AN AMERICAN IN PARIS Previews
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS Previews
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS Previews#1
Posted: 3/12/15 at 11:46amPreviews start tomorrow night! Who's going?
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/11/06
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/11/14
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS Previews#3
Posted: 3/12/15 at 1:43pmI won't be seeing this until May 2nd as the final show on my Spring theater trip, but I really hope the early word of mouth from the out of town try out holds up for Broadway, and that this show wins people over!
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/5/13
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS Previews#4
Posted: 3/12/15 at 2:19pmI'm also hoping this will turn out to be as delightful as everything I've seen and heard so far has lead me to believe. Any word on a rush or lotto yet?
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/29/08
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS Previews#5
Posted: 3/12/15 at 2:22pmGeneral rush. https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/AN-AMERICAN-IN-PARIS-on-Broadway-Sets-General-Rush-Policy-20150312
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/5/13
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS Previews#7
Posted: 3/13/15 at 12:01am
ggersten, ha
Phillypinto is seeing Honeymoon in Vegas finally tomorrow Friday the 13th
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS Previews#8
Posted: 3/13/15 at 12:02am
It is really too bad it didn't close before he saw it. 
I'm very, very curious about this one. Hoping it's a winner! :)
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS Previews#10
Posted: 3/13/15 at 12:40pmThis looks like a really beautiful production. The score is gorgeous. I'm also very curious about it and have been looking forward to it. Hope it's a hit!
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/29/08
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS Previews#11
Posted: 3/13/15 at 1:15pmI'd be willing to kickstart a ticket for Phillypinto to American in Paris.
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS Previews#12
Posted: 3/13/15 at 1:20pm
Hell, if that's all it takes for people to give me money for a free ticket, I'll badmouth every show before it comes out!
You know, I never did like that Audra McDonald. I think her new show will bomb...
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/11/14
Broadway Star Joined: 5/21/07
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/13/06
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS Previews#15
Posted: 3/13/15 at 5:11pmCurious to hear the thoughts and reactions to the show's preview tonight!
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS Previews#16
Posted: 3/13/15 at 8:17pmSomeone on this forum said it was excellent when they saw it in Paris.
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS Previews#17
Posted: 3/13/15 at 9:29pmI am enjoying this so much! The dancing, singing, sets - all beautiful. Enjoying much more than King and I last night, but certainly understand why this is more polished at this point!
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS Previews#18
Posted: 3/13/15 at 11:21pmGreat show! A lot of positive buzz and smiles after the show.
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS Previews#19
Posted: 3/13/15 at 11:25pmI tried to rush today around 6 15 pm to no avail.
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS Previews#21
Posted: 3/13/15 at 11:49pmoh, C'MON! we're dyin' here! somebody, anybody, go into detail! :P
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS Previews#22
Posted: 3/13/15 at 11:49pm
Well, despite some lovely dancing and a very charismatic performance from NYC Ballet's Robert Fairchild, I found this to be a swing and a miss.
Much of the blame can be laid at the feet of Craig Lucas and his plotless, meandering and ineffectual book. I swear, nothing really happened the whole first act, and although the plot found minor momentum in act two, things petered out without much resolution for most of the characters by the end. I guess you could call it "impressionistic," but that's not what this type of musical needs; fade out/fade in on characters and their emotions without an forward motion makes for a frustrating evening. For what I thought was going to be a romantic musical comedy there sure was an awful lot of talk about the Nazis, and nothing puts you in the mood for dream ballet like talk of concentration camps.
There was plenty of technically wonderful dancing, but the numbers were occasionally over-choreographed; not EVERY number needs to turn into a production number with full ensemble or it loses the effect. A prime example is Fairchild's first big attempt to woo Lise, "I've Got Beginner's Luck." It starts out very well with Fairchild dancing around a store and Lise worried that his advances will cost her her job. All of a sudden the entire cast is dancing along with him for apparently no reason and the business of her having to agree to the date to keep her job is lost in the commotion. What should have been a cute, charming number becomes frustratingly overblown.
There's also a quality of "haven't we seem this all before?" that pervades the whole evening. We've, of course, heard all the music before whether in Nice Work, Crazy For You, all the Gershwin productions at Encores of late, as well as countless other places. There's a strong resemblance to On the Town, as well as lesser works like Never Gonna Dance.
By the time the big ballet comes along I was feeling each minute pass. Although The King and I ran 3.5 hrs last night and had its problems, I never was bored. Without any stakes for the characters or real dramatic tension this just sort of plodded along from one number to the next.
Even the ever reliable Veanne Cox couldn't spin much magic out of her woefully underwritten part. Jill Paice and Max von Essen had a little more to work with, but honestly not much. Max has a sort of "Live, Laugh, Love" follies number in act two that they try to whip up into a showstopper, but neither the song nor the choreography really support the decision. (Max gives 110% and sails vocally through it- I find no fault with him at all.)
The set and costumes were pretty. The lighting design was nicely done. I just wish I had liked it more.
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS Previews#23
Posted: 3/13/15 at 11:52pm
Don't go in expecting big voices, huge laughs, or a reinvention of the form, but do be prepared for just a lovely, sweet production to wash over you. It's classy, classic, elegant, touching, etc. At times it was like a very pleasant dream you'd have while napping on the beach. Just a warm breeze of a show.
The showstopper is really the dancing here. The leads are radiant and they move together beautifully. I was fixated on each of them throughout the entire show. The golden Gershwin music welcomes you like an old friend and the sets make really great use of projection mixed with tangible pieces. Some of the most evocative, ambient projections I've seen to date. The choreography is like ballet infused with Fosse and it comes together in a big way.
The material is very light. The characters and plot points are time-old tropes. The pacing can be awkward and the show doesn't reach or sustain a high often enough (Dad dozed off for a moment or two), but when everything else melts away and the bodies start moving, it reels you right back in. I applaud it for maintaining an adult, mature tone throughout. Not all the lines land, but they rarely pander, and that's very refreshing in this realm of entertainment.
Whizzer's critiques are almost all spot on, but they didn't bother me as much. Maybe because I went in with no expectations (and didn't buy my own ticket). Great for a date, for family, for the grandparents. A real charmer with old fashioned heart and fantastic talent.
Updated On: 3/14/15 at 11:52 PM
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