FINDING NEVERLAND Previews- Page 8

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 3/24/15 at 1:33pm

All this talk about the hate against Harvey Weinstein really reminds me of the Arthur Laurents snub for a Best Direction of a Musical nomination back in 2009, where some people felt Jesse Green's article about how cruel and nasty Laurents was kind of knocked him out of the race (that and also because his work on his revival of West Side Story wasn't really well-received).

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 3/24/15 at 2:54pm

There are many producers who are not especially well liked but in most cases it doesn't influence the noms or the voting. For every voter who says, "I don't like Harvey so I won't vote for his show." there's someone saying, "I don't like such-and-such an actor so I won't vote for his show." or "I just love so-and-so and will vote for her show." But those folks are by far in the minority. Most take pride in their ability to be objective.

[bryan]

Posted: 3/24/15 at 3:40pm

I hope they do a real cast cd not just songs for the show.

[valeposh]

Posted: 3/24/15 at 6:13pm

The OBR should be out in June.

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 3/24/15 at 6:57pm

'Anything with Peter Pan ... people have always seen.'

'Peter and the Starcatcher' (2012), a 'Peter Pan' prequel, ran for just 10 months on Broadway. It hovered between 60%-80% capacity for most of its run. ... The last time 'Peter Pan' was on Broadway was 1999, and it ran for fewer than 5 months. 'Peter Pan,' in itself, does not guarantee a hit.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 3/24/15 at 10:56pm

Got around to seeing this tonight and save for Kelsey Grammer's very good performance I liked this even less than I did in Boston.

Grammer's role has been beefed up and the jokes tailored to his dry delivery style. He went up on some lyrics in Play and rather humorously had the conductor begin the song again to thunderous applause. That Cheers joke sure is a groaner though. He's such a charismatic presence that all the other bland characters (and in some cases actors too) seem to melt away whenever he's around.

Speaking of bland, Matthew Morrison is giving one of the more underwhelming performances by a capable actor I've seen in a while. Whatever he's trying to do is far too internalized and isn't making it across the footlights. Although I find Jeremy Jordan to be a somewhat off-putting and arrogant performer, I much preferred his livelier take on the role, not to mention the bright peals of his ringing notes.

The woman are all severely underwritten, Carolee criminally so. You basically forget she's even in the show she has so little stage time. Now that Teal Wicks' number has been cut you might as well write the part out completely and have Barrie's marital problems play out off stage.

Laura Michelle Kelly comes off as bland too (did someone forget to season this show because it's like munching on a head of raw cauliflower!), but I blame the writing more than the actress. She has some real Hallmark movie of the week lines to spit out, poor thing.

The score verges on dreck, but I can't tell if that's because of the inappropriate pop/Wildhorn reject melodies or the horrendous Wonderland-esque orchestrations. If we had theater Razzie awards these orchestrations would win hands down. The lyrics alternate between making you want to cringe and puke. After a while I mostly just felt numb.

The sets are basically the same as in Boston. A shame they didn't amp up the physical production in any meaningful way.

The four children acquitted themselves nicely.

There was a joke Carolee had to crack when Laura Michelle Kelly said to her, "But mother, you were once happy and sang and danced with father." To which she replied, "Yes my dear, but that was the sixties!" It's a groaner for sure, but it also snaps you right out of the action and milieu (what little has been created given the anachronistic sounding score). In contrast, there was a joke last night in Something Rotten! where Heidi Blickenstaff wants to get a job and she says, "A woman can get a job now. Come on! It's the Nineties!" The joke completely works in Rotten! because the joke fits the tone of the piece and enhances rather than detracts.

It's not that Finding Neverland is the worst show ever- but sadly it sits at a notch or two below mediocre.

[Phillypinto]

Posted: 3/24/15 at 11:01pm

Whizzer, i love your reviews!! Out of Honeymoon In Vegas, It Shoulda Been You, Finding Neverland, and Something Rotten, can you list them in order from favorite to least favorite?

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 3/24/15 at 11:03pm

Of only those four?

