Allegiance Previews — Page 7

macnyc said: "Regarding one of Salonga's tweets, has there been a questionnaire to fill out after the show? Would a regular audience member be given the opportunity to do that? I've been to many previews, and no one at any of them has ever asked for my opinion. (I haven't seen Allegiance yet.)"

LizzieCurry describes it on the previous page. It sounds rather involved, which I think is a good thing, though quite challenging given the short time frame they have.

That's interesting. I wonder if they started doing that last night.

I agree that simply because a story is "important," it does not deserve to get a free pass from its flaws, and yes, I agree that the work still ideally should be done well. The problem with assessing this production, as LizzieCurry stated, is that it is purely subjective what the weaker elements are in Allegiance, and how weak are those weaknesses. (For example, one person thought the characters were not well-formed, whereas another person thought the characters were fully formed.) Likewise, another question is, even given that a particular audience member may note some weaknesses of this production, do the strengths that are perceived by this viewer outweigh the weaknesses that the viewer notes. And again, this is purely subjective, as was seen by those who saw the musical and posted a positive review, versus those who saw the musical and gave it a negative review. For some the flaws may sink the ship. For others, the flaws may be so outweighed by the strengths of the show that they are moved, even to the point of being brought to tears. Subjective.

Someone also mentioned that the music is not an asset to the production because they lyrics are not well-written. That may, or may not, be the consensus in regard to most of the songs by most of those people who saw the show. . . I don't know. But I do know that even some who gave negative reviews mentioned that one of the strengths of the show is how well the members of the cast sing. Additionally, one person who gave a positive review felt that this was the best new score she or he has heard in a while (and several mentioned the score as a positive as well). Others who gave positive reviews cited their favorite songs and how the power of the singing moved them.

Another strength mentioned by both those who gave positive reviews, and even by some who gave negative reviews, was the strength of the cast, with some mentioning there is not a weak link in the cast. In addition to mentioning how well they sang, several (even those who gave overall negative reviews) mentioned how compelling their acting was.

I respect that people have different opinions. Some feel the strengths fail to overcome the weaknesses. And it does seem that the show itself is trying to improve on some issues, such as giving more depth to some characterization, which is positive. But even in the early stage of the previews, at least in this thread, there are those who believe the strengths of the show outweigh the negatives, to the extent that they feel moved by the production.

AaronSallan: "The book is pretty predictable, but that didn't matter too much, as the cast was impeccable. The messages will resonate with me for a while. I am so pleased with this show. Both me and my Dad were head over heels."

MNC77: "Whizzer has a point about the characters and lyrics being a little generic at times, fitting into definite cliches, but the design elements, cast and score were enough to make everything seem very real for me, and the material itself is very meaty."

bunnie3: "Hav e to say I wept like baby thru most of act 1, in a great way. I found this play tremendously moving, viscerally. You could hear a pin drop throughout. There was just something SO passionate, and genuine in the troupe, it pretty outweighed for me, the flaws that whizzer and others have pointed out. [...] imho, a story that should be told , and succeeded on many levels."

After Eight: "Its unaffected honesty, simplicity, heart and soul enable it to rise above its shortcomings to provide an affecting evening in the theatre. I was moved on more than a few occasions."

So several people had emotional responses to the show, but they also cited reasons why they were moved (whether it was the compelling acting of the cast, the score, the emotion behind the story itself, the messages, and/or the singing).

Updated On: 10/10/15 at 07:35 AM

Phan2 said: "I agree that simply because a story is "important," it does not deserve to get a free pass from its flaws, and yes, I agree that the work still ideally should be done well. The problem with assessing this production, as LizzieCurry stated, is that it is purely subjective what the weaker elements are in Allegiance, and how weak are those weaknesses."

Your honor, I object. The counselor for the defense is entering testimony... if he has something to say, he can put an eyewitness on the stand.

I can't remember last time I wanted to sneak into a theatre to see a show for free twice a week during previews just to see what they're doing. Maybe Spider-Man.

I would see this more often usually, but since I'm on a budget and their lotto excludes me, I'll just go toward the end of previews and see where it all landed...

Pootie2 said: "I think it's too early to pull-quote a defense paper, Phan2. We already agree that responses are mixed (*on this board)."

Really? I didn't realize there were rules on this board, . . . seems in the past I've seen many comments that were more inappropriate than quoting others. I wanted to respond to statements where you indicated that the production did not seem to have any clearly identified strengths that would support success from the mainstream audience. So I quoted the specific strengths identified by some of those posting positive reviews.

"It's important to remember that about 80% of the Broadway audience is white, so the basic premise of historical-racism-against-minority isn't a great marketing platform for anyone unfamiliar with and indifferent to the history. There has to be some kind of mainstream appeal for commercial success [...] Allegiance's lyrics aren't smart or poetic, though I like the melodies of what I've heard [...] And if the family drama lacks drama in the mature sense of nuance as Whizzer argues, that would probably bug me."

"

Updated On: 10/10/15 at 03:19 PM

Phan2, I don't think anyone was implying or saying you were breaking a rule (unspoken or otherwise) or regulating what you were saying.

Oh, I agree. I understand trying to build a case, but at least wait until you have more to go with.

Had I written the score, Allegiance would be good.

BwayinVan said: "I really hope this show does well. I had this on my schedule for my spring trip however judging by the reviews it's receiving it may move down the list. I really hope they make the necessary changes because I think it is an important story to tell."

Opens proper in 4 weeks, easy enough to know where things land before your trip...

To me, this show will prove whether building a platform translates to longevity. The creative team have been hard at work to make Takei a social media phenom and that wasn't some weird thing that happened in addition to Allegiance, but because of it. So you have Takei with 9M followers on Facebook, and 1.75M on Twitter, and even the show itself has more than a half million Facebook followers (compared to Hamilton at 24K, Spring Awakening at 18K, etc.)

And even in previews, they have had 90+% of the house full for most (if not all) performances. Even on slow days such as Halloween, they have the matinee designated as Pinoy Day, and the evening performance as Star Trek Day (where people can attend in costume).

So, they have put a lot of muscle into the business engine of the show, leaving the show itself as the only thing to perfect and get right.

As to people saying negative things about the show? It's BWW. That's kind of what people do.

haterobics said: "To me, this show will prove whether building a platform translates to longevity. The creative team have been hard at work to make Takei a social media phenom and that wasn't some weird thing that happened in addition to Allegiance, but because of it. So you have Takei with 9M followers on Facebook, and 1.75M on Twitter, and even the show itself has more than a half million Facebook followers (compared to Hamilton at 24K, Spring Awakening at 18K, etc.)

And even in previews, they have had 90+% of the house full for most (if not all) performances. Even on slow days such as Halloween, they have the matinee designated as Pinoy Day, and the evening performance as Star Trek Day (where people can attend in costume).

So, they have put a lot of muscle into the business engine of the show, leaving the show itself as the only thing to perfect and get right.

As to people saying negative things about the show? It's BWW. That's kind of what people do. "

Wait, are you saying that Takei's social media presence happened because of Allegiance? I may be parsing that wrong, but Takei's social media weight was gained long before Allegiance became an idea. Rather, the creative team is making good use of an automatic and free marketing engine right there. Salonga is also promoting to her followers by tweeting about the show progress and is quite active on social media.

Meanwhile, someone at a preview has already posted a photo on Twitter of someone in a Star Trek uniform. I expect their Halloween publicity stunt to be a mini scifi convention cosplay; I believe there's now an added treat of (potentially) meeting Takei himself if you dress up.