Unsinkable Molly Brown with Beth Malone- Page 2

[Auggie27]

Posted: 7/23/17 at 5:20pm

Very interesting. They opened with the lifeboat scene in Denver.  I'm assuming this is (still) the Dick Scanlon book? 

Did they keep "Are You Sure?"  Usually near the end of the first act (it fits nowhere else). My favorite number, but one quick to be tossed. 

[rawrali]

Posted: 7/23/17 at 5:29pm

Auggie27 said: "Very interesting. They opened with the lifeboat scene in Denver.  I'm assuming this is (still) the Dick Scanlon book? 

Did they keep "Are You Sure?"  Usually near the end of the first act (it fits nowhere else). My favorite number, but one quick to be tossed. "

 

Yes, still the Scanlan book. Are You Sure? was near the end of Act 1.

 

[uncageg]

Posted: 7/23/17 at 6:03pm

deltatee said: "I saw her in it back in 2014 when it was doing its stint in Denver.  I didn't think the show was in good enough shape at the time to transfer. But Beth Malone was really great in it."

 

I saw it during the Denver New Play Summit back in 2008-2009. Marc Kudish was in it.

 

"

 

[Robbie2]

Posted: 7/23/17 at 6:28pm

uncageg said: "deltatee said: "I saw her in it back in 2014 when it was doing its stint in Denver.  I didn't think the show was in good enough shape at the time to transfer. But Beth Malone was really great in it."

 

I saw it during the Denver New Play Summit back in 2008-2009. Marc Kudish was in it.

 

"

 

looks eh if it comes to Broadway I doubt an audience is out there for this and it won't last!

"

 

[Auggie27]

Posted: 7/23/17 at 9:00pm

I finally watched the 4 minute montage posted at BWW.  "Are You Sure" is positioned in act one, but not toward the people of Denver, apparently. It seems to have new auditors.  I'm glad it's still there. Ye it does seem tonally less somber, and not necessarily for the better. It was a moment for Molly to demonstrate a depth that went beyond class envy.  Sung to the miners, it may well reveal her character further, but re-purposed, it's not quite the same.

I watched the clips twice, rooting for every element, including Malone, whom I thought the under-sung component of "Fun Home," which I saw twice on B'way.  Her Alison was the center of that production to me, an unforgettable, unsentimental portrait.  I'll never forget "Telephone Wire."  So I was ... hopeful here.  To me, anything on the Muny stage looks unreliably off kilter, lost in the expanse.  The designs were ghastly (the bar scene looks like it's out of "Hunchback..."  Still, I wasn't ... enamored with any of it.  It looks like fine stock, but not necessarily something moving east.  I could be very wrong, and not for the first time.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 7/23/17 at 9:02pm

If Holiday Inn can move to Broadway following a muny run. I imagine this can too. 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 7/23/17 at 9:24pm

I'm sure Roundabout is def eyeing it.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 7/23/17 at 10:30pm

That's a great idea. Roundabout would be a good fit for something like this.

[bk]

Posted: 7/23/17 at 10:59pm

Sorry, the clip reel is horrendous.  Everything about it except Beth.  Molly Brown didn't need Dick Scanlan's help, frankly - they always say these things won't work until someone comes along and makes them work as they were written.  For me, this is a travesty.  Not opening with I Ain't Down Yet?  Do they even know what this show is about?  Interpolating songs from heaven knows where?  I saw the national tour of the Broadway company - my very first musical - there was nothing wrong with it - I did the show twice after that and there was still nothing wrong with it.  And with a talented director and choreographer, and a great cast, all of whom actually trusted the material, well, there would still be nothing wrong with it.  I mean, there are three lines left from the original book?  Sorry, fail.  I simply do not see how anyone can look at that clip reel and think what's on view is good or even decent.  And the arrangements - don't even get me started.  Just do the damn show - oh, wait, we'd need talented creatives for that.

Updated On: 7/25/17 at 10:59 PM

[stlrod]

Posted: 7/23/17 at 11:00pm

"Just" a muny production? Give us some credit in the Midwest.

