Baby, THAT SUCKED!- Page 3

[CATheaterLover]

Posted: 4/2/11 at 11:33am

Wow...sounds like I should leave my discount ticket at the box office and go see Good People instead. I've never bought a ticket and then abandoned it, but considering I only come to NY once or twice a year to see theater, why waste my time and something so awful?!?!

[VernonGersch]

Posted: 4/2/11 at 11:36am

CATHEATERLOVER - that sounds, at least to me, exactly what you should do...I am in the same boat you are - only in NYC a few times a year - and dont ever want to have to sit through bad theater - even discounted bad theater.

Everyone is buzzing about GOOD PEOPLE in fact thats the first show I'm seeing next week when I go to NYC

In fact, I am leaving my CATCH ME tickets at the box office - they were discounted - because I heard GOOD PEOPLE was far superioir to CATCH (although a bit apples to oranges since CMIYC is a musical...)

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/2/11 at 6:35pm

Hey, if your CATCH ME tix are just going to go to waste, I'll use them!

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 4/2/11 at 6:45pm

Don't miss Good People. Even though I would rarely leave a ticket I already bought, I'd see Good People no matter what. It's fantastic. Though Catch Me was also good, but that's another story.

So if Baby, It's You is a bad version of Jersey Boys, I fear to even think about how bad it is since I found Jersey Boys merely pleasant...

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/2/11 at 8:18pm

I thoroughly enjoyed Good People. I don't know if it's Best Play material, but the story is compelling and the performances of McDormand, Baker and Goldsberry are more than worth the price of the ticket. Parsons is funny, but the role is pretty much all scenery-chewing. The play is more conventional than it is revelatory, but I found it funny, engaging and touching. And the set design is masterful.

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 4/2/11 at 10:57pm

(Not to threadjack on a thread that's about Baby, It's You and not Good People, but...) I found the simplicity of Good People's writing refreshing. No, it wasn't revelatory, but I was so happy to see a play that was so conventional and yet worked so well and was so gripping, especially the first scene of act 2.

[kyle4]

Posted: 4/3/11 at 11:30am

my mom did not think it SUCKED... but that probably would not have been the word she used if she felt it did SUCK...

http://thetheaterbuff.typepad.com/the-theater-buff/2011/04/baby-its-you-my-moms-thoughts-on-the-april-1st-preview.html

i think there are twenty BABY IT'S YOU threads....

[perfectliar]

Posted: 4/3/11 at 12:59pm

Oh, kyle... I think I'm finally starting to get you.

But you're still not funny.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 4/4/11 at 12:46am

Whew!

Dodged that bullet.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 4/9/11 at 11:29pm

I saw it tonight. I don't know if it's a good or bad sign that I could get a ticket at 7:50pm.

Anyway, I'm not really sure what I watched. I felt like for the most part it was just a medley of songs. The opening needs some work. Jump to the story. Don't try to set up the era. Most of the people in the audience lived through it, they don't need a recap. Also, the guy playing the narrator is awful. He's a great singer, but he's awful at delivering lines. He's just boring. Cut his narration.

The story is honestly confusing. It jumps around a lot, and in the 2nd Act they go on tour, but you're not really sure who they're touring with or where they are or any of that stuff. Not that it really matters, I guess.

The set is bland and kind of boring, which is disappointing when I saw who the designer is. She did such interesting detailed work on In The Heights and Avenue Q, so this seems like an odd choice for her.

Beth L. Is great! I thought she made sense of the material, and actually formed a character out of sh*t. I could see the way the lines were written on the paper, and then to hear her speak them; she's a great actress. Her delivery of "Mamma Said" at the beginning was perfect. It's such a stupid idea, but she just went with it, and I thought she made it work.

Sure, this may flop, but everyone around me was loving it. And at intermission I heard a lot of people saying "Wow, this is great." I remember seeing Memphis for the first time and thinking "God, this is afwul." But then, leaving, heard people saying "This is the best thing I've ever seen." And it's still running next door...so who knows....

[PitPro2004]

Posted: 4/10/11 at 12:55am

This is really breaking my heart...

As one of Beth's biggest supporter's for 20 years now I've seen her go from being an amazing character actress who can tap her heart out, make you cry and then make you cry from laughing so hard. I was so proud of her getting a Tony (told her back in 1993 she'd eventually get one) and I had hoped that someday she'd find herself in this very position of finally starring in a show of her own. I'm beyond devastated to hear that the major consensus is that the show is this horrible.

