2018 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade- Who gets to perform? — Page 4

CT2NYC said: "I love the Broadway World headline: HEAD OVER HEELS Performs 'You've Got the Beat!' at the Parade. That's not even a lyric from the song, much less the title of it."

They got it confused with Hairspray!

The choreography in SUMMER was horrendous.

Yikes.

kelsey1389 said: "Happy Thanksgiving, my Twitter feed is filled with people from Middle America being mad about the gay kiss!"

They are upset on the CBS Facebook page also. Like it ruined their lives and their children's lives. They turned to CBS and threatened never to watch the parade again, blah, blah blah.

To say nothing of 2003 (?) when Harvey Fierstein played Mrs Claus.

Had to work this morning so just getting to watch the performance now. Not watching them in the right order I am sure.

Summer: Everytime I see them it just feels the same. Generic dancing in generic costumes. However, the always amazing Ariana DeBose is constantly dancing her ass off and performing for the cheap seats anytime she has to perform for Summer. The chorus behind her just going through the boring motions pales in comparison to the 200% she is turning out.

Mean Girls: It's a weird one out of context of the show thought I don't know if they have ANY number that works well out of context in the show. I actually quite liked this one though cus while a weak song and makes no sense... at least it was fun, upbeat, and performed well? It was actually better than their MESS of a Tony performance by a long shot.

Prom: I want to cheer for this show but the performance did nothing to help itself. It just didn't jump out and grab attention. The choreography didn't really impress and it sucks for them that the other Casey show performed as well because their style is so similar... and Mean Girls's moves are better IMO. And I give The Prom major props for going "there" with the same sex kiss but the moment it happened I cringed for them because I knew that they just turned a ton of folks against them. Those same folks that once upon a time freaked out over "GASP a man in drraaaag performing in the Thanksgiving Day parade with Kinky Boots? BUT MY CHILDREN WATCH THE PARADE! Ouuuuuuutrage." Yeah, remember that whole thing back when? I hate those people. I have not looked at twitter yet but I am sure it's a point of outrage over there.

My Fair Lady: I mean I love Laura buuuut My Fair Lady is a total bore to me and they picked a pretty bland number. Classic but bland. It was a lovely performance and really they were the REAL winners this morning as their costumes were the only ones that got to keep them warm in the cold. Haha.

Over on CBS....

DEH: The hell was up with the sound for the Dear Evan Hansen performance!? It was SO poorly dubbed over. You could hear the silence. Literally. It sounded so cut and paste and overly processed. It's no secret that all the vocals for these performances are canned but even when they are canned there is still a quality to them that makes you sometimes second guess if they are live or not. And the other two CBS performances felt and sounded like they were recorded LIVE performances on their home stages. DEH on the other hand, it was CLEAR that they recorded the performance then dubbed over the footage in post. Still, I love the staging for this number so glad we got to enjoy that set and light design.

King Kong: Yawwwwwwn. Even the puppet was bored to sleep by that song. Nothing else to say about that.

Head Over Heels: Honestly my favorite performance out of any of them on both networks. Getting to perform in their own theatre with their lights really was ideal for them because it made the performance upbeat, colorful, eye catching, and just overall a lot of fun to watch. Something many of the other performances severely lacked.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite times of year, and this thread is part of that tradition - from the weeks-early speculation to the performance commentary - something I'm definitely thankful for over the years!



CBS - I thought DEH was wonderful and would've made me want to see the show had I no knowledge of it. King Kong - I couldn't NOT notice the puppeteers so didn't seem magic. Head over Heels - very uninteresting - unappealing costumes, choreography, music, set. Not may taste and a big turn-off. Not worst execution but worst presentation of both broadcasts for me.



NBC - Mean Girls - to me, they killed it. They executed wonderfully. Best song choice? IDK, but what would be from that show? Maybe "I See Stars". Best one of either broadcast for me. MFL - Beautifully sung, plain, not compelling. Summer - Ariana Dubose was wonderful - out performing ensemble. The wind coming from "stage right" really got Ariana, LaChanze, and others - wigs were sweeping in their eyes- happened in MG perf, too. The Prom - don't know much about show except from bway.com vlog. Seemed awkward- music not a fit for concept. Dancing was uncomfortable. Like someone said - kudos for going there but performance didn't sell me. Hope it does well.



Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Why did Taylor Trensch sound auto-tuned? Or is that just his voice?

You’re flying overseas to see one show and half of another? Wow. You must really love MFL.

Update: oh wait, I just saw you’re only seeing 50% of MFL too. I’m confused.

Updated On: 11/22/18 at 05:41 PM

Okay, I’m home and bloated after two Thanksgiving meals (someone please shoot me in the head next year when I decide to brave the crowds at Golden Corral).

