A banner year for revivals...new musicals..not so much!

[Luvinbroadway]

Posted: 5/15/08 at 12:25am

Loving Gypsy, South Pacific, and Sunday in the Park...
BUT...
2/4 musicals were got trashed when they opened and were STILL nominated! OY!
Cry Baby: bad across the boards...why bother typing..
Xanadu Even worse:
"Unfortunately, such self-consciousness is not likely to increase your enjoyment of this slipshod enterprise, which belongs more in a fringe festival than on Broadway. Despite running a mere 90 minutes, it quickly proves wearisome in its one-note camp attitude."
"The production is skimpy on both the casting and design fronts. A few dozen audience members are seated onstage, but this device, used effectively in “Spring Awakening,” seems less an aesthetic choice than an economic one here. With a cast of just 10 and minimal sets (the designer David Gallo seems to have blown much of the budget on disco balls), “Xanadu” uses these onstage viewers as unpaid extras and space-filling, mildly animated scenery."

"1/4 stars..Xanadon't: But in the end, “Xanadu” reminded me of something, and it wasn’t “Starlight Express” or even disco. It was “Ishtar.”

"The show’s a comedy that didn’t give me many laughs—at least, not beyond the overarching, somewhat bitter one about what’s happened to the climate of New York theater. Thanks to Xanadu and the forthcoming Grease, we’re living in a world where the leading lady of Broadway is Olivia Newton-John."

"Most overrated musical: Xanadu
"At least the disappointing Young Frankenstein had a heart and ambition and didn't reap its jokes by merely mocking roller disco and Olivia Newton-John's Australian accent."

"The Worst:

1. The Pirate Queen
2. Cyrano
3. Old Acquaintance
4. Deuce
5. Xanadu"

"The show - one of the most cynical and shabbily produced I have ever seen on Broadway - is just an excuse for a supercilious sn* and loads of knowing camp.The artist is played by a handsome hunk in shorts to keep the gay men and the teenage girls who comprise most of the audience happy, and there's a perfunctorily performed score of old ELO hits and a starlet with perky breasts and a terrible Australian accent to lull lecherous middle-aged men into a stupor."


“Xanadu” may be a lot of fun, but that doesn't make it great theatre, more of a guilty summertime pleasure. I still question the wisdom of doing this, but it does prove that, given the right talents, anything can fly on Broadway."

[bwaybabe2]

Posted: 5/15/08 at 2:56am

Thank you, luving...my point all along about Xanadu!

And, yes revivals were "it" this year, BUT, wait until this new season, as something BIG in new musicals is about to burst into the scene
Any guessers...?

[jackson992]

Posted: 5/15/08 at 4:02am

Yes and not even any exciting revivals lol except for Grease which I love. I also was not impressed by Xanadu. I thought Cry Baby sounded fabulous tho.

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 5/15/08 at 9:05am

...

Have you actually seen Xanadu?

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 5/15/08 at 9:09am

Well, it's always possible to make a show look bad when you overlook the positive reviews.

[SDav 10495]

Posted: 5/15/08 at 9:19am

I agreed with your point when I read it in the thread title, but now that I've read your post I fail to see how you're backing up your argument simply by quoting a string of bad reviews for one show. If anything, seeing you single out a show that also got its share of raves makes me wonder why, if this really was a blah year for new musicals, you can't find anything bad to post about any other shows.

I know you mentioned Cry Baby, but how about spending the same energy you spent on Xanadu and tracking down some bad reviews of that? How about Young Frankenstein? Little Mermaid? Pirate Queen?

This could have been an interesting discussion, but it seems you only made this thread to tear apart one show.

Updated On: 5/15/08 at 09:19 AM