THE STING at Paper Mill - Reports
THE STING at Paper Mill - Reports
Cfried
Broadway Star Joined: 9/15/16
#1THE STING at Paper Mill - Reports
Posted: 3/29/18 at 12:43pm
Previews for the world premiere, pre-Broadway engagement of THE STING begin tonight at Paper Mill!
Helmed by John Rando and starring Harry Connick, Jr., the production features an original score by Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis, a book by Bob Martin, and choreography by Warren Carlyle.
Is anyone going? Post your thoughts here!
Liza's Headband
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/28/13
Relevance81491
Broadway Star Joined: 2/11/16
#4THE STING at Paper Mill - Reports
Posted: 3/31/18 at 5:27am
Im really exited about the team behind this! If anyone can provide an early report, production photos, or B-roll footage, I would greatly appreciatete it
#5THE STING at Paper Mill - Reports
Posted: 3/31/18 at 8:24am
Saw it last night. Left at intermission. As always, it was a dreadful Papermill production. How this theater won a Tony is beyond me. Harry and Kate were at best, but the cast looked exhausted/bored. Props did not work, the opening number is a mess, almost every scene had tap dancing girls appearing for no reason, and Janet appeared for maybe five minutes in Act One; poor girl had trouble moving a set piece off stage. I would skip this. I had high hopes so did the rest of the audience. The director is really at fault here.
Updated On: 3/31/18 at 08:24 AM
#6THE STING at Paper Mill - Reports
Posted: 3/31/18 at 9:25am
WldKingdomHM said: "Saw it last night. Left at intermission. As always, it was a dreadful Papermill production. How this theater won a Tony is beyond me.Harry and Kate were at best, but the cast looked exhausted/bored. Props did not work, the opening number is a mess, almost every scene had tap dancing girls appearing for no reason,and Janet appeared for maybe fiveminutes in Act One; poor girl had trouble moving a set piece off stage. I would skip this. I had high hopes so did the rest of the audience. The director is really at fault here."
I haven’t seen The Sting, and it may well be dreadful, but I do object to your insinuation that everything Papermill does is “dreadful.” I’ve seen a lot of very high quality theater on that stage.
Cfried
Broadway Star Joined: 9/15/16
#7THE STING at Paper Mill - Reports
Posted: 3/31/18 at 10:30am
I also saw it last night and thought it was quite fabulous. Cast is fantastic, though I agree Janet is underused. I was told significant changes will be implemented today, and just yesterday, they reordered all of Act 1 before the second preview.
Warren Carlyle’s choreography blew me away — the tap is just insane. Staging in general is beautiful and well conceived. The design has a very cinematic feel, and I think it really works. The lighting, specifically, is gorgeous.
The score functions well, but at least right now, isn’t particularly memorable. I really enjoyed it in the theatre, but I can’t see myself buying a future cast recording. I actually loved the opening number and the framing device used, but everyone has their own opinions. My favorite number was probably the Act 2 opening and the duet between J Harrison Ghee and Janet Dacal.
I don’t know what alterations will be made in the next couple of weeks, but I’d like to see the book tightened and further development for Janet and even Kate. Still, I think the show is in great shape. I’ll be seeing it again much later in the run, and an excited to see how that version differs from last night.
raddersons
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/14/13
#8THE STING at Paper Mill - Reports
Posted: 3/31/18 at 10:49amA new musical with Kate Shindle and Janet Dacal? Uh oh...
#9THE STING at Paper Mill - Reports
Posted: 3/31/18 at 11:29am
To be kind: It needs a lot of work. Too long. Too much superfluous tapping. In fact, it's endless. (Why do male dancers carry women in on chairs at a couple of points in act two for no earthly reason. If it has something to do with "Let's put on a show" concept, it ain't working.) Act 2 is long and deadly dull. SO MUCH unnecessary dancing around doors.
Direction is unfocused. (Or is it the book?) Sometimes you can't distinguish who's who. (I know you're not supposed to know who's good and who's bad, but something is not working. Everyone looks and is costumed alike. No character differentiation at all.)
Why does a follies girl wearing a pink headless and plumes parade around at the end of the show? Score is okay. It's tuneful enough. (It's what would pass as a score from a "seasonal musical" back in the sixties. Like Sail Away or Subways, but not as good.) Some of the Connick written songs (which seem obvious) have much more interest.
I would save the transit fare and wait until they cut an hour, find a more charismatic Johnny, and come up with a more interesting design concept (why the storybook unfolding look for the sets?)
I was hoping for this one, but in spite of some bright spots (end of act one is quite good, as is the opening of the first act and there's Connick's piano playing), it's simply not a very good musical... yet.
wolfwriter
Featured Actor Joined: 3/16/15
#10THE STING at Paper Mill - Reports
Posted: 3/31/18 at 11:43am
Thanks for the reports. "cut an hour?!" How long is the running time?
Seeing it Wednesday with fingers crossed, but excited to see J. Harrison Ghee in something other than Kinky Boots.
Cfried
Broadway Star Joined: 9/15/16
#11THE STING at Paper Mill - Reports
Posted: 3/31/18 at 11:48am
I believe the running time was just about 2 hours and 50 minutes. Maybe 2 hours and 45 minutes. Either way, it was definitely long and I agree cutting is needed, but the bones for a strong show are there.
Updated On: 3/31/18 at 11:48 AM
#12THE STING at Paper Mill - Reports
Posted: 3/31/18 at 8:56pmAlways love when some anonymous theater queen deems a show dead after the FIRST out of town preview.
