Posted: 8/6/19 at 6:30pm
Posted: 8/6/19 at 7:48pm
Sho-Tunes-R-Us said: "Possible SPOILER question:
How is the actual "hellfire" in NYC Hell? Much pyro? Throughout the show? If seats are close can you "feel the burn"? Perspiring Minds Want To Know."
No pyro used in the NYC production, there’s nice lighting effects on both sides of the stage in the places where there was fire during the title song.
Posted: 8/7/19 at 1:54am
Posted: 8/7/19 at 6:16am
uncageg said: "RippedMan said: "How interesting but excited! https://www.ucbrowser.pro/ https://rufus.vip/ https://filezilla.software/Just wish we could get more of these type of things! Like Love Never Dies."
Love Never Dies is in Denver now. A friend saw it last night and loved it.
Can't wait for Bat Out Of Hell.
"
What does this mean for encores off center?
Updated On: 8/9/19 at 06:16 AM
Posted: 8/7/19 at 6:52am
So just saw Bat Out of Hell last night...wow....that was....interesting, to say the least. Goes to show that just because you have a collection of good to great songs, you cannot just throw them together and try to integrate them with any old story. The plot and much of the dialogue were so ridiculous; the audience was laughing at many scenes even though it was obvious that those parts of the show weren’t meant to be funny. I have to give credit to the actors who were so earnest and devoted, delivering lines with intensity even when many of those lines were so cheesy! And they were all incredible singers with amazing voices. The set was good; interesting because parts of it seemed intricate and of Broadway quality, but then other parts seemed lacking. Choreography was basic and again, silly in some segments. Perhaps it’s because they only have a few performances under their belt (though I know they open tomorrow), but there were a few sections where one or two people were obviously off with the dancing. They were able to create some amazing images in a few scenes, but overall, it was like a concert with a thin thread tying the songs together. I was familiar with most of the power ballads and really liked them, but didn’t enjoy a lot of the heavier rock songs. Just my two cents!
Updated On: 8/7/19 at 06:52 AM
Posted: 8/7/19 at 11:08am
Posted: 8/7/19 at 11:46pm
Just saw this.
Ummmmmmmmmmm.......it's a complete hot mess but it's a very, very, very, very fun hot mess.
The storyline is almost incomprehensible. Takes place in the future after some sort of catastrophic event has decimated the USA or the earth, or something. Whatever the event, it has rendered all the youth in the world to stay their same age forever. They are called "the lost". errrrr, okay.....
Still with me? Then there is a fascist regime ruling the USA or the world, or something. And the daughter of the fascist leader, and the leader of "the lost" fall in love. And all sorts of melodrama ensues.
It is all completely ridiculous, but it is also ridiculously fun. And hearing all those great Jim Steinman songs live, one after the other, and sung well (as Meat Loaf cannot sing anymore) is pretty thrilling.
I also think they found creative and sensible ways to use the various songs in ways that make sense to service the plot. (I can't believe I just used the words "sense" and "plot" in describing this).
Anyway, it is not Shakespeare. It might not even be writing student #3 in high school playwriting class. But somehow, if you are just willing to not take it too seriously, it is a hell of a lot of fun.
I do think they have priced the tickets too high, which would explain a lot of empty seats. If any of the producers are reading this, $225 a ticket is just too much of an ask for this show. I know you can get $45 tickets a mile away in the balcony and there are cheaper tickets to the sides where you miss the video screens ,etc. But seriously, $225 is pricing people out. Rant over.
Posted: 8/8/19 at 1:23am
The $225 ticket price is so gross and after the critics trash this I expect heavy discounting on those seats to occur.
Posted: 8/8/19 at 3:07am
I was there on press night. This might be my favorite thing in a minute. It's so horrible and complete trash in every way. BUT! I have not laughed this hard in a very long time. The sad part? I was laughing at the stupidity of it and the bold choices being made rather than what was intended to actually be funny--if anything? I was curious if they understood this is complete camp and just bad and simply embraced that or if it actually was being taken seriously? At the end of act 1, I was laughing so hard, I was crying. Act two slowed down because they apparently had to have some progression of the story happen--the audience could've cared less But! Fortunately, I lost it again, as did everyone around me, when the "Six Months Later" projection came on. So camp. I've never been to a show where the audience is laughing at how bad it is. I imagine this is what Dance of the Vampires was like! I thought the lighting and some scenic pieces were nice..minus the motorcycle. Very excited to read these reviews!!!!
