BEACHES Previews- Page 10

[Observation]

Posted: 4/13/26 at 11:36am

I mentioned earlier, and she mentioned on Bob the Drag Queen's podcast/YouTube show, she's been in many discussions with Death Becomes Her. I'd love to see her go in for a little bit while she lines up another project. What would make me so sad for her is she joins DBH, the show doesn't bounce back and ultimately she ends up closing that project as well. She is so damn talented and funny and seems to be so respected among her peers that she truly does deserve that vehicle that takes her to the next level, unfortunately, Beaches just wasn't it. But glad she got to open a show as a leading lady. "Wind Beneath My Wings" can now be a staple in her very successful concert series and I'm sure she can add fun colorful stories that audiences will live for. 

 

Ball of Buttah said: "BrodyFosse123 said: "The deadline for shows to qualify for 2026 Tony Awards consideration is April 26, 2026 and BEACHES opens April 22, 2026 and the nominations are announced on May 5, 2026 so they can easily close on May 6, 2026 if they are ignored at the Tony Awards with no nominations. If Vosk or Barrett are nominated, they might hang on a little longer hoping those nominations induce ticket sales."

I really hope Jessica's next project is a big successful hit. She really deserves the best material out there. For me, she's surpassed ShoBean and Megan as my overall favorite Broadway performers out there.

"

 

[getatme]

Posted: 4/20/26 at 12:01am

Saw this Saturday evening and I don't remember a time I have felt so sorry for the entire company of a Broadway show. They are working so incredibly hard and the show is just...not good.

Just because something can become a musical doesn't mean it should become a musical. And this feels like a prime example of that.

The book is trite and dull, huge leaps of time happen in the blink of an eye, character development (if you can call it that) is dropped the second they need a plot point to drive the "story" forward, and jokes are groan-worthy at best. 

If you told me the score was written by AI, I would believe you. Lifeless and limp. Sure, the voices are good, but the words they're saying are so ludicrous you have to laugh. "Holy moly, matrimony!"

Performances, sure, the cast is working hard. I don't really consider Vosk to be much of an actor, but she is acquitting herself as best she can with the material she's giving. For all this talk of "This is an adaptation of the book, not the movie!" they sure do have her in Bette Midler drag from start to finish. She sounds great, the riffing gets anachronistic, but it woke the audience up a bit so I get it. The staging for "Wind Beneath My Wings" is absolutely baffling. Thought she we were about to see the conductor get decapitated.

Barrett is working equally as hard but is saddled with the worst material in the show and the character trait of "sheltered wet blanket." Unfortunately not a whole lot more to say about her. Her wigs are ghastly.

The rest of the cast is doing the best they can but the material lets them down every step of the way. The direction is poor, the design is cheap.

I just feel immensely sorry for the cast who are trying the hardest they can with alarmingly weak material.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 4/20/26 at 9:34am

Ouch. Wednesday April 22 is their Opening Night and it’s the only time this seating chart looked practically sold out. Of course, their first post-Opening Night performance (after a day off) is Friday April 24 and ticket sales are painful again.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 4/20/26 at 10:35am

Do they announce a closing next Monday?

[MimiChika]

Posted: 4/20/26 at 10:45am

ACL2006 said: "Do they announce a closing next Monday?"

I think closing May 4th for sure. maybe April 26. At this point they are just throwing money away, and they are aware 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 4/20/26 at 11:01am

ACL2006 said: "Do they announce a closing next Monday?"

It’s such a thin year for the Tonys that I kind of expect them to hold out til May 5. I don’t think a Best Musical nom is likely - and certainly not deserved! - but it could happen and sometimes producers have their blinders on.

Unless they truly have NO money in the bank.

For the sake of their box office they should hope that they don’t get a nom, because then it might extend the run despite bleeding money.

I also wonder if some of the critics will go out of their way to be gentle, which is the sentiment I’ve noticed on socials from some others who have gone.

Updated On: 4/20/26 at 11:01 AM

[MayAudraBlessYou2]

Posted: 4/20/26 at 11:25am

I didn't expect this to be great, but I wasn't prepared for it to be this bad.

This score is ROUGH. Even in this thin year there is just no way this gets a Tony nomination for the score. The lyrics are banal and trite (most musicals have a "I'm changing" number for the lead, but here she LITERALLY sings the words "I'm changing!") The writers didn't find any nuanced or unique ways for their characters to express feelings except for to just state the obvious.

