AMELIE Reviews- Page 3

[Auggie27]

Posted: 4/4/17 at 12:18pm

Newintown answered my query very honestly and (to my thinking) pragmatically.  It's easy to forget that an admired actor well known in the NYC community who has two roles under her belt doesn't generate actual dollars that might keep a show up and running.  How many people would actually buy seats only because she's in it? Rather than because Soo + X factor (composer, film, story, reviews) = sale. That's my issue: she alone won't push sales, whereas Soo in well received material with (cultural wide) curiosity about it might be. A rarefied, whimsical French film + Soo is a potentially harder sell.     

[froote]

Posted: 4/4/17 at 12:22pm

To be fair, while she's clearly not enough to make a show a success, I imagine the grosses would be even worse if they had kept Samantha Barks. I do think there is a (relatively small) base of people that would see this just for Phillipa. The movie is a bit of a cult classic, is in French and doesn't have the commercial appeal that most other movie adaptaions do.

[Wick3]

Posted: 4/4/17 at 12:30pm

HenryTDobson said: "
Yes, I'm sure if Soo took stage door selfies, this would be running for 50 years or more."

lmao! Especially if Soo doesn't get any other roles and stays with this show for 50years! 

 

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 4/4/17 at 12:43pm

froote said: "To be fair, while she's clearly not enough to make a show a success, I imagine the grosses would be even worse if they had kept Samantha Barks."

While I was a little disappointed at first that Samantha Barks wouldn't be continuing with Amelie, I'm now actually glad that this show didn't end up being her Broadway debut given the overall response.

Updated On: 4/4/17 at 12:43 PM

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 4/4/17 at 12:47pm

Here's a harsh review from Naveen Kumar at Towleroad:

"It doesn’t help that the world of MacKinnon’s production seems like a children’s game of make-believe, and Soo the strangely inanimate doll at its center. Alas, no amount of spirit fingers seem to help. Fortunately, Amélie is streaming on Netflix."

http://www.towleroad.com/2017/04/amelie-broadway/

[froote]

Posted: 4/4/17 at 12:56pm

Jeffrey Karasarides said: "While I was a little disappointed at first that Samantha Barks wouldn't be continuing with Amelie, I'm now actually glad that this show didn't end up being her Broadway debut given the overall response."

Unfortunately, Samantha's career is not looking good at all these days. I actually think starring in this would have been a big improvement over what she's been doing, no matter how tepid the response. You just have to look at the reviews/box office for her latest film Bitter Harvest. I went to see her in The Last Five Years which ran for only a few weeks in London and they moved me from the back row of a 300 seat theatre to the 5th row because it was only a quarter full.

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

Posted: 4/4/17 at 2:40pm

What a shame to hear about Samantha Barks...she was tremendous in the Les Mis film...you'd think a big project like that could have secured more high-profile work for her.

I think the Deadline review is very interesting. After pointing out the show's flaws, that guy seemed to do a 180 and confess that it had grown on him. Hmm!

[Lot666]

Posted: 4/4/17 at 2:42pm

Ado Annie D'Ysquith said: "What a shame to hear about Samantha Barks...she was tremendous in the Les Mis film..."

I thought she was the best thing about that movie, from a cast perspective.

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 4/4/17 at 3:27pm

Ado Annie D'Ysquith said: "What a shame to hear about Samantha Barks...she was tremendous in the Les Mis film...you'd think a big project like that could have secured more high-profile work for her."

If you ask me, she's been having a more active career than Nikki Blonsky has had after Hairspray. Samantha Barks has done some smaller films, theatre projects, and concerts (she's even got one coming up at 54 Below this July). She's also actually my choice to play Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady.

[Sertzo19]

Posted: 4/4/17 at 4:40pm

"How many people would actually buy seats only because she's in it? Rather than because Soo + X factor (composer, film, story, reviews) = sale. That's my issue: she alone won't push sales, whereas Soo in well received material with (cultural wide) curiosity about it might be. A rarefied, whimsical French film + Soo is a potentially harder sell. "

Couldn't agree with you more Auggie27! Some of my friends have compared the indie appeal of Amelie to Once, and although both musicals were adapted from indie cult smashes, it's important to note that Once took a novel and somewhat original approach in it's musical adaptation. Nothing I've seen or heard about the Amelie musical seems to suggest much originality. The marketing campaign has been boring, it seems to only be banking on Soo’s name and face. I honestly don’t think her name or face is really that recognizable to anyone outside of the Broadway community or the casual Hamilton fan. The music I’ve heard for the show is bland and combining these two elements with the lukewarm to negative reviews immediately takes this one off my list of shows to catch this season. There are so many good shows running right now that I don’t see this surviving beyond summer.  

[Robbie2]

Posted: 4/4/17 at 4:44pm

Jeffrey Karasarides said: "Ado Annie D'Ysquith said: "What a shame to hear about Samantha Barks...she was tremendous in the Les Mis film...you'd think a big project like that could have secured more high-profile work for her."

If you ask me, she's been having a more active career than Nikki Blonsky has had after Hairspray. Samantha Barks has done some smaller films, theatre projects, and concerts (she's even got one coming up at 54 Below this July). She's also actually my choice to play Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady.

 

That won't happen Jeffrey.

