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Any future for THE VISIT?

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#1

Any future for THE VISIT?

Posted: 8/29/05 at 12:41pm

Anyone read this article in Playbill? I love the play and I love Kander/Ebb, so....
Anyone see it in Chicago?

Chita In THE VISIT

"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.” ~ Muhammad Ali

Updated On: 8/29/05 at 12:41 PM

#2

re: Any future for THE VISIT?

Posted: 8/29/05 at 12:42pm

I hope so. Another K&E score on Broadway, and Chita would be amazing.

#3

re: Any future for THE VISIT?

Posted: 8/29/05 at 1:03pm

I saw it in Chicago and it was wonderful. As much as I like John McMartin, I would recast his part.

#4

re: Any future for THE VISIT?

Posted: 8/29/05 at 7:14pm

>BOMP!<

"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.” ~ Muhammad Ali

#5

re: Any future for THE VISIT?

Posted: 8/29/05 at 7:36pm

Hopefully

Poster Emeritus

#6

re: Any future for THE VISIT?

Posted: 8/29/05 at 9:51pm

Wouldn't this play make for a very dark musical?

#7

re: Any future for THE VISIT?

Posted: 8/30/05 at 2:18am

Yes.

"How do you like THAT 'misanthropic panache,' Mr. Goldstone?" - PalJoey

#8

re: Any future for THE VISIT?

Posted: 8/30/05 at 7:56am

I saw this twice in Chicago, because I loved it. Yes, it was very dark, which I like, but there was just enough humor too. Chita was at her bitchy best in this show, and there were some of the best Kander & Ebb songs I've ever heard.

#9

re: Any future for THE VISIT?

Posted: 8/30/05 at 8:35am

I saw it at The Goodman and couldn't stand it.
I hope it was because I was tired from a long work day, but I really didn't like it.

" ...the happiness in the tune convinces me that I'm not afraid."

#10

re: Any future for THE VISIT?

Posted: 8/30/05 at 9:38am

I saw it at the Goodman and thought it quite dull. I am a big Kander & Ebb fan, and was very disappointed in the music, except for a couple of numbers.

"Singing is the lowest form of communication" - Homer

#11

re: Any future for THE VISIT?

Posted: 8/30/05 at 12:54pm

I saw it at the Goodman and while it was an interesting show, it would never fly in a commercial Broadway run. The dark surrealism of the plot would have tourists completely baffled. The score was mostly forgettable, with the exception of the song "Yellow Shoes", which was ingratiatingly unforgettable. I'm glad I saw it, but I don't see much of a future for a show about a woman with a wooden leg and a castrati entourage who revisits her dying hometown with an ultimatum to save the town if her former lover agrees to die as revenge for spurning her. It was kinda like Urinetown, but the show was less clever and took itself too seriously. The floating bales of hay didn't help, either.

"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian

#12

re: Any future for THE VISIT?

Posted: 8/30/05 at 4:02pm

Love kander and Ebb. Love The Visit by Friedrich Durennmatt. Hate The Vist by Kander and Ebb. The show requires a very serious tone at points. That is not Kander and Ebb's strong suit. Not that their shows dont send serious messages or discuss serious themes but they usually do it through parody...as seen in their greatest works Chicago and Cabaret.

#13

re: Any future for THE VISIT?

Posted: 8/30/05 at 4:12pm

I saw it at the Goodman and gosh it was a very interesting mess. "Yellow Shoes" (the first act closer) was brilliant but the rest of the show, not so much. I didn't like Rivera at all and the entourage of "Oddballs" that traveled with her were just... odd. It was sort of pointless to have these freaks in the show, there was nothing for them to do once they made an unsettling entrance.

The plot is great (my first exposure to the material) but the score was uneven and lack luster. If Kander & Ebb were able to rework & rewrite the show might have a shot but I can't imagine it being a success as it stands now.

Mc Martin was fine, but nothing stood out about him. The Yellow Shoes number was wonderful however-- I think of it often.

#14

re: Any future for THE VISIT?

Posted: 8/30/05 at 4:20pm

Didn't Frank Langella play the male role at some point?

#15

re: Any future for THE VISIT?

Posted: 8/30/05 at 4:35pm

No. He was cast for the Broadway production but it never materialized.

#16

re: Any future for THE VISIT?

Posted: 8/30/05 at 5:41pm

Looks like I'm in the minority with my love of K&E's The Visit. I found it haunting, rather than dull or forgetable, and I loved Chita. Her wooden leg dance number was oddly brilliant. I think Steven Sutcliffe had a powerful number also, about giving into the mob mentality of the town. I've listened to the music since then and really enjoy it.

The point of having the "freaks" in the show was to show the damage that Claire can bring to those who get in her way (forced servitude, castration, etc).

Yes, it might have needed a little work, and no, the subject wouldn't draw the tourist crowd on Broadway. But, I think it could have done well in limited run at the Public Theatre or Roundabout.

#17

re: Any future for THE VISIT?

Posted: 8/30/05 at 9:49pm

so weird ! I was in the play version of The Visit in college. :)

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