BROOKLYN the musical: Your Thoughts- Page 2

[SNAFU]

Posted: 3/16/07 at 9:24pm

I was given comp center orchestra tickets and a half hour into the show began flipping through my Playbill to see how many more numbers until intermission so I could leave... Boy was I upset!

[americanboy99]

Posted: 3/16/07 at 11:46pm

I agree. The story was just so preachy, but it wasn't really preaching anything anyone cared about. I also agree about the lyrics. Many reviewers, if not all, pointed out their weaknesses.

[americanboy99]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 10:15am

BUMP.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 10:40am

The show belonged Off-Broadway. I don't think it was very fair of the producers to toss it onto a Broadway stage and submit it to Broadway critics, but they did it. I still listen to my sampler CD now and then, but didn't bother to buy the entire recording. I don't think it deserved any Tony recognition. The costumes were creative, yes, but in the end, they were just garbage. To give a Tony Award nomination for that would be a bit insulting to the history of musical theatre. Not to mention that I've never even seen real street singers wearing dresses made out of Doritos bags.

Updated On: 3/17/07 at 10:40 AM

[americanboy99]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 10:44am

What songs were on the sampler?

I disagree. I found the costumes extremely creative and very eye-catching. They were innovative amd deserved some sort of recognition. So did Keller.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 10:53am

Heart Behind These Hands, Once Upon a Time, Raven, and Streetsinger were on the sampler.

Foster is right on the money. Sorry, ab99.

[jv92]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 10:53am

It was an awful musical that didn't even belong Off-Broadway. It belonged in a born again Christian church down south.

[mallardo]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 10:54am

To me the show was much better than rated. Who cares about "plot holes" - the plot was a fable told by a street theater troup which, as it turned out, had a vague resemblance to the real story of one of them. The plot wasn't the point. It was deliberately simplistic. The cast was first rate - as was the band. The night I saw it the audience just ate it up.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 10:54am

I don't know the titles of the songs on the sampler. I'll let someone else fill you in on that. They're catchy though. The sampler does not include Cleavant Derricks though. David Jennings played his character on the sampler. Then Derricks replaced him after it was recorded.

Who would you have knocked off the list of nominees below and replaced with BROOKLYN?

Best Featured Actress in a Musical 2005 Nominees

Sara Ramirez - SPAMALOT
Joanna Gleason - DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS
Celia Keenan-Bolger - SPELLING BEE
Jan Maxwell - CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG
Kelli O'Hara - THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA

Best Costume Design of a Musical 2005 Nominees

Catherine Zuber - THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA
Tim Hatley - SPAMALOT
Junko Kushino - PACIFIC OVERTURES
William Ivey Long - LA CAGE AUX FOLLES

[LyTeMyCanDyI]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 12:58pm

I loved BKLYN. It was so awesome. The stroy was good, the music was incredible. For some reason when you put them together it was a little strange. But I loved it. Definately top 5!

[Dark_Angel]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 1:04pm

The costumes and the show were garbage. End of story.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 1:12pm

One of the worst things I'ver ever seen.

[americanboy99]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 1:23pm

I would have replaced Jan Maxwell in CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG with Ramona Keller.

I also would have replaced William Ivey Long's costumes with Tobin Ost's costumes.

I was not overly upset though. It wasn't a great musical.

[DRSisLove]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 2:25pm

When I saw BKLYN I loved it.
I thought it was amazing, then again, I was 12.

I thought everything about it was spectacular: the singing, the costumes, the plot. The only thing that didn't really do it for me was the set, but like the costumes, I liked how they incorporated the garbage into makeshift sets and costumes.

Gotta love the caution-tape dress.

[americanboy99]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 2:30pm

The plot was less than satisfying. The book was cheesy, preachy, and dumb.

The lead (Espinosa) was good, but her belty style for EVERY song was overboard.

The score was one of the show's better qualities due to some very good numbers (like RAVEN, ONCE UPON A TIME, HEART BEHIND THESE HANDS), but songs like THE TRUTH, DOES ANYBODY WANNA BUY A MEMORY?, CHRISTMAS MAKES ME CRY, and other just wighted down the score and served as cheesy, forcced fluff.

[Raviolisun]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 2:44pm

I don't know much about BKLYN, but I would love to see it and/or hear the score sometime.

[Parks]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 4:11pm

I only saw the tour--but I saw it 4 times in the less than 2 weeks that it was in Dallas, TX. It was a very fun show--and because tickets were as cheap as 13 dollars, I saw it 4 times. I had heard "it's the worst show to ever touch a Broadway stage" and I went in expecting to be appalled and wanting to walk out, but I ended up really liking it. It has some good music, and the touring cast was great. Diana improved from opening night in Dallas to the closing performance. In less than 2 weeks here, she took Brooklyn to a whole different level. I would give anything to see the touring cast again--they were truly spectacular. Melba Moore's voice was a little bit much at times, but she gave a great performance. Did anyone ever inform her that she was a little sharp/flat everytime she hit that very high note in Raven?

Yeaaah...that's it. I was wondering about the tour. I asked Diana last year after a show if she would consider doing the show again this summer, and she said she would love to if her calendar would allow it. The show needs to play in much smaller venues. Even with a name like Diana DeGarmo, it wasn't even close to sold out.

[americanboy99]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 5:29pm

"a little sharp/flat..."

Well, which one?

Just kidding.

But that's a very weird note to hold for so long and needs to be sung from an odd place in one's voice. Keller did it perfectly.

[Parks]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 5:38pm

Well, depending on the night you went to see the show...it changed.

and Melba took it up an octave, I think...I'm not really sure what she did...but she sang a completely different song than Ramona...lol.

[americanboy99]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 6:07pm

I know what you mean.

Up a whole octave? Jeez!

[americanboy99]

Posted: 3/18/07 at 2:48pm

bump.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 3/18/07 at 3:03pm

If this photo doesn't spell FLOP, I don't know what does.

Updated On: 3/18/07 at 03:03 PM

[jv92]

Posted: 3/18/07 at 3:41pm

One of the funniest stories told on this board was a stage door encounter with Ms. Kellar. She was rather diva-ish with her fans, goes the tale. A poster here, I forget who, replied in the next message- "Why should she act like a diva? For wearing Dorito bags on her head?" Just cracked me up. Foster just the costume.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 3/18/07 at 3:49pm

WannaBeFoster, I wouldn't have knocked any of those nominees off the list.

As for the costumes, it depends how you look at it. Some see it as original art because they are made of, well, garbage...just not something you see being used in costumes every day.

In a way, yeah, it's original, but I don't think they really worked on the Broadway stage. Maybe in off-Broadway or regional theaters the art would have been appreciated more.

[americanboy99]

Posted: 3/18/07 at 4:58pm

WannaBeAFoster-

I think that costume is fascinating. Colorful, dazzling, glamorous, artistic, and creative.