A STRANGE LOOP On Broadway - Reviews & News Thread- Page 23

[ThisGuyLovesTheatre]

Posted: 5/22/22 at 7:41am

Thank you for the well thought out response. Let me explain my  "woke" comment. I am using it the same way Bill Maher does. Do you watch him?  Things can tip too far to one side. I am as liberal as anyone, but it can become ridiculous.  That's all I can say about that comment.

I think part of my reaction was I had no idea of what the show was about when I saw it. Everyone on this board knows what they are going into. I did not. I watched it and reacted. Again, the main issues I have is, although it is a really good concept, the elements do not add up. The score is weak. Immature. The book is a mess. The lyrics are not great. So, you have a lot of raw energy, mostly from a fantastic cast, pushing this mediocre piece into something we are all SUPPOSED to like. And if you don't... there is something wrong with you. It's like the Emperor's New Clothes. I am from a different generation. I have been going to the theare for 50 years.  I have a degree in Muscial Theatre. I have taught acting and directed at a very respectable college in NYC.  I have a published play which is being produced often. I looked at The Strange Loop technically. I wrote what I didn't like The main problem I have, again, is that the way it is written is that Usher is a very disturbed young man. He needs some help. The audience laughing AT his issues" is not attractive to me. We aren't laughing WITH him.  It's a very sad musical disguising itself as something else. 

To say that the author didn't write the show for the audience is also telling. Who did he write it for?  If not the audience then it is "Theatre Masturbation".   Which is exactly what it felt like to me.  There is page after page here about the sound. I don't hear anyone talking about the great score. Or the great book,  Because the elements of the show do  not add up. So talk about the sound some more, Maybe it's the score and not the sound.

Updated On: 5/22/22 at 07:41 AM

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/22/22 at 8:09am

 I'll correct you on one thing: there have been a number of people that have not loved this on these boards, including me.   No one made me feel that I was wrong in my personal feelings or that anything is wrong with me.  I don't disagree with some of the points you are trying to make (many which have been brought up in this thread, previously)- but to tell people they are experiencing the Emporer's new clothes - is telling them THEY are wrong for liking or even loving this show.  You also seem to take your dislike of the show to a personal level - like the production set out to piss you off

Why would you go see a show you knew NOTHING about?   (and as a theater person, how could you not have known anything about it?)

BTW....watching and emulating Bill Maher is not some sort of badge of honor.  He can be a bit of a hardheaded  a$$hole.

[JasonC3]

Posted: 5/22/22 at 8:37am

Many writers write stories because they feel a need to tell them.  Whether or not they find a major audience often factors little into the initial need to create.

[popular_elphie]

Posted: 5/22/22 at 9:31am

YalePlaywrightsWilding said: "Also, why does Usher wear a suit during Intermission Song reminiscent of a lawn jockey or old movie theater usher suit? Disney ushers, in reality, do not wear this. These choices, I feel, indulge the white audience's desire to see racist tropes performed on stage, more so than indict them as abstract criticism."

 

Another commenter posted a photo, but Disney ushers, at the New Amsterdam, absolutely wear this outfit. To be specific, it's the ticket taker outfit you wear in the warmer months. And the color has shifted from green to red back to green in the past few decades. In the winter, that hat is paired with a longer coat, very reminiscent of the costume the cast members at the Tower of Terror wear in Walt Disney World.

[Wick3]

Posted: 5/22/22 at 9:47am

I'll admit I don't recall ushers wearing that outfit at LION KING. In fact, I think the LION KING ushers wear the Nederlander usher uniform since it's a Nederlander house.

 

However, it's been a few months since I last watched Aladdin but I remember back then the ushers who do the xylophone dings during intermission definitely wear a similar outfit to what Usher in STRANGE LOOP wore.

[Kad]

Posted: 5/22/22 at 10:45am

ThisGuyLovesTheatre said: "Thank you for the well thought out response. Let me explain my "woke" comment. I am using it the same way Bill Maher does. Do you watch him? Things can tip too far to one side. I am as liberal as anyone, but it can become ridiculous. That's all I can say about that comment.

I think part of my reaction was I had no idea of what the show was about when I saw it. Everyone on this board knows what they are going into. I did not. I watched it and reacted. Again, the main issues I have is, although it is a really good concept, the elements do not add up. The score is weak. Immature. The book is a mess. The lyrics are not great. So, you have a lot of raw energy, mostly from a fantastic cast, pushing this mediocre piece into something we are all SUPPOSED to like. And if you don't... there is something wrong with you. It's like the Emperor's New Clothes. I am from a different generation. I have been going to the theare for 50 years. I have a degree in Muscial Theatre. I have taught acting and directed at a very respectable college in NYC. I have a published play which is being produced often. I looked at The Strange Loop technically. I wrote what I didn't like The main problem I have, again, is that the way it is written is that Usher is a very disturbed young man. He needs some help. The audience laughing AT his issues" is not attractive to me. We aren't laughing WITH him. It's a very sad musical disguising itself as something else.