Posted: 8/8/19 at 4:52am
Bobmortton said: "I was there on press night. This might be my favorite thing in a minute. It's so horrible and complete trash in every way. BUT! I have not laughed this hard in a very long time. The sad part? I was laughing at the stupidity of it and the bold choices being made rather than what was intended to actually be funny--if anything? I was curious if they understood this is complete camp and just bad and simply embraced that or if it actually was being taken seriously? At the end of act 1, I was laughing so hard, I was crying. Act two slowed down because they apparently had to have some progression of the story happen--the audience could've cared less But! Fortunately, I lost it again, as did everyone around me, when the "Six Months Later" projection came on. So camp. I've never been to a show where the audience is laughing at how bad it is. I imagine this is what Dance of the Vampires was like! I thought the lighting and some scenic pieces were nice..minus the motorcycle. Very excited to read these reviews!!!!"
What did you think of the score and how it was rendered? Did it add to your enjoyment?
And were there any vocal standouts in the cast? Was the choreography a hot mess or just forgettable?
Updated On: 8/8/19 at 04:52 AM
Posted: 8/8/19 at 10:09am
Saw it last week via TDF, front mezz to the right side. Extreme sides have viewing issues. At intermission we moved to great orchestra seats (even mentioning it to ushers about the viewing issues, which they agreed). The first half, i was like, i have no idea what the heck is going on. Enjoyed the 2nd half more. If you approach it like a rock and roll opera it'll help. The singers all were fantastic! I'll give them that, they sang with earnest, great voices, high energy to every song. They pull the power through this show. Yes it's a hot mess, but tin the end I enjoyed hearing and seeing the songs performed. The staging is simple with moments of bombastic staging. The cast is virtuoso, they are the selling point. I'm as jaded and picky as they come, but in all it's hot mess, it sticks with me lol. Sitting center is recommended, I can't see how anyone to the left can see the set, same goes for right side with half of the 2nd floor stage being cut off. The camera work I don't understand, but it wasn't consistent. Yes I laughed at some choices, but enjoyed it nonetheless.
Posted: 8/8/19 at 10:33am
I would love to know to what degree the casts knows it's camp?
Posted: 8/8/19 at 11:10am
Based on my London viewing, I don't think it's "camp." But, I do believe the cast knows that everything is over the top and exaggerated. I think Steinman may think it's a great traditional love story. It's certainly traditional - "rich girl" falls for "bad boy" and Daddy does everything to stop the romance - And in interviews I've seen Polec and Bennington do try to sell that the show is a "love story." But, they are actors! At least, in London, the performances seemed to try to be "sincere" among the lunacy.
The "plot" is inane and discombulated and confusing and, yes, practically non-existent - but I had a great time watching the spectacle of it in London, in part, because I just didn't know what craziness was going to happen next - even as I knew where the story would eventually go.
Posted: 8/8/19 at 11:17am
I am very certain that the cast are aware of its campness, considering there is a scene where one leading man rips off his pants to reveal bright pink undies and not long after one leading lady pushes a car into the orchestra pit, which leads to some disgruntled musicians climbing out, shaking their damaged instruments at the performers.
Sorry if the pink undies are a spoiler (do we have pink undies in NY?). Since we already know the car is not happening in New York, I don't consider that one a spoiler. The show is a mad silly hot mess, yes, but the vocals are out of this world and it can and should be enjoyed on that level, I think. And what are Polec and Bennington supposed to do in interviews, say "Yea, we know it's nonsense, so we just sing our socks off so that people don't regret spending money on our show"? They have to try and sell the love story as the central element of the plot.
Posted: 8/8/19 at 3:57pm
SouthernCakes said: "They’re purple ?
It sounds like the reviews that will coming out in the wee hours of the morning will all be titled A Hot Mess At City Center: Jesse Green will be racking his brain for any sort of current relevance. I think if the critics take it for what it is they will not drag it through the mud.
As far as sightline issues go I cannot say I did not warn you. I have brought it up several times throughout this thread. I would recommend that if there are a ton of empty seats that you movie down and towards the center,
I
Posted: 8/8/19 at 4:28pm
Posted: 8/8/19 at 4:28pm
Posted: 8/8/19 at 10:28pm
Posted: 8/9/19 at 2:36am
ajh said: "The NYC critics will make mincemeat of this. It isn’t, by any standards, a well put together piece of musical theatre. I saw it twice. Second time to make sure my eyes and ears weren’t deceiving me. Ghastly."
Not really mincemeat if you go to the reviews thread.
Posted: 8/9/19 at 2:41am
Sondheimite said: "lol unless they're under such a iron clad contract that they'll never get out of it.... there is NO WAY the current cast does City Center.
No.
WAY."
Three or four are at City Center.