I would rank them:

Something Rotten!
Honeymoon in Vegas
Finding Neverland
It Shoulda Been You

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 3/25/15 at 11:09am

This was very interesting. I was there last night as well, and felt like they made improvements from Boston. I hated the Mrs. Barrie number in the beginning with the dancing servants, and that creepy scene with the boys where adults dressed as child versions of different occupations? So glad they were both gone. Poor Teal Wicks has no real role left, which doesn't help the plot at all, but that number didn't help either.

There are many good ideas, but as a whole, it isn't a great show...but I did enjoy myself. I liked enough of the music, Ms. Kelly's solo especially. The final scene is really lovely, imo.

Two things I noticed with the NY audience that I didn't have with the Boston audience. When the various "ideas" surface for the plot of "Peter Pan", tinkerbell, Hook, etc...the crowd audibly gasped, "Ahhhh!" It was like watching "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". He was found by the Kringles. "Ooooh! That's where he got the name!" Also, after the magical scene at the end with the nightgown, the audience clapped. Seemed inappropriate and there was silence in Boston.

Morrison is not giving the rather good performance that Jordan did. He is sweet, but bland, and his voice is just not as strong.

Kelly, who I loved in Boston, seemed more subdued this time. Her voice is gorgeous and she does a fine job.

Grammer is the strongest of the cast, imo. I was sad when McGrath was replaced, but Grammer is perhaps even better...that Cheers joke which, I imagine, he is embarrassed by, aside.

The boys are all charming. Ms. Carmello is fine. She does oversing, imo. It's like her mic is at a different level from the rest of the cast.

All my opinions, of course. I do think it has a chance at some Tony noms, especially Grammer. Kelly falls between lead and supporting. It'll be interesting where the producers will petition for her. She wont win either, though.

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 3/25/15 at 11:28am

^I think Laura Michelle Kelly will likely be considered as Leading Actress.

[rcwr]

Posted: 3/25/15 at 12:54pm

after the magical scene at the end with the nightgown, the audience clapped. Seemed inappropriate and there was silence in Boston.

I saw the show a great number of times in in Boston (cough) and the audience clapped about half the time at that spot, and was silent the other half. I much preferred the silence.

(Oddly I ended up chatting with Gary Barlow's mom -- or, I should probably say mum -- a couple of times post-show, and she was curious about the clapping after songs/scenes. I told her that it was happening about half the time. She wasn't thrilled about it either.)

[Princeton Returns]

Posted: 3/25/15 at 1:09pm

I thibk it's too soon to say if this is a commercial success. Lots of shows start out strong, have big advances etc but if word of mouth isn't strong and it doesn't draw an audience all this will be eaten up quick enough. All the glee die hards will be going to see this to start with, was certainly the case the performance I was at, it depends if it's appeal goes beyond that and it draws a wider audience

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 3/25/15 at 1:48pm

I agree, Jeffrey, but her part feels more supporting to me. I don't think Carolee's role is big enough for a nomination as supporting.

That moment is impressive, but it is awkward to clap at that plot point.

The crowd seemed to love it, and the Orchestra was full.

Funny thing, the young couple next to us were agitated when the woman in front of them sat on her coat, blocking the woman behind's view. They argued about switching seats, etc. At intermission, it seemed they were going to just switch so the tall woman was in front of him. Instead, they left the show! The funny part is, he was about 7 feet tall! My coat and bag had their own seat.

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 3/25/15 at 2:10pm

"Two things I noticed with the NY audience that I didn't have with the Boston audience. When the various "ideas" surface for the plot of "Peter Pan", tinkerbell, Hook, etc...the crowd audibly gasped, "Ahhhh!" It was like watching "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". He was found by the Kringles. "Ooooh! That's where he got the name!" Also, after the magical scene at the end with the nightgown, the audience clapped. Seemed inappropriate and there was silence in Boston."

I don't react audibly to much during a performance so it's always a surprise to me when the audience suddenly transforms into a panto crowd. The one that stands out is the collective audience gasp after the slap in Constellations.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 3/25/15 at 3:17pm

"I liked this even less than I did in Boston."

Shocking....not.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 3/25/15 at 3:46pm

And what is so *not* shocking about that? I genuinely was hoping it would improve. I found that it sadly had taken a few steps back rather than a few forward.