The book also doesn't really allow us moments to see the adult versions of the characters as FRIENDS. Which is like, the whole point of the story??? The audience needs to sense this deep connection between them. There's one or two moments (like when they are running around giggling in the background of the men's scene), but it's bizarre that Vosk and Barrett are given so little opportunity to develop a dynamic together. This gets better in Act 2 when Bertie is in hospice, but we needed a whole lot more of this way before this point in the story. It's a very bizarre failure of the script.

I feel bad for Jessica Vosk. She is truly doing everything imaginable to turn this into something special. But she just isn't given good material. The audition sequence where she changes the composer's song is awesome. It's one of the few times that the script and score contain nuance and character development. And for a brief moment I thought "Ok NOW we're cooking, more of this!" But then the next scene happens and the material quickly fails her once again. I am truly floored at how bad the writing is. Vosk is a great talent. She has a remarkable instrument and great acting instincts. This type of character is a great fit for her. But she isn't a magician and deserves something better to work with. At least she gets to end the show in a beautiful gown and deliver a gorgeous rendition of Wind Beneath my Wings.

[Observation]

Posted: 4/20/26 at 11:52am

It feels like there is a curse on former Elphaba's originating a show.

Idina Menzel - Redwood

Edina Espinosa - Lempicka

and now Jessica Vosk - Beaches

Any other former Elphie's to add to the list? 

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 4/20/26 at 11:55am

Stephanie J. Block won a Tony for originating a role.

[Observation]

Posted: 4/20/26 at 11:58am

TotallyEffed said: "Stephanie J. Block won a Tony for originating a role."

Oooh fair, and she was good in it. I didn't see the final product, but caught the show in Chicago and didn't think it was capable of saving. I know they did drastic rewrites, but ultimately that show came and went pretty quickly. Still glad she got praise for it. 

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 4/20/26 at 12:01pm

TotallyEffed said: "Stephanie J. Block won a Tony for originating a role."

Lindsay Mendez won a Tony Award for the revival of CAROUSEL years after playing Elphaba on Broadway. 

[Observation]

Posted: 4/20/26 at 12:14pm

BrodyFosse123 said: "TotallyEffed said: "Stephanie J. Block won a Tony for originating a role."

Lindsay Mendez won a Tony Award for the revival of CAROUSEL years after playing Elphaba on Broadway."

Welp I didn't do my research, haha! Maybe there is no "curse" per se. The Beaches trajectory is just giving me major Lempicka flashbacks. 

[ACL2006]

Posted: 4/20/26 at 12:17pm

MimiChika said: "ACL2006 said: "Do they announce a closing next Monday?"

I think closing May 4th for sure. maybe April 26. At this point they are just throwing money away, and they are aware"

The show has almost no advance and word-of-mouth has been terrible. A May 4 closing seems likely.

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 4/20/26 at 12:18pm

BrodyFosse123 said: "TotallyEffed said: "Stephanie J. Block won a Tony for originating a role."

Lindsay Mendez won a Tony Award for the revival of CAROUSEL years after playing Elphaba on Broadway."

To be fair, Observation seems to be talking about originating a role post-Elphaba. 

Speaking of SJB - I completely forgot The Cher Show had a Chicago tryout, and for a second I thought we were talking about The Pirate Queen. Oy, I need more coffee. 

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 4/20/26 at 1:01pm

ACL2006 said: "MimiChika said: "ACL2006 said: "Do they announce a closing next Monday?"

I think closing May 4th for sure. maybe April 26. At this point they are just throwing money away, and they are aware"

The show has almost no advance and word-of-mouth has been terrible. A May 4 closing seems likely."

That's what I just heard, beginning of May unless something crazy happens which it will...not.

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/20/26 at 2:56pm

getatme said: "Saw this Saturday evening and I don't remember a time I have felt so sorry for the entire company of a Broadway show. They are working so incredibly hard and the show is just...not good."

I saw it last week and this was my main takeaway. The cast is so small (which made it clear this was intended for a touring production, or at least is better suited for one) but I didn't realize just how small until they were lined up at the curtain call. They're all doing so much and several of them are doing an excellent job portraying multiple very different characters (though at one point it was too obviously one of the mothers as one of the backup dancers, which was distracting). I'll give them one thing: it's a very well-cast show, and the cast are giving it their all, and more than the show probably deserves.

Because yes, otherwise it was not good.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 4/20/26 at 3:14pm

Ladies and gentleman, the ENTIRE cast of BEACHES: The Musical on Broadway: 

[BoringBoredBoard40]

Posted: 4/21/26 at 2:35am

this was dreadfully bad, I mean just wow.

the biggest sin is leaving zero room for applause after Wind Beneath My Wings

the little girl who played young CC though was excellent, wow what a find. 

