AMERICAN PSYCHO Previews — Page 13

Gotcha!  Thanks guys!

"That's not even a remotely valid comparison.  You cannot compare an entire career worth of pop art as a signature style to the use of two pre-existing songs in one Broadway musical."

I can absolutely make that comparison and I did.  I did because it was not a comparison based on the volume of work but the choice of whether it is "lazy" to appropriate something pre-existing instead of creating it from scratch.  Whether Warhol or Sheik do it once or 700 times is irrelevant to the point I was making.  Choosing to use a pre-existing song instead of writing one is only lazy if it is done because they don't want or are uninspired to create something wholey original for that moment.  You don't know that to be the case (unless you live with Sheik I guess).  This show was always going to be a hybrid of jukebox and original music.  So therefor the use of a pre-existing song is not lazy.  Maybe it's ill-conceived?  Maybe it sucks?  That is up for interpretation and again, not the point I was making.  I am not putting any value on the work only saying that the act of using the song is not out of "laziness" since it was always part of the creative vision.

 

Updated On: 3/31/16 at 04:42 PM

What exactly do you find lazy about the way they were used? How would you have wanted them to be used?

I don't feel very strongly against the use of the extant songs, more surprised, but I did find it a bit distracting. (Except "Hip to be Square," which was both expected and diagetic in the scene.) Much of Sheik's score is successful in creating a nightmare stylized pastiche of 80s styles, so I did not feel he needed any real period songs to augment the sense of time. Dramatically, they fit in terms of vibe (which is more how Sheik writes anyway, rather than true storytelling), but they are hardly literally specific to the situations. This is often my beef with jukebox shows. Finally, yes, they DID take me out of the moment. And judging by the murmurs that met "In the Air Tonight" and "Don't You Want Me" (over and diminishing the action) a few nights ago, I wasn't alone.

 

At intermission, a woman asked "So is all the music 80s? I only know some of the songs." 

 

Her friend answered, "Yes, but I think they changed the lyrics to some."

 

So the confusion may be greater for casual viewers. But you can also take that as a testament to Sheik successfully conjuring the period in his own numbers. 

Updated On: 3/31/16 at 06:02 PM

A few shows in now, anyone know the current running time? Was debating a late night "Sleep No More" tomorrow night after Psycho, but probably not gonna happen if it's still nearing 3 hours. 

It was 2 hours 35 minutes on Wednesday.

It's an intimate house and there are large stage pictures, I'd go with the cheaper seat.

Thanks for the info scarywarhol & uncageg!

Maybe they are being saved by the box office for some reason? I had tickets off to the side in row C for the first preview (bought with a discount code for $79 at the box office) and the day before the first preview they upgraded my seats to front row center orchestra on the aisle because my original seats were partial view.

I wouldn't think the blood has anything to do with it. None seemed to splatter on the first row and there is very little splattering blood.

It is hitting people on the front row as a few people have complained 

Never seen the film/read the book. Have tickets for tonight. How scary is this for a child?