I'll go and see it just to be supportive but dayum....

[kyle4]

Posted: 4/10/11 at 1:30am

my MOM loved it... and she is a very smart lady... well-dressed and GREAT kids....

http://thetheaterbuff.typepad.com/the-theater-buff/2011/04/baby-its-you-my-moms-thoughts-on-the-april-1st-preview.html

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 4/10/11 at 1:52am

Did you rush, RippedMan?

[RippedMan]

Posted: 4/10/11 at 7:36am

If it makes you feel any better, she's wonderful. She makes a masterpiece out of sh*t. It's just the show is awfully written and constructed. Not her fault.

And yes. I said in my post that I got a rush ticket, along with 3 other people, about 5 minutes before curtain. Row J in the Mezz. Center. Perfect seat.

[justafan2]

Posted: 4/14/11 at 8:21am

RippedMan---I agree with you. I thought the storyline was very choppy and dragged (especially in the second act), but the talent was very good. (especially Beth L and Geno Henderson)
But---the audience loved it! When it was (finally) over---I kept hearing "wow--that was wonderful". In fact--someone in the row behind me, tapped my on the shoulder and said "wasn't that great!". I smiled and nodded. If the book was more concise and with more clarity---I would've enjoyed it much more.
Updated On: 4/14/11 at 08:21 AM

[MadonnaMusical]

Posted: 4/14/11 at 8:33am

FYI: the old lady buzz is that BABY IT'S YOU is like Jersey Boys with girls.... I've had a dozen or so old ladies tell me I had to go see it in the last week...

Were there changes made? Is it better? or are these old ladies just .... I dunno... old?

[ShbrtAlley44]

Posted: 4/14/11 at 10:05am

It has gotten better, but it's still pretty messy. The baby boomer crowd loves it, which is great since that's the show's demographic. Forgive me for generalizing, but most of them don't really know or care what constitutes a good book. They're just excited to hear the songs and revisit their youth. So many people have come up and said things like, "Young lady, you missed a great era of music!" In that way, the show succeeds.

And Geno's understudy is endlessly better.

[trentsketch]

Posted: 4/15/11 at 7:33pm

For anyone that's gone recently, how long is the show running? I just got confirmed for the Blogger Night tickets and need to plan my bus ride out of the city.

[Phantom of London]

Posted: 4/15/11 at 8:29pm

I need to take my mother in law to a show and I really loathe her, would this be a good show to take her to?

[quizking101]

Posted: 4/15/11 at 10:02pm

I got confirmed for Blogger Night too (which is Yay! for me since it's my Spring Break). I'm taking my Mom for three reasons

A) She likes the music and thinks it'll be like LEADER OF THE PACK (one of my school productions).
B) I owe her one show, after seeing HIGH without her.
C) My Dad would kill himself...

The show runs 2 hours and 20 minutes, including one 15 minute intermission.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 4/15/11 at 11:30pm

I just got back.

I will say this: it's not as bad as I expected it to be. It's better than WONDERLAND.

I love Beth Leavel and think it's a shame that she always ends up playing in dud shows. I'm so thankful that she was able to have a hit in her life: THE DROWSY CHAPERONE. Her resume would make one interesting autobiography.

The show is JERSEY BOYS meets Cruise Ship Revue with a sprinkle of MEMPHIS on top.

It's well lit.

Poor sound design. The mixing tonight was awful. Hope it's not like that every night.

The best part of the show was the curtain call. That's when they really went full out and the audience was more alive in those three minutes than they were the rest of the show.

Let's say the show is asked to perform on the Tonys...WHAT are they going to perform? There's nothing that is high-energy fun that lasts longer than 30 seconds. That is...unless they perform the curtain call finale.

And that's the problem with the show. Every scene and song is 30 seconds. There are SO many entrances and exits that I bet you 97% of the blocking begins with "exit SL" or "enter SR." Beth Leavel must wear 20+ costumes!

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/16/11 at 12:05am

"It's well lit."

That's the best review I've seen so far for the show. They should put that on the poster.

"There are SO many entrances and exits..."

Exactly! Like I said in my original post, I'm surprised Beth didn't have whiplash within five minutes of the show from all the on off on off on off on off on off she does.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 4/16/11 at 12:08am

This is making me laugh my ass off.

Well lit. :)

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/16/11 at 12:14am

[CapnHook]

Posted: 4/16/11 at 12:22am

I try to give optimistic, glass-half-full, benefit-of-the-doubt feedback on a show in its preview period. Therefore...

It's well lit.