#13THE STING at Paper Mill - Reports
Posted: 3/31/18 at 10:52pm
Always Love when some anonymous homophobe is on display.
Updated On: 4/1/18 at 10:52 PM
#14THE STING at Paper Mill - Reports
Posted: 4/1/18 at 9:20amPapermill really produced two winners with this and The Honeymooners. Wonder how Half Time will do?
A Chorus Line revival played its final Broadway performance on August 17, 2008. The tour played its final performance on August 21, 2011. A new non-equity tour started in October 2012 played its final performance on March 23, 2013. Another non-equity tour launched on January 20, 2018. The tour ended its US run in Kansas City and then toured throughout Japan August & September 2018.
#15THE STING at Paper Mill - Reports
Posted: 4/1/18 at 3:00pm
I stopped reading when I saw "almost every scene had tap dancing girls appearing for no reason." How insane. Since when does any show need a reason for tap dancing girls to appear?
Cfried
Broadway Star Joined: 9/15/16
#16THE STING at Paper Mill - Reports
Posted: 4/2/18 at 1:45pm
Production shots are out:
https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Photo-Flash-The-Con-is-On-Check-Out-Harry-Connick-Jr-and-the-Cast-of-THE-STING-at-Paper-Mill-Playhouse-20180402
wolfwriter
Featured Actor Joined: 3/16/15
#17THE STING at Paper Mill - Reports
Posted: 4/5/18 at 12:54am
Very slight spoilers ahead
Saw The Sting, tonight and, if anyone wants to know how to take a great film and turn it into a long, dull mess of a musical, make haste to the Paper Mill Playhouse to see how it’s done.
From the opening number, it was clear, this wasn’t going to go well. The opening number is the setup for the show. It’s sloppy, mostly unintelligible, poorly staged and filled with people randomly tap dancing and moving around for no apparent reason.
Therein lies a major problem with the entire show. There is no apparent reason for much of what happens on stage. From the mysterious men who twirl onto the stage carrying women on chairs (twice), to Harry Connick Jr.’s fart, “booger” & belching jokes, much of this is cringeworthy and head-shaking material. No idea what director, John Rando, is going for.
I expected a better book from Bob Martin, but it made me wonder if The Drowsy Chaperone is a one-hit wonder? I wonder.
The music is forgettable and mostly dull. Most of the songs stop the show cold. They neither advance the plot nor enhance character development.
The aforementioned “superfluous” dancing is just that. Pointless, meandering and often bizarrely out of place. People dance onto the stage, twirl or tap and then just go away. They have nothing to do with the scene and you’re left wondering why they’re even there.
The cast is hard to gauge, given the weakness of the material. Harry Connick is charming, but not charming enough to save this. He sings well, acts ok and who knew he could tap dance? J. Harrison Ghee has presence to spare and given better material, I think he could really be a star. This role doesn’t let him shine as he does in Kinky Boots, but he makes the most of it.
Janet Dacal is wasted. Kate Shindle and Robert Wuhl showed up for work, on time.
I love this movie and really wanted to like this, but the pacing is glacial for a show about con games (and if you reference The Spanish Prisoner multiple times, it might be a good idea to explain it).
The show needs a lot of things---a more frenetic pace, more defined characters, better music, less dancing, better & more focused choreography, some humor, a tighter book and, yes, an hour less running time (now about 2:45). But what it really needs is charm, fun and the knowing wink of mischief that the film had in spades.
What a missed opportunity, but, as is, I doubt this will make it on Broadway.
morosco
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/10/04
#18THE STING at Paper Mill - Reports
Posted: 4/5/18 at 1:42pm
Not a fan of the show art's font. I keep reading it as "The Sling".
RippedMan
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/14/05
#20THE STING at Paper Mill - Reports
Posted: 4/5/18 at 2:01pm
morosco said: "Not a fan of the show art's font. I keep reading it as "The Sling"."
So happy to see Sondheim squeeze out one final show. I do love a swan song.
Dollypop
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#21THE STING at Paper Mill - Reports
Posted: 4/5/18 at 10:59pmI keep getting THE STING movie and BUTCH CASSIDY mixed up. Which used Scott Joplin's "The Entertainer" as its theme song?
"Long live God!" (GODSPELL)
#22THE STING at Paper Mill - Reports
Posted: 4/5/18 at 11:17pm
The Sting had the Joplin(/Hamlisch) score, which was inspired in part by the absurd popularity of Joshua Rifkin's album of Joplin songs released a couple years earlier, while Butch Cassidy has the Burt Bacharach score (with "Raindrops Keep Fallin" over the bicycle scene).
Updated On: 4/5/18 at 11:17 PM
Dollypop
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#23THE STING at Paper Mill - Reports
Posted: 4/5/18 at 11:56pm
Charley Kringas Inc said: "The Sting had the Joplin(/Hamlisch)score, which was inspired in part by the absurd popularity of Joshua Rifkin's album of Joplin songs released a couple years earlier, while Butch Cassidy has the Burt Bacharach score (with "Raindrops Keep Fallin" over the bicycle scene)."
Thanks for clearing that up
"Long live God!" (GODSPELL)
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#24THE STING at Paper Mill - Reports
Posted: 4/6/18 at 2:47amI wanted to leave at intermission but my ride stayed. I’ve never seen soemthing so utterly thrown together with absolute no attention to detail. And the dancers (tappers? Sounds odd) just seemed to be trying to consistently one up each other. Take many seats. I got a free ticket and I’m requesting a refund.
#25THE STING at Paper Mill - Reports
Posted: 4/8/18 at 9:12am
What a mess. Caught yesterday’s matinee. I am simply still just shaking my head.
