The First Wives Club---Full Review

[Spawn220]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 10:30pm

On sat afternoon 08/15/2009 I saw the musical First Wives Club and was shocked at the lack of thought that went into this new Broadway bound musical. I know the book and the movie differ but come-on, not like this. They removed characters, had one person playing all the girlfriends and the 3 main leads (the Wives) were like strangers on stage and had no emotion to anyone else or for themselves. The wives couldn't harmonize with each other or even in the group song towards the end. Sheryl Lee Ralph was really the only shining point of the whole musical. The biggest issue I had with her was she always was topping anyone else on stage with her voice. She over powered the men and biggest of all-the ladies! She maybe a good singer, but being part of a trio is harder work.
The weirdest thing is when everyone sings-they have invisible back-up vocals that sometimes are loader than the people on stage. They are very odd and not needed. The only solos in the whole show go of course to Sheryl and the man playing her husband....And why is that???? Are the other wives and husbands not good enough for a solo????? If they are the leads-they all need a solo-mostly the WIVES.....This is called THE FIRST WIVES CLUB!!!
The sets are ok and show where the action is taking place-but it becomes drab, and pointless in some scenes. The lack of details and thought that went into the backgrounds was very light and not interesting-they used frosted glass to be walls & doors, but never lite them different or changed them until the end with banners that were up for 30 secs.
The costumes were very good and reflected the times-which is NOW, and the bright colors and shapes helped to show who was who based on class and character. Sheryl always had on some sort of wrinkle/ accordion thing that was in every dress or outfit. Don't get me wrong-she has a body, and it shows, but there are better ways to show curves and a nice rack.
The songs of this show are very very very forgettable. There is no humming at intermission or thinking you'll remember this one when you get home. The only enjoyable song in the whole show is in act 2-"the auction". The whole cast except the husbands are in this and the cast looks like they are enjoying this song most of all. But nothing can forgive the others from the last 2 hours they have given us.
The emotion from the characters (mostly the wives) is not there. They show nothing for each other or the way they are dumped. The biggest let down from the movie to stage is the breakdown by Annie when she get dumped after sex and their therapist walks in. The moment should have been this outrages rant of sorry's and crying and yelling, but instead all we get is a whimper, and foot stomp like a 3 year old!
Overall this musical needs to see a rewrite and a cast change. The main leads need more attachment to the story and much better songs. And not to disapoint anyone-But "You Don't Own Me" is not part of the musical score!
The First Wives Club Reviews?

[blaxx]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 10:37pm

Ifindthefacthatthisreviewwaswrittenlikethisoutrageouscontagious.

[MrBundles]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 10:38pm

I guess the show could be retitled "Sheryl's Rack."

She really is stunningly beautiful in this show, though.

Thanks for your review, Tom. I'm too lazy to write one. It was poopy, though. There-that's my review. :P The First Wives Club is Les Poops.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 10:39pm

I'm ready for change. I am ready! This toast is to us...standing on our own...to....to...to..... THE FIRST WIVES CLUB!....yes....The First Wives Club....

"outrageous contagious"....blaxx, you made me laugh so hard :)

[dreamerjj]

Posted: 8/24/09 at 11:36am

Not surprised with bad reviews of the show. The sneak peeks on youtube don't make you curious about it either... :S

[Wicked Fanatic]

Posted: 8/24/09 at 12:23pm

Here's my review which parallels many of the thoughts expressed by Spawn220 that I posted at another board so will post it here. Sent this to the OG when they sent their survey online to audience members that had seen it for what it was worth not much I'm sure.

THE FIRST WIVES CLUB
The Old Globe--San Diego, CA
August 6, 2009

Overall Grade = C-

The show was not in previews anymore and I got to see what all the negative buzz was about for this supposedly Broadway bound musical. Over the years I?ve seen many excellent pre-Broadway or Off Broadway shows at the Old Globe: "Into the Woods", "Damn Yankees", "A Catered Affair", "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels", "The Full Monty", "Forever Plaid", "Play On", "Pump Boys and Dinettes"; some that should have gone to Broadway: "Ace-the Musical", "Dancing in the Dark" which is rumored to be renamed "The Band Wagon" with Cheyenne Jackson, "Floyd Collins", "Lucky Duck, a New Musical", "The Boswell Sisters"; and then some that should never have seen the light of day or didn't: "Romance, Romance", "The Times-They-Are-A-Changing" , "Tintypes", "What The World Needs Now Is Love" and "Time and Time Again". Unfortunately for me "The First Wives Club" belongs in the later group. Why? Here are my thoughts regarding this show.

First of all I've only seen the movie once so can't really remember much of it to compare to what they've done with except for a few things. I'll only make my judgments and they're mine alone from what I saw and felt during the performance.

