Nudity Cut in DRACULA- Page 2

[Gothampc]

Posted: 8/6/04 at 6:20pm

Wednesday = family matinee??? Don't kids go to school on Wednesdays?

[kissmycookie]

Posted: 8/6/04 at 11:10pm

Schools if they're rich enough to buy their own for field trips, or lucky enough to get blocks of tickets from TDF, usually go to Wednesday matinees.

[Corine2]

Posted: 8/6/04 at 11:43pm

The sad thing is Tom was always in clothing.
If he was nude it could be bearable.
Well maybe. Updated On: 8/6/04 at 11:43 PM

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 8/6/04 at 11:57pm

Personally, I can't think of any time in a movie/play where literal nudity is *integral* to the plot. Which isn't to say there aren't any instances where being naked is important, I just don't think it's ever necessary to see a nipple, etc, when a more creative angle will do just fine.

And from what the Playbill author is saying, the scenes with nudity don't even seem as though even implied nudity is critical to the story.

Seems like a bit of a publicity stunt to me!

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 8/7/04 at 12:12am

I always felt the nudity in Take Me Out was essential (and delicious, too!), because it's used as a contentious weapon to make the other players uncomfortable.

Also, I thought the last moment in Wit, when the lead character (sorry, forgot her name) steps into the bright light naked, was very poetic and beautiful.

[NLiotta]

Posted: 8/7/04 at 1:51am

yea its cool seing nudity but i can go across the street and go to a peep show. Plus its not liek i havent seen plenty of naked ladies in my life. Musical theater is for the music and theater, if nudity is not nessasary it shouldnt be there.
It dosent bother me that much, but now i cant take my mom to see it.

[bronxboundexpress]

Posted: 8/7/04 at 5:07am

Were they naked in THE FULL MONTY? Now that would have been essential to the plot, right?

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 8/7/04 at 11:32am

Yeah, there are instances where it's important that the *character* is naked (I was thinking Thora Birch in American Beauty and Hilary Swank in Boys Don't Cry), I just don't think it's necessary to see the *actor* naked to make a point. Would seeing a nipple really make us "get" the story any more? I think implied nudity (a bare back, etc.) can do just fine.

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 8/7/04 at 1:12pm

Were they naked in THE FULL MONTY? Now that would have been essential to the plot, right?

Yes, they get naked at the very last moment. But behind them are about 1000 strong lightbulbs that flash on, so you only really see them in the nude if you sit in the front row (which I was....wow!).

Back to Dracula: poor matinee audiences. They're not getting their boobs for their buck.

[bronxboundexpress]

Posted: 8/12/04 at 2:29am

Can someone who saw the show tell me what kind of nipples Melissa Ericco has? Pencil eraser? I'm doing a study on this.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 8/12/04 at 6:53am

If only they could find a way to cut the crappy score and pathetic performances rather than the nudity, they might be on the right track...

[rockfenris2005]

Posted: 8/12/04 at 7:03am

I'm gathering this show is not going to be successful......

All I have seen is negative remarks

[Peter]

Posted: 8/12/04 at 11:02am

For all the attention this is getting, you'd think this is some kind of porno show. The nudity lasts perhaps a minute on stage. O'Hara's scene is extremely brief and honestly I missed Errico's, though that was suppose to last a bit longer.

Anyone recall the nude opening scene of Passion? I remember thinking to myself that was gratuitous when I saw it, included just to sell tickets, but don't recall it generating much attention. Maybe I'm just being forgetful though.

[Paul LW]

Posted: 8/12/04 at 1:36pm

I saw Dracula in previews on the 4th and I must say the nudity caught me off guard.
As for Kelli, I thought it was a really cool effect that as the lightning crashed your eyes are attracted to the window with Dracula, and the next thing you know her night-gown is gone! It is actually sucked through the floor and all I definitely saw were her little ole' butt-cheeks! No boobs or hoo-haa.
As for Mina, I kind of saw it coming...what with one dress strap falling, and then the other falling...and then the unveiling of the boobies! Personally it took me out of the story...it was just a really strange change...she had just sang this beautiful ballad "If I Could Fly" and I was all like "You go girl!" but then I see her boobs 2 seconds later...
Overall I thought the show was weak, but I can post a more thorough review later if you wish...


peace. Updated On: 8/12/04 at 01:36 PM

[Aaron27]

Posted: 8/12/04 at 2:10pm

yea, I can only think of a few instances where nudity is "integral" to the show, Take Me Out, W;t, and Full Monty. There may be more, but for me, 99% of the time there's really no need. If it takes you out of the show, then it's wrong. The fact people go to the theatre on the fact that they'll see naked people on stage is wrong. If it's art, I have no problem. I only have a problem when it takes away from the art form. I can't comment on Dracula as I haven't seen it, but if they have the option to cloth the women during the matinees then there shouldn't be a need for the nudity. If they can convey the director's vision with clothes, then the people should be clothed.

[MaddieKat]

Posted: 8/12/04 at 2:27pm

I'm all for nudity in shows...america needs to get over its discomfort with the human body! And as for changing for the matinees....that is an old tredition. Back in the day they would take out profanity and slightly change blocking....bitch to witch and things of that nature.

[magruder]

Posted: 8/12/04 at 2:32pm

There are lots of instances of integral and/or artistic but debatably essential nudity on Broadway. Off the top of my head, The Elephant Man, M. Butterfly, Equus, Jumpers, The Changing Room, Steaming, Romantic Comedy, Sweet Sue, Love! Valour! Compassion!, Angels in America, The Wild Party, The Will Rogers Follies, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, The Women (in its recent revival) and Requiem for a Heavyweight all featured nudity. L! V! C! went a little overboard, in my opinion, in that there were times when I didn't feel it necessary for the characters to be naked. Also, The Will Rogers Follies offered a topless female dancer and Jerry Mitchell in a red jockstrap, in the deliriously over the top opening number for no apparent purpose, though looking at beautiful naked people is never a chore. Otherwise, though, the nudity in the rest of the above titles were often a major element in the plot or in a particular scene.

Tom Hewitt, in his Broadway.com interview, offers a very reasonable justification for the nudity in Dracula:

Q: How do you feel about the nudity in the show? [Hewitt rips Melissa Errico's top open in one scene, and co-star Kelli O'Hara is totally nude with her back to the audience in another.] Is it necessary?

A: Those decisions aren't up to me, but I don't mind it, There's a dangerous sensuality in Bram Stoker's novel that manifested itself in covert, oppressed Victorian ways. To get any sort of sexual danger on the stage, we have to be more overt, more up to date. So I think that's why it's there, I don't think it's gratuitous; I think it's there for a reason.

Updated On: 8/12/04 at 02:32 PM

[jayem1968]

Posted: 8/12/04 at 6:00pm

Hmmm...there was no nudity in La Jolla. I would imagine it's distracting. I've only seen Passion on DVD but I've heard it was nearly impossible to pay attention to what Marin was singing.