A CATERED AFFAIR Reviews — Page 4

I'm still struggling how to put this show into words...

Different, I think, because it transforms the form.

Vague response, but so is the show.

I've slept on it for a few days and still have yet to explain why I think it's a true work of art.

Painterly. Is a word I'd use to describe it. And that includes all aspects of the show...music, sets, book, performances.

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In any case, what I do want to say about this season is that it is great that we got a few shows that didn't play it safe.

Taking a risk is extremely important, even if they succeeded or failed. Only then can the art form advance - some might disagree, but this is a good season.

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i can think of lots of transformative musicals (including even "rent", if youre willing to step in the way-back machine and think about the state of the art when it opened vs today).

or piazza ... or adding machine ... or mebbe even coram boy. (shut up!)

any qualitative insights about the nature of the transformation? the film was fairly mainstream, and i am trying to gain a better understanding of how the musical moves the craft forward.

thx

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Here it is...

http://theater2.nytimes.com/2008/04/18/theater/reviews/18cate.html?ref=theater

Well, musicals are often considered one of the most (if not the most) accesible of the performing arts, whatever2.

I think that artists that look into deeper ways of creating musicals are transforming that notion and expanding it as an art form.

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The New York Times is Negative:

...Really, though, you can’t talk about big numbers here, because big, in any sense, is antithetical to the heart and structure of the show. Much of Mr. Bucchino’s score is styled as extended recitative, with melodies that suggest the naturally limited range of muted conversation. Even melodic ballads and love duets tend to trail off into wistful silence.

“Resigning oneself to small is sad,” Winston says when he hears of Janey and Ralph’s original plan to have a modest wedding. “Requesting it is tragic.” Small can be beautiful on Broadway, though. Witness Mr. Doyle’s no-frills “Sweeney Todd” and “Company.”

But in musicals there has to be some largesse — of spirit, of style, of originality — to make an audience care about those singing strangers onstage. In “A Catered Affair” people are seldom big enough to pin your feelings on.

http://theater2.nytimes.com/2008/04/18/theater/reviews/18cate.html?ref=theater

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Absolutely disgusted. Absolutely thoroughly disgusted.

So this is pretty much the CAROLINE, OR CHANGE of the season. High hopes, a negative (and dismissive) review from Brantley (and shorter than the usual Broadway review), and a small group of dedicated fans.

All we need to do now is wait and see whether AFFAIR will follow Broadway with the critical success CAROLINE got.

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They will always have London.

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Forget it... Cant wait... I read it!

A short (90 minutes) but slow depiction of the family-fracturing pressures of planning an expensive wedding, “A Catered Affair” is so low key that it often seems to sink below stage level. From Mr. Bucchino’s trickling, self-effacing score to the tight-lipped stoicism of its leading performances, from David Gallo’s tidy tenement-scape set to Zachary Borovay’s tentative photographic projections, this show is all pale, tasteful understatement that seems to be apologizing for asking for your attention. (Well, except for Mr. Fierstein’s character, but you could have guessed that.)

You have to give its creators credit for sticking to their muffled guns in a season when new musicals like “In the Heights” and “Passing Strange” are awash in old-fashioned sentimentality. This is all the more remarkable considering that the movie on which “A Catered Affair” is based (called “The Catered Affair,” for the record), adapted from Chayefsky’s teleplay by Gore Vidal, was a Kleenex soaker.

^^^^

Ouch!

J*

Are you suggesting he should have given it a better review simply because a negative review from him will "kill" the show (says you)?

Patti is grinning ear to ear right now...