ESCAPE TO MARGARITAVILLE to Take the Marquis Theatre in Spring 2018- Page 4

[RippedMan]

Posted: 11/11/17 at 2:04am

I'm kind of curious about this. Def. after a happy hour. 

[kade.ivy]

Posted: 11/11/17 at 6:31pm

I just got out of today’s matinee. The show was...cute. I might edit this post once I’ve had time to digest, but here are some first thoughts. Minor spoilers below.

First and most importantly, this cast is phenomenal and elevates the material. Paul Nolan has the perfect voice for these songs. Alison Luff is fabulous all-around-glorious voice, and you root for her from the first second. Eric Petersen has some great comic moments. Lisa Howard is somewhat wasted, but her powerful voice does get to shine in spots.

It did feel like several plot details are there simply to serve the song’s lyrics (the salt shaker, carrot juice, etc,). The book has some funny moments but is overall fairly basic. I agree that the abrupt shift in Rachel’s opinion of Tully wasn’t quite earned yet, and the ending felt rushed. (We don’t see Rachel and Tully think about each other over the three years, for example).

The tap number and kick line number was my favorite part and could make Petersen a dark horse Featured Actor nominee. “Cheeseburger” was fun, if a bit forced. I will say I’m a casual Buffett fan at best, so I only knew maybe a half dozen of the songs.

Overall, I feel like this show about like I felt about Mamma Mia (though MM’s plot is much better realized than Margaritaville’s at present). It’s a fun night out with catchy songs and a very talented cast. I wouldn’t pay full price to see it again.

It would obviously be super fun for a Parrothead, but I could also see this show finding a broader audience in New York and having a life akin to, say, Rock of Ages. It will do great on the road. There were some empty seats today, but the 2300-seat Oriental Theatre was generally well-sold.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 11/11/17 at 6:47pm

I always felt if MAMMA MIA could have a healthy run on Broadway, any jukebox musical can make it. Just will the parrot heads & tourists be able to keep this open for a long run, too?

[seaweedjstubbs]

Posted: 11/13/17 at 3:01pm

Saw this last night. I'm definitely not the target audience for this show, so maybe that's why I disliked it so much. To me it made MAMMA MIA look like high art. The plot was so ridiculously paper thin, and none of the jokes really made me laugh. Rarely do shows that try so hard to be campy actually turn out good, and this was no exception. Once the dancing zombie salesmen came out, I was done. People complained about how dumb DISASTER! was a few seasons ago, but I at least had some genuine laughs during that show. And the music was just so blaringly loud whenever the whole ensemble would sing together that I could hardly understand the words. Not that the words mattered. I was hoping for at least a fun night out, but instead left scratching my head. Oh well, if people like it, good for them. But this show definitely won't convert any non-"Parrot Heads".

[broadwayliz22]

Posted: 11/14/17 at 12:23am

Saw this show last night and overall I thought it was fine. Enjoyable night out but story was kinda stupid and the songs added nothing to the story (which I obviously knew would be the case). Cast was pretty good, I really liked Alison Luff. Show is definitely targeted toward Jimmy Buffet fans, would not recommend this show unless you are a Buffet fan. Can’t see it having a very long run on Broadway.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 11/16/17 at 12:57am

Does anyone else think they made the role of JD just so they could have a role to plop Jimmy in at some point during the run?

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 11/16/17 at 10:18am

"Does anyone else think they made the role of JD just so they could have a role to plop Jimmy in at some point during the run?"

 

Makes sense to me especially if show needs a boost.

[TheSassySam]

Posted: 11/22/17 at 4:31pm

I saw this last night and was surprised at how much I enjoyed myself. Of course, I went to Latinicity across the street for happy hour margaritas beforehand. ($20 for a pitcher before 6? How could I not?) So, that may have helped a bit.

Everybody in the audience seemed to enjoy themselves. I was a bit underwhelmed by Paul Alexander Nolan and Alison Luff, but Eric Petersen and Don Sparks were both noteworthy. If there are any acting nominations for the Tony's it would be Eric for Best Supporting Actor. 

I would say that you should probably give the Jimmy Buffett song catalog a listen before going to see this. And don't be taken aback if the audience sings along, the show encourages it!

I am not sure how this will do on Broadway, but if you're a Parrothead, this is worth your money. I expect the "License to Chill" number to be the one on the Tony's broadcast/talk shows. 

[ChiTheaterFan]

Posted: 11/30/17 at 2:26am

I realize I'm a little late on this since it's only in Chicago for a few more days but I saw it tonight and thought I'd chime in. It greatly surpassed my (albeit low) expectations. Minor spoilers below but this show is predictable rom com so it's not one where I think that's a big deal.

It is weirdly the perfect show for me at this time in my life. I've been off this site awhile because I quit my job as a lawyer that used to take me to NY all the time and I'm getting ready to go back to school in marine conservation. I've been spending the last 4 months roaming southeast Asia and scuba diving. So yeah; the whole thing about the type A environmentalist who needs to change her latitude to change her attitude is pretty on the nose. (I'm going to go ahead and throw it out to the universe that if some dude who looks and sounds like Paul Nolan wants to ask me to hole up in a cabana on a deserted island my bags are packed.) I am not a Buffett fan and knew only a couple of songs but I learned I actually really like Jimmy Buffett. Who knew?

