BARE to Play Final Performance Off Broadway on February 3- Page 2

[Kelly2]

Posted: 1/24/13 at 9:23am

I have to say I agree with the sentiments voiced here about Stafford Arima. His production of "Bright Lights, Big City" at the Prince was well-cast and the material was ripe to be reimagined and given a fresh spin, but instead it was confusing minimalist and all the things that needed revision and tightening were left completely alone, and the parts of the show that worked were bizarrely changed for absolutely no reason.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 1/24/13 at 9:37am

My suspicion is that the Carrie creators wanted someone who would do exactly what Arima did with the material, and even though reviews were lukewarm, there was enough buzz about him at least on the basis of being "the guy who revived Carrie" that he got Bare.

Your suspicion is incorrect. One did not lead to the other because Arima had been attached to BARE for the last six years prior to this production, which is much longer than he was involved with CARRIE. I do agree with you that what he did with CARRIE (removing all camp elements and making it "darker") is exactly what the creators wanted, and that's precisely why he was hired- he was the one who asked for a meeting with them and pushed them into bringing the show back by pitching exactly what they wanted to hear.

All that being said, I agree with the sentiment here that all of the work Arima consistently gets is baffling. Both BARE and CARRIE had been on track to go into production with him attached for quite a long time, so it'll be interesting to see how the subsequent failure of both will affect his future as a director going forward. Producers will have to take notice.

Updated On: 1/24/13 at 09:37 AM

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 1/24/13 at 9:47am

I had to suppress the urge to yell out as how Arima handled Jason's fate.


The larger issue with Carrie was not the material on the page - though it did need more work - but rather the lazy, misguided physical production Arima nailed it to, where the climax - as with Bare - was shown/played from the very beginning, leaving nowhere for the designers, cast, and the show, to go.

[Sinfonian4life]

Posted: 1/24/13 at 10:22am

I was surprised to hear the closing. I guess I was hoping it wasnt as bad as people said...WRONG

[aofa]

Posted: 1/24/13 at 11:03am

I have to say that I'm very disappointed this show is closing already. Say what you will about the revised score (I love it and I am a bit of a "bare pursit") but this is an important show to be playing right now. It tackles important issues like bullying and the church's intolerance of homosexuality so directly that it will be hard to find another show that can do so so beautifully. With homophobia still so rampant throughout the world, shows like this are very important.

As for the show itself, I went in scared I was going to hate it and came out loving it. The characters all seemed more real to me because they took away a lot of the stereotypes from before. I don't necessarily prefer it to the original, but I do think they are both wonderful (but completely different) productions. The actors had so much passion and that really came across on stage. I'm grateful I had the chance to see it.

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 1/24/13 at 1:44pm

I never really though the show would run past the original booking period past March, but I can't say I'm shocked..opening during the holidays, barely adequate and misguided marketing, the weight (and hate) of purists' expectations, and mixed reviews. I think there's a lot of worth in this new version, but it could never get out of its own way.