Thank You, Roundabout

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 1/15/12 at 11:13pm

You reminded me tonight why I will never subscribe to a full season of your works and will instead pay as little as humanly possible for your productions.

Your current revival of LOOK BACK IN ANGER truly puts the old saying "it's like watching paint dry" to good use. You have managed to top your past productions and created one of the singularly most mind numbingly boring pieces of theater ever.

So thank you for giving me a reason to rush out of the theater with my friends and drink the memory of your show away. It's good to get a little Sunday night buzz on.

[PlayItAgain]

Posted: 1/15/12 at 11:25pm

man and boy was worse.......

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 1/15/12 at 11:26pm

They're both unforgivable.

[RainbowJude]

Posted: 1/15/12 at 11:43pm

When I see the name Roundabout attached to a production, a shiver runs down my spine and I cry a little.

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 1/15/12 at 11:45pm

Anything Goes?

Roundabout has definitely produced a lot dreck but there has been some good. I haven't seen Look Back in Anger nor do I plan to.

[sondhead]

Posted: 1/15/12 at 11:48pm

Its been my experience they do more bad than good. I don't go these days unless I've heard from someone whose opinion I expressly trust that they've seen it and its good.

Bye Bye Birdie, anyone? That was the one that tipped me over the edge.

[SondheimFan5]

Posted: 1/16/12 at 12:18am

Remember Pal Joey?
and People in the Picture?
and the '01 Follies?

[bjh2114]

Posted: 1/16/12 at 1:37am

man and boy was worse.......

They're both unforgivable.

I saw The Road to Mecca last night. It was worse than Man and Boy. They should have brought Sons of the Prophet straight to Broadway. It's the only good original work they've done in years.

[Kad]

Posted: 1/16/12 at 3:04am

The Roundabout off-Broadway houses that are dedicated to new work actually consistently puts up good stuff.
They enable transfers of excellent regional or foreign productions.
Their own original Broadway revivals... not so much, with the odd exception.

[PlayItAgain]

Posted: 1/16/12 at 4:18am

Part of me feels like especially with the staging, sam gold wanted to do it in the blackbox.......

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 1/16/12 at 1:05pm

Well than he should have.

And yes, MECCA is another perfect example of this company's inability to recognize works that need to be revived.

There are SO many plays begging for revivals and they seem absolutely inept at picking them.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 1/16/12 at 1:36pm

Jordan, was that the main problem in your view, the play they picked?

In its day, LOOK BACK IN ANGER announced the arrival of the Angry Young Men generation of post-Empire Brits (a movement that gave us playwrights such as Pinter and Orton), but we've had a half-century of youthful anger and revolution since.

My memory of a video of a 1980s revival with Kenneth Brannagh and Emma Thompson is that the play seemed rather tame even then.

[undercoveractor]

Posted: 1/16/12 at 1:59pm

I often look at the Roundabout as a way to see shows that I might not ever get the chance to see otherwise.....sometimes I have been disappointed, and sometimes I've been elated.
I really enjoyed CABARET, SHE LOVES ME, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST, SONS OF THE PROPHET, A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS, EVERYDAY RAPTURE, THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER, HEARTBREAK HOUSE, THE WOMEN, MRS' WARREN'S PROFESSION....and even PAL JOEY.

So I understand your issue, I do have to say that I appreciate a lot of what they do and am glad that I have been able to see several things that I might not get the chance to see. No need to mention the shows that were disappointing..

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 1/16/12 at 2:07pm

^^^^I feel the same way about revival theaters on the West Coast, including Reprise! I try to only go to shows I've never seen or haven't seen in decades.

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 1/16/12 at 2:09pm

Does the artistic director decide what plays to produce or are these things done by committee?

Could the problem be solved simply by the roll of a head, or is it more deep-rooted?

[Broadway Joe]

Posted: 1/16/12 at 2:09pm

I thought sons of the prophet was one of the worst plays I've ever seen. Couldn't wait to get out of the theatre that day.

Posted: 1/16/12 at 2:26pm

Roundabout is such a let down. One decent show doesn't make any of the following forgivable:

The People in the Picture.
Bye Bye Birdie.
The Tin Pan Alley Rag.
The Philanthropist.
Hedda Gabler.

[PopAria]

Posted: 1/16/12 at 2:57pm

I saw look back in anger last night as well.

I fell asleep 4 times and I almost left at intermission. But I felt bad, so I stayed for the last 40 minutes. Now I'm looking back in anger at myself for not leaving when I wanted to.

[North2009]

Posted: 1/16/12 at 3:04pm

Reading this thread made me laugh out loud. Was just discussing our own "Thank You Roundabout" problem here in Minneapolis called the Guthrie Theatre. The mainstage - passable at best. Tepid and yawn-inducing. The only real interesting stuff is up in the blackbox or shows they have brought in from other theatre companies here in town or BRIEF ENCOUNTER, SCOTTSBORO BOYS and next month END OF THE RAINBOW.
In this day and age would these theatres not want to pick the most interesting and yes, most appealling to anaudience and then make them all thrilling theatrical experiences.
Will not pay full price here - only will do - as many, many others - public rush line.

[Phantom of London]

Posted: 1/16/12 at 4:17pm

Sorry to sound a bit dumb here, but I am from a different country.

But what I don't get, why would a individual subscribe to a organization such as 'Roundabout' being a pertinent example, when you can just buy tickets from the box office to the 1/3 show you actually want to see?

As for the other 2 shows you don't fancy and you just might be inclined to see, you more than likely can get them from TKT's.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 1/16/12 at 4:27pm

To Phantom: Roundabout is essentially a regional theatre that happens to be based in NY and mounts part of their season on Broadway. Subscribers do get certain advantages, including seating priority, a more flexible policy on ticket exchanges, various subscriber events, and I believe that the subscription package is also tax deductible (at least other regional, non-profit companies allow subscriptions to be counted as part of a charitable donation, so I assume Roundabout does as well).

To Jay Lerner-Z: I can't say for sure, not knowing Roundabout's internal organizations, but at most regional theaters it is a combination of committee and the artistic director's choice in terms of the season. The artistic director typically does have final say, but they typically are not making the decision without input from various other staff members and departments.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 1/16/12 at 5:07pm

I've known enough people who worked at the Mark Taper Forum in L.A. to know that long-standing theaters tend to become increasingly bureaucratic unless there is a very strong hand cracking the whip.

We gave up on the Taper at one point. I just couldn't sit through one more boring evening. But there have been personnel changes and it has improved since then.

So there may be hope for the other theaters mentioned here.

[Jonwo]

Posted: 1/17/12 at 12:08am

Manhattan Theatre Club is also a not for profit and subscriber driven but yet has a better success ratio compared to Roundabout, maybe it's the fact they only have two venues to program each season whereas Roundabout has five venues to program.

[winston89]

Posted: 1/17/12 at 1:37am

It has nothing to do with who has more theatres. Roundabout is just not good at selecting work to produce. If they had zero issue in terms of selecting plays to produce, then roundabout would have good quality work on all their stages all season long. If MTC had more venues and the same great ability to select plays, then they would have great work on all their stages season long.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 1/17/12 at 8:53am

I found ROAD TO MECCA to be beautiful and captivating. I thought MAN AND BOY was a little slow, but became engrossed once it got going.

I am normally the first to admit when a Roundabout show sucks (remember Birdie?) but I've enjoyed much of this season so far...

Updated On: 1/17/12 at 08:53 AM