ABC to Rebroadcast Chenoweth-Broderick "Music Man" July 4

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 7/1/04 at 10:12am

When this movie originally aired, how did you like it?
ABC to Rebroadcast Chenoweth-Broderick "Music Man" July 4

[Taryn]

Posted: 7/1/04 at 10:20am

Loved Kristen, hated Matthew. Kristen was the BEST Marian I've seen, but Matthew was positively bland. The guy in the production my high school did last year was more entertaining. I didn't care much for the general production, either. I read an article with the director saying he was trying to go for a more intimate, real-people kind of feel and I felt that it hurt the piece and took a lot of the humor out.

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 7/1/04 at 10:28am

Kristin was excellent - too bad she didn't have a better Harold Hill to work with. Matthew Broderick, for want of a better word, sucked. Recently , it seems , all he can do is nerds.
He was great in The Producers, but I think any of the Blooms, if they had rehearsed with Nathan Lane, would have been just as good. He was pretty bad in The Stepford Wives also.

Please let someone else be cast in Young Frankenstein.

[joeyjoe]

Posted: 7/1/04 at 10:30am

totally agree about matthew broderick... blah-and... Updated On: 7/1/04 at 10:30 AM

[eyeonbroadway]

Posted: 7/1/04 at 10:34am

I agree. Kristen was great but I never believed that Matthew Broderick was Harold Hill...or that he could possibly sell anyone anything, let alone a boy's band.

[redhotinnyc2]

Posted: 7/1/04 at 10:34am

didn't see it, but after having seen Rebecca Luker do it on Broadway, I can't imagine Kristin in the role. I love her, but she doesn't seem the right type. Rebecca was amazing. I will try to watch it this week though (will have to tape it, as I'm away for the day)...but I can only imagine how awful Matthew will be in the role. God, if only we had performers today who are the caliber of Robert Preston. What a wonderful all around performer he was, God rest his soul.

[joeyjoe]

Posted: 7/1/04 at 10:37am

i thought we watched my copy of that a few months ago?

[SamIAm]

Posted: 7/1/04 at 10:40am

They should have cast Garber in the role instead of putting him in as Shinn (and he didn't even get to sing much)

Too bad that Broderick really just wasn't the right type. He did get panned for the performance.

[MusicalDirector109]

Posted: 7/1/04 at 10:44am

Didn't like ANY of it!! boring, boring, boring!!!!

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 7/1/04 at 10:45am

I agree with all of you...The Music Man is not one of my favorite shows.

[TheQuibbler]

Posted: 7/1/04 at 10:58am

I love "The Music Man," but this production is sorely lacking. Kristin Chenoweth is wonderful as Marion, but, as it's been said, Matthew Broderick leaves something to be desired. I didn't really like the direction in this version, with "Trouble" separated into different settings. It's not a very pretty production, with a lot of brown everywhere. It gives the film a boring feel. I also felt a lot of the songs went a lot slower than they should. The original film is near perfection and I just don't see why this one was necessary.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 7/1/04 at 11:15am

Matthew Broderick never pulls off the charismatic charm required to hypnotize an entire town to his bidding. The original film was so good and complete (unlike the predecessors of the television remakes of Gypsy, Annie, and Bye Bye Birdie which reverted back to the original books and scores), this remake was completely unecessary and could never live up to the high standards of the original. Molly Shannon, Victor Garber and Matther Broderick were all miscast. The choreography lacked the ingenuiety and vibracy of the original film. It just seemed a lifeless imitation. Kristen was ok, but lacks the subtle coldness of Shirley Jones that made Marion a much tougher nut to crack. And the opening sequence on the train was simply dreadful. It was performed far more seriously than the original which provided much over-the-top humor that set the tone for the rest of the show. I believe The Music Man is one of the most brilliant American musicals written, but this television remake did not do the show justice.

[mominator]

Posted: 7/1/04 at 11:19am

Another voice, hated it. MB was just not believeable as Harold Hill. The whole production was totally "Disnyfied". All in al just plain ick. My advice go rent the Robert Preston, Shirley Jones and Buddy Hackett,way better!

