BOYS - Bland

I have a friend who has seen this twice already and he did mention the pacing situation. At first preview, the performance went by in a breeze. 2 performances later he noticed it dragged a bit. It’s obvious they are testing things during previews. I remember this pacing experimentation was done with Bette Midler during her previews with I’LL EAT YOU LAST. She even had sections/stories shifted around so things flowed smoother: moving a story later or earlier. This caused her to stumble trying to remember when to lead into a story but she was in perfect form by the last 2 weeks of previews.

I saw the first preview and never noticed any problems with the pace. It was excellent and the chemistry was very good among all performers.

Skip23 is absolutely right. I was at the show last night - the tone is almost right but not quite, and not quite is enough to make this an anemic evening. Everyone wondering why it's running so long just needs to listen out for the gaps between lines. You could fly all the planes of COME FROM AWAY through them and still have room for more.

Pacing is way way way low. I wonder if a cause of this could be the physical distance onstage between the actors, and something to do with the sound design. It feels very under-miked. Are these actors speaking slowly and with zero agility because they perceive that they need to do so, in order to catch the audience's eye and ear? The physical world of the show is also very "recessed" away from the audience, creating a distance that does not serve the script in acoustic terms and line delivery terms.

The "stop time" thing to illustrate Michael having a drink takes us RIGHT out. If it's in there once, it should be a motif through the night. Otherwise it makes no sense and insults the audience who must be too dumb to follow the protagonist and see him pour a drink as the chaos becomes unbearable for him

"When she acts, she's lethal." Jim Parsons is doing this production no favors. Sorry. Everyone else is pretty much fine (we could do without the contemporary-isms that Andrew Rannells throws in occasionally) but that vase of flowers on the table commands the stage more than Parsons. Not for one second did I believe that anyone would be afraid of the wrath of Michael. You could flick him over with your finger. Not for one second did I believe that anyone would show up weekend after weekend because Michael is actually quite engaging and essential. The one saving grace was that Parsons was dressed almost exactly like Kenneth Nelson. Joe Mantello must be throwing his hands in the air. But Parsons is selling half the tickets, so what can he do?

Mart Crowley was there last night. Wish I knew what he thought.

KingOfThePigPeople said: "Skip23 is absolutely right. I was at the show last night - the tone is almost right but not quite, and not quite is enough to make this an anemic evening. Everyone wondering why it's running so long just needs to listen out for the gaps between lines. You could fly all the planes of COME FROM AWAY through them and still have room for more.

Pacing is way way way low. I wonder if a cause of this could be the physical distance onstage between the actors, and something to do with the sound design. It feels very under-miked. Are these actors speaking slowly and with zero agility because they perceive that they need to do so,in order to catch the audience's eye and ear? The physical world of the show is also very "recessed" away from the audience, creating a distance that does not serve the script in acoustic terms and line delivery terms.

The "stop time" thing to illustrate Michael having a drink takes us RIGHT out. If it's in there once, it should be a motif through the night. Otherwise it makes no sense and insults the audience who must be too dumb to follow the protagonist and see him pour a drink as the chaos becomes unbearable for him

"When she acts, she's lethal." Jim Parsons is doing this production no favors. Sorry. Everyone else is pretty much fine (we could do without the contemporary-isms that Andrew Rannells throws in occasionally)but that vase of flowers on the table commands the stage more than Parsons. Not for one second did I believe that anyone would be afraid of the wrath of Michael. You could flick him over with your finger. Not for one second did I believe that anyone would show up weekend after weekend because Michael is actually quite engaging and essential. The one saving grace was that Parsons was dressed almost exactly like Kenneth Nelson. Joe Mantello must be throwing his hands in the air. But Parsons is selling half the tickets, so what can he do?

Mart Crowley was there last night. Wish I knew what he thought."

You already posted this exact same thing in the other thread. Are you so desperate for attention that you need to spew your rant in twice??

HogansHero said: "Skip23 said: "Who set up this rule? I think anyone can post any message anywhere tbey want. That’s the point of a message board. And you dont have to read it if you dont want to. Simple as that."

First, thank you for the report.

Second, there are no rules on this. You get to decide whether you want to conform, or whether you want to be one of those people who annoys everyone to their own detriment. (This is not limited to this board; you can make the same choice when you get on a subway car and decide to pontificate at the top of your lungs.)

Third, if you want to be taken seriously here, you will benefit from not being annoying. (Your choice.) You get more bees with honey than with vinegar, and all that."



Well...



First: you're welcome

Second: not sure what I have to conform to? Who set up these "rules"? And I don't see any detriment for posting whatever I want to post. Do you mean that people won't read what I post and respond if I post my comment in a place other than some deigned appropriate post? Gee. I don't really care if someone doesn't want to read and respond to my posts. Do you?

Third: do I want to be taken seriously here? uh...again, I don't care. It's fun to post wherever and if people read it or not, that's the decision of the Gods.



Really - who do you think has set up these rules of Board behavior and protocol? And do YOU really care? Really?

Updated On: 5/4/18 at 07:28 PM

Like I said, up to you. And if you don't care then you don't care. I think it is fair to say most people take the time to write because they want someone to see what they had to say. Maybe you're the type that lets a door slam in the face of the person behind you walking into a building, or who charges onto the subway without letting folks get off first. Not a tried and true way for winning friends and influencing people but hey whatever floats your boat. Enjoy.

Skip23...NO ONE is denying you the right to post here or anywhere, but...it does seem that this thread should have been posted to the Preview thread for BOYS since you are talking about a preview performance...being a purist at heart here myself that is where i would have posted this thread if i had seen what you saw and felt what you felt...that is all

though I've been a member for a long time, i haven't posted in several years -- either the board's gotten tired, or i have (or both!) -- so now mostly i lurk. but something about this thread really compelled me to dive back in ...

i'm not sure I agree with you, CarlosAlberto (which, fwiw, is a rarity); Boys is so early in previews that even if Skip's insight is spot-on likely it will get fixed. on the other hand, the arc of Skip's postings here -- what rules? ... you can't tell me what to do ... i don't see any point to such a rule -- surely glosses as, well, let's just say self-absorbed. Skip may be a prince among men in real life, but in this thread it's reasonable to take the reactions to him at face value.

since i kind of just dissed Skip, let's give him the benefit of the doubt for a moment: Skip, right there in the same menu containing the link you clicked to create your New Post is another link that to "Rules". (New Post | Off-topic | West End | Students | Search | Report Abuse | Rules)" If you click on Rules you'll find a long list of dos and donts, including not creating a new thread for a topic that already exits.

As Hogan (very politely, i thought) pointed out, you are free to follow these rules or not, but violating them is a great way to earn the responses you got here. Life is choices, but they all come with consequences.

Hope this helps ... see everyone again in three years!