The show opens up with what I felt was one of the best numbers in the show "Wedding Belles" which is sung by the First Wives (Barbara Walsh, Karen Ziemba, Sheryl Lee Ralph), the First Husbands (John Dossett, Brad Oscar and Kevyn Morrow) and the soon-to-be dead Cynthia played by Victoria Matlock. I loved her! She carried this song and has the most powerful voice of any of the female singers. The song covers a lot of story taking the four sorority sisters from graduation through marriage to impending divorce over a 23-year period. This was one song where the lyrics all made sense and really moved the plot along. I loved the way they staged it which was done with a portion of the sliding panels opening onto the First Wives and Husbands who were recreating their wedding vows in song and then ended with Cynthia's suicide dive. During the song I thought to myself, Maybe this won't be as bad as I thought, but when the song ended it took such a downward spiral and then it continued that way for the rest of the play.

The Music:

I loved the music of Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holmes when they wrote their Motown classics, but as has been pointed out in some reviews it is as if they had no idea how to form songs for musical theatre and they definitely need some help if it ever reaches Broadway.

"9 to 5" deals with female empowerment in the workplace and this show deals with female empowerment in love and marriage. In "9 to 5" the empowerment songs all worked, but in this play they don't; they fail miserably. There isn't just one but several: Act 1--The Need To Be Free, Ready For A Change, My Heart Wants To Try One More Time; Act 2--Jump for Joy, That Was Then, This Is Me Now and the Finale--Welcome to the Club. Now if you asked me to hum or sing any of these I couldn't. Except for Jump for Joy they were all the same with lyrics that were totally forgettable and performances by the female leads which were not all that good. One which closed the first act, My Heart Wants To Try One More Time with all three of the females but mostly Barbara Walsh just didn't reach the potential that it should have. It certainly was not a great Act 1 closing like Shine Like the Sun is in "9 to 5". After seeing both shows dealing with this theme "9 to 5" is a thousand times better than "The First Wives Club" will ever be.

The best song in the show is The Auction in which the First Wives put their plan for revenge in motion. Everything about it is perfection: the song, the lyrics, the incredible choreography within the song of people sitting at an auction and the perfect timing they had using their auction signs while bidding. This was the only other song besides the first one that I really loved and applauded with real enthusiasm.

Complete list of songs that I heard:
Act One
Wedding Belles--Cynthia, The First Wives (Brenda, Annie, Elyse), The First Husbands (Morty, Aaron, Bill), Guests
That'll Never Happen To Me--The First Wives
Have Your Way With Me--Dr. Leslie Rosen, Annie
The Art of Loving a Woman--Bill
A Man Like Me--Duane, Brenda, Shop Boys
Have Your Way With Me--Reprise--Annie, Aaron, Club Singers
The Need to Be Free--The First Wives, Cynthia
Ready For A Change--The First Wives
My Heart Wants To Try One More Time--Brenda, Annie and Elyse, Ensemble

Act 2
Jump For Joy--Annie, Elyse, Chris, Duane, Club Clio Patrons
I'm So Lucky--The First Husbands, Dr. Leslie Rosen, Shelley, FeeBee
Morty's Got It All--Morty, Outer Boroughs Pickup Choir (the Superbowl commercial)
Today He's A Man--Bar Mitzvah Guests
One Sweet Moment--The First Wives Club, The First Husbands
Duarto's Song--Duane, Morty, Shelley, The Wives
Love For All Seasons--FeeBee, Elyse, The Andantes
That Was Me Then, This Is Me Now--Elyse
The Auction--The Auctioneer, The First Wives, Shelley, Duane, Chris, Bidders
Jump For Joy--Reprise--Annie, Chris
We're So Lucky--Brenda, Morty
Finale: Welcome To The Club--The First Wives, Duane, Chris, Jason, Honored Guests

The Choreography:

This has been lambasted in most reviews and unfortunately except for The Auction, it's well-deserved. It's a very small ensemble of only eight which could be expanded and should if it reaches Broadway. They're all good dancers, but unfortunately they've been given nothing to work with by the choreographer, Lisa Stevens. She needs to go before it moves to Broadway.

The Set:

I actually liked what they used for the set. It was nothing fancy but it worked along with the lighting for this production and for the small theatre that the Old Globe is. The sliding panels were really great and something I looked at every time they were used within the show. Kudos to Peter J. Davison (Scenic Design) and Mark McCullough (Lighting Design).

The Direction:
I have never seen anything before directed by Francesca Zambello who is really getting lambasted by professional reviewers. If this musical is an indication of her vision then I guess I'll join in and say it stinks.

The Book:
Rupert Holmes: I loved what he did with "Curtains" especially after it left the Ahmanson to go to Broadway, but this one really needs work. Since I haven't seen the movie in years I can't really say how close it is to the film, but whether it is or isn't it definitely needs lots of work.

The Actors:

This has a great cast with very impressive resumes from previous Broadway shows and many whom I've seen before in other plays and loved. Unfortunately in TFWC too many of them were just not to my liking at all.

The First Wives:

Brenda--Barbara Walsh--I?ve seen Barbara previously at the OG in "Dinner With Friends", a non-musical and loved her. This was the first time that I had seen her in a musical. She was actually the BEST for me of the First Wives. I liked her singing voice and for the most part she delivered good renditions in the three big numbers she has, one at the end of the first act but it still needs more work.

