A TALE OF TWO CITIES Reviews- Page 4

[elphiesmagic]

Posted: 9/18/08 at 11:51pm

It's going to depend on what kind of advance they have (and someone here may have that info) and if there are producers who have deep pockets and want to keep the thing going for a while. As one of the many MANY producers on this project is named Santoriello, it's possible there is an element of vanity production.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 9/18/08 at 11:52pm

If Brantley had spent a little less time re-reviewing FORBIDDEN BROADWAY and more time bitching about ATOTC or as I call it A-Tocked, this would be one of his cattiest.
The stuff about Barbour is scathing, attacking his masculinity with a Marilyn comparison.
And the Toro comment about Carole King CD's is a classic.

Good Times.

[wickedfan]

Posted: 9/18/08 at 11:57pm

puppet, also note that Les Miserables got a rave review from Frank Rich when it came here, not to mention was riding on a huge wave of buzz that created an incredible Broadway advance sale. This show has neither.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 9/19/08 at 12:03am

I'm a fan of the show, and the reviews are pretty much what I was expecting. No one was predicting raves. I'm just interested in seeing how this plays out. It's so hard to predict these days. It could run for a month. It could run for six. It's hard to tell.

[philly03]

Posted: 9/19/08 at 12:03am

Not to mention on top of what wickedfan said about Puppet's post, that this show does not need ANY MORE comparison to Les Mis after these reviews!

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 9/19/08 at 12:08am

I give it until Halloween.

[blaxx]

Posted: 9/19/08 at 12:12am

I was guessing mixed to negative and that looks like what it has been getting so far.

It looks like it was TRASHED, mixed to negative sounds way too kind.

[little_sally]

Posted: 9/19/08 at 12:17am

I give it until the end of the year. I can see the producers holding out until after the holidays.

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 9/19/08 at 12:19am

I spoke with a cast member back in June, and he said he didn't expect it to last 2 months.

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/19/08 at 12:24am

"Even the fearsome Madame Defarge, the revolutionary firebrand who (literally) knits the destiny of others, lacks distinctive menace. As played by a mop-haired Natalie Toro, she seems like a generally amiable arts-and-crafts type, temporarily in a bad mood because she lost her Carole King CDs."


That's my favorite review line in a long time. Ouch! From the NY Times.

[NGD2225]

Posted: 9/19/08 at 12:28am

I really don't want to have to tell ou advisor about another show closing. I had to tell last year about Les Miz.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 9/19/08 at 12:40am

Don't worry. If they close they might revive it in three years just to provide further comparison to Les Miz.

[Poppy]

Posted: 9/19/08 at 1:06am

I never listen to the critics. The audience I was with enjoyed the show. My family and I enjoyed the show. One should go and form their own opinion. I have a friend who is a theater critic and I would never take her opinion on anything.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 9/19/08 at 1:20am

Have they announced the tour with Hasselhoff yet?

LOVE, the Carol King CD line, too, Besty.

And I love how people come to these threads and say "I never listen to critics". What the heck are you doing in this thread, then? (or "THAN", as Mr. Roxy might write?)

[Roninjoey]

Posted: 9/19/08 at 1:23am

Can I just say that I said "I Can't Recall" sounded like "I Could Write a Book" long before Matthew Murray ever did? I want the credit ;P

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 9/19/08 at 2:15am

Honestly, the show does deserve all the comparisons to Les Miserables because that is exactly the show it is unabashedly copying.
Brantley's review was priceless. I loved it. I loved that he didn't even bother to talk about the show during the first couple paragraphs and just talked about FORBIDDEN BROADWAY instead. One of his best reviews so far, hilarious, catty, and a joy to read.
I still can't believe a show with such mediocre, awful score is playing on Broadway. With the theatre shortage on Broadway at the time, it's sad to see THIS has a theatre. Ugh.

[jagfkb]

Posted: 9/19/08 at 6:10am

So... anyone think it won't play tonight?

[LloydStamps]

Posted: 9/19/08 at 6:52am

Terry Teachout in a Wall Street Journal review titled, "A Revolutionary Bore:"

"...a protracted exercise in plodding mediocrity that's as sincere as a Sunday sermon and several times longer to boot..." and "...a pseudo-opera meant for people who don't like classical music..."

He, too, praises Barbour:

"If the rest of this show were as strong as his singing, it'd run for a decade."

But he admits, "Me, I hated "Les Miz."

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 9/19/08 at 9:55am

The arrival of "Les Miserables" that year helped revitalize the commercial theater sector, going on to become a global blockbuster. But it also started a longrunning epidemic of literature inflated into poperatic spectacle, spawning endless imitations that have rarely worked since.

Endless imitations? Longrunning epidemic? There has been Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon (if you ignore that it wasn't based on literature), and...what? Maybe Jekyll and Hyde, which didn't resemble Les Miserables at all. What is this critic referring to? Did he forget the previous poperatic spectacles of Evita and Jesus Christ Superstar that preceded Les Miserables? I would hardly consider a handful of shows over a 20-year period an "epidemic". I didn't even read the rest of the review because I completely lost faith in the critic's ability to be objective or intelligent.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 9/19/08 at 10:02am

"As played by a mop-haired Natalie Toro, she seems like a generally amiable arts-and-crafts type, temporarily in a bad mood because she lost her Carole King CDs."

OMG! I have not laughed out loud reading a review before!

I have not seen it, nor do I intend to...but I am surprised Toro is getting such negative reviews, even if they are claiming she is hampered by her material. I expected she and Barbour to get Tony noms from the word of mouth, but not now.

Updated On: 9/19/08 at 10:02 AM

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 9/19/08 at 10:08am

I think James Barbour has a chance of being nominated, if the voters feel like throwing something to a (perhaps-)flop (Best Choreography nod for Anyone Can Whistle, Best Actress nod for Shogun: The Musical, etc.)

In the end, it depends on how competitive Best Leading Actor becomes over the year.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 9/19/08 at 10:09am

I love Carole King.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 9/19/08 at 10:35am

Oh, my. That was a "Brantley Special" wasn't it?

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 9/19/08 at 10:39am

All that really matters is ticket sales. When I saw the show (a Wednesday afternoon), it was basically sold-out, and the audience gave it a great standing ovation. If word-of-mouth is great - at least among tourists and group sales - it will be fine.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 9/19/08 at 10:43am

There might be people in the theater, but the show isn't "selling out" at all. Last week the grosses show it was at 64.9% and the week before it was at 52.5%. These numbers are not anywhere near high enough to support the show.