B

[robbiej]

Posted: 7/1/04 at 11:19am

red,

You're right. She wasn't the right type and the movie suffered because of it (putting ALL the blame on Matthew is not fair...even though he was pretty darn bad in it). I was willing to forgive a lot for Cheno because I figured her MY WHITE NIGHT would be a remarkably sung event. HOWEVER, THEY F*CKERS LOWERED THE KEY!!! I believe someone here called it the 'Disney princess version'. That was unforgivable.

PS...I enjoyed Rebecca Luker TREMENDOUSLY.

[junglered]

Posted: 7/1/04 at 2:10pm

Loved Kristin in remake of the The Music Man movie! Matthew was...how shall I say this nicely...not even close to having the panache of the wonderful Robert Preston.

[secondactor]

Posted: 7/1/04 at 2:31pm

Go out and rent the original. Or tape it, and just fast forward to KC's scenes.

Not only is Broderick doing his usual bland aging Ferris Beuller routine, but some of the shots actually CUT OFF THE DANCERS FEET. Oh my, was this a bad show.

Almost worth watching the first 15 minutes of again, just to reaffirm it's bad-ness.

Robert Preston owned the role, although Bierko did a pretty good imitation of him.

[redhotinnyc2]

Posted: 7/1/04 at 3:53pm

robbiej thank you! I've always liked Rebecca Luker's voice, but didn't really like her performance in The Sound of Music - maybe it was direction, not sure - but that show did nothing for me. When I saw and heard how well Rebecca performed My White Night - I finally felt that someone "got" what the song was about. Until then, I'd seen many actresses do it in class to prepare for auditions and I never thought they had a clue how to perform the song - Rebecca did an amazing job with it.
Too bad about that disnyfication process - it just kills good theatre, in my opinion.

[twogaab2]

Posted: 7/1/04 at 4:18pm

Music Man IS one of my very favorite of all American musical comedies. It is easily the most American of all musicals, well crafted and just a little bit dark-with a happy ending. If well performed this can be a profoundly moving experience-in the "It's a Wonderful Life" mode.

All I will say is "Thank God the Preston performance was preserved with a reasonable facsimile of the Broadway production, with a dazzling supporting cast". I have seen some of this new ABC TV production and all I can say is that it is not up to its source material.

Just my opinion I may be wrong.

Updated On: 7/1/04 at 04:18 PM

[ponine24601]

Posted: 7/1/04 at 5:04pm

yay! i'm excited to see cheno in this movie. i missed it the first time it aired. go cheno!

[GovernorSlaton]

Posted: 7/1/04 at 5:08pm

When I was cast in the show, I bought this dvd and the original one. The older one is MUCH better than the tv-movie. I did enjoy KC, but the original has Robert Preston, Shirley Jones, AND Buddy Hackett! You just can't beat that.

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 7/1/04 at 5:16pm

Did anyone else think that Krisin looked really creepy in this?
I think it had something to do with the way they did her hair.

[MusicalComedyMan]

Posted: 7/1/04 at 5:22pm

I warn you all... Don't watch it sober!!! After a few drinks its better J&H with Hasselhoff!!!!

[insomniak]

Posted: 7/1/04 at 5:25pm

Broderick was... oh, wait, I fell asleep. Sorry.

He had none of the energy Harold Hill requires, and his terrible performance enough to keep me away, though Cheno sounded good. Her hair was weird, though.

[boborunstheshow]

Posted: 7/1/04 at 5:53pm

I dont know why broderick has such a succesfull career. I have never seen that man do a good job of acting - ever - at all! I can think of a hundred sitcom actors that could wipe the floor with him. I suppose his singing voice is all right, but nothing to write home about. Granted, all ive seen him in is inspector gadget, Biloxi Blues, and music man. Possibley he had three off productions?

I loved kristin, as usual...

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 7/1/04 at 6:05pm

Rent "Ferris Buehller's Day Off".
Not phenomenal acting, but entertaining nonetheless.

Updated On: 7/1/04 at 06:05 PM