Annie--Karen Ziemba--I've seen Karen Ziemba in "Curtains" and loved her; the mediocre musical "The World Goes Round and Round" where she was good, but in this play her role and performance were BLAH! Feel so sorry for her as I'm sure that it's not just the role, but the way she's being directed to play it.

Elyse--Sheryl Lee Ralph--I've never seen Sheryl Lee Ralph before and I must say I was NOT impressed with her at all. I expected a much better singing voice than what I heard.

If this show transfers to Broadway Barbara Walsh can stay, but Karen Ziemba and Sheryl Lee Ralph can go.

The First Husbands; They were all disgusting character, one more so than the other two. Ugh! I hated them!! Three really good actors and singers played these roles:

Morty--Brad Oscar--Of the three he came off the best because his portrayal was not so evil as the other two. He really had a good number in the second act with his obnoxious mistress, Morty's Got It All. Since Brad is going into the tour production of "Young Frankenstein" I expect that he won't be around to see the light-of-day with this show.

Aaron--John Dossett--Despicable! Disgusting! You name all the bad things about a character and he's it. I loved him in "Ragtime" as the Father and as Herbie in "Gypsy" with Bernadette Peters, but his song in the first act, the reprise of Have Your Way With Me was just nauseating. Thank goodness he's going into "Mamma Mia" rather than continue with what I'm sure he knows is the most despicable character he's probably ever played. And I guess with that being said he delivered what was expected for his role--I hated his character but loved the actor.

Bill--Kevyn Morrow--Husband to Elyse; what a shallow, arrogant character! Had a nice singing voice but not the best. If you've seen the publicity photos of him in front of the bed then he's the handsome one with his shirt off and quite muscular. I'm sure the woman loved him for that.

Then comes the two standouts in the show which have been pretty-well unanimous in all the reviews--Sara Chase and Sam Harris! The reason my two friends and I went was to see Sammy. We love him and he didn't disappoint although his singing wasn't as good as I've heard before. He really didn't belt out like I expected but then again maybe it was that I was in the front row of the balcony (small theatre) and the sound didn't resonate as well upstairs as downstairs. You could tell the people loved him in the orchestra as there was lots of applause for him with hooting and hollering too.

Sam plays Duane, the gay interior decorator (really stereotyped) who sets in motion the First Wives revenge plan in the second act. His song in the second act Duarto's Song really got the audience excited. In his video vlog he says he doesn't know what will happen with the play or his role, but the producers need to sign him now to at least have something that will be praised when it gets to Broadway.

Then there is the undeniable STAR of the show, Sara Chase who plays all three of the mistresses: Leslie, the psychiatrist, Shelley, the obnoxious class climber and Feebee, the bimbo blonde aspiring singer. Each character was so different and she had really quick costume changes to do. When she was on stage you couldn't take your eyes off of her to see or hear what she was going to do next. I'm sure that most people in the audience didn't even know that she was playing all three roles unless they read their playbill. This girl who I want to see more of hopefully will go with it if it makes it to Broadway.

Considering where the show started from earlier reviews I'm sure it has improved, but it still needs so much work much more than "9 to 5" ever did when it was in LA. If "9 to 5" couldn't succeed on Broadway than I'm sorry to say that this one will definitely not. Hope I'm proven wrong, but I fear I won't be.
Updated On: 8/25/09 at 12:23 PM

[snowskittle]

Posted: 8/24/09 at 1:13pm

Weren't there a lot of voluntary cast changes that took place before the show opened?

[ABB2357]

Posted: 8/24/09 at 2:57pm

"The Art of Loving a Woman" appears to be new and replaces Bill's previous number, which I think was just called "Bill's Song" when I saw the show about 10 days into previews (unless of course they just switched the title). Everything else looks as it was.

[beautywickedlover]

Posted: 8/27/09 at 12:18pm

I don't mean to sound negative or anything like that, but with the bad press this show has gotten I think it will end up like "Lone Star Love" and not make it to New York. If it does, then it won't last very long. It may be the next "Story of My Life."
Updated On: 8/27/09 at 12:18 PM

[Tom's Cat]

Posted: 8/27/09 at 12:34pm

It's really a shame how this is all turning out. I can't help but imagine what this would be like if Jerry Herman had composed the score. Imagine 3 Jerry divas in one show!

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 8/27/09 at 12:35pm

Wait, one woman plays all three of the mistresses? Not sure I like that idea, though I haven't seen the show of course.

[Poody]

Posted: 8/28/09 at 11:08pm

Am I one of the only people who loved the show? LOL Sure there's a few parts that need some work. But I'll try and go for a second viewing, especially since it's only $20.

[Pgenre]

Posted: 8/29/09 at 7:58pm

So, Poody... are you RED-DAY for change?

P

[Poody]

Posted: 10/29/09 at 12:51am

Hell yeah.
And "This is me..... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!"

[ABB2357]

Posted: 10/29/09 at 2:38pm

Livin' it up - celebratin' mah change!

[Pgenre]

Posted: 10/29/09 at 2:54pm

"Baby, how do you spell my name again?"

Jumping for Oy,
P