A Christmas Story goes LIVE... - Page 6

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 12/18/17 at 3:34pm

Never saw the film (though my honey knows it by heart), never saw the Broadway show, but is the original script really this weak and in need of so much padding?? The show felt like a 10-minute short story with 2 1/2 hours of filler, some of which was entertaining ("Ralphie to the Rescue", and some of which was decidedly not (that embarrassing Hannukah number). I cared about maybe 3 songs (including 2 sung by mom) and very few others. Is this really the right property to lavish all this effort on?

That said, I found the staging by Scott Ellis (he of the brilliant ON THE 20TH CENTURY revival) really superb, including seamless transitions from kitchens to fantasy sets and back, terrific use of surreal sets like an old-time Carol Burnet episode would have used, and lovely time spent in Midwest Square on the Warner Bros backlot. (I spent a bunch of time there myself on the 2011 Muppet movie.) The sets and costumes usually hit the bullseye for me, with the obvious exception being all those woefully green deciduous trees filling the frame anytime we were in the school yard-- ugh!

Contrary to most posters above, I adored Maya Rudolph as Mom, found Jane Krakowski too brittle and one-note for the nostalgic tone of the rest, and miraculously found Matthew Broderick just about perfect in the part for the first time since maybe BRIGHTON BECAH MEMOIRS. And I felt bad for those poor kids trying to execute choreography in the 6" deep fake snow in scene after scene. 

I say next time let's give Scott Ellis a GOOD musical to stage. I'd happily tune in.

 

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 12/18/17 at 3:38pm

It's a bummer that it didn't do so hot in the ratings, but anytime a musical or the Tony Awards contend with sports they fail so that's not surprising and they should have known better. I'm glad they did the musical and not just a recreation of the movie as it seems some viewers were expecting. How did they not know this was going to be a musical?

[BwayLB]

Posted: 12/18/17 at 3:41pm

fashionguru_23 said: "I don't think an end is near, quite yet. I mean, Jesus Christ Superstar is coming in April. And there are the swirling of a few other titles for down the road (Bye Bye Birdie, Rent, A Few Good Men). I've always been curious why ABC hasn't tried to bring back the Wonderful World of Disney and their tv musicals (Cinderella, Geppetto, Once Upon A Mattress, The Music Man, Annie). Even if you didn't like those, they were leaps and bounds over a lot of the recent offerings."

I agree about Wonderful World of Disney going back to tv musicals. I enjoyed Cinderella, Annie and the Music Man equally. I feel like we need High School Musical Live. Meanwhile I'm not excited for Jesus Christ Superstar. So I'll wait for Bye Bye Birdie and Rent

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 12/18/17 at 3:52pm

I am so leery of the live TV production of Rent. It’s one of my favorite musicals (I even love the movie). I just don’t think this is the format for it. It’s too edgy to fit into commercial TV so they’ll soften it by cutting numbers and/or modifying them. I’m actually not sure I’ll watch it because I don’t want them to ruin Rent for me. 

[Kad]

Posted: 12/18/17 at 3:55pm

Not shocking that the ratings were so poor. A Christmas Story is already played to death during the holidays- even for a full 24 hours on TBS on Christmas!- and the musical isn't exactly a known property even amongst musical theatre fans nor is it particularly noteworthy in any meaningful way.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 12/18/17 at 3:56pm

Miles2Go2 said: "I am so leery of the live TV production of Rent. It’s one of my favorite musicals (I even love the movie). I just don’t think this is the format for it. It’s too edgy to fit into commercial TV so they’ll soften it by cutting numbers and/or modifying them. I’m actually not sure I’ll watch it because I don’t want them to ruin Rentfor me."

If the movie didn't ruin Rent for you I doubt a TV version could.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 12/18/17 at 5:13pm

That said, I found the staging by Scott Ellis (he of the brilliant ON THE 20TH CENTURY revival) really superb, including seamless transitions from kitchens to fantasy sets and back, terrific use of surreal sets like an old-time Carol Burnet episode would have used, and lovely time spent in Midwest Square on the Warner Bros backlot.