Anywho, I started watching/rewatching the DVRd coverage of the parade from NBC and CBS. I didn’t realize that Head Over Heels had started off the CBS broadcast as I turned in a few minutes late. That was only performance I had missed this morning so now I’m caught up. I’m going to rewatch the other performances but here’s my separate ranking of the CBS and NBC performances:

CBS:

Dear Evan Hansen: best of the three, hands down. I know some suggested the vocals had been auto tuned. Watching the performance again, I can hear a couple moments where one might think Trensch’s vocals had been altered, but they were in moments where I wouldn’t think altering would be needed. I think it is more likely the cast just sang on pitch. Anyway, the most emotionally effective performance across the two networks.

Head Over Heels: I now see why this show has been so polarizing. It looks like fun (I certainly enjoyed the performance well enough), but plot does not appear to be the biggest thing the creatives concerned themselves with. If I lived in NYC and had seen everything else, I would now not be opposed to seeing this, but I do not live in NYC and therefore have not had the occasion to see everything else. I also likely won’t make it back to NYC before HOH closes.

King King: the puppet is cool, but I wonder if this performance could backfire on the producers. Way before it opened, I knew it would likely be a hot mess. I still told people I wanted to see it because “I’m a sucker for a big ape.” Well, then previews started and then it opened and between forum reviews and critic reviews, my excitement dissipated. Then this performance kind of stole the mystery of the puppet. I’ve seen him now so why pay to see him again? I’m sure he’s more impressive “in person”, but $90-100 more impressive? I didn’t mind the song even though it’s already forgotten even after watching this performance twice now. I’m less likely to see it now. Question: is this the song right before he dies? She appears to be saying goodbye. If so, it was kind of a bland goodbye.

After these three performances, I’d still see DEH for the second time rather than see either of other two for the first time.

NBC:

My Fair Lady: I thought this was the most successful of the NBC performances. Some have complained that Benanti’s accept wasn’t exactly cockney. If memory proves accurate, that is probably true. I’ll know after I rewatch it. Maybe she changed it up for the parade route for some reason? Anyway, her performance almost makes me want to see it again. It was my least favorite thing (I saw 8 productions) I saw in June. While others faulted Ambrose’s performance, I couldn’t exactly pinpoint why the production left me cold. I do recall Ambrose’s effective cockney accent and lovely voice, but maybe as others said, her performance didn’t reach me in Row L in the Orchestra. I think Benanti’s would, but it’s very doubtful I’d give this a second chance over other things (mainly plays) I haven’t seen once).

The Prom: I’m surprised I actually liked this beyond the breakthrough of having the first gay kiss on the parade coverage. It kinda charmed me. Im surprised too. It is kind of the Soongebob effect from last year. I’m more likely to see it now. The song was kind of beside the point. I’ll see if I find it more memorable on second viewing.

Summer: Fun. I love Donna’s music. But this was karaoke elevated by three talented performers. That is a common problem with lots of jukebox musicals, especially bio-musicals. Still no desire to see this.

Mean Girls: I’ll admit I had trouble caring enough to devote my full attention. Maybe a second viewing will reveal something I missed the first time. I still have zero interest in this. I’ve never even seen the movie. I am a fan of Tina Fey. I even loved her book Bossypants so much I gave it to one friend and bought it for another. But this show sadly is still a miss for me.

One last question: I seem to recall in years past that the Broadway performances were interspersed throughout the entire broadcast. This year they all occurred within the first 30 to 60 minutes. Did they shuffle them to the beginning to wait for the wind to die down before staring the parade, most notably the floats?

Miles2Go2 said: "Question: is this the song right before he dies? She appears to be saying goodbye. If so, it was kind of a bland goodbye."

No this is actually sung more upon first meeting after he saves her from a like jungle snake thing (see the press reel clips). She is saying goodbye cus she is going to have to go back to New York and at the time doesn't realize that Carl and his crew are gonna kidnap and drag him back to New York with them.

Miles2Go2 said: "One last question: I seem to recall in years past that the Broadway performances were interspersed throughout the entire broadcast. This year they all occurred within the first 30 to 60 minutes. Did they shuffle them to the beginning to wait for the wind to die down before staring the parade, most notably the floats?"

It's been all before for as long as I can recall only because there is no time during the parade to stop the floats to slip the musicals in. However... back in the day they use to do much more elaborate parade stops for the floats that look up a lot more time and were impressive. Look up "Swan Princess Thanksgiving Day Parade" or "Heman Thanksgiving Day Parade." Now it's more like... you got 45 seconds for someone on our float to sing and a few jazz hands then ya gotta move.