Updated On: 7/23/17 at 11:00 PM

[finebydesign]

Posted: 7/24/17 at 11:40am

I agree the clip real is terrible.  I just love this show, what a shame Reba never took it to Broadway.  I really think this needs someone with super charisma to carry this role.  What about Nicki Blonsky?

[rawrali]

Posted: 7/24/17 at 2:15pm

Auggie27 said: "The designs were ghastly (the bar scene looks like it's out of "Hunchback..." "

The bar scene shown in the clip is supposed to take place at an "ice palace" that the owner of the mining company builds to throw a party for his workers due to a profitable year. Based on a quick google search, this appears to be based on a real ice palace built in Leadville in the late 1800s.

Edit: I just listened to the original Broadway cast recording of "Are You Sure?" and I really think they made significant changes to this song for this production but maybe I'm crazy. I do not remember the original lyrics at all from the other night.

Updated On: 7/24/17 at 02:15 PM

[ggersten]

Posted: 7/24/17 at 2:18pm

I respect BK's words immensely - it makes me sad because we were going to drive to St. Louis to see the Muny production.  I agree that the reel didn't exactly fill me with joyous anticipation.  Between travel, heat and humidity (because we sit in the free seats far in the back), I am having second thoughts.  

[pathman2]

Posted: 7/25/17 at 10:34am

ggersten said: "I respect BK's words immensely - it makes me sad because we were going to drive to St. Louis to see the Muny production.  I agree that the reel didn't exactly fill me with joyous anticipation.  Between travel, heat and humidity (because we sit in the free seats far in the back), I am having second thoughts.  

 

"

You won't be sorry! Saw last night's performance and it's great. The show itself probably couldn't survive on Broadway today without a huge name attached, but this production is a delight and somewhat of a history lesson. I haven't read every post on this thread, but it does have "I Ain't Down Yet" near the start of the show right after we're introduced to the miners singing "Colorado, My Home."

[pathman2]

Posted: 7/25/17 at 10:44am

HenryTDobson said: "Has anyone seen this yet? It looks fun!

https://www.broadwayworld.com/videoplay/VIDEO-Highlights-from-THE-UNSINKABLE-MOLLY-BROWN-at-the-Muny-20170722

 

"

 

FYI, those clips are not in order, lest anyone judge the revision by this video.

 

[bk]

Posted: 7/25/17 at 11:20am

Yes, because the show is about the miners.  Seems perfectly natural to open with the miners.  Change the title to The Unsinkable Colorado Miners.

[ggersten]

Posted: 7/26/17 at 9:17am

More thoughts later

Saw this Tuesday night. Big crowd. Bigger than I expected.  Loved the first act.  Act two is weak long and unfocused.  Show was very long.  Started at 817 and ended at 1105 with the interval.  First Act ended about 940.  

 

Beth Malone carries the show.  Belly Up To The Bar is really the only BIG number.  

As BK notes, this is not The Unsinkable Molly Brown of old.  It has some of the songs and characters and may be a little closer to the truth but it is an entirely different show, even as it still wanders far afield.

Updated On: 2/15/20 at 09:17 AM

[ggersten]

Posted: 7/26/17 at 11:23am

Ok. I'm at a keyboard now.

I don't have a program. They don't give them to the free seats, and when the show was over, I forgot to pick one up.  So, I don't have a song list.

I did not see the original The Unsinkable Molly Brown. I've only seen the movie.  As I noted, and as BK noted, this is an entirely different show.  The refrain through the show is "Call Me Molly".  Which, per my visit to the Molly Brown House in Denver, would never have happened.  Ah well.  