You're crediting the wrong person.  Scott Ellis only directed the actor's performances.  Alex Rudzinski is the television director and responsible for all the camera work and staging of those scene/set transitions.  

[Tag]

Posted: 12/18/17 at 5:25pm

^Camera work , yes, but staging/idea of the transitions was probably an amalgamation of both of them.

[BwayLB]

Posted: 12/18/17 at 5:30pm

Rent Live for me partially depends on casting

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 12/18/17 at 5:44pm

BwayLB said: "Rent Live for me partially depends on casting"

Agreed. For all the criticisms of the movie version, it featured several of the Broadway cast and had great production values. If they try to soften it to make it more palatable to the general public, miscast it, and don’t spend time, energy and money on good production values, it will disappoint fans of the musical while also providing a horrible introduction to the show after which they’ll wonder what the big fuss was about. 

[BwayLB]

Posted: 12/18/17 at 7:08pm

I didn't mind most of the OBC in the movie version.

[rattleNwoolypenguin]

Posted: 12/18/17 at 8:12pm

I guess I'm one of the few on here that regards the movie as a classic.

To me, this Live production had all the flavor of someone turning to the channel watching this, having seen the movie, and knowing the movie by heart and going "This is why I don't like musicals." 

More than that, the movie has a bite, a satire, a sadness, a darkness and a weirdness rooted in the reality of childhood being disappointing and weird and no one understanding you.

This show is just too earnest and upbeat and doesn't capture the spirit of the movie at all. It takes too much of a page from "Annie." The fantasy sequences in the film are only from Ralphie's point of view and are fun and funny cause it's exclusively his imagination. When there's a dancing leg lamp kick line happening, it breaks that construct. 

I just think some movies "don't sing" and I learned last night that A Christmas Story is one of them.

I almost wish you could take all the elements here and just apply it to another musical, cause while a good lot of the score is forgettable and too busy, there are a few pleasant melodies here and there. 

Updated On: 12/18/17 at 08:12 PM

[SmoothLover]

Posted: 12/19/17 at 4:40pm

Itseemed like Matthew had missed rehearsal and did not know his lines. I would not be surprised to learn that he was using cue cards.Even though the TV version had many misses I can see where it would work on stage well.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 12/19/17 at 6:40pm

To me it just seemed like Matthew Broderick started to get tired near the end. I think he knew his lines well enough. He just started tripping over his words.

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 12/19/17 at 7:09pm

I'm also shocked at the hate on here for the original film. I think it's an absolute classic.

[mc1227]

Posted: 12/19/17 at 7:13pm

CATSNYrevival said: "To me it just seemed like Matthew Broderick started to get tired near the end. I think he knew his lines well enough. He just started tripping over his words."

I totally agree.  He was fine until the last 45 minutes or so.  It was very overly  ambitious of Ellis to have him running from set to set with all the various costume changes and jumping in and out of every scene.  I feel he made the entire show worth it for me with the very touching ending and sang beautifully even though he was clearly winded.  

[SmoothLover]

Posted: 12/19/17 at 9:27pm

I just didn't feel like Matthew was fully vested and he had a deer in the headlights look throughout. I don't think he was miscast and his best moments came at the very end. I actually wondered about Steve Carell when I was recasting in my mind.

[mikey2573]

Posted: 12/19/17 at 10:33pm

I've never been a big fan of the movie "A Christmas Story" but loved the musical when I saw it on Broadway.  I was really looking forward to this broadcast and I have to say that, for the most part, I really enjoyed, despite some missteps.  

Some things can start off so badly that they NEVER recover, and "A Christmas Story LIVE" came very close to doing that with the cheesy and completely inappropriate pop number that started the evening off; just awful.  I really thought the show was Dead On Arrival after that hideous opening and it really took me a while to get into the show after that.  What a HUGE mistake that was! 

