A Catered Affair: What went Wrong?- Page 2

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 7/20/09 at 6:41pm

Count me in among those who hated it. I was bored to tears during that show. Harvey's gay subplot didn't help either...it turned a decent movie into a horrendous musical.

[CyCoSpAz2]

Posted: 7/20/09 at 6:49pm

I fell asleep so many times during this show.

[johnpressman]

Posted: 7/21/09 at 4:45pm

As a huge fan of Paddy Chayefsky, I saw this show at the Globe Thearer in San Diego and loved it. My only problem with the show was, sadly, Harvey Fierstein. I know he wrote and produced it, so without him it wouldn't have existed, but his gravel voice is too distinctive for the stage, it made me aware that he was the character, not the other way around. Lastly, a completely over-the-top gay uncle in a working class Irish family in 1953??? I don't think so.

What ever happened to the musical version of "Marty" with John C. Reilly? Now THERE is a natural for a Broadway Musical Hit!

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/21/09 at 4:49pm

For me, the biggest thing that went wrong was Harvey; he totally stood in his own way as an actor, and in the way of the beautiful direction we would have seen if he hadn't been so busy reminding us how fabulous he is. He should never have been acting in the show if he wrote it. That doesn't go as a general rule, but in this case, he totally went against the grain of the show. I wanted to love this so much, and I was so sad that I didn't.

[jv92]

Posted: 7/21/09 at 5:25pm

I enjoyed myself at A Catered Affair. It was heartfelt and touching and a lovely 90 minutes at the theatre. What went wrong? What goes wrong with anything good? It simply wasn't commercial enough.

[Pgenre]

Posted: 7/21/09 at 6:15pm

I can't believe Harvey rewrote Cheyefsky like that - as a huge fan I can tell you Paddy would NOT have been pleased, particularly with Harvey's ham-fisted additions. MARTY is something I look forward to, too (John C. Reilly and Carolee? I'm there!).

Buccchino writes such glorious, emotive, sonoros songs... but his theatrical scores always seem so inert. Interestingly, I think the best score of the three he has written (LAVENDER GIRL, ACA) was for JOSEPH: KING OF DREAMS, the sequel to the PRINCE OF EGYPT. "Better Than I" is a FANTASTIC song and better than "Defying Gravity" (to use a song of John's best friend) as far as those types of songs are concerned. Check it out... it's in the 1.99 bin at Wal-Marts right now.

"A Restaurant By The Sea" may be one of the most heartbreaking songs I have ever heard. I LOVE GRATEFUL and IT'S ONLY LIFE and his solo album is great too (despite the early 90s arrangements).

P

[fgreene1938]

Posted: 7/21/09 at 6:57pm

I would tend to agree with the criticisms of Harvey Fierstein. His character was minor in the original screenplay, but Harvey provided himself with set-pieces in the libretto. Also, changing the uncle to a gay man was all about Harvey and not the character. No uncle, no matter how gay he was, would have been out and up front about it in NYC in the 1950s. It simply never would have happened in an average, working class family or in the culture of that time. That's what the term 'closeted' means. Even on the CD, I find Harvey Fierstein the one blight in a masterful work.

[mc1227]

Posted: 7/21/09 at 7:02pm

It was not an uplifting musical, true, but it was genuine and touching and I personally loved it. It was quiet and small and emotional and I guess that doesn't have an audience on Broadway.

I do agree that Faith's performance at the Tony Awards was the last chance to breathe some life into the show, but she didn't pull it off. Beautiful song but not when performed out of context. Too bad, I've seen so many worse shows that had a longer life on Broadway.

[howardbf]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 6:21pm

Bad catering.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 6:26pm

What went wrong?

Harvey was miscast in a role tht should have gone to a singer.

[After Eight]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 8:00pm

The book was drab and dreary; the score anemic; the set design ugly; the girl was the sourest bride-to-be you could possibly imagine, and the mother matched her frown for frown. The whole affair was a complete downer.

[fgreene1938]

Posted: 7/23/09 at 10:18pm

^^^^ But why do you think it didn't succeed?

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 7/24/09 at 12:45am

I liked, but didn't love A Catered Affair.

But this:
"When tourists plunk down $ 100 plus for a ticket, they want to see a big brassy musical with lots of dancing. As good as it was, it did not fit the bill."
is such a frustrating statement to see on this thread. It's such a generalization, and it's not true. Next To Normal is on its way to being a hit, and certainly we can remember hit musicals like Piazza and Spelling Bee, and not be so closed- minded.
If the strategic marketing/ reviews/ luck are there, the tourists will go. Brassy dancing or not.

[TulitaPepsi]

Posted: 7/24/09 at 2:53am

Add me to the chorus of complaints about Harvey. His contributions sunk the show. His out-of-place chactacter seemed more a refugee from LA CAGE, complete with an "I Am What I Am" anthem ("Immediate Family"). I don't object to the character being gay - but ho much more interesting and moving would it have been if the uncle had been soft-spoken and closeted instead of acting like...well, Harvey Fierstein?

And while he's a brassy advocate of living his life the way he wants, he doesn't take the kids side in having the marriage THEY want. Instead he jumps gleefully into making lavish wedding preparations with the florist and the caterer.

There is no getting around that his singing was (and is) painful. "Coney Island" should be a lovely moment (It's a beautiful song) but as soon as Harvey wrapped his strangled-duck vocals around it I couldn't wait for the song to end.

There is a lovely show in there, but it would have to be extensively re-written to erase Harvey's contributions for one to find it.

Updated On: 7/24/09 at 02:53 AM

[broadwayfreak2]

Posted: 7/25/09 at 1:26am

With the exception of Harvey and Leslie, everything went wrong.