ON A CLEAR DAY... Reviews- Page 3

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 12/12/11 at 11:00am

No, Newintown, but I have misplaced it.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 12/12/11 at 11:25am

It's sad that this crap-fest will likely stay open for a while and yet Bonnie & Cylde will be gone in a few weeks.

Posted: 12/12/11 at 11:47am

PJ you are NO GOOD at pulling quotes- you could never be a publicist! Here Let me show you:

"The Critics have spoken! Here's what The New York Times has to say On a Clear Day You Can See Forever:

"Charismatic star, Harry Connick Jr....a splendid matinee-style-star...channels Old Blue Eyes!"

"Exquisitely sung! Pulses with kinetic visual playfulness...talented supporting cast..."Clear Day"...is...more - much more- than enough!"

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 12/12/11 at 12:07pm

If this closes, do you think the production of GYPSY starring Tovah Feldshue might transfer? I'd love to see her black panties flash 44th street.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 12/12/11 at 12:30pm

I can't imagine this will stick around until the Tonys. There is absolutely no word-of-mouth or buzz about this show. I forgot it was even playing.

[beautywickedlover]

Posted: 12/12/11 at 5:18pm

Entertainment Weekly gave the show a "C-"

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20364394_20552488,00.html

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/12/11 at 5:25pm

I'm sure a Gypsy revival is imminent. Quickly followed by Grease, Fiddler on the Roof and Follies.

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 12/12/11 at 8:52pm

Dont forget ANNIE.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 12/12/11 at 9:10pm

Daisy Gambled - and lost

[Copperfield2]

Posted: 12/12/11 at 10:35pm

Marc Kudisch wasn't any more comfortable in the role in the workshop either. And he had trouble with the songs.

I wonder if Brian D'Arcy James was the key to this show after all.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 12/12/11 at 10:49pm

I've heard he was extraordinary.

[goldenboy]

Posted: 12/12/11 at 11:54pm

Mark Kudish was eons better in the reading with very little rehearsal. He had different moods and layers of the doctor. He commanded the stage. He didn't wilt into the optical illusion they call scenery like Mr. Connick Does. Mr. Connick is a large part of the problem.
Updated On: 12/12/11 at 11:54 PM

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 12/13/11 at 1:56am

Connick got stuck with a production that, from what I've read, took the core casting concept and threw it out the window in favour of stunt casting. This was a vehicle, forst and foremost, for the actress playing Daisy/Melinda. The psychiatrist was the straight guy while she got all the laughs. I honestly dont understand what possessed the team to turn it around like this and make what was a major supporting character into the pivot.

[hushpuppy]

Posted: 12/13/11 at 7:08am

Just a thought to go with my morning coffee: Could this show be the canary in the coal mine? By that, I mean, have we revived everything that's worth reviving? I started going through great shows that would be an appropriate showcase for a male star and we've seen them all done fairly recently (GUYS AND DOLLS, THE KING AND I, THE MUSIC MAN, MAN OF LA MANCHA, KISS ME KATE, DAMN YANKEES, OKLAHOMA, CAROUSEL, SOUTH PACIFIC, FINIAN'S RAINBOW). I mean, would anyone get excited about a revival of MY FAIR LADY or BRIGAOON anymore? The only show I could think of that we haven't seen in 30 years that would've been good for Connick is MACK AND MABEL, but, while that may get some of us on this board excited, to the average tourist from Topeka that show means even less than ON A CLEAR DAY.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 12/13/11 at 8:14am

Harry Connick would have been wonderful in the White Christmas production, playing the Bing Crosby part, singing all those wonderful Irving Berlin songs. He would have had great chemistry with Kerry O'Malley (whose magnificent singing turned Irving Berlin's "Love, You Didn't Do Right by Me" into "The Man That Got Away").

He could have played the Bing Crosby part beautifully.

[newintown]

Posted: 12/13/11 at 9:07am

I saw all three - D'Arcy James, Kudisch, and Connick; no one can make this part work, it's just too dreary.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/13/11 at 11:27am

I mean, would anyone get excited about a revival of MY FAIR LADY or BRIGAOON anymore?