The plot is exceedingly cheesy and very predictable but it's good fun and it doesn't take itself too seriously. It is a vehicle for a fun and charming evening and nothing more. I thought the Tammy/Brick (Brick is apparently a name now?) plotline and relationship was much better than the leads actually. It doesn't get as much time, but they connect in their similarities and you actually see why they would be attracted to each other. The moment where it hits its climax (not in that way) is pretty satisfying albeit unrealistic. Tully and Rachel not so much. They're pretty much just two sexy people being sexy and I agree with the other comments that when she kisses him it it felt so out of the blue. And yes the ending is incredibly forced but that being said, they seem to know it's cheese and it all felt pretty tongue in cheek to me.

If you remember my bright star posts (I wouldn't expect you to but some people on here remember everything) you'll know I loved me some bright star and so I was thrilled to see Paul Nolan back on stage. I had been hoping for a dark horse Tony nomination for him but that season was so insanely crowded in that category. Maybe this will give him a shot. I also really enjoyed It Shoulda Been You mostly because of Lisa Howard. I didn't know she was in this until arriving at the theater so I was thrilled to see her name in the cast list. (Although I hope next time she's in a show she will not be playing the "fat girl" and will just be playing a part where her weight doesn't need to be a plot point but such is the world we live in... Anyhoo....)

They're both fantastic along with the other leads. Paul Nolan's voice sounds like Jimmy Buffett's songs were practically written for him and he's pretty much the same charming and likeable bad(ish) boy he was in the first act of Bright Star until it got sad. (Woah Mama could've been sung by Tully.) Lisa Howard is fantastic and while she doesn't get as much time as she did in It Shoulda Been Me, she has some good moments and she's very funny. Eric Peterson is hilarious as well. Alison Luff has a beautiful voice but of course the uptight girl is nowhere near as fun a role as the comedic sidekicks or the handsome crooner, so she didn't stand out for me. Since I am out of the loop on shows this season I don't know if nominations are likely but, without considering other shows, I think Nolan, Howard, and Peterson would all have a shot. (And I've know idea whether this is something he'd do, but yes, JD seems written so Jimmy Buffet could easily step in for a few nights. He doesn't dance as I recall and I don't think the staging of his scenes is very complicated.)

There are lots of fun moments, like the zombie tap dance. The band is onstage for much of the show, as it should be for a show like this. Paul Nolan plays the guitar quite a bit as well. (Luff does too for one song... well one and a half if you count strumming while someone else makes the chords.)

I have taken a quick scan through the other reviews although I haven't had time to read all of them from back to LA Jolla. I was a bit surprised at how most people thought mamma Mia was better. I didn't like Mamma Mia and I enjoyed this much more. I'm sure that is mostly because of the music, but I also think the plot of having a character who is a hotel singer lets them get a lot of songs in without them being a plot point. There's some shoehorning for certain but I guess it felt either less forced OR intentionally forced in such a way it's delivered with a big wink. Yes, the show has written in a lot of very stupid lines just to tie the show to the song lyrics (the missing salt, juicy fruit gum). But it's completely tongue in cheek. The actors practically winked at you when they tied the two together. They know it's cheesy and it's intended to be, just like much of the humor in the show. It's like Tammy's punny sense of humor--its cheesy and not for everyone, and it knows it's being cheesy--it just needs to find its Brick who appreciates it for its cheese. (And I saw a previous comment implying they sing a whole song about looking for a salt shaker. That's not really the case. The song has a different primary purpose in the show. It has a line in it about looking for a shaker of salt, so they wrote a few lines into the dialogue as a link to that line. It's just a tongue in cheek addition to a song that's about something else.)

The show this reminded me of the most was Honeymoon in Vegas. That wasn't a jukebox musical but the tone of the humor was similar as I recall. I was pleasantly surprised by that as I was this one.

So as you can tell from this post, I liked bright star, it shoulda been you, and honeymoon in Vegas. All relatively unsuccessful (and not uniformly popular) shows with imperfect plots that required you to suspend disbelief. But in every case I still enjoyed them imperfections and all, because they allowed me to have some fun (well bright star more the feels than fun, but you know...) This is in the same category. It is not for everyone but I think there are a lot of people who will enjoy it for what it is. Certainly Buffett fans should adore it. Whether it will actually sell tickets or not I'm not sure...

I would say the audience was a lot more parrotheads than general theatergoers. And they sing along. I still freaking hate that but I get that it's not going to stop because thats kind of the culture of how these songs are sung. I didn't hate it for every song--when they break the 4th wall for Why Dont We Get Drunk and Screw (or whatever it's called) and encourage the audience to sing along it's funny. But that seems to give everyone license to sing along with every song and suddenly we have a sing along when the lead is singing a sad song alone (or almost alone) in the middle of the stage. I'm not ok with that and it will always annoy me regardless of the culture. It's not a concert. But that's a digression. It is what it is so be prepared for it.

So I would go and just have a good time, being prepared for corniness. If you do, and don't take it too seriously, I think you'll enjoy it. And yes maybe imbibe in some margaritas. This is one I would probably not buy at full price but would probably pick up at TKTS if it's on the board (as I suspect it will be...)

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 11/30/17 at 7:14am

 

I'm still excited/curious to see this, but find it supremely silly that they've pulled the discount code for the NYC run.