[Sunny11]

Posted: 3/25/15 at 4:16pm

intresting seeing such different reactions to Matthews performance. Some loved it some didn't.

May I ask someone who has seen it about his dancing. I liked the look of the cherography in the believe rehursale.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 3/25/15 at 4:28pm

Oh puh-leez, I remember your Boston review, you said it was "near terrible."

[mikey2573]

Posted: 3/25/15 at 4:33pm

WOW! If it really is worse than what was seen in Cambridge, then it must truly be awful. When I saw it in Cambridge, it was literally "You can't be serious!" laughable. I've mentioned before the ridiculous servants in the Barrie household who seemed to be just mugging for attention every time they came on. Then there was the animation that was projected onto the scenery during BELIEVE, I remember flowers falling down, and rocket ships taking off, I even think I may have seen Ping and Pong and Marlon the magical mynah bird. Remember?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TooCr9mAfaI

The dancing bumble bees were really groovy!! And the choreography reminded me of some of the best episodes of THE MUPPET SHOW, with one pop-sounding song sung by the boys about imagining things, with the ensemble popping their heads up from behind a fence, so you only see their heads, then their heads bopped back and forth. But that was nothing compared to the part (in the same song) when the adult ensemble came out dressed as various "professions" the boys could be when they grew up; I think there was a doctor, a sailor, and another unidentified profession (perhaps a jobless choreographer?).
And the parts where the book "creates" a Peter Pan inspiration for the audience to "gasp" at would be more legit if anything that happens in this musical had actually happened.
But what I saw in Cambridge was stunningly bad, despite some truly fine work by the cast. It really was the material (book/score) and the staging (direction/choreography) that did it in. Just imagine the things I described above.
I really hoped something good could come from this as I think the Barrie/Llewellyn Davies story is incredibly fascinating (and eerie, and creepy, and most tragically sad). But after Cambridge, they really needed to bring in a new creative team. The score was particularly bad and anachronistic.
Oh, well. Maybe this story just can't be musicalized. But then the source movie was kind of bland as well. And Barrie is such a fascinating figure. I think Ian Holm captured him perfectly in the BBC mini-series THE LOST BOYS. If you have the time, take a look at this scene, watching closely the relationship between Barrie and Michael (who was his true favorite, not Peter). Watch how it begins so mundane (playing checkers) and builds to Michael's frustration, where he acts almost like a spurned lover. There is more thought, intelligence, subtlety and drama in this one little scene than there was in the entire evening I sat through in Cambridge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jny8ORD25s

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 3/25/15 at 4:39pm

Yes Matt, so it should have had no where to go but up...

Mikey, much of that campy stuff that made it truly unbelievable is gone. The servants don't move around the furniture anymore (song has been cut) so they don't perform any of that camp choreography either. What has replaced the camp is blandness, which depending on your mood can be a worse crime.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 3/25/15 at 4:40pm

^ Well bully for you!

[rcwr]

Posted: 3/25/15 at 4:41pm

I first saw the show on Aug 5 and the bumblebees were already gone.

[valeposh]

Posted: 3/25/15 at 4:42pm

I have seen so many shows, both on and off-Broadway, and I was very ready to be completely underwhelmed by this show, and yet I've seen it twice and loved it more every second. It was just so good for me. I can't stop singing some of the songs in my head, and some of the scenes are some of the most visually engaging I've seen in a long time.

[RW3]

Posted: 3/25/15 at 4:44pm

This is an odd question, but is the lyric about a rocket heading to Mars still in "Believe"? As a slight history nerd, it annoys me because rockets were invented in the early 1900s.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 3/25/15 at 4:46pm

Well Matt, I suppose if you liked/loved the show we all must agree with you.

Plenty of people do enjoy the show while plenty of others don't. That's usually how things go around here.


RW3, I can't remember about the lyric, but there is a line of dialogue where Peter says to Barrie that he turned the park bench into a "rocket ship," which felt like a glaring anachronism, especially as spoken by a child.

Updated On: 3/25/15 at 04:46 PM