WONDERLAND - Why so negative?

[Theatricality]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 10:31pm

So, I'm very interested in the new musical Wonderland. Apparently, I'm one of the few. I've listened to some of the songs and I've seen their promotional videos. From both the sounds and the looks of it, it looks like a great musical. My question is what is with all these negative reviews? The reviews make the show out to be a total train wreck. I have yet to see this show, but I'm typically an open-minded person who gives everything a chance. I'm actually very excited about this show. I hope it isn't as bad as people are saying.

The choreography really caught my eye, as well as the costumes. Then again, I'm all for big and flashy numbers. The songs are good, for the most part. "Through the Looking Glass" is a song I fell in love with.

Who here has seen the show, or has heard from someone who has seen it? What are your thoughts? Does the show live up to the nasty reviews it's getting, or is it actually worth seeing?

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 10:40pm

Worth seeing

There is one reason for the reviews WILDHORN Critics love to savage him whenever he opens a show. Quality has no bearing on their reviews

I expected negative reviews but some were downright vicious. This proves to me what I have always said. If a person can write a plat or compose music he or she becomes a critic to tear down someone who can do what they can not.Envy is not a trait to have.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 10:44pm

For what it's worth, I have liked Wildhorn shows in the past, but Wonderland was miserable. It didn't know if it was a serious show or a parody. It's a very unfocused mess of craziness.

[pennydreadful]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 10:45pm

It was the worst thing I've seen on Broadway (mind you, I haven't seen Baby, It's You!) I couldn't stand the music, the book was painfully cheesy and unfunny, the leading lady was annoying and whiny. It was just a huge mess on all fronts. The two guys sitting in front of me fell asleep and much of my row left early. I was embarrassed for the actors.

If you like Wildhorn's music, maybe you'd like this...? I'd literally rather endure a mammogram than see this again. But if you like Wildhorn and "big and flashy", this might be right up your alley. Just don't pay full price for a ticket! Try to rush it or something, so if you don't like it, you're not hating yourself later.



Updated On: 4/19/11 at 10:45 PM

[Sylar2]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 10:52pm

I hated every second of it..... the show has had PLENTY of time to work things out and get it right.... it's just lousy

[After Eight]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 10:54pm

Well, I thought the show was a complete mess and deserved the bad reviews.

But that said, Mr. Roxy is right. Even if the show had been better, Wildhorn would have been battered, because he has no cachet whatsoever with the NY critical fraternity. In fact, he has the opposite of cachet, so whenever he comes around, they pile it on.

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 10:58pm

Since when did Matt Stone and Trey Parker (of the Book of Mormon) have a "cachet" with the critics? It got universal raves. I'm not saying agreeing with everything the critics say or even defending them, I just don't think you can defend criticism by deflecting everything to some hatred for Wildhorn.

[jasonf]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 11:13pm

We saw it on Saturday. The book is a mess, but if you like the music (which we did) then it's worth seeing. The performances are a lot of fun.

If only they'd brought in a book doctor...

[JP2]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 11:14pm

Well, this was the first I'd ever seen or heard of Wildhorn.. It was stil the worst thing I'd ever seen or heard.

[n2nbaby]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 11:15pm

I don't like to see people out of work or anything BUT...

I kind of hope this is closed by August because I have a boyfriend (who may or may not have posted this topic) who is dragging me to this and it seems so, so awful. :P

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 11:17pm

n2nbaby - this is great. Feel free to fight it out here. you may get tons of opinions. I haven't seen it - so I'm not taking sides. :)

[pennydreadful]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 11:17pm

n2nbaby, have you ever had a mammogram? See my post above.

[Feldzieg]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 11:20pm

I have a lot of sympathy for you, Theatricality. Actually felt the same way before I went to see the show. But, boy, what a disappointment. The serious problem with Wonderland is its book. It is not interesting, does not create any tension, you cannot relate to the characters, it is certainly NOT funny (although it tries so hard up to a point where it gets really annoying) and shockingly: it doesn't make a lot of sense either.

On the plus side, the music is solid with some songs I really like (Through the Looking Glass, Off With the Heads) although there are some weaknesses, too (a song called "Home"? Seriously?).

The performances are mixed. While Karen Mason does a fantastic job as the Queen of Hearts and the girl who plays Chloe has an amazing voice (is she really 11?) many of the supporting actors are pretty week (Rabbit, El Gato). Bummer: Janet Dacal (Alice) is not able to carry the show, neither vocally nor with regard to her acting.

So, what do I recommend? If you are still interested try to get a cheap ticket, shut off your brain and enjoy the music...

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 11:21pm

I think Wildhorn writes some good pop songs and some good melodramatic gems as well. I am sure Wonderland has a few. The one they keep playing outside the Marquis sounds great.

However, I have heard from many people that the book is mess and the songs are too generic. I was in Joe Allen with about 10 people who left at intermission.

I just think its bad but its got great commercials and marketing. Whatever people are expecting from the marketing isn't there when they arrive. Thats a recipe for disaster.

Families are expecting "Alice In Wonderland" and its not that. Adults are expecting a grown up Alice and its not exactly that either.

