EFX

[taorminateatrogroup]

Posted: 7/4/12 at 1:55am

Talk about a long since forgotten show that hardly anyone mentions anymore. I was just listening to the soundtrack the other day and thought of how amazing it is. This would be amazing If they revived it for broadway. Love it.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 7/4/12 at 2:25am

I'm not sure it would really be appropriate for Broadway. It was pretty much just a special effects extravaganza with a loose plot to sort of tie everything together. If it was staged exactly as it was in Las Vegas with the animatronic dragons that came up from the stage floor then there probably wouldn't be a theatre on Broadway big enough to house it. I'm pretty sure the theatre at the MGM Grand was built specifically for that show.

It also went through several changes over the years, and the show began to really lose focus toward the end. The Michael Crawford version was definitely the most coherent, and there were some good songs. I really like "Tonight," "Greatest Showman in the Universe" and the title song.

The recordings with David Cassidy and Tommy Tune document the deterioration of what little plot there was to start with. By the time Rick Springfield joined the cast most of the original score was gone and they didn't even bother recording it again, but I'm pretty sure they did film the final performance and it was available as a limited edition on Rick Springfield's website.

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 7/4/12 at 4:15am

It is, or rather was, a fun show to look at. There were a couple descent songs in it, but it would never work on Broadway and will likely never be seen again. Cats probably had more of a plot holding its scenes together than EFX did.
It was really the special effects and Crawford's showmanship that made the original incarnation worth watching. It is my understanding that after he left it just kept going down hill.

[Wee Thomas2]

Posted: 7/6/12 at 4:25pm

EFX was my first ever Vegas show (with David Cassidy). Even though I had much much less B'way experience at the time, somehow I knew it was much more a spectacle than a show.