BYE BYE BIRDIE Reviews- Page 2

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 10/15/09 at 7:48pm

Says the person with Lauren Graham as an avatar, who we all know gave one of the most entertaining and riveting performances in Broadway history.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 10/15/09 at 7:51pm

I didn't hate Irwin but I didn't love him either. His acting scenes were fine and I loved him in One Last Kiss. Didn't care for his Kids though.

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 10/15/09 at 7:53pm

I didn't think reviews could get better than those for Lauren Graham in Guys and Dolls but Irwin just topped her.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 10/15/09 at 7:54pm

"I never did figure out what [Irwin] thought he was doing up there."

I said the same thing in my review. But I enjoyed it even though it was a ridiculous performance.

[#1Elphie]

Posted: 10/15/09 at 7:55pm

Sorry munkustrap, but I liked Graham. And I don't think my opinion on that should completely discredit everything else I say.

I'm surprised Gershon isn't being butchered; I thought she was the weakest link.

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 10/15/09 at 7:55pm

Says the person with Lauren Graham as an avatar, who we all know gave one of the most entertaining and riveting performances in Broadway history.

Listen, if you're going to be snarky, by all means do it - but at least be clever about it.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 10/15/09 at 7:57pm

Gershon was saved by her acting chops. He failed as a singer and dancer but she made up for it in other ways.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 10/15/09 at 8:00pm

I was attempting a light joke, not clever snark.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 10/15/09 at 8:00pm

Gershon is not anywhere near the worst thing about this production in my mind. Does she suck? Generally speaking, yeah. But I've had more of an enjoyable time staring at the ceiling than I did watching John Stamos' performance. But he's not the worst thing about this production either. The joyless direction is.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 10/15/09 at 8:05pm

I enjoyed Gershon, I didn't think her singing was as bad as people was saying it is, as I said in another thread, she did have some issues staying in tune with the orchestra, but I enjoyed her singing and acting...It's hard to tell with the dancing, no she wasn't particularly good, but the choreography they gave her was so terrible, it was hard to judge her skills.
I've only other seen Irwin in RACHEL GETTING MARRIED and thoroughly enjoyed him. I cringed every time he was on stage during BIRDIE. Sorry to say this but I agree with all the critics regarding his performance. Though you gotta blame Longbottom's terrible direction, a good director would have been able to rein him in.

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 10/15/09 at 8:12pm

Despite his clowning roots I find Irwin best in dramatic roles. He was divine in Virginia Woolf? and superb in the Liza episode of Law and Order.

[MarkK]

Posted: 10/15/09 at 8:15pm

Wall Street Journal is a Pan - Teachout is HARSH!!!

They Can't Sing (Don't Ask Them)

Mr. Stamos couldn't carry a tune in a bucket with the lid welded on, and Gina Gershon, who plays his sexy secretary, isn't much closer to the mark. Mr. Funk is said to have been battling tonsillitis at the preview I saw, so I can't say whether he sounds better under normal circumstances, but what I heard last Sunday afternoon was far below Broadway standards. As for Bill Irwin, who plays Miss Trimm's father, his performance is impenetrably bizarre??I never did figure out what he thought he was doing up there??and he can't sing at all. Instead he emits disjunct honks and squeaks that make mincemeat out of Mr. Strouse's handsome melodies.



WSJ Updated On: 10/15/09 at 08:15 PM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/15/09 at 8:21pm

I would say that's mixed to very mixed.

[yankees1253]

Posted: 10/15/09 at 8:38pm

Hollywood Reporter(they were there last night):
Bottom Line: This "Birdie" should say bye-bye

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/film-reviews/bye-bye-birdie-theater-review-1004022911.story

[Pgenre]

Posted: 10/15/09 at 8:39pm

What a shame those new orchestrations won't be preserved, but we certainly wouldn't want a cast recording of THIS bunch!

I had no idea Tunick was involved! Are they truly "Count Basie-esque" and as good as Terry purports?

P

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 10/15/09 at 8:45pm

Both of those reviews have been posted already.

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/15/09 at 8:50pm

Is Conrad (Funk) really like a "missing Jonas Brother?" LOL Two reviews have said it so far.

That's horrifying and completely wrong for this show. He might as well have channeled Madonna or Carol Channing for all it's worth.

But it's definitely a "positive to mixed" notice for him!!! Or is that "positively negatively positively mixed," I forget ...

[yankees1253]

Posted: 10/15/09 at 8:55pm

Allie Trimm seems like the only one getting the postive reviews. I did love the teen ensemble. Jake as Randolph was adorable and did great in the role.
I have to admit "Telephone Hour" was excellent.

[tazber]

Posted: 10/15/09 at 8:57pm

It's positively mixed besty.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 10/15/09 at 9:00pm

I really didn't like the teen ensemble to be quite honest. And "The Telephone Hour" was cute and one of the highlights of the show but that's not really saying much considering the rest of the show was really boring. In a great BIRDIE production, this "Telephone Hour" would have been horrendous. But in this production, it works in a weird, twisted way.

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 10/15/09 at 9:11pm

Recast the thing with Cheno as Kim, Scarlett johansson as Mae and Ann Hathaway as Albert.

[bschneid76]

Posted: 10/15/09 at 9:13pm

Miss Pennywise, throw in Liza Minnelli as Conrad and I'd go see it!

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/15/09 at 9:22pm

Re-conceiving Conrad Birdie as a bubblegum teenie-bopper idol is one of those wrongheaded directorial notions that ought to be outlawed.

Like having characters in Tosca give each other blowjobs or having the Sharks speak Spanish sometimes and sometimes not for no good reason while a boy soprano sings "Somewhere" because he symbolizes innocence or something, somewhere, somehow...

Or having Damon Runyon wander aimlessly around the set of Guys and Dolls or directing the Follies women to be "bad dancers" because they're sooooooo old.

Or...

Or...

Or...

Updated On: 10/15/09 at 09:22 PM

[Trish2]

Posted: 10/15/09 at 9:39pm

Backstage weighs in....OUCHA MAGOUCHA !!


NY Review: 'Bye Bye Birdie' : Dead on arrival.. Updated On: 10/15/09 at 09:39 PM

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/15/09 at 9:47pm

PJ, pass that peace pipe! I don't know what you're smokin' but that post was hilarious.

Oh, wait... you've SEEN these shows. I guess others are doing the smokin'.

And Miss Penny ... I loved your casting! But I would add in Jill O'Hara, so we can ensure that this will be reviewed as the WORST SUNG BROADWAY SHOW IN HISTORY.

Poor Jill. Poor Modern Broadway.

... and so it goes ...