PRINCE OF BROADWAY Previews- Page 3

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 8/4/17 at 9:45am

Does anyone have perspective taking this show in from the Dress Circle? Looking for perspective as to whether or not the view is worth it... Thanks! :)

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 8/4/17 at 10:09am

theatregoer3, Robot Hal Prince is no longer in this version.

[whatdoesntkillme]

Posted: 8/4/17 at 10:14am

Lot666 said: "TheThreadMaster said: "How was Michael Xavier's phantom? and does he talk/sing with his accent?"

Also, I'm curious what kind of set they used for the Phantom sequence.

"

Xavier's Phantom was good, not great but not terrible, just good. For the most part he uses an American accent, though for the Phantom sequence I believe he used his British accent. The Phantom set is pretty minimal, but relative to the others it's one of the more elaborate ones: a bunch of candles stage right, and then the gate upstage left, and a whole lotta fog on the stage. 

[lightguy06222]

Posted: 8/4/17 at 10:18am

It was BAD. 

A Self indulgent, Hal Prince circle jerk. 

 

I don't feel like I learned anything new about Hal Prince. I don't think I learned anything new about his career, or any of the shows he did.   

The narration was terrible. Poorly written, and poorly structured throughout the show.  They had an opportunity to teach about the growth and development of This man with many Broadway hits.... it was purely a musical review. 

I think shuffle along worked better to be honest. And THAT show was a disaster case. 

The follies into Little night music segment DRAGGED.   But I think both those shows are major snoozefests. 

The choice to do the show without an ensemble was a MAJOR misfire. Each principal is wonderful, but some numbers just need more voices!  Especially EVITA!  Which was very odd with one actress dancing around Argentina herself. 


Most of the songs and stories make zero sense out of context. If you didn't know what the show was about going in.... well you still don't know.  

I have no idea the plot of company, Merrily, night music, or parade. (Even though I've seen full production of merrily and night music......). Well I still have no idea, not do I know why certain songs were chosen.  Out of context, it's JUST a musical review. I think he could have structured it better for us to learn something. Grow and thrive. Rather than hoping to just sell us on nostalgia. 

 

But ur speaking of nostalgia, the cabaret section was lovely, as was west side story, Sweeney Todd, spider woman, and many others. But WEIRD choices.... frau Schneider singing "so what" is a good representation from the show?  

What happened to FORUM. I know  a set was built for it. 

 

 

Updated On: 8/4/17 at 10:18 AM

[Lot666]

Posted: 8/4/17 at 10:18am

whatdoesntkillme said: "Lot666 said: "TheThreadMaster said: "How was Michael Xavier's phantom? and does he talk/sing with his accent?"

Also, I'm curious what kind of set they used for the Phantom sequence."

Xavier's Phantom was good, not great but not terrible, just good. For the most part he uses an American accent, though for the Phantom sequence I believe he used his British accent. The Phantom set is pretty minimal, but relative to the others it's one of the more elaborate ones: a bunch of candles stage right, and then the gate upstage left, and a whole lotta fog on the stage."

Thank you for this info. Does he wear the full costume as well, including the mask?

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 8/4/17 at 10:22am

What's the run time?

[Jarethan]

Posted: 8/4/17 at 10:42am

I HATED Fosse, and just got tired of Jerome Robbins' Broadway, although there was some great stuff in both shows.  Just thought FOSSE was so damned pretentious that I wanted to scream.  Lack of a narrative -- have to admit that i don't remember Jason Alexander's role at all, despite winning a Tony in one of those pretty bad seasons --  for JRB made it just (mostly) one big number after the next (many terrific), with both acts book-ended by WSS and Fiddler, respectively.  Since I am so sick of WSS, and seeing Fiddler excerpts makes me miss the entire show, I concluded that it was just not my cup of tea. Interesting that both Fosse and JRB won Tony's for best musical in really bad years with no competition.

Long-winded way of saying that I had no interest in seeing this when it was going to be a big show with a real star cast; that i had less when i realized it was going to be scaled down (many of Prince the director's greatest scenes demand bigness, e.g., A New Argentina, Masquerade, The Girls Upstairs, Beautiful Girls, much of Show Boat, Sweeney Todd ending, etc.  

Reading these makes me feel sad.  Even though I don't like this 'sub-genre' of Broadway musical, I feel bad that Harold Prince -- truly one of the great ones -- deserves bigger, not cheaper.  

[whatdoesntkillme]

Posted: 8/4/17 at 11:39am

Lot666 said: "whatdoesntkillme said: "Lot666 said: "TheThreadMaster said: "How was Michael Xavier's phantom? and does he talk/sing with his accent?"

Also, I'm curious what kind of set they used for the Phantom sequence."

Xavier's Phantom was good, not great but not terrible, just good. For the most part he uses an American accent, though for the Phantom sequence I believe he used his British accent. The Phantom set is pretty minimal, but relative to the others it's one of the more elaborate ones: a bunch of candles stage right, and then the gate upstage left, and a whole lotta fog on the stage."

Thank you for this info. Does he wear the full costume as well, including the mask?

"

Yup.

[whatdoesntkillme]

Posted: 8/4/17 at 11:40am

neonlightsxo said: "What's the run time?

"

2:30 including intermission

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 8/4/17 at 11:50am

Thanks, figured as much.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 8/4/17 at 3:44pm

Who is Robert Hal Prince?

[Jarethan]

Posted: 8/4/17 at 4:31pm

LimelightMike said: "Does anyone have perspective taking this show in from the Dress Circle? Looking for perspective as to whether or not the view is worth it... Thanks! :)

Basically the first two rows of the mezzanine in a small theatre.  They are great, unless you prefer to see nose hairs.