Thankfully I stuck with it and slowly warmed up.  I really liked the kid playing Ralphie.  While at times it looked as if he was just hitting his marks and trying to remember what to do next, he thankfully had enough personality to still be endearing.  And he had a terrific singing voice.  In the end, he really did carry the show. 

I don't know what to say about Maya Rudolph.  I had very little knowledge of her outside of SNL and people more familiar with her than I assured she me had a background in music. Well, you'd never know it by watching this show.  I was told that she was a pretty good singer, but of course we all know having a good voice does not mean you can deliver a song in a musical.  There are so many other elements needed to sell a song in a musical besides just having a "good voice"; technique, phrasing, musicality.  But to my dismay, Rudolph did not even have a very good singing voice, never mind all of those other things. Notes that were supposed to be held were cut off as she seemed to run out of breath.  And, as I've said before, her choice for "What a Mother Does" did not work for me.  Erin Dilly actually chose to play the song more controversially by having the mother LOVE her housewife life.  She seemed perfectly content and happy to have her day full of ironing, sheets and cooking.  Definitely a less "P.C." choice.  Rudolph played it more sarcastically, as if she were thinking "Yeah, right.  THIS is supposed to be fulfilling??"  An actor's choice to be sure, but it did not work for me.  

And they missed one of the biggest emotional payoffs in the musical (for me).  At first I thought it was the actor's (Dilly's) choice, but it has happened in the national tour without Dilly which leads me to believe it was a director's choice.  It happens during the mother's Act 2 song, "Just Like That".  The song starts out being about the mother trying to convince Ralphie that these rough times (he's just gotten into a huge fight with Scut and is fearful of Dad's reaction when he gets home) are over before we know it.  But the song turns into a song about a parent lamenting that her children are growing up so quickly right before her eyes, and she needs to cherish these moments because they will be gone "Just Like That".  On stage, there was a brilliant and moving moment when the mother picks up Randy's snowsuit from the kitchen floor and holds it to her, hugs it to her, and squeezes it as if Randy is in it and she is trying to hold onto him exactly the way he is; as if she can hold him and stop him from growing up.  It happens during the lyric, "All the crazy moments, flicker past, then they're gone.  Crazy, messy moments (she picks up the snowsuit) yet you try......to hold on......" and then she squeezes that snowsuit.  And the song stops for a moment as the holds it.  Then she continues, slower, "But they pass you in an instant...Pass you by so fast....Don't forget to remember these moments, never last."  That staging really helped that number hit the heart and they didn't do it, didn't do anything close to it, on the TV broadcast.  I really missed that and the song suffered because of it not being there. 

But enough about Rudolph.  The other revelation in the show (aside from Walken) was Chirs Diamantopoulos as the old man.  He played the part quite well, catching just the right amount of distracted irritability and the right amount of warmth as well.  I really liked the side plot (not in the stage version) of Ralphie trying to find some way to connect with his dad and thinking that his dad doesn't notice him, yet his dad gets him the rifle.  And the moment at the end, right before Ralphie goes outside to shoot, where Dad sings a reprise of "Ralphie to the Rescue", that was very sweet.  I also liked the "La La Land" joke during his "Major Award" acceptance speech; "Is this a mistake?  Someone check the envelope."  And that flip was wonderful.  I would still give John Bolton the nod as the best Old Man simply due to his wonderful facial expressions and goofy physicality.  He really was special in that role, But Diamantopoulos was very good. 

I also liked the kid who played Randy though I don't know what they were going for with his "look"; his clothes were too old (like a little adult) and his hair too perfect.  Were they going for a (very) young Ronald Reagan look? 

Krakowski was excellent as Miss Shields, though I was distracted by my constant thought whenever she was on screen; "Why didn't she play the mother?".  Oh, well.  And I missed the big solo tap dance by one of the kids in "You'll Shoot Your Eye Out".  I know there is only one Luke Spring, but all the subsequent professional productions I have seen have kept the specialty tap boy, and I was disappointed this show didn't. 

