BEACHES Previews — Page 4

Schmigadoon is likely not eligible for best score given that it’s pre-existing material that doesn’t seem to have much new added.

quizking101 said: "I’m at intermission now and oh my god this show sucks.

Like, the girl playing little Cee Cee is stealing the show and Vosk is doing her best Bette, but everything about this is so inert and bland. This is one of those sunk cost fallacy shows where I would be strongly inclined to leave at intermission but I paid the $65, so I might at well at least enjoy the AC.

Edit: I have nothing else more to add. The story rushes some parts and drags out the denouement for far too long. Honestly, I was checking my watch and waiting for Bertie to expire, only to be met by an underwhelming WBMW.

This is probably the hardest PASS I’m going to give this season."

For $65, where was your seat location?

itsahopi said: "blug said: "Sometimes I thinkthat perhaps the Broadway musical, as an art form, needs a nice 10-year rest. No musicals for ten years. Let creative minds recalibrate because there's a LOT of mush being put out there by seemingly smart people that feels unfelt, over-meddled with, or not thought out and sometimes, paradoxically, all threeat once.

Did we need a musical of Beaches, Smash, Tootsie, Pretty Woman, The Bodyguard, The Notebook...on and on and on and on and on and on and on. Were they really inspired or were theyjust latching onto these storiesbecause it's recognizable IP? I don't even think creatives know what inspires them anymore."

It’s cash-grab IP devoid of inspiration. You can take a movie and adapt it if the inspiration is there first, not the other way around. Titanique is one case. Another is Death Becomes Her, where Julia Mattison pursued the title during a general meeting with Universal (heard this on a podcast). Those writers NEEDED to adapt that work."

The issue is that they DIDN'T adapt the film. If they did, it would be a completely different story. Adapting the novel like the film barely existed was assinine.

Matt Rogers said: "quizking101 said:

“For $65, where was your seat location?"

It was TDF so they originally put me Front Mezz E-14, but when I sat, my knees landed on top of the seatback in front of me, so they moved me to Orch P-19. View was fine.

blaxx said: "itsahopi said: "blug said: "Sometimes I thinkthat perhaps the Broadway musical, as an art form, needs a nice 10-year rest. No musicals for ten years. Let creative minds recalibrate because there's a LOT of mush being put out there by seemingly smart people that feels unfelt, over-meddled with, or not thought out and sometimes, paradoxically, all threeat once.

Did we need a musical of Beaches, Smash, Tootsie, Pretty Woman, The Bodyguard, The Notebook...on and on and on and on and on and on and on. Were they really inspired or were theyjust latching onto these storiesbecause it's recognizable IP? I don't even think creatives know what inspires them anymore."

It’s cash-grab IP devoid of inspiration. You can take a movie and adapt it if the inspiration is there first, not the other way around. Titanique is one case. Another is Death Becomes Her, where Julia Mattison pursued the title during a general meeting with Universal (heard this on a podcast). Those writers NEEDED to adapt that work."

The issue is that they DIDN'T adapt the film. If they did, it would be a completely different story. Adapting the novel like the film barely existed was assinine."

It's really baffling as the only reason the title is remembered at all today is the movie... and specifically, the movie's soundtrack. Beaches the novel is not exactly a well-loved literary classic. Perhaps this is Iris Dart's attempt to reclaim it, but frankly I am surprised she had enough pull here to make this happen.

If a musical takes more than 10 years to come to Broadway, it doesn't want to be a musical.

True. But it was still very much in development in Calgary and after that they were planning a pre Broadway tour where they could have worked on it some more before bringing it to Broadway. Then they saw it was a light year for musicals for the Tonys and there were theaters available so they rushed it to Broadway without doing the tour.

blaxx said: "itsahopi said: "blug said: "Sometimes I thinkthat perhaps the Broadway musical, as an art form, needs a nice 10-year rest. No musicals for ten years. Let creative minds recalibrate because there's a LOT of mush being put out there by seemingly smart people that feels unfelt, over-meddled with, or not thought out and sometimes, paradoxically, all threeat once.

Did we need a musical of Beaches, Smash, Tootsie, Pretty Woman, The Bodyguard, The Notebook...on and on and on and on and on and on and on. Were they really inspired or were theyjust latching onto these storiesbecause it's recognizable IP? I don't even think creatives know what inspires them anymore."

It’s cash-grab IP devoid of inspiration. You can take a movie and adapt it if the inspiration is there first, not the other way around. Titanique is one case. Another is Death Becomes Her, where Julia Mattison pursued the title during a general meeting with Universal (heard this on a podcast). Those writers NEEDED to adapt that work."

The issue is that they DIDN'T adapt the film. If they did, it would be a completely different story. Adapting the novel like the film barely existed was assinine."

THIS, THIS, THIS. If the author/producers had taken 4 seconds to bury some pride and realize that the movie is BELOVED and that people have been dying to see a full Oh, Industry for over 20 something years and that the movie had many preferred songs than WBMW… we would not be here today. We would all probably be trying to see Beaches weekly.

We adore the leads and will go see it.. but the team had the perfect musical foundation and did not take the years of feedback. For years audiences have spelled out how to save it: add in some of the beloved movie songs, go to the movie for more material. But like Redwood, when preview audiences told them to remove the birthday rap that ripped off Hamilton. It’s probably too late. What is the point of previews anyway?

Perhaps this will be like the Wild Party where they create a second version. One can only wish.

Melissa25 said: "I would have preferred a Bette Midler jukebox musical."

This! This would have given it more life with Wind Beneath My Wings, My One True Friend, From a Distance, boogie Woogie Bugle oy, Baby Mine, In My Life, Friends, Glory of Love, Miss Otis Regrets, This could have been a great use of her catalogue. I would love to know why they never used this as a jukebox

Theatrefanboy1 said: "Melissa25 said: "I would have preferred a Bette Midler jukebox musical."

This! This would have given it more life with Wind Beneath My Wings, My One True Friend, From a Distance, boogie Woogie Bugle oy, Baby Mine, In My Life, Friends, Glory of Love, Miss Otis Regrets, This could have been a great use of her catalogue. I would love to know why they never used this as a jukebox"

AND OTTO TITZLING!!!!!

I’ve been (un)lucky enough to see most of the infamous stage adaptations of ’80s/’90s films by now - Flashdance, Dirty Dancing, The Bodyguard, Pretty Woman. And now I can add Beaches to that… distinguished collection.

Jessica Vosk and Kelli Barrett are both truly wonderful and do their best with the material they’re given. Their voices are beautiful, and Vosk in particular gets the chance to showcase both her vocal power and acting chops. Unfortunately, the two young girls both had garble-y diction, and I struggled to understand much of what either was saying.

The pacing is all over the place, with constant jumps in the timeline that make the story feel disjointed. The ending, in particular, lands abruptly and lacks the emotional weight it should carry.

Visually, the production feels oddly sparse. The stage often appears cavernous and empty, with little in the way of scenic elements. The elevated upstage platform is especially puzzling and doesn’t seem to serve a clear purpose.

Ultimately, this falls right into the growing category of movie-to-musical adaptations that feel like they should have just stayed on screen.

Updated On: 4/4/26 at 05:42 PM