AMERICAN PSYCHO Previews — Page 2

i still think this could have used that try out at Second Stage which was originally planned but im still super excited to see the changes they have made over the last 2 years, several new songs have been written and the books apparently been revised.

Scarywarhol said: "Yes, these men are shallow and empty. You can convey that without so many desperate cliches and non-rhymes and a consistent drunk-in-the-early-AM-first-pass vibe.



Obviously it's all preference but even Sondheim concedes that rhyme schemes should always match the character. His cardinal rule is "content dictates form." It's the reason he thinks "I Feel Pretty" is far too verbose for the character singing it. American Psycho having intelligent rhyming would feel like a mismatch in terms of tone. In a world in which these characters sing, they would really only sing in the shallow near-rhymes of 80s pop. It's similar to how the lyrics in Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (also coincidentally starring Ben Walker) replicate emo music, rather than being verbose or intelligent. The satisfaction one gets from a brilliant perfect rhyme is not lost on me, but I do think the unwritten rule that every rhyme has to be perfect is a bit arbitrary. To me, telling a story through song is about far more than rhyme scheme. The important part is matching the tone, the characters and the world of the story.

It's a pretty interesting discussion, actually. I wonder if more shows are taking this approach nowadays. There is a fine line between a bad lyric on purpose and just a bad lyric and it's when that line gets blurred that's where we get into trouble. I guess that's what you were getting at.

Updated On: 3/22/16 at 07:07 PM

Audience Rewards has a decent yet extremely limited deal for AP right now. Act now as inventory seems slim.

Did anyone go to the invited dress rehearsal last night?

A good friend of mine went to the final dress and simply loathed it. My tastes and his don't always line up, though, but I've never seen him have such a visceral reaction to a show. He also reported it was quite long, almost 3 hours, but it was, after all, a final dress.

I think this show, maybe more than any other this season, has the potential to completely divide critics and audiences. There are going to be people who totally "get" what the creative team is attempting to do and others who will likely loath it.

I actually think this will get good reviews. Just a hunch. But I think audiences will be sharply divided. The big challenge is going to get the audience in the first place. It's almost like its best hope is to catch on with the 21st century version of the young rich spoiled elitists who the book originally lampooned. Maybe they should have done the tryout at the Box.

I was there last night. And I want to respect that it was a final dress and not say too much as I do think every show deserves a safe, creative environment prior to any paid performance. That said, I liked it A LOT more than I was expecting. It was long. There are things to fix. But they've got about a month to make changes. There are grotesque moments, just like in the film and book, but overall it had stronger artistry than I expected going in.

For the choreography I think they were going for tacky and corny or as it's known now: the 80s.

I'll agree with that. I still wish Matt Smith was opening the show on Broadway.

CATSNYrevival said: "For the choreography I think they were going for tacky and corny or as it's known now: the 80s.

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The choreography works better in context of the show: the "shallow" lyrics, monotone music, and highly stylized "modern 80s" monochrome set. The videos work against the show in a way. It'll be interesting to see what b-roll the producers choose to show.

If anyone is interested, I posted a song list and picture of the stage on my Instagram. My handle is n2nbaby if anyone wants to check them out.

Kind of bummed they cut oh Sri Lanka and not a common man. Those were some of the highlights for me on the album.