Anyone going to see Wonderland this week? — Page 5

I'm personally a Wildhorn fan and I have friends who love Jekyll & Hyde. But the more I listen to him, the more I realize just how valid the criticisms of his music are. I'll hear a number and think, "Oh yeah, he TOTALLY didn't write that to be the shows' Top 40 Hit." Now I pretty much said that in my last post but to be perfectly frank, I'm not wild about these changes at all. I thought they had a pretty solid concept when Alice was actually descended from the original Alice. I'm gonna hold off on giving a solid opinion of this but from the sound of it, it doesn't sound like it's gonna run very long.

Of course, that's the vibe I got from the reviews of Memphis and look how THAT turned out.

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I haven't seen it yet but several of my friends have and it's all been negative feedback that I've heard. I want to see it myself before I decide, but I CAN say that the design (from what I've seen circulating) is HIDEOUS.

I actually thought it was one of the more effective moments in Spider-Man.

It's hard to believe that this show has had three out of town tryouts and is still uncertain of itself. It has SO MUCH POTENTIAL that it's almost hard to watch at certain moments. When it works, it really works between the music and staging, but that only accounted for 25% of the show, and I think I'm being generous. Janet Dacal did an alright job for stepping into some bigger shoes as a leading lady. She really hit a home run with "Finding Wonderland", but some of her moments were lacking throughout the show. Kate Shindle is ofcourse great, but it sounded like her opening of Act II "Defying Gravity"esque was just a recycled version of Wildhorn's "Life After Life" from Dracula. For about half a minute, the music sounded like the beginning of "Rise Above" with a Young Frankenstein set to match!

The finale by far is the strongest point and number of the show with a great tableau of the Wonderland characters once Alice is back in her apartment. The beginning of the show is the weakest, where the once upbeat "Worst Day of My Life" about a career driven author has been turned into a depressing, ballad-ridden duet between a has been author turned public school teacher and her sarcastic, sad daughter. Not a good way to start a show. The original opening number on te concept album was amazing!

Saw this show tonight. I was one of the people who actually had hopes for this one after listening to the concept recording....

What a piece of crap show in every aspect. The set sucked. The book sucked. It was boring, and there were only a few good songs. Changing "Worst Day of My Life" was a terrible idea.

This is going to be a major flop.

Hahaha that's what I was originally thinking HBBrock...

I mean I happen to have had a bit of a softspot for DRACULA, the musical... but that could have even been better than that. At least that had amazing sets, amazing effects, amazing costumes, amazing seasoned performers, etc etc.

This has a mostly rookie cast: Neither Shindle, Dacal or Ritchie can command the stage unless it's their solo number... with a dud set save for some pieces.... and nothing flashy about it.

I question why they even opened this season... fly under the radar?! I have no idea!

Fly under the radar? They should be so lucky if they even get airborne.

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I'm guessing the $15 MIL includes the $3.2 Original Tampa production, the move to Houston and the return to Tampa production... I don't see what the $15 MIL even with all the projections could've gone to.

I'm optimistic still about the score... It really is a good score, but perhaps it belongs on a compilation of Wonderland ideas as opposed to a set show. As is after the SECOND PREVIEW, no, unfortunately. I can't see what else unless Janet "by default" gets a nod... no one else seems good enough, nor any aspect of the show worth "Wow! That aspect is so good!"

Haha I'm almost ready to surrender my avatar for another picture.

Saw this tonight.

Absoutely awful. The one saving grace is the projection / video design. Decal, Mason, , Shindle, Ritchie and company do phenominal work to try to make it work, but the music and that horrible book just beat them to shreds. It's as though Boyd and Murphy watched the movie version of the Wiz, thought "genuis" and just plugged in the Alice characters. Same concept. Same disater. The only one who walks away with his helf high Sven ortel for his projections.

The women behind me were VERY excited at the top of the show and made it VERY known.. by the end, the were openly talking about how bad it was... during the show.

For those interested, it seems that there is no "late seating" point established.. show up at will and be ushered right to your seat in the middle of songs and scenes.. and I only saw a smattering of people stand at curtain call upstairs and a few at the very sides of the front orchestra.

Nice set. A few technical snafus (a set piece banged into a light tower in the wing. It moved a good 4 feet at the base and I was concerned that it would topple onto the stage)... MANY missed sound cues (not helps by a number of flubbed lines).

I am happy to share more detailed thoughts via PM.

For those interested...
Here is a link to Sven Ortel's website. He designed the projections for the show. His site has some pretty nice shots of the set, projections, and lights.
Sven Ortel- Wonderland

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Sure the Tampa book was also flawed, but it probably would have been a better idea to try and improve upon that book instead of just opening on Broadway with something untested and clearly just as problematic.

philly, my guess would be line changes made in rehearsal today.. and let's not forget cast members quite literally slamming into each other numerous times during curtain call.