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"13" Revisions: From First Preview To Press Preview

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#1

"13" Revisions: From First Preview To Press Preview

Posted: 10/2/08 at 11:15pm

I attended the first preview of "13" a few weeks ago, and then attended a press preview tonight. Ben Brantley was in the house.

As many of you know, the show has gone from two acts to one. Below are scans of the first preview list of cast and musical numbers, and those from the Playbill at the press preview tonight.

First Preview: September 16, 2008



Press Preview: October 2, 2008



Some notable differences I saw tonight from the first preview were that a lot of the offensive jokes have been cut from the show.

At the first preview, the boys were calling each other "fagmo!" several times throughout the show. At tonight's performance, all the "fagmo" lines were gone, and only one gay joke remained.

Other changes were, at the first preview, when Archie (the handicapped kid) was envisioning his date at the movies with Kendra, he said something like, "I'll rub my leg up against hers, and hope that I feel it." That line is cut.

Another offensive line that Archie had at the first preview was, when he entered the movie theatre, he said to Kendra, "Sorry I'm late. I was in the bathroom having a seizure." That line is now cut.

The show went from 2 hours 20 minutes with a 15 minute intermission to a tight 90 minutes tonight.
"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)
#3

re: '13' Revisions: From First Preview To Press Preview

Posted: 10/2/08 at 11:19pm

Is this the first time a show has ever started previews as a two act musical and opened as a one act? It seems like such a quick abandon of concept and faith in the material.
#4

re: '13' Revisions: From First Preview To Press Preview

Posted: 10/2/08 at 11:19pm

The show was less painful tonight, primarily because it was shorter.

But yes, the show remains dreadfully excruciating.
"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)
#5

re: '13' Revisions: From First Preview To Press Preview

Posted: 10/2/08 at 11:21pm

CATSNYrevival, IN MY LIFE -- a few years ago -- began as a two act musical, but upon realizing the amount of the audience that fled at intermission, it became a one act, 2 hour and 5 minute nightmare, with no escape.
"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)
#7

re: '13' Revisions: From First Preview To Press Preview

Posted: 10/2/08 at 11:28pm

Oops. My bad.
"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)
#14

re: '13' Revisions: From First Preview To Press Preview

Posted: 10/3/08 at 12:02am

"Is this the first time a show has ever started previews as a two act musical and opened as a one act? It seems like such a quick abandon of concept and faith in the material."

I don't think that's necessarily true -- the run time has been fluctuating since just about the beginning. The LA run in 2006 was originally a one-act and became two acts for Goodspeed (for which they rewrote a large amount of the score); after that, they started whittling it down again (according to the song list on Wikipedia); I guess they figured out that in the end, it did work better as a one-act.
#15

re: '13' Revisions: From First Preview To Press Preview

Posted: 10/3/08 at 9:14am

I am still in shock after hearing the song "Terminal Illness". Has to be one of the worst songs I've heard in a Broadway show!
"Love the Art in Yourself. Not Yourself in the Art." -- Stanislavski
#18

re: '13' Revisions: From First Preview To Press Preview

Posted: 10/3/08 at 11:32am

I rather go have a good time seeing CHICAGO, WICKED, AVENUE Q, or even LEGALLY BLONDE. All of them musical comedies without excruciating, embarrassing scores. The whole "it's just supposed to be fun" argument doesn't hold up when there are other shows running that are a lot of fun and still deliver.
WannaBe, I can't believe you put yourself through the 13 experience for a second time, you're a brave man.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
#19

re: '13' Revisions: From First Preview To Press Preview

Posted: 10/3/08 at 11:48am

I would much rather see 13 again than Legally Blonde and Chicago (I like Chicago just not this production). But I think 13 is much better than Legally Blonde.
"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
#20

re: '13' Revisions: From First Preview To Press Preview

Posted: 10/3/08 at 1:02pm

mmm I wonder how it's evolved.
I saw it in LA...when it was here haha.
I don't think it was all THAT bad.
However I still stand by the fact that 13 year olds can't carry a show by themselves.
I mean even SA has the kids play off of the 2 adult characters.
Uhm wow cutting that much of it out? yikes.
I wonder how successful the free shows for teens went, and what their reaction was?
#21

re: '13' Revisions: From First Preview To Press Preview

Posted: 10/3/08 at 5:20pm

Thanks so much for the pics of the program. I saw it last Sunday and posted and at that point I couldn't verify the changes. Again, I weigh in on the pro side... I liked it a lot!
#22

re: '13' Revisions: From First Preview To Press Preview

Posted: 10/3/08 at 5:38pm

"I wonder how successful the free shows for teens went, and what their reaction was?"

I was there, I loved it! Most of the people there, minus a few loved it. Lots of cheering, applause, laughter, and standing ovations.
2008: Feb. 18- Rent, Feb. 19- Curtains, April 18- Xanadu, April 22- Wicked, April 26- Legally Blonde, May 31- Wicked, June 13- The Little Mermaid, June 28- Wicked and Young Frankenstein, July 2- The Little Mermaid, July 6- A Chorus Line and Legally Blonde, August 16- Xanadu, September 13- Legally Blonde and 13, September 28- Xanadu and Spring Awakening, Oct. 12-GYPSY and [title of show], Oct. 19- Hairspray & Legally Blonde, Nov. 9- Wicked and 13, Dec. 14-13, Dec. 26- Billy Elliot, 2009: Jan 1- Shrek, Jan 2- 13 and Wicked, Jan 4- 13, Feb 17- In The Heights, Feb 19- Billy Elliot, Feb 22- Sweeney Todd (tour), March 28- Mary Poppins, April 4- Mamma Mia!, April 15- Jersey Boys (on tour), April 25- next to normal & 9 to 5 May 1- Billy Elliot, May 3- Spelling Bee (tour), May 8- Chicago, May 21- Wicked, June 6- Everyday Rapture, June 23- The Wiz, June 25- Hair July 15- Shrek, August 9- Wicked, September 7- Rock of Ages, October 11- Next To Normal, October 23- The Marvelous Wonderettes, November 7- Ragtime November 29- Dreamgirls, December 25- Billy Elliot, December 30- Finian's Rainbow, 2010: January 9- Bye Bye Birdie, January 16- Memphis February 17- The Phantom of The Opera, February 18- God of Carnage, March 7- Billy Elliot, March 31- American Idiot
#24

re: '13' Revisions: From First Preview To Press Preview

Posted: 10/3/08 at 11:28pm

I'd be interested to check out Snide in the role, if I could bear to sit through this show once more.
"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)

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