The Cam Mack revival of My Fair Lady was a huge hit in London and a gorgeous production. I never understood why it was never produced on Broadway. There was a US tour a couple of years ago, but it lacked the star power of the West End production and of course, the sets were scaled down to tour. But it still held up very well.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 12/13/11 at 12:25pm

After reading the reviews of preview performances, and the actual reviews of the show, I'm still confused on the plot and what exactly is going on. That does not bode well for a show that seems reliant on tourists.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 12/13/11 at 1:07pm

Not to sound Pollyannaish, but, however misguided this was, it was certainly audacious. They had the balls to try something different and it failed. Those of us who saw it - even those of us, like myself, who didn't think it was nearly the fiasco it is being called - may have done many, most, or everything quite differently. But for not playing it safe, and trying (if not succeeding) to reform what was a grade B show to begin with into something that might have been more interesting, thought-provoking and emotionally satisfying, I give the creative team a great deal of credit.

The best in the business have to be able to fail sometimes (not to mention all the "successes" we are constantly seeing that are pure crap). They always have and they always will (name any great artist who hasn't).

That's show business. And sometimes the biggest failures end up being lionized in time (not that I expect that will happen with On A Queer Day). Look at the current Carrie Fever! And the reverence many of us have for Merrily.
Updated On: 12/13/11 at 01:07 PM

[newintown]

Posted: 12/13/11 at 1:18pm

I thought it was quite clear at Vassar and the Vineyard that this adaptation was simply terrible.

Unfortunately, the creative team was obviously surrounded by overly-optimistic yes-men, rather than by those who could provide a more clear and critical appraisal of the (enormous) flaws.

I have nothing against trying something "different." I do think it's pointless to try something different purely for the sake of being different.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 12/13/11 at 1:19pm

Hushpuppy, you seem to be forgetting the upcoming Chenoweth revival of the magnificent On The Twentieth Century. Count me as one of the many praying for Kevin Kline to star as Oscar!

Though it's not very well known, High Spirits is a fine musical and would be a great vehicle for Hugh Jackman as well as offering three very choice roles for women.

Finally, nothing says we have to wait 30 years for a revival. It's been more than enough time, in my book, for revivals of Carousel (Wilson/Adams?), She Loves Me (Radnor/O'Hara please!!!!), King and I (Mazzie/Lone???) and Damn Yankees (the Encores cast would be perfectly fine).

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 12/13/11 at 2:58pm

:: trying to picture the 2040 revival of SPIDERMAN ::

Nope, cant do it.



There are plenty of things out there worth of revival, as long as they're approached with some intelligence. I get the impression that on CLEAR DAY, someone said one night over drinks, "Wow, wouldnt it be a howl if Daisy was a guy?" — and someone at another table feverishly wrote that down on a cocktail napkin.

[Tom5]

Posted: 12/13/11 at 5:02pm

The book was messed up to begin with but instead of trying to straighten it out, they actually made it messier. Sort of the opposite of the scene in Amadeus when Mozart beautifies one of Salleri's compositions: they went and uglified this one. A great deal of money was spent on this production, but to my mind in all the wrong places.

[goldenboy]

Posted: 12/15/11 at 4:26pm

I think they were on to something that could have worked.

Maybe someone playing both roles.
I mean Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman did it in Mrs. Doubtfire and Tootsie!
People do it all the time in "Charlie's Aunt" or "Where's Charlie". This could have been a tour de force role for an actor.. Or even an actress like Julie Andrews as in Victor Victoria. An actress playing both roles.
Wow. Now that would have been quite something.


I like the gay angle but they didn't go far enough with it. Perhaps they
Feared the tourists or Harry Connick Jr or his manager. I don't know.

And to throw every number in ever written for O A Clear Day. whether they fit or not.............. and Royal Wedding?? Jeesh I'm surprised they didn' t rhrow in a few from Brigadoon, and MY Fair Lady and Carmelina!

And to get rid of the ESP which was one of the most interesting parts of the show?

They would have been better off going all the way with it the off Broadway at the Vineyard first. The show got way worse from the readings due to its shoddy execution.

I went in wanting to like it but it was such a miss in so many ways.

[BorisIgor]

Posted: 12/20/11 at 11:36am

Just saw the show again. The audience response is extraordinary. They seem to enjoy the show a great deal. What do they see so differently from people on this board. They were raving at intermission and post bows!