[JP2]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 11:30pm

Its weird to me when people praise the songs.. Some of the most generic tunes I've heard. I mean, they sound as if they are written by a child who is writing what he or she THINKS a song should sound like. They're very juvenile.

[philly03]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 11:36pm

As a huge Frank Wildhorn fan and a former huge WONDERLAND fan, this version is awful! The music is good, but go just for that. Frank writes good music, and the "general" public like it. Broadway folks would rather take the boring, "theatrical" music but Frank KNOWS he writes Pop tunes for the theatre because when people like Cole Porter and Gershwin were writing - it WAS the popular music of the day.

The show once upon a time had a great concept but the production on Broadway should just be a Wildhorn concert. I'd keep going... the book is yikes.

I still say see it though... It's just not one of the better things I'd seen!

[lsinger2]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 11:40pm

I am the positive one- i love and see every show from les mis to legally blonde. Except this one. Fine, one or two songs are fun but it's just awful. I hated the first act but I wasn't bored. The second act was the worst hour of theater I have ever seen and dragged on forever. This will close fast. I was curious, ignored reviews, and wasted money/time/night out.

[LuPonatic]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 11:41pm

Those of you who say it is the worst thing you have ever seen CLEARLY have never seen Urban Cowboy the Musical. OY!

[billyboyA]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 11:42pm

Um, because the show is s*h*i*t*e. And I love some of Wildhorn's music. I'm not too ashamed to admit that the Anthony Warlow recording of Jekyll & Hyde is still one of my favorite recordings. I went in fully wanting and expecting to like this show, and instead ended up with a migraine from all of the times I was forced to roll my eyes in disbelief. Certainly not as bad as Spiderman... But I was honestly SO bored that I couldn't wait for the show to end. And I would have classified myself as an easy audience for this one, because I love the Alice stories and, as I said before, I like FW's music.

This really is, sadly, no better than a very bad adaptation of The Wiz.
Updated On: 4/20/11 at 11:42 PM

[N2Theater]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 11:42pm

I think the critics have nothing against Frank Wildhorn, but they do have something against talent that is not brought to fruition and shows that repeatedly come in to town needing lots of work. I believe the critics sense that Wildhorn has a talent as a composer, but again and again his work seems to be lacking polish. Songs are just good enough, and without the brilliance critics long for. You can't repeatedly bring shows to town after extensive out of town tryouts and have them be like a work in progress. Look at Wildhorn's website and all of the musicals he's working on. How can anyone possibly write 5 or 6 masterpieces simultaneously. It's like he's going for quantity over quality. We've all read how Sondheim will agonize over a song taking all the time it needs until it's right, till the hat is done. With Wildhorn it's seems the complete opposite, start the hat at 10am, finish the hat at 10:30am, 10:45am time for hat 2. The songs seems too easy, yet they have flashes of excellence. I saw his Camille Claudel at Goodspeed and it showed the promise of things Wildhorn is capable of. I don't think we can blame the critics. By now they're a little fed up and disappointed. Give them high quality and they will acknowledge it. (One would hope.)

[philly03]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 11:52pm

This score is everything it sets out to be - a fun, pop score with a contemporary story.

They cut most the good songs out (truthly - Jack Murphy's best lyrics in "Love Begins," a fun, catchy "Don't Wanna Fall in Love," a heart-breaking chorus number "Heroes," etc) in favor of slow tempo, boring melody songs (the new "Worst Day of My Life," and of course the simple melody "Home"). A shame!

The critics don't like Frank because he came in as a big shot - he came in, his show got horrible reviews and remained open for four years. He was a pop-music producer & writer who opened 3 shows in 3 years which no one had done in 20+ years from the American side.

& I'm actually convinced that Frank is totally capable of writing multiple shows at once after he did both B&C and Wonderland at the same times and they're totally different (with B&C getting good reviews, and the score reviews for Wonderland has been decent). Some shows? Sure he should've focused more on them, but Wonderland has over 60 songs written for it and plenty of great ones. It's the directors/writers decisions by this point though!

[leefowler]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 11:58pm

If Frank WIldhorn wrote "Sweeney Todd", it would get raves. He just hasn't written a "Sweeney Todd" yet.

If Sondheim wrote Dracula, or Scarlett Pimpernell, or those awful songs in Victor Victoria, he would have received awful reviews.

The critics aren't anti/Wildhorn. They're pro/ quality.

[N2Theater]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 12:03am

Exactly right Lee.

[hyperbole_and_a_half]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 12:28am

I could tell Wonderland would be terrible when I saw the preview videos on this site and discovered that it relied heavily on The Wonder Twins of Cheap Musical Theatre: pastiche and projections.

"Shape of a musical number with an abrupt tonal shift that reeks of winking, multi-culti tokenism!"

"Shape of a badly-timed and garish projection that could've been easily and more impressively realized by carpenters!"

[BwayTday]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 12:51am

It's interesting, I went into this show kinda dreading it. I had absolutely no expectations that weren't negative, and I kinda enjoyed it. The book of course is the real problem, but it wasn't anything I despised. The score is nice enough and has some really catchy stuff. I'm a big lighting/set/costume geek and had great seats for examining that side of it (which I thoroughly enjoyed). There were some awesome performances too.