 

[bryan32]

Posted: 8/4/17 at 4:37pm

it looks like the songs are from the show that we know not the flops

 

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 8/4/17 at 5:30pm

Who is Robert Hal Prince?

Robot not Robert.  

Japanese incarnation of this show utilized a robotic Hal Prince as narrator which this Broadway incarnation discarded. 

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 8/4/17 at 5:48pm

Interesting that both Fosse and JRB won Tony's for best musical in really bad years with no competition.

I hated Fosse as well, but one of the best musicals of the last 20 years was its competition and deserved the win...Parade (for orchestrations as well).  And as big and splashy as Jerome Robbins Broadway was, and I do think it is entertaining (especially the scenes from shows rarely, if ever, produced), I thought Black and Blue deserved Best Musical.

As for this show...it just sounds bland and dull with very little justification for producing it.  Some of the song choices are just so odd.  I mean, just from Follies: Waiting for the Girls Upstairs I get.  But Beautiful Girls and The Right Girl???  That's the take-away from that score?  I can't imagine selecting those numbers and I don't even LIKE Follies!  This show sounds like the annual free Millennium Park concert held in Chicago every summer.  I wouldn't even pay to see it on tour.

[SarahNYC2]

Posted: 8/4/17 at 8:18pm

After reading these reviews I am glad I went with seeing The Great Comet with my 9 year old even though it was the 2nd time for both of us. Due to a cancelled flight we had a bonus evening in NYC so I did consider Prince of Broadway. 

[morosco]

Posted: 8/4/17 at 9:32pm

Surprised that "A Little Priest" is not in the show.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 8/4/17 at 9:52pm

This makes me sad. The reviews from friends who saw it last night ranged from "meh" to "God, that was insufferable". 

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 8/4/17 at 11:02pm

Just got out of the show.  10:37pm with an 8pm curtain.  I enjoyed it for what it was--- a limited engagement revue.  

Unfortunately I had some pretty awful people behind me. The man directly behind me ate about 15-20 packs of fruit snacks  (I saw all the wrappers all over the floor on the way out) and he managed to crinkle the wrappers for the entire show.  His companions provided narration for the entire show.  They explained to each other what show each song was from, what the name of each song was, and the name of the character singing.  They also repeated lyrics for anyone who didn't hear them.  They commented on which shows they liked, which they haven't seen in a while, which ones they barely remembered, and on and on.  I would say they talked for 90% of the show.  I gave them two stern glares and then gave up and made up my mind to enjoy the show regardless. 

I appreciated the songs that had an actor playing Harold Prince give some perspective.  He fully acknowledge that almost all of these shows were flops and horribly reviewed.  

The worst part for me were the Phantom numbers.  As a phan-atic, I was so looking forward to them.  First, the revised orchestrations for the title number were disgraceful.  And far too much of that number was cut. This is not a show that's going to have an elaborate set, so no big deal that they just had some candles and a gate onstage.  But the fog machine upstage center that was just blowing fog on about a quarter of the stage?  Why bother?   And at the end of Music of the Night (which was sung well) the Phantom walks around with a passed out Christine.  Very odd.  I also really wish that Yazbeck did the Phantom  I was dying to hear him do it  

Chuck Cooper was awesome in every part he had. Loved his Tevye, his Joe (showboat) and  his Sweeney Todd  

Tazbeck had a show stopping tap number in "Right Girl" 

All in all the show flew by and I liked it for what it was.

By the way I sat in the 6th row of the mezzanine and I had a great view.   

Updated On: 8/4/17 at 11:02 PM

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 8/4/17 at 11:54pm

Michael Xavier really wasn't right for this track. He is no Ramin. I am a fan of MX (loved him in Sunset) but his Being Alive was underpowered as was his Phantom. It felt like there was a Ramin sized hole in the show. Did Ramin do the Che bit in Japan? Tony seemed out of his depth there.

I liked Michael in the Night Music part.

Brandon seems to think he is in a huge comedy or farce. He was playing to the rafters. Way way way too much. The playbill lists two directors but it seems like they don't have one at all. 

That said, I still enjoyed it, particularly Emily, Bryonha, Karen, and Chuck. It's a very cruise ship revue but it is what it is 

[JustAnotherNewYorker]

Posted: 8/5/17 at 12:06am

BrodyFosse123 said: "Who is Robert Hal Prince?

Robot not Robert.  

Japanese incarnation of this show utilized a robotic Hal Prince as narrator which this Broadway incarnation discarded. "

 

How very MST3k

 

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 8/5/17 at 12:12am

Is there any reason why creators or estates would hold back certain songs or only allow a certain number of songs? Looking over the current song list, the Sondheim sections (minus Follies and the one song from Merrily) seem the strongest in terms of the songs chosen and the number of songs you would want to hear. If it's not plot-driven why not go for stronger songs from the other shows? If I were to see this, I'd be going for Brandon, Chuck, and the Sondheim sections. The rest of the songs and song/performer pairings aren't that interesting. 

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 8/5/17 at 12:13am

"Surprised that "A Little Priest" is not in the show."

It really should be. It's Worst Pies into My Friends and it feels too long.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 8/5/17 at 12:25am

So besides Fosse, is this the first "revue" show for a director? I mean, I know he's had some incredible hits, and he's an incredible director, but seems odd to showcase that when these numbers aren't the actual production numbers but instead poorly recreated versions of his direction? So then, what is the point? 

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 8/5/17 at 12:28am

"So besides Fosse, is this the first "revue" show for a director? "

Jerome Robbins Broadway.