ATOTC Today - WOW

Count myself & Mrs R as shills for ATOTC

We saw it today & it was absolutely great. Barbour alone was worth it with his booming voice & bravura performance. The rest of the cast was great as well. I initially was not to impressed with the set but eventually thought it fit in fine due to the way it was integrated into the production.

I swear the critics saw a different show. The crowd was wondering the same thing with some of the comments we heard. See it as we highly recommend it to one & all.

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Roxy,

My first thought when you said that the title said WOW was WOW bad not WOW good. I am glad you loved this very good show.

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Glad you enjoyed it!!!! It really is a great show, but for some reason the critics had a chip on their shoulder from even before day one. I think that the set is brilliant, actually. It is very symbolic of how the "skeleton" structure of the set can change drastically in our minds based on who resides inside or what backdrop surrounds it.

Updated On: 10/26/08 at 08:05 PM

How well was the performance sold? Lots of Empty seats?

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So glad you guys enjoyed the show!

<< You are nuttier than a squirrel turd >>

Why, Yankee? Because they enjoyed a show that you didnt?

I'm glad you and the Mrs. enjoyed the show Mr. Roxy. I saw it a couple of weeks ago with friends and I'm sorry to say I saw the same show as the critics. I, like one of my friends, didn't enjoy it at all; yet the third friend with us thought it was a the best show he'd seen in years. It seems to me there's a bit of a love/hate relationship going on with this show. It did received the obligatory standing ovation at the end; not by all, but those who did stand were very enthusiastic and vocal in their show of appreciation.
Barbour has a booming voice yes, but I've never cared much for his acting style. I found the music forgetable, the lyrics regretable, and the sets and costuming - no big deal. I enjoyed the lighting however.
Admittedly, I found the second act more tolerable than the first but in the end I didn't care much for the show as a whole. I wish all involved the best of luck, but I think it will be a struggle to keep the show open for any length of time; especially with the economy being what it is and theatre patrons having to pick and choose the shows they can afford to see. AToTC, in my opinion, will have the cards stacked heavily against it once the some of the other supposed 'big' musicals come in.
Still, it's part of the variety of Broadway and why NYC is the theatre capitol of the world (IMO). There's a bit of something for everyone.

a couple of weeks ago ... It did received the obligatory standing ovation at the end ...

I saw it again yesterday (third time). The theater was packed, except for the "box" seats at the extreme sides of the upper level.

There was no obligatory standing ovation. A few people stood immediately, but many more began to stand and cheer as Natalie Toro took her bow, until just about everyone was up and cheering for James Barbour.


p.s. Notwithstanding the crowded theater ... thanks to the theater manager (Albert Kim) for relocating us from behind a very tall person.

It's like 'Blood Brothers' all over again- the producer ignores the critics, listens to the audience and the show runs.
I personally didn't like the show that much when I saw it in the last days of it's previews but I can certainly see how it will appeal to the masses- they don't have 'Les Miz' anymore so this is the new crowd pleaser in town!

Updated On: 10/27/08 at 08:48 AM

It's doing pretty awful business, so I don't know how long it can run on word of mouth.

ray-andallthatjazz86, sorry to burst your bubble but after talking to the person at the box office when I was last there there was no papering involved. It was all people paying to see this show. And, I saw it again after it opened and when I went outside at intermission the buzz was great as was the post show buzz. You make it sound like it has numbers that make it look like that it is ready to close at any moment. When, that isn't the case. Yes, it isn't doing as great as it should. But, the holiday rush has yet to kick in. Give it time. I am sure it will pick up business during the holiday run. I don't see how people like Little Mermaid or Gypsy but those are shows people are raving about. (Note, that no one is raving about Mermaid on here but you get the general idea). Different strokes.

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I think it is a terrible bore.

Winston, if there was no papering, and everyone there paid for their tickets, then they either paid $10 a pop or those who keep saying the theatre was PACKED and has been packed for every performance are big liars or were just too drunk during the whole thing and kept seeing double (maybe being drunk is the one way to enjoy the score that I haven't tried). The grosses were just released and the show dropped below the $400'000 mark and is on its way to dip below the 50% capacity.

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