AN AMERICAN IN PARIS Previews- Page 5

[MCfan2]

Posted: 3/19/15 at 1:32pm

Does anyone have a songlist for this? I'm interested to know which songs they kept from the original and which they changed. Also, how much tap is in the show? Is it mostly ballet and just a little tap?

[bdn223]

Posted: 3/19/15 at 2:56pm

Correction*
They can't take that away from me was sung by Henri, Jerry, and Adam. What i meant was that Adam leads the song for for some strange reason, when it logically should be sung by Jerry as he is the character the audience is supposed to sympathize with the most.

@McFan2: there is no tap, only softshoe in Stairway to Paradise, which is a Zigfeld/classic showgirls and softshoe number. My friend and I spent the entire number trying to figure out whether it was softshoe or tap because we kept hearing thuds instead of clicks.
Updated On: 3/19/15 at 02:56 PM

[addicted]

Posted: 3/19/15 at 3:20pm

I don't often post (or agree with Whizzer), but he's spot on. The show was extremely dull and boring. And contrary to what others have claimed, my friend and I both found the dancing to be extremely underwhelming, especially given the dancing caliber of the leads. There was no real plot, and each and every dance sequence went on for about 5 minutes too many.

[jayinchelsea]

Posted: 3/19/15 at 3:43pm

Wow, bdn223! That was an amazingly written yet concise review. I haven't seen the show yet, and still can't decide if I should, but loved reading what you wrote.

[oncemorewithfeeling2]

Posted: 3/19/15 at 9:35pm

Days after viewing this and listening to other arrangements of the songs, I've come to the conclusion that it's not a bad musical, but it's not great. Would new original music fix it? Maybe. Perhaps not trying to be so dance based? Possibly.

It succeeds if you want pure, well done ballet typically not seen on Broadway. It's very well choreographed. But the show, on the whole, leaves something to be desired.

[Fan123]

Posted: 3/20/15 at 4:52pm

Thanks for your answer loliveve.

[brdway411]

Posted: 3/20/15 at 11:29pm

Just got home from the show. The book is a complete mess. The first act almost nothing happens, then they try to cram all the back story into the second act. There is no heart in the story at all. Yes, the music is great, the ballet is great but does not make up for the rest of the crap you have to sit through. Also, I would have liked to see longer musical numbers. Some of my favorite Gershwin tunes are in the show and just started to enjoy them and they were over. YAWN!!!

[MCfan2]

Posted: 3/21/15 at 11:27am

Thanks for your answer, bdn223. I'm surprised there's no tap -- I thought I saw a mention of tap somewhere. But maybe it was just a reference to the softshoe number.

[wonkit]

Posted: 3/21/15 at 12:01pm

I saw this on Wednesday. I love ballet, and I thought the choreography was extraordinary (for Broadway) throughout. The physical production is beautiful and evocative, especially the projections on the bank of the Seine. So I was satisfied, if not electrified. Robert Fairchild is wonderful - incredible dancer and a very appealing performer as a singer and actor. The cast did well with what they were given, without exception.

I have to admit that the movie never engaged me as a story - it seemed pretty thin and formulaic - just an excuse for music and dancing. And the changes in the book for this production - such as they are - don't change that impression. It ain't Shakespeare in either medium.

brdwy411 identified one source of dissatisfaction that I had but didn't consciously realize: the songs all felt cut short (unless they were morphing into a dance number). I love "But Not for Me", for example, but it felt like a 45 second promo rather than a full song. And the two songs before it were also shortened into a kind of "medley": "Who Cares?" and "For You, For Me, Forevermore." I wanted to hear those songs sung and developed and they weren't.

No matter how negative some opinions are, this was (for me) worth seeing. Too much dance for my companion, though, who left at intermission. Still glad I didn't read this thread until forming my own opinion.

[kyl3fong2]

Posted: 3/25/15 at 12:25am

Has nobody seen this recently? I've noticed all the other new spring shows all over first page of these message boards but nothing much on An American In Paris since its first few previews...

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 3/30/15 at 2:06pm

True, any more reviews?

[atuomala]

Posted: 3/30/15 at 5:31pm

I saw it recently and I have to agree with some of the others that the dance sequences are painfully long. All the performers are very talented, but the show takes after a ballet rather than a musical. It just felt very slow and mellow throughout, no hard emotions. I don't regret having seen it, but I probably won't go back a second time.

[Bilbo3]

Posted: 3/31/15 at 7:42am

Can't say I'm surprised, look at the source material. How the film ever came to win Best picture over the superior STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, I'll never know. Definitely one of the most overrated best picture winners ever.

