is an adaptation period. Original musicals are not inherently better. They do not need to be celebrated outside of the novelty [tos] song that lists many of them.

I didn’t say anything about the financial outcomes of original vs adapted works. I was talking about quality, and there is no link between quality and whether a work is an original musical or not.

Putting up ANY Broadway musical is a huge financial risk, unless its starring Hugh Jackman or its name is Hamilton. Was there less risk involved putting up Catch Me If You Can, 9 to 5 or Big Fish than Dear Evan Hansen? I don’t think so."

 

I agree too, Whizz.  Neither has the upper hand on quality. 

 

On a related subject, speaking of adaptations, I was just talking to a friend about the lack of respect for LEGALLY BLONDE.  Sure, many like it, but it's so entertaining, skilled, rich and in it's Broadway time, I think people didn't appreciate just how skilled and fun it was.   Props for LB.  Equally skilled, but grating, IMHO, are Evan Hansen, Mean Girls, Be More Chill, Pretty Woman.  I just can't get into them.  But, funny, Jagged Little Pill isn't as grating to my sensibilities.  Hmmm..  (rambling......)

 

[rattleNwoolypenguin]

Posted: 2/20/19 at 11:55am

Legally Blonde is masterful because the team behind it cared about crafting a product that could work as a companion piece to the movie while still being its own thing but having creativity and new love and originality poured into it.

But Legally Blonde is not the RULE with these adaptations and often the amount of soulless cash grabs outweigh the genuine heartfelt adaptations that aren’t just carbon copies of the movie,

especially in the 21st century.

Updated On: 2/20/19 at 11:55 AM

[getupngo]

Posted: 2/20/19 at 12:05pm

100% Whizzer. I don't think penguin understands the meaning of adaptation vs original 

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 2/20/19 at 12:07pm

rattleNwoolypenguin said: "Catch Me if You Can, 9 to 5, Big Fish

are movies people know but are not universally beloved and not universal draws also.

Um, 9 to 5 in particular is known and very much beloved, and Dolly herself is very much beloved, especially amongst the age bracket of those who can afford full price tickets. 

But you are proving my point. All musicals (and plays too) require major financial risk. Nothing is slam dunk. Rocky is an extremely famous and beloved move and it was a flop too. 

Rocky was a replica of the film- do you think Ahrens and Flaherty were out for a cash grab when they wrote that score? Do you think Alex Timbers was out for a cash grab when he directed it? Or the actors didn’t attempt to make the parts their unique interpretations? I think all involved would be insulted if you suggested this. Rocky wasn’t perfect (or even great), but had it been, I would rather celebrate it than producers bringing ten more First Dates into town. 

Original musical isn’t a perception; it’s a definition, much like original or adapted screenplay at the Oscars. 

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 2/20/19 at 12:12pm

Skip, I agree that Legally Blonde is underrated and the best of the bunch. There are some clunkers in the score to be sure (Blood in the Water anyone?) and no one is going to confuse it with Passing Strange or Sunday in the Park, but it wasn’t trying to be those shows either.

The lyrics are often clever and fun, almost all of Elle’s material is well-written and some of the melodies are infectious earworms.