"Winning a Tony this year is like winning Best Attendance in third grade: no one will care but the winner and their mom."
-Kad
"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)
I've been interested in this show since I heard about it. I'm a huge Boublil and Schoenberg fan. I've been following CastCom, which I think was a very interesting thing to do, but now I'm wary. It seems like the reviews are mixed-negative. I'll still try to see it, but I'm not quite as excited as I was before.
"This table, he is over one hundred years old. If I could, I would take an old gramophone needle and run it along the surface of the wood. To hear the music of the voices. All that was said." - Doug Wright, I Am My Own Wife
While I sadly don't think it's gonna be a HUGE hit, it would be near impossible to say it's not gonna be a hit from seeing it in Chicago (I saw it 4 times througout the run), BECAUSE they are making some MAJOR changes right now.
It's not gonna be the same show. I'm sure of that.
and all that I could do because of you was talk of love...
If they get the RIVERDANCE crowd (and they will) and Grazillia finds the strengths It could be huge. And Yes, I saw it in Chicago and it has a lot of potential.
I'm going Sunday afternoon April 1. Front row of the Dress circle, dead center. I only bought them because I could still kick myself for not trekking down to the Kennedy Center to see MARTIN GUERRE because I thought, "Why bother? It will be in NYC soon."
Hit in New York? Highly doubt it. Saw the show in Chicago and it was one long borefest. Stephanie did bring it up a few notches when she was on stage, but it just dragged on endlessly. Did enjoy Linda Balgord's Queen Elizabeth -- those costumes were spectacular though you could not understand one word she was saying. Not one word.
I see this one going the way of LESTAT. Even the people around us that night commented that this show won't work on Broadway. People want high-energy type shows these days . This one ain't one of those.
I don't think the producers of Pirate Queen understand that the era of the megamusical is over. Even if the flaws in the show get ironed out, audience appetites have changed. However the show does, the show will be a huge boost to the career of the amazing Stephanie Block.
"It does what a musical is supposed to do; it takes you to another world. And it gives you a little tune to carry in your head. Something to take you away from the dreary horrors of the real world. A little something for when you're feeling blue. You know?"
I saw the show in Chicago...in the middle of the run. There was a rare nice moment or two, but aside from that...very few redeeming qualities. Unless THE PIRATE QUEEN is reincarnated as a radically different show than the one that played here...it ain't gonna be pretty in NY. My biggest problem was that the characters lacked any connection, either with the audience or each other. How can you enjoy a theatrical experience when you just don't give a damn about what's happening on the stage? Bleh!
If you'd have been there...If you'd have seen it...I betcha you would have done the same! - CHICAGO
The show will flop. It doesn't matter how much work was done on it or how many LES MIS or RIVERDANCE fans there are. It's an unknown story in a cavernous theatre that costs a ridiculous amount of money. All of the odds are against it, and unless people are really anxious to see it, it's not going to last.
"If you are going to do something, do it well. And leave something witchy."-Charlie Manson
Stephanie's performance is worth the price of admission alone.
I loved the show, but I am at the stage in my life that I enjoy most shows. (save On the Record whish was utter garbage. I even enjoyed that silly Martin Short thing)