Matthew Broderick took some getting used to; that same kind of delivery he's been doing for the past 15 years/  At first he was kind of bland and expressionless, but I liked him better as the evening went on.  And he did really hit the ending out of the ball park.  The part with the mitten  gave me goosebumps.  

Anna Gasteyer was good but needless.  Her number did nothing for the show except made it longer and its length of nearly three hours was almost as deadly as that opening number.  

Some other things:

*I loved the way they handled the Chinese restaurant "Deck the Halls" scene; still very funny but not offensive.  

*I am not sure why they didn't have David Alan Grier sing Santa's part in "Up On Santa's Lap" since has musical comedy experience. 

*Why did they rewrite "Stick Situation"?  The stage version was better. 

*"Somewhere Hovering Over Indiana" did not work.  Why were the kids outside in the snow wearing their pajamas?  And at the end they were lying in the snow!  This was something where the literal back lot set hurt the number.  On stage you don't see snow or a street.  You just imagine all of these kids are thinking the same thing and are all singing about the same thing, not that they literally snuck out of the house and are out dancing around in the snow in their p.j.s.  

*I wish they could have done something about all the greenery and leaves on the trees.  This was supposed to be winter in Indiana.  

Remember back in the old days when they used to make videos of stage musicals and televise them (Sweeney Todd, Camelot, Into the Woods, and even more recently Billy Elliot, She Loves Me, Gypsy and Falsettos)?  I wish they would do that.  I would have been happier if they had just made a professional video of the current A Christmas Story tour and televised that.  

But, overall, I did like this production.   

 

 

Updated On: 12/19/17 at 10:33 PM

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 12/20/17 at 12:57am

I wonder what, if anything, the creators would do differently in hindsight. Obviously, Maya Rudolph wasn't a big enough draw to get people to tune in. How did she end up in this in the first place not being able to sing it?

[mc1227]

Posted: 12/20/17 at 12:51pm

I really think that asides from the length and over production, the actual time slot was also an issue.  This Saturday night 12/23, would have been much better.  Plus if we’re only going to advertise on FOX, many people who enjoy musical theatre, including me, would not be watching FOX for most of their programming.  Aside from some print interviews, I also saw no promotion of this on talk shows or morning tv. 

I think Maya showed some nerves in her first song that affected her performance but performances were not the problem with this production.  The network, producers and the director can share it that.  However, I didn’t think it was that bad, just way too long.  

[green waver]

Posted: 12/21/17 at 12:51pm

rattleNwoolypenguin said: "I guess I'm one of the few on here that regards the movie as a classic.

To me, this Live productionhad all the flavor of someone turning to the channel watching this, having seen the movie, and knowing the movie by heartand going "This is why I don't like musicals."

More than that, the movie has a bite, a satire, a sadness, a darkness and a weirdness rooted in the reality of childhood being disappointing and weird and no one understanding you.

This show is just too earnest and upbeat and doesn't capture the spirit of the movie at all. It takes too much of a page from "Annie."The fantasy sequences in the film are only from Ralphie's point of view and are fun and funny cause it's exclusively his imagination. When there's a dancing leg lamp kick line happening, it breaks that construct.

I just think some movies "don't sing" and I learned last night that A Christmas Story is one of them.

I almost wish you could take all the elements here and just apply it to another musical, cause while a good lot of the score is forgettable and too busy, there are a few pleasant melodies here and there."

Very thoughtful analysis of the movie's strengths-the quirkiness of Ralphie's point of view WAS lost, especially in this staging. But I do think a musicalization of this material is possible. I think Pasek and Paul are capable of it, although it's a moot point: they're obviously not going to rethink the tone of it at this point.

[Kad]

Posted: 12/21/17 at 2:15pm

This wasn't exactly a passion project for Pasek and Paul. It was a job.

[newintown]

Posted: 12/21/17 at 2:30pm

The trouble with adapting many movies, including this one, is that when a moment is perfectly expressed in one line or a look, that moment is inevitably diminished by turning it into a six-minute song made up of repetitive lyrics set to simple-minded music.