To say that the author didn't write the show for the audience is also telling. Who did he write it for? If not the audience then it is "Theatre Masturbation". Which is exactly what it felt like to me. There is page after page here about the sound. I don't hear anyone talking about the great score. Or the great book, Because the elements of the show do not add up. So talk about the sound some more, Maybe it's the score and not the sound."

There are plenty of posts on this thread and elsewhere on this board praising the score and book. And for such a credentialed theater professional, it’s strange you would know nothing about this show prior to going in. 
 

As Dramamama points out: there are a lot of people who don’t care for or share in the enthusiasm for this show, who share their opinions without blowback. But they don’t imply others are wrong for liking it, or that people are only pretending to like it to seem “woke.” We've all been on the opposite side of public opinion on pieces of art. That's how it goes. But putting down others doesn't make your opinion correct.

 

Updated On: 5/22/22 at 10:45 AM

[Georgeanddot2]

Posted: 5/22/22 at 6:37pm

You're not liberal if you love Bill Maher lol.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 5/22/22 at 6:57pm

Kyle is sensational. He nailed the role on every level and blew the roof off on vocals. Loved him and loved the show. So glad it’s on Broadway. 

[quizking101]

Posted: 5/22/22 at 7:54pm

Bettyboy72 said: "Kyle is sensational. He nailed the role on every level and blew the roof off on vocals. Loved him and loved the show. So glad it’s on Broadway."

Agreed! My friends didn’t even know he was the understudy until I told them. They all gave him (and Antwayn Hopper’s harness look) two MAJOR thumbs up

[ashley0139]

Posted: 5/22/22 at 8:23pm

I saw this show yesterday matinee and I honestly didn't know what to think, and I still don't. I'm glad I saw it. I didn't hate it, but I also didn't love it. The subject matter didn't shock me, but it didn't necessarily grab me. I thought the opening number was great and that I would be enthralled, but I really wasn't. I'm definitely not necessarily the target audience though. Still trying to figure out how I felt about the whole thing.

[popular_elphie]

Posted: 5/22/22 at 9:21pm

Wick3 said: "I'll admit I don't recall ushers wearing that outfit at LION KING. In fact, I think the LION KING ushers wear the Nederlander usher uniform since it's a Nederlander house.



However, it's been a few months since I last watched Aladdin but I remember back then the ushers who do the xylophone dings during intermission definitely wear a similar outfit to what Usher in STRANGE LOOP wore."

You forget that THE LION KING wasn't always at the Minskoff - it ran at the New Am from when it opened until 2006.

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 5/23/22 at 2:59pm

We saw the matinee yesterday and all of us were pretty blown away. The talent is remarkable. Kyle Freeman was on as Usher and was just phenomenal. While many in our group went based on the NY Times piece on Spivey, by the time we left, there was no discussion that we just saw a star performance. And one of many, not a weak link in the cast, I just kept saying, where were the rest of their Tony nominations! The production was super slick, the sets and lights wonderful. Like many modern musicals, it’s hard to remember any particular songs, but in this cast it’s hard to even think of any that were a dud, all of them fit really perfectly, and overall the book was strong, funny, moving, angry, bereft, cathartic.

I always apply something Jerry Seinfeld once said, that the more specific you get, the more universal the outcome. I thought a lot about that watching this show, especially when our group of all various people of color and mostly gay, you look at who is surrounding you in the audience and wondering, do they really get it at all? And while not everything Usher talked about applied to me, my companions found more things that connected directly to them, but I still found it to be thoughtful and moving, and yes those specificities did reach out to me, because I could connect to the emotions and motivations that could lead to Usher’s actions, and it made the connection for me.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 5/23/22 at 3:37pm

everythingtaboo said: "We saw the matinee yesterday and all of us were pretty blown away. The talent is remarkable. Kyle Freeman was on as Usher and was just phenomenal. While many in our group went based on the NY Times piece on Spivey, by the time we left, there was no discussion that we just saw a star performance. And one of many, not a weak link in the cast, I just kept saying, where were the rest of their Tony nominations! The production was super slick, the sets and lights wonderful. Like many modern musicals, it’s hard to remember any particular songs, but in this cast it’s hard to even think of any that were a dud, all of them fit really perfectly, and overall the book was strong, funny, moving, angry, bereft, cathartic.

