It seems like no one saw it? I'd go see it in a hearbeat if I lived in NYC.
"People have their opinions and that doesn't mean that their opinions are wrong or right. I just take it with a grain of salt because opinions are like as*holes, everyone has one".
-Felicia Finley-
You better! I got high hopes for this Kander & Ebb show. I wish I could see it!
"People have their opinions and that doesn't mean that their opinions are wrong or right. I just take it with a grain of salt because opinions are like as*holes, everyone has one".
-Felicia Finley-
The Skin of Our Teeth song, published in the Kander and Ebb songbook which came out in the midst of the Chicago frenzy, is one of Kander's most musically interesting and ambitious pieces and one of Ebb's more inspirational lyrics. It is quite a superb piece.
I was supposed to see this while I was in NY...but I'm in MS now...so you do the math.
I hope to hear good things from the show! I know there's a Variety review I read a few days ago and it wasn't good...but hopefully they will get better.
"I'm tellin' you, the only times I really feel the presence of God are when I'm having sex and during a great Broadway musical." - Nathan Lane - Jeffrey
The Thornton Wilder play was a bit difficult for an audience to understand and so is this musical. However, in one of the best songs in the production "The Discussion" (sung by Socrates, Moses, Plato, and Homer) Ebb and Kander make clever, hysterical fun of that difficulty.
The reviews I have seen are mixed with raves for the performers (especially Eartha Kitt and Cady Huffman) and a good deal of the music. I saw it when it was called Over and Over and this production is a great improvement over that incarnation. The last 20 minutes are superb and has some of the best moments seen in recent years. One of these moments is when Cady Huffman stands onstage alone at the end of the show and sings "At the Rialto," one of Kanders most haunting and beautiful melodies.
Ebb and Kander have never tackled easy subjects and this show is no exception. The show is 75-80% there and I am sure this production informs the creative staff about what they need to do if it is to go further.
I think some of the creative team needs to be replaced (and I don't mean any writers). Because it can work, and as people are saying, there is great material for performers. That's all I'm going to say.
Eartha Kitt and Cady Huffman were excellent, but the show was just OK for me. I am not familiar with The Skin of Our Teeth, but this musical just seemed a bit random to me. I enjoyed Act 1 more than the second two acts (because that's where it got a little more confusing), but the performances were great and I did like some of the music as well. I'm glad I got to see it.
