Am I the only one that wasn't that impressed by Hedwig- Page 4

[Owen22]

Posted: 6/30/14 at 11:46am

...and the backlash to the backlash will begin in...one...two...three....

[Kad]

Posted: 6/30/14 at 12:28pm

Growl, I berated you mentally.

[newintown]

Posted: 6/30/14 at 12:40pm

I'm with growl on this - although I don't find the show itself to be entirely fulfilling, I remember fun moments seeing Mitchell do an early version at the Pyramid, and seeing it a few times at the Jane Street. I find it to be a sort of ADD show - not requiring a great deal of focus from the audience, not a lot of story to follow, and a lot of concert-style distraction.

But this revival struck me as a clean, safe, ersatz Hedwig, a Hedwig for the suburbs, a Halloween dress-up and pretend Hedwig, lacking in genuine grit or bohemian qualities. But I feel the same about other supposedly bohemian Broadway products (like Hair and Rent) - although proclaiming themselves as alternative to the mainstream, they actually are more geared to help the bourgeois audience feel more hip than they actually are.

[CenterOrchestra]

Posted: 6/30/14 at 4:25pm

I was unimpressed as well. I saw John Cameron Mitchell both onstage and in the movie. And NPH just made me think about that "other" performance. JCM brought a sort of world weary glamour to Hedwig - that was part drag queen and part 30's movie star that I felt NPH totally missed.

Yes I know it was another interpretation - but to me NPH never really became more than a man in a dress. Talented yes. But believable as a real transgender rock glamour queen? No. At least not for me.

[goldenboy]

Posted: 6/30/14 at 4:34pm

No you are not alone.

While I admired Neil Patrick Harris' performance, timing, commitment, humorand stage
prescence the show just left me cold. Was I supposed to feel something other than
enjoying Neil's Performance? Cause if so... I didn't.

The only song I really liked was the one about taking off your makeup.

You are not alone. My companion felt the show didn't really end .. just ended up in a concert and nothing was really answered.

Don't understand the raves for the show. Admire the production and the performance but not my cup of tea-ter.

And if I went back to see it again, I wouldn't change my mind. I was also left cold by the movie. Being a fan of Andrew Rannells, I may go back to see what he does with it but I still won't be a fan of the show.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/30/14 at 6:27pm

This production was my first time seeing the show live, so I had nothing to compare other than the film. I loved everything about it including NPH's performance. One of my favorite Broadway productions in the last 26 years. I'd love to see it again.

[DAME]

Posted: 6/30/14 at 6:31pm

Your forgiven Mr Matt! I think you and me definitely have a difference of taste. I remember you kvelling over Matilda which I was bored with. Glad you enjoyed the show.

Updated On: 6/30/14 at 06:31 PM

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/30/14 at 7:40pm

If we all loved and hated the same things, Broadway would be a very boring place.

[starcatchers]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 5:31pm

No, you're not alone.

I did enjoy the show, and NPH's performance quite a bit, but the whole thing felt like an overblown rock concert.

[Kad]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 7:41pm

"...but the whole thing felt like an overblown rock concert."

But it's supposed to be a concert.

[Jane2]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 8:23pm

"I did enjoy the show, and NPH's performance quite a bit, but the whole thing felt like an overblown rock concert."

precisely

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 8:42pm

This seems as good a place as any to thank Kad for voicing his enthusiasm re the NPH revival. I LOVE the film and JCM's performance in it, but I'm also a Harris fan and Kad's praise for the current revival prompted me to download the recording. (I'm miles away and not likely to see the actual show.)

To me it's a bit like comparing Merman and Lansbury in GYPSY. JCM will always be the definitive Hedwig, but in making the role his own, Harris finds levels and moments not demonstrated in the film and earlier recordings.

So thank you very much, Kad.

[DAME]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 9:23pm

But you haven't seen the show.. so how could you know that it is like comparing Merman and Lansbury?

[Jamie Pierce]

Posted: 7/2/14 at 7:19pm

I like how comedian Julie Klausner put it (with regard to the different approaches to the role): "If JCM is David Bowie, NPH is Iggy Pop"

[Jane2]

Posted: 7/2/14 at 7:32pm

If JCM is Davie Bowie, then NPH is Wayne Newton.

[Jane2]

Posted: 7/2/14 at 7:34pm

"But you haven't seen the show.. so how could you know that it is like comparing Merman and Lansbury?"

thank you.

[Jane2]

Posted: 7/2/14 at 7:36pm

I wish there were a way of knowing how many of those who are praising NPH's Hedwig have seen the show at the Jane, and if so, whom did they see in the role.

[DAME]

Posted: 7/2/14 at 7:50pm

I saw JCM and he blew me away. The whole thing was then so special in my life. I am not 100 % sure who I saw in Los Angeles. I think it was Michael Cerveris. I remember loving him but the whole LA crowd was weird. As you know I left feeling blah from the NPH "performance".

[Jane2]

Posted: 7/2/14 at 7:54pm

Thank you Dame. And, you did see Cerveris in LA.

[Kad]

Posted: 7/2/14 at 8:54pm

Jane, you praised NPH as doing "an excellent job" when you saw this production a few months ago. I am genuinely curious as to why you have changed your mind.

[Jane2]

Posted: 7/2/14 at 8:59pm

I know, you're right Kad. I saw the show at the end of May or early June, I think. Here's what I think happened. When I saw the show, I was thoroughly entertained, and a few times during it, I was brought back to the Jane. Not because of NPH, but the whole experience of the band, the sets, and yes, his singing. So when I came out, and posted here the next day, I said he did a good job. Meaning, I expected to be pretty disappointed.
But then some time went by, and I was seeing the show more clearly and realized I was missing the things that made you feel for Hedwig and his story - the emotional aspect. And then I watched some clips with JCM and Cerveris, and I saw the problem with NPH.

[Jane2]

Posted: 7/2/14 at 9:04pm

p.s. that's why I think people who haven't seen it off broadway are so in love with it. It indeed is a very entertaining and fun time at the theater. I can't imagine any first time viewers not loving it. But if you saw it in its Jane St. incarnation, you may not love the new one so much.

[Kad]

Posted: 7/2/14 at 9:05pm

"Meaning, I expected to be pretty disappointed."

And it sounds like you got to your expected destination after all.

[Jane2]

Posted: 7/2/14 at 9:10pm

Um, no. If you really read what I wrote you wouldn't have said that.

This arguing my point to people who just don't get it is too annoying. I don't need this. I'm enjoying life too much to be bothered like this online.

Good night Kad.

[Kad]

Posted: 7/2/14 at 9:15pm

Perhaps we can actually have a discussion about something you didn't work at the Jane Street Theatre.

Updated On: 7/2/14 at 09:15 PM