As I noted, we really enjoyed Act One.  It does open with the miners singing "Colorado My Home" - which is now a scene setter, rather than a heartfelt cry of Harve Presnell.  Beth Malone just owns the huge Muny stage from the moment she enters.  She is spunky, firey, independent, brass, bold, energetic and just alive.  She is a Molly that people would follow - as the characters do in this show.  "I Aint Down Yet" is lively - with lots of clambering over set pieces.  (Aside, the set is one of the weakest I've seen at The Muny - it looks cheap and bare).  Whitney Bashor as Julia has a sweet soprano voice - I hadn't expected to hear those notes!  Julia is the one who teaches Molly reading, writing and arithmetic and some ideas about being "ladylike".  Marc Kudisch in Act One is a strong JJ Brown - his scene where he proposes to Molly is wonderful.  "Belly Up To The Bar" boys is kind of shoe-horned in. "Hey - remember that song we used to sing - let's sing it" but the choreography and energy is so high (and remarkable in the heat and humidity) that you forgive the placement and just enjoy the heck out of it.  JJ and Molly are given a coterie of miners to play off of, who appear again in the second act.  Not quite caricatured immigrant miners - and while they should feel more essential to the story - given what happens in Act Two - they did not fill that niche for me.  Act One ends with Molly goading JJ into figuring out how to turn the worthless silver mine into a gold mine and the Brown's getting a share of ownership allowing them to become rich.  Throughout Act One, Malone is "unsinkable" - as she sings and states, she and those around her "ain't down".  And my spirits rose with her.  Act One felt a little a big old fashioned musical to me - and I was loving every minute of it.  As I noted, though, Act One came in at at about 80 minutes.  It didn't drag - but it felt like an entire show.

I wish I could say the same for Act Two.  Act Two seemed pieced together. Songs seemed like snippets rather than full throated character pieces.  The Sacred 36 make a nice entrance, but then are just afterthoughts until the hilarious "Cup of Tea" number.  This show does emphasize the social progressiveness and philanthropy of the real Margaret Brown.  But, the show questions whether those endeavors were because of who Molly Brown is at her heart - or whether it is because she wants recognition and acceptance.  JJ is uncomfortable in Denver from the start of Act One and the gradual divide that opens up between he and Molly, as a result, seems a little forced.  The number where Molly goes to Europe and has three beaus chasing her did not work for me at all.  We do get to the Titanic at the end.  Molly takes charge of the lifeboat - although the man originally running the boat is not doom and gloom enough to warrant her actions.  The big number she sings starts off great - a capella - and starts to build as she walks out of the boat - but if felt kind of "by the numbers" to me.  It didn't have the big emotional heft for me that it may be intended to have.  This is not for the lack of effort by Beth Malone who gives it her all.  That said, the final scene in NY is wonderful - even if contrived.  There is an emotional payoff at the end for Molly and JJ and the audience - which even if not true to life - is right for the show.  Even though Act Two probably clocks in at 65 minutes - i didn't see when Act Two started, but it was probably around 10 p.m. - it felt longer than Act One.  Other than "Cup of Tea", there really weren't any BIG numbers to take your breath away.  

We are happy we made the drive to The Muny.  I mostly enjoyed the show.  My spouse and daughter had some of the same reactions.  Act One was terrific.  Act Two was less so.

And Beth Malone is a star.  Whatever the weaknesses of the show - watching her was worth every minute. (I can't say, every dollar, because well, we sat in the free seats).  

Updated On: 2/15/20 at 11:23 AM

[shinypenny2]

Posted: 7/26/17 at 11:36am

It's an out of town tryout looking to transfer. Fox Theatricals is funding the Muny production and they love Beth, and the cast and creative team are all New York based, much more so than typical Muny shows. There's a reason Kathleen Marshall is doing a one week summer stock show.

This runs a little long and act 2 needs work, but Beth is an absolute STAR in it.

[shinypenny2]

Posted: 7/26/17 at 11:40am

It's an out of town tryout looking to transfer. Fox Theatricals is funding the Muny production and they love Beth, and the cast and creative team are all New York based, much more so than typical Muny shows. There's a reason Kathleen Marshall is doing a one week summer stock show.

This runs a little long and act 2 needs work, but Beth is an absolute STAR in it.

[EdEval]

Posted: 7/27/17 at 12:57am

No one else but our beloved little Kristin Chenoweth would do.