I always apply something Jerry Seinfeld once said, that the more specific you get, the more universal the outcome. I thought a lot about that watching this show, especially when our group of all various people of color and mostly gay, you look at who is surrounding you in the audience and wondering, do they really get it at all? And while not everything Usher talked about applied to me, my companions found more things that connected directly to them, but I still found it to be thoughtful and moving, and yes those specificities did reach out to me, because I could connect to the emotions and motivations that could lead to Usher’s actions, and it made the connection for me."

This is a great post. I thoroughly agree with you about connecting with the show. As an almost 30 year old white gay men not everything applied to me (obviously), but there were so many things in the show that I could still relate to on a deeply person level. 

 

[Lot666]

Posted: 5/24/22 at 7:42am

everythingtaboo said: "We saw the matinee yesterday..."

How was the sound?

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 5/24/22 at 9:02am

Lot666 said: "everythingtaboo said: "We saw the matinee yesterday..."

How was the sound?"

I'll refer you to Patti's comments at 92Y about flat and loud sound...

Truthfully though, it was fine, better than most shows nowadays, but there were definitely moments where when the band and singers are at it full throttle, it all just comes across as a wall of sound, and words were definitely lost. For example, the opening number, which is unfortunate because there's a lot of words.

[Jimbo2]

Posted: 5/24/22 at 5:30pm

Does anyone know who is going on for Usher tonight? I'll be at the matinee tomorrow!

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 5/24/22 at 5:33pm

Jimbo2 said: "Does anyone know who is going on for Usher tonight? I'll be at the matinee tomorrow!"

I would assume Kyle Ramar Freeman.

[alexidarling15]

Posted: 5/24/22 at 10:00pm

I was there tonight and Spivey was back on. He was spectacular. It’s like an Evan Hansen role, no idea how one person could do that every night. 

the sound was awful during the ensemble songs, it was the wall of unintelligible sound that others here have described. Too much band, not enough lyrics. It was fine when only one or two people were singing, however.

[Jimbo2]

Posted: 5/25/22 at 6:50pm

Trip number 4 today, Kyle was on for the matinee and my first time seeing him. WOW he was terrific.

Michael R Jackson was doing a photoshoot right outside the theatre when the show got out and friend went up to him and introduced herself. 

Next visit will be the first performance after the Tony Awards.

[Bigserver1]

Posted: 5/25/22 at 10:44pm

Count me in the camp that loved it. Saw it tonight, full cast in for what it’s worth. Found it moving, profound, funny, sad, kind of everything all at once. I thought Spivey was outstanding, and the thoughts are phenomenal. I hope this wins all the Tonys it’s up for. 

[Jasper3]

Posted: 5/26/22 at 8:05am

Not sure what the proper protocol is but I didn’t think I should start a new thread for my question. I noticed last week that on Telecharge there were approx. 20 tix per performance available near to curtain for each show - roughly 150 for the week. The grosses showed approx. 700 unsold seats. Is that because the difference was send to TKTS and not sold? Or do tickets stay live in both places until purchase? If that’s the case, the numbers don’t seem to add up. Thank you.

[quizking101]

Posted: 5/31/22 at 12:45pm

Has anyone seen the show from the mezzanine and can comment on what the sighlines are like? I’m trying to buy tickets for friends

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 5/31/22 at 1:34pm

quizking101 said: "Has anyone seen the show from the mezzanine and can comment on what the sighlines are like? I’m trying to buy tickets for friends"

I sat row E of the mezzanine smack dab in the middle, and the view was fantastic.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/31/22 at 1:51pm

quizking - I PROMISE I'm not being snarky here - I think its adorable you referred to them as SIGHlines.   (They are SIGHTlines).   The image that popped in my head?  Sitting down to discover you couldn't see the whole stage and just letting out the biggest SIGH because of it. (Oh, well, should have paid the extra 30 bucks for the seats a few closer towards center. Sigh.....)

 

 

[round2]

Posted: 5/31/22 at 2:49pm

Saw ASL last Thursday night, May 26. I'd heard good things, so wasn't too disappointed that the understudy, Kyle Ramar Freeman, was on as Usher, the central role. I ended up seriously impressed with his performance. Wow! He's great. Loved the show in this second viewing, after having seen it early at Playwrights Horizons. For me, it's gotten so much sharper, clearer, and more focused. Kudos to all involved!