[yellowse]

Posted: 3/31/15 at 10:26am

I went back last night after seeing it first two weeks ago, and there were at least five minor changes to the book from that earlier performance, and every one an improvement. Just little joke tweaks, or leaving out extraneous details...Tho there was a major change in the last scene that made a huge difference to me, SPOILER-ish: in the last scene, instead of Henri walking on with Lise to "give" her to Jerry, Lise runs on the stage by herself, and it's a huge tonal shift, much improved!!

[evic]

Posted: 3/31/15 at 10:41am

If it flops, at least the cast got a free trip to Paris for a few months.

[Daddy Warbucks]

Posted: 3/31/15 at 11:01am

For anyone who has gone recently does it look like there are a lot of empty seats or are they filling the house pretty well?

[Curious3]

Posted: 3/31/15 at 11:02am

In my opinion this is a stunningly beautiful show with much of the narrative expressed through the poetry of dance. And what a set of dances they are. Original concept in the same way Agnes de Mille and Jerome Robbins brought the power of dance to the Broadway stage. This show is the third evolution. If you seek prose don't look for it in poetry.

[EulalieM.Shin]

Posted: 4/1/15 at 5:22pm

Updated On: 4/1/15 at 05:22 PM

[Daddy Warbucks]

Posted: 4/1/15 at 9:32pm

Curious3, you said exactly what I had been trying to articulate in my mind as I've read the comments posted to date.  Nicely put. 

[Robbie2]

Posted: 4/1/15 at 11:00pm

Daddy, 3 weeks of previews so far in the 90% range...what does that tell you?

Previews are heavily papered but the show so far is off to a good start.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/grosses/AN-AMERICAN-IN-PARIS

 

[dtlajim]

Posted: 4/2/15 at 1:21am

Looked sold out in orchestra tonight. Really liked the show. Audience ate it up. Very much a dance oriented show.

[sctrojan65]

Posted: 4/2/15 at 10:56am

I'm seeing it next Wednesday, and seat choices were becoming increasingly harder to come by for that performance. Not sold out, but a pretty booked out theater it looks like.  Looking forward to seeing it.

[Daddy Warbucks]

Posted: 4/2/15 at 11:41am

Thanks a lot Robbie2.  Does "papered" mean comped/discounted?  

[LucyEth]

Posted: 4/2/15 at 5:10pm

Saw this last week, and I wish I could say it made more of an impression on me.  It's a perfectly entertaining evening without being, in any way, a must-see.  Well, I guess it's a must-see for those of us in the community (because we have to see everything), but it's not something I would tell out-of-towners they'd have to rush to.  

Robert Fairchild and Leanne Cope are, of course, superb dancers, so it's a great pleasure to sit back, relax and watch them do their thing.  The problem comes when they open their mouths.  Despite lovely, light singing voices, they're not the kind of triple threats strong enough to carry an entire evening's entertainment.  Bottom line, they really can't act.  And as written, she spends most of her time whining about how she can't allow herself to fall for Fairchild's character and he's so much of a cipher you end up wanting her to marry the charming, handsome Max von Essen instead.

I wasn't crazy about the additional music choices, all of which seemed either expected and cliche ("The Man I Love,""But Not for Me,""They Can't Take That Away from Me") or 2nd tier Gershwin (For You, For Me, For Evermore").  And in endeavoring to bulk up the story and make everyone more three dimensional, book writer Craig Lucas only darkens what should be frothy fun.  Yes, of course, the plight of the Jews during WWII fits naturally into the storyline, but everyone is so damned unhappy for the bulk of Act II that I found such plot points additional, unnecessary downers.

Visually the show is one of the most gorgeous things I've ever seen.  Bob Crowley has absolutely outdone himself.  His set design, in conjunction with the projections of 59 Productions, is almost certain to win him another Tony Award, and rightly so.  And kudos to first-time director Christopher Wheeldon for using the set and set pieces in such imaginative ways.  The fluidity of movement -- the way the whole show is choreographed, if you will -- is very impressive.  As is the actual choreography, of course.  And yet...

Watching "On the Town" yesterday afternoon -- for the third time -- I was struck by how brilliantly funny and theatrical is Joshua Bergasse's choreography for that show.  Wheeldon's work is certainly accomplished -- balletic and beautiful -- but it lacks the brashness, bite and sense of humor that would elevate it to the level of Broadway choreography that we associate with the great ones: Gower Champion, Susan Stroman, most recently Casey Nicholaw.  By the time the actual "American in Paris" ballet happened, my thoughts were leaning a little bit towards, "Oh, great, more ballet..."  

I'm happy I saw the show, but this is one of those instances in which I really did go out humming the sets.

 

[EthelMae]

Posted: 4/3/15 at 1:50am

Just wanted to say I love your screen name: LucyEth!!!