Anyone going to see Wonderland this week?- Page 8

[BroadwayBen]

Posted: 3/25/11 at 10:05pm

Has there ever before in the history of musical theatre been a show that went through 4 scripts? I've read of 2, maybe 3, but never 4. And because musicals are always written to specific stories, and this show's songs have stayed the same points to a central problem.

[TxTwoStep]

Posted: 3/25/11 at 11:25pm

are you familiar with "concept" and "workshop" musicals? the hard and fast rules you have invented may be comforting and a good way to sort varied info...but they are not all inclusive. Many shows have had many versions of librettos, granted usually over years of revivals....CANDIDE, ANYTHING GOES, CAMELOT, MACK & MABEL....who cares how many actual drafts, how does that matter? try to resist seeing things in hierarchies that don't address a particular situation...."this musical is worse than that musical because THIS musical has four distinct librettos and THAT musical only had two...." such logic is not helpful in analysis.

[SupportTheater]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 12:16am

I don't care what they did in Tampa or in Texas......All I know is that I had a great time seeing this show. Its got spectacular eye candy, catchy-toe tapping music, Very powerful songs performed by Shindle, the catipillar and the little kid, and decent special effects. i thought some of the costumes were amazing (Hatter and Queen especially) and I know this is only my opinion and I initially came on this site to see what others had to say but when I began reading how much hate has been directed at this show, I began to wonder if we saw the same show. I mean, I know I wasn't alone in the audience enjoying myself. There were several hundred other people laughing at the same things I was laughing at. In fact, there were actually people cheering at the end of some of the songs. The overall vibe in the audience during the show felt pretty nice.
Now granted, I'm not a hardcore theater person at all, but the music was AWESOME! Is this a typical Wildhorn type of soundtrack? It ranges from really soulful, to rock to corny broadway style ballads to a soft rock type song that the little kid sings at the top of the show.

Because of the overall way the audience responded to the show and how nice it all was put together and how good the music was, I was wondering if I was watching the surprise show of the season...But like I said...."I'm no hardcore theater person"...LOL

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 12:18am

And Never Jam Today

Mikki Grant's Alice. It flopped.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 12:57am

I recently bought the concept album, and I really like it. It has some great songs. Through The Looking Glass is by far my favorite. It's a shame to hear the story is in dire need of some fixing, because I like the few songs I have heard. Hopefully they can improve the story during their preview period.

[cabaretman24]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 1:10am

My problems with the show is there is no conflict early on with Alice and her husband. I would have liked the conflict to be there and that her daughter winds up in wonderland and that Alice has to go back there to find her and deal with her own life conflicts. My other issue is that she meets the caterpillar way to soon when getting there.

I love the cast and I do love the music. Although unlike in other Wildhorn musicals there is not a big anthem song. I love the second act and the first act if they work on it could work.

Most of all for me i did enjoy the White Knights in those tight pants LOL.

[jennafan]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 1:26am

"SupportTheatre" why didn't you make it even more obvious and just have the name "SupportWonderland" --- Good of you to join us. The PR team could use a little help.

[SupportTheater]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 1:33am

I think it was you (or someone else) who wrote about the show not having any conflict earlier in this thread. But, didn't Chloe sing about the tension between her two parents in the first song of the show? I thought that conflict was explained right away

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 1:53am

Seriously, just stop. Even if you're not getting paid, you're making the show, the creators and the PR people look even more desperate. If you want to help the show best not to say anything more.

[fakeaudiencemember]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 2:44am

Hi "SupportTheater"! I registered just cuz I too only saw hate after landing here as I randomly searched google for people who loved Wonderland but hated Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. But I am not a regular theatre going person, no, I'm just you're average middle American TV watching non-theatre-buff person who occasionally and inexplicably winds up posting on a board that even some over at allthatchat haven't heard of.

LOL!

[TxTwoStep]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 9:26am

could we kindly avoid a "shill we or won't she" debate here? if you suspect someone of being a shill, that's your prerogative. If some hapless ticketbuyer gets taken by a shill, that's their money, not yours. Any dissection of such is even more tedious than some of the rest of the drivel presented here as "fact" or "opinion"...

"I'm just like all you housewives and mothers out there.... (bevel the good leg, wink)"