[ACL2006]

Posted: 4/21/26 at 6:57am

BrodyFosse123 said: "Ladies and gentleman, the ENTIRE cast of BEACHES: The Musicalon Broadway:

"

what's funny is that they have just as many swings & understudies.

[seaweedjstubbs]

Posted: 4/21/26 at 7:55am

I guess I must have a higher pain threshold or something, because I didn’t think this was nearly as bad as people are making it out to be. I think its biggest sins are that it feels like a show from 30 or 40 years ago (which considering that the youngest person on the writing team is 82 years old makes sense), its cheap set and costume design make the recent revival of THE WIZ look lavish and expensive in comparison, and the music is just kind of……well, it’s music. But even if it was underwhelming in almost every way besides the performances (this cast is so so SO talented), it still doesn’t crack my top five list of worst shows I’ve had the misfortune of sitting through.

There’s honestly nothing in this show that’s egregiously bad. Nothing where my jaw dropped from what I was seeing onstage. Maybe having rock bottom expectations, a comp ticket, and having never seen the movie helped, but I just couldn’t bring myself to hate this show. I do agree that the central friendship is not fleshed out enough to really land the emotional punch at the end. WICKED does a better job at depicting a female friendship and there’s WAY more happening in its plot, so there’s no excuse for a story that is pretty much solely focused on a female friendship to not make me feel much by the end. I needed this show’s version of “For Good,” and never got it. Or if I did, I don’t remember it. Did they sing a song when they jumped in the water towards the end? I guess it isn’t good that I can’t remember things about the show less than 24 hours later. Still, I can remember A LOT about the shows that I’ve absolutely hated, and this just wasn’t one of them.

I will say, one of the things that really irked me were the flash forwards of seeing CeCe traveling to California. They added absolutely nothing to the story and had no great payoff. We don’t need to be reminded every 20 minutes that she’s on her way. If something in those scenes sparked another memory for CeCe somehow, then I could understand them being used as a plot device, but instead they just added to the runtime and forced that hardworking cast to do yet another quick change. And it’s criminal that they couldn’t come up with a better arrangement of “Wind Beneath My Wings” to make it the showstopper it deserves to be.

I think the show will play just fine on the road and end up having a life in licensing, which is the sole purpose of it coming to Broadway in the first place. If I’d never seen A BRONX TALE, CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, ESCAPE TO MARGARITAVILLE, BACK TO THE FUTURE, or MOTOWN THE MUSICAL, I’d probably be much harsher, but I just can’t say that I hated this show. Don’t hate me, but…….I might’ve enjoyed it more than THE LOST BOYS. 

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 4/21/26 at 8:05am

seaweedjstubbs said: "Don’t hate me, but…….I might’ve enjoyed it more than THE LOST BOYS."

I 100% agree... I definitely had a better time at Beaches than at The Lost Boys.

 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 4/21/26 at 8:17am

BrodyFosse123 said: "Ladies and gentleman, the ENTIRE cast of BEACHES: The Musicalon Broadway:

"

I mean, the story really doesn’t need a bigger cast. It’s the vastness of the stage and lack of set that makes it feel so small.

[getatme]

Posted: 4/21/26 at 4:30pm

seaweedjstubbs said: "I will say, one of the things that really irked me were the flash forwards of seeing CeCe traveling to California. They added absolutely nothing to the story and had no great payoff. We don’t need to be reminded every 20 minutes that she’s on her way. If something in those scenes sparked another memory for CeCe somehow, then I could understand them being used as a plot device, but instead they just added to the runtime and forced that hardworking cast to do yet another quick change. And it’s criminal that they couldn’t come up with a better arrangement of “Wind Beneath My Wings” to make it the showstopper it deserves to be."

These scenes did provide unintentional camp when they had the hard-working Zurin Villanueva play the friend that got Cee Cee to the airport, the gate agent at the airport, and then the hospice nurse.

The staging of Wind Beneath My Wings is insane.

[DrMonicaDeMoneco]

Posted: 4/21/26 at 5:19pm

bwayphreak234 said: "seaweedjstubbs said: "Don’t hate me, but…….I might’ve enjoyed it more than THE LOST BOYS."

I 100% agree... I definitely had a better time at Beaches than at The Lost Boys.

"

Were you heavily intoxicated at both?

[witchoftheeast2]

Posted: 4/21/26 at 5:44pm

Beaches is no longer on TDF. Is this good or bad?