 

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 4/4/17 at 4:46pm

How do you know?

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 4/4/17 at 4:47pm

Not sure how Samantha Barks re-entered the conversation, but my (completely and entirely selfish) hope is that Amélie folds sooner than later, leaving Phillipa Soo available to be our Eliza Doolittle next spring at Lincoln Center. Just my dream

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 4/4/17 at 4:53pm

 

And to think, Pippa'd probably be the frontrunner, if not a shoo-in, for the Tony if she'd stayed with GREAT COMET.

[GreasedLightning]

Posted: 4/4/17 at 4:55pm

themysteriousgrowl said: " 

And to think, Pippa'd probably be the frontrunner, if not a shoo-in, for the Tony if she'd stayed with GREAT COMET.

 

"

It'd be swell to see her return to the role if Amelie doesn't make it. But we all know that probably won't happen. 

[Sho-Tunes-R-Us]

Posted: 4/4/17 at 7:24pm

Saw the show in Berkeley, CA with most of this cast and Samantha Barks in the title role.  I found her and the show charming, but slight.  IMHO the NYC debut should have been in a smaller theatre off-Broadway with an open or limited run.  If Barks would concede to playing the role again some of the advertising could be based on her role in Les Miz, the film.  That just might be a selling point since the film did so well at the box office.

Production design on Broadway looks identical to Berkeley and I find no fault with that.

The male lead should have been replaced.  A pallid performance in Berkeley.  No chemistry whatsoever between the characters of Nino and Amelie.

Also believe that this show will do very well regionally.  Perhaps this was the Broadway producers endgame.  "Direct from Broadway!"  can sell tickets in the hinterlands.

Currently have a ticket for June and am hoping now that the fates on the Rialto will be kind and reward me with a cancellation/refund.

[Chicken_Flavor]

Posted: 4/4/17 at 9:47pm

Soo is the only thing holding this show together. While it's a good show, it's extremely underwhelming and overrated.

[bwayrose7]

Posted: 4/4/17 at 10:04pm

I'm really sad to hear how poorly this show has apparently been adapted. I was in the camp that found the movie charming (probably part of the reason I came to love Pushing Daisies) and was so excited, thought it would lend itself well to a musical world. Sounds like it's more like this season's Tuck, though.

[theatreguy12]

Posted: 4/5/17 at 3:10am

I saw the show in L.A. and quite enjoyed it. Not the best I've seen, but I thought it was charming, and led by a  wonderful performance by Soo as the lead.  It looks like it won't have a very long shelf life on Broadway though.   Which is a shame.

As for the Tonys though....once Midler was announced as Dolly last year, she was already instantly the shoo-in for the Tony,  It was hers to lose from the get-go.  It sounds like she's wonderful, but she could have put out a performance that was less than its potential, and still got the award.  Midler is so big she had instant wiggle room.  

As it turns out, it sounds like she's super.  So the award is hers.   Doesn't matter whether or not Amelie is a hit, or goes by the wayside.  Soo, et. al. don't have a chance this year anyway being up against Midler.

 

themysteriousgrowl said: " 

And to think, Pippa'd probably be the frontrunner, if not a shoo-in, for the Tony if she'd stayed with GREAT COMET.

 

"

 

[Margo319]

Posted: 4/5/17 at 3:17am

The score was the major issue for me, not surprised with these reviews.  And Ms. Soo is amazing, but not enough of a star to carry a show.  Not yet.  I don't think this has very long

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 4/5/17 at 7:29am

 

Oh, wow. Yes, you're absolutely right, theaterguy. I'm so thoroughly uninterested in Midler and DOLLY! that I keep forgetting it's even happening. The Tony is hers.

[ggersten]

Posted: 4/9/17 at 6:16pm

Meanwhile, Amelie ran the Isherwood review as their Sunday full page ad in the NY Times. 

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 4/9/17 at 6:20pm

ggersten said: "Meanwhile, Amelie ran the Isherwood review as their Sunday full page ad in the NY Times."

Are we sure Amélie ran it, or that Isherwood's new group ran it to sell that they exist?

[Mike66]

Posted: 4/9/17 at 6:55pm

ggersten said: "Meanwhile, Amelie ran the Isherwood review as their Sunday full page ad in the NY Times. 

 

"

Tis the only way that Mr I's work is going to be seen in the Times.....

 

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

Posted: 4/17/17 at 8:57am

So my friend and I saw this on Thursday, and while we both admitted that it had flaws, I was utterly invested in the whole thing. As I've mentioned, I see a lot of myself in Amelie, so it was nice to relate that much to a protagonist (the last time this happened for me was at Waitress).

Randy Blair looked like he was having the time of his life as "Elton John," and the nun-in-the-sex-shop scene was a delight. We both really enjoyed "There's No Place Like Gnome," but my favorite song was "When the Booth Goes Bright." Also- I gotta say this- the ensemble in this piece is working their butts off. I don't think they stopped moving for the entirety of the show. It was great to see.

Stage door report: I was really impressed with how fast everybody came out and how gracious they all were. The order was Alison Cimmet, Savvy Crawford, Harriet D. Foy, Phillipa Soo, and finally Adam Chanler-Berat. All in all, we had a really fun night!