Posted: 3/26/11 at 10:03am

Call me crazy, but I saw Wonderland last night and i kinda liked it. I go to the theater to be entertained and though the show has some troubles it was overall an enjoyable evening.
The production numbers were great. Especially enjoyed the boy-band One Knight number...choregraphy was hysterical. Tea Party scene was stunning. Biggest suprise for me was the talent of Kate Shindle. This was my first time seeing her on stage and in my opinion she steals the entire show. When she belted out I Will Prevail at the beginning of Act 2 the entire audience was blown away. Agree with some other posters that she understands the campiness of the material.
I thought the staging and use of projections was interesting and I found the show visually appealing. Costumes fantastic.
Thought the score was good not great. I liked Home, I Will Prevail, and I am My Own Invention.
My main issues were with Janet Ducal. Her performance just didn't strike me as a leading actress. Her singing also sounded "off" to me at many points in the show. Not alot of power in her voice. Some of her songs seemed to be begging for more delivery.
The book also has some problems. I am a little biased as I have been a fan of Alice in Wonderland since childhood and I enjoy the story in any reincarnation. I thought the story was a nice twist. I was OK until half way through Act 2 when every major plot issue was magically resolved in ten minutes. i understand that it's fantasy, but it was kinda cheesy.
Audeince reaction was mixed. I brought my daughter who said it was OK she liked the production numbers but she was a little bored. Heard many people at intermission commenting that the show wasn't that good. I still thought it was an enjoyable show and I certainly have seen numerous shows that were trainwrecks compared to this. I also went because I am tired of seeing shows that are movies on stage. At least this one was original.
I realize I am in the minority on this one, but I'm glad I at least gave the show a look. God bless TDF.

[JeaniusIsMe]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 10:08am

SupportTheatre: Yeah, they mention that things are tense between Alice and the husband, but that's not the show's central conflict. She doesn't go to Wonderland in hopes of repairing her marriage. She doesn't go to find herself, which is the show's secondary plot line. And she doesn't go to save Chloe.

What I think people on here mean by a lack of conflict (myself included) is that Alice just goes to Wonderland...there's nothing driving her trip there. And then she gets there and wants to go home- and that's all she talks about for the majority of the first act. She really has nothing to do except complain about how stressful her life is, watch the characters' sing their introduction numbers, and talk about how she wants to go home for the first act. It isn't until the Tea Party/Queen arrival that there becomes some sort of conflict (however weak it may be) between her and Hatter- with the Hatter the driving force behind it.

If there was a driving reason behind her trip to Wonderland- like the apparently previous incarnation plot point of saving Chloe from the get-go- there would be a reason driving her trip that might make the show more cohesive plot wise. As of right now, Alice has no drive to do anything for a good third of the show, and once she gets the urgency to save Chloe, they've already wasted almost an entire act in exposition before getting to a conflict in Wonderland.

[Testing1232]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 10:46am

Ok, call me nuts as well, but I had a good time.... Ok, the book needs work (or ...NEEDED work), and its very corny--- but, for my TDF tic price, was worth it-

And as much as I love Janet, really want to see Morgan James as Alice-- Heard her sing "Wonderland at "Birdland" and she was amazing !!!

[SupportTheater]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 11:09am

Wow...LOL...I guess no one is allowed to like WONDERLAND on this thread. Or have the ability to explain why...Like I said....Full of HATERS

[TxTwoStep]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 3:46pm

i could easily be mistaken, but it seems as if before Alice falls asleep on Chloe's bed she glances through the storybook the Grandmother had been reading from...or maybe it wasn't ALICE but that would make sense to me. A time honored cliche from TV/movies where a character is reading or sees a form of an alternative world and then dreams they enter it....not BRILL but enough of a reason for our protagonist to carry her internal conflicts we've already heard about from the daughter and mother in law her into the alternate reality. And let's face, aren't we ahead of her already? why spend time detailing she's going on her own ADVENTURES that take her THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS? if kids are out there who haven't read it or seen another form of it, they might be inspired to do so. No harm, no foul.

[philly03]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 4:06pm

Yes, she flips through the book I believe commenting at the success of Lewis Carroll.

In Tampa '11, she told Chloe she was tired and Chloe reads her a section from Alice in Wonderland, where she falls asleep... the Rabbit runs in fron the right, sets off the alarm and swipes Chloe, then Alice chases them, and is led to the elevator...

The other versions this was a bit of a problem - Chloe left behind Alice in Wonderland filled with "clues" in the margins to where she is.

Still there is no reason for Alice to go to WONDERLAND in this version, it just is so random.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 4:10pm

I love the idea of Chloe leaving her clues in the book.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 4:19pm

I am an upaid Wildhorn shill and I am seeing it tonight.

[jennafan]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 5:33pm

Even some of the worst shows ever have fans. Remember that!

Posted: 3/26/11 at 5:43pm

Worst shows are always a matter of opinion. Remember that!

[rougeduck]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 8:19pm

Have any audios surfaced yet from the bway production. Still wanna hear I will prevail again. :)

[JP2]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 9:06pm

Saw it today. Seems like the rest of the audience hated it as much as I did. I've never before seen a show where hardly anyone laughs at the jokes, anyone claps at the end of a number, and people have to be told to stand up at the curtain call.


So many talented actors in this show, and they're all wasted on sophomoric material. I mean, the writing is beyond terrible. I felt like I was watching a High School performance of a Broadway show.

The music is nice.. nothing exciting or catchy, but it's weighed down by cringe worthy lyrics.


Updated On: 3/26/11 at 09:06 PM

[binau]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 9:11pm

"people have to be told to stand up at the curtain call. "

What?

[After Eight]

Posted: 3/27/11 at 12:03am

A woeful evening, misconceived in every way. The book was dreadful, the music unmemorable, the staging pedestrian. To top it all off, it looks hideous. Why is it so difficult to design attractive scenery?