BYE BYE BIRDIE first preview...- Page 2

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 9/10/09 at 11:06pm

My avatar was there to wish the cast of the show a successful first preview. Was I rooting for it to be good? Absolutely. But if it wasn't, I was fully prepared to review it as such. I was pleased that it was great and I would have been equally disappointed if it was bad. In my opinion, it was a great night.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 9/10/09 at 11:06pm

ColorTheHours, you and I must have seen different shows. The whole thing was bland, bad, and boring from start to finish. With the exception of Jayne, the whole thing was really poor. I have seen high school productions that are 50 times better than this. I enjoyed the Grease revival more than I enjoyed this. Here's the breakdown:

Gina Gershon: While her line delivery was actually quite funny, she wasn't convincing in the slightest as Rose. Her singing was atrocious and they cut practically all of her dancing. She "dances" in Spanish Rose, but it's more like repeated motions of spinning and throwing her hands up. C+

John Stamos: He was charming, and his voice was passable. However, Stamos must have graduated from Broadway's School of Mugging. Every opportunity he had, he did a take out to the audience. I blame Longbottom's direction here more than anything. Put On a Happy Face was very underwhelming, and kinda creepy in that it almost seemed like John was hitting on the little girls. B-

Bill Irwin: Everyone else in the audience loved him, but I LOATHED him. His caricature schtick was funny at first but got really old really fast. I rolled my eyes whenever he spoke. He can delivery a great one liner, but the dialogue got old. B-

Dee Hoty: She was great in her small part. Very funny, and a great voice. B+

Jayne Houdyshell: The star of the show. Nothing else to say. She's amazing. A

Allie Trimm: While she has a pretty voice and is a fine actress, Allie almost seemed too young for the part, if that's possible. I know they tried to cast people the right age for the parts, but she seemed too young to me. And she was missing the "it" factor. Cute, but nothing more than that. B+

Nolan Funk: Never has there been worse casting in recent memory. They have managed to turn Conrad into a pretty boy (not even THAT pretty) without an ounce of sex appeal. The dancing was terrible, and the singing was atrocious. "Honestly Sincere" was easily the worst number in the show. Could they really not find an actor who could sing and dance for this part? It's really not a tough role. F

Matt Doyle: Adorable. Whenever he was on stage I had a smile on my face. "One Boy" was the best number in the show vocally, and he and Allie blend really well. A-

The ensemble of kids: Not good. Again, I blame Longbottom. The choreography was terrible, making Kathleen Marshall's Grease choreography look revolutionary. But the female kids were better than the male kids (who looked about as gay as Finian's Rainbow). Girls: B+ Boys: C+

The ensemble of adults: Fine. Nothing special, with the exception of Paula Leggett Chase who was fantastic. B+

The direction: FAIL. FAIL FAIL FAIL. The whole show was so boring. Robert tried to recreate many classic scenes, and while his concepts could have been good, the execution was terrible. The new Telephone Hour staging was clever, but bland. Put On a Happy Face was terrible. "Bland" was the name of the game. If he ended one more scene with a light change on the bump of the song followed by the characters rolling offstage via the conveyor belt I was going to scream. D

The design: I liked it at first, but the sets rolling on and off stage the same way got really boring. There was no innovation. The lighting was fine. The costumes were passable, but somewhat fantasy like, which made no sense. The sound design was terrible. Set B-... Costumes B... Lighting B+... Sound C

I think that covers it.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 9/10/09 at 11:08pm

How does "One Boy" work with Hugo singing the majority of it and how does "Spanish Rose" work with Rosie singing it to Mae? Also how does Rosie factor into "A lot of Livin' to Do".

[blaxx]

Posted: 9/10/09 at 11:12pm

We already have great quotes:

"Allison Janney sings like Celine Dion in comparison to Gershon."

"...making Kathleen Marshall's Grease choreography look revolutionary."



See, these are real objective reviews, pointing out goods and bads.

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 9/10/09 at 11:13pm

How much does Hugo get to do? I know in the original stage version, he wasn't meant to sing, but I'm curious to see how much Matt gets to sing.

[dramadude]

Posted: 9/10/09 at 11:14pm

If I remember correctly, Kim sings to Hugo then vice versa for "One Boy" with both of them sharing a final chord. They share the song and if anything, Kim sings more of it. I was confused as well because I thought that Hugo would sing the majority in this production.

"Spanish Rose" (with plenty of speak singing from Gershon) is done when Albert leaves after telling Rose that he wants to marry her and then Mae comes onstage and essentially sits on her luggage and listens with some interaction and disgust.

"A Lot of Livin' To Do" started with Conrad in the MacAfee living room and then transitioned to Rose putting on a red (Sweet Charity-esque) dress about to go out on the town.

[bjh2114]

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

Hugo didn't sing the majority of "One Boy". Kim and the other two ensemble girls sang most of it, and Hugo came in on the second verse. It sounded great. The four of them blended well.

"Spanish Rose" was terrible. Jayne just sat there while Gina flailed around the stage like an idiot. Her intro into the song was promising. Her line reading was great, but then the song itself fell flat. She just spun herself around a bare stage with Jayne looking on like she thought Gina was a crazy person. Jayne wasn't the only one who thought this. This was the only "dancing" Gina had in the show. They cut the rest of it, including the briefcase dance in Act 1.

Rose wasn't in most of "A Lot of Livin' To Do". She came on stage in a spotlight down right for her part and then left when it was done. Then the lights came back up on the kids upstage. EDIT: This was her second part of the song. The first part was what dramadude said above.
Updated On: 9/10/09 at 11:15 PM

[dramadude]

Posted: 9/10/09 at 11:18pm

To the show's credit, the sets were nice as well as the projections during the overture and throughout the show. The kids or "ensemble", were cute and did a nice job. Brynn WIlliams shined as Ursula, but overall a little more maturity may have worked in the show's favor as far as casting is concerned in the chorus. The kids are doing great for their ages, but seeing as the original production used adults, Matt Doyle's age as a medium would have been perfect both vocally and physically (including height).

[blaxx]

Posted: 9/10/09 at 11:18pm

Jayne just sat there while Gina flailed around the stage like an idiot.

Bwahaha! You should take over Brantley.

Honestly, if this is worse than than the Grease revival then it must be quite awful.

[fflagg]

Posted: 9/10/09 at 11:21pm

Just what we need: a revival of this overrated show with NO stars. There is no need for this cheesy show.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 9/10/09 at 11:22pm

Haha, thank Blaxx. I will take that as a compliment. :-P And I agree with dramadude about the age thing. Matt Doyle seemed to be the right age. Everyone else came across as too young to me. I also agree about the very first scene, during the overture. The projections were great and the living room setup prior to them when Allie runs in and turns on the Conrad Birdie special was beautifully done. It all went downhill from there. I guess Longbottom used all of his directorial vision up in the first 20 seconds of the show.

[broadwaybaby086]

Posted: 9/10/09 at 11:23pm

Oh Bye, Bye Birdie, how I had not missed you. A few thoughts...very short and perhaps non-coherent.

The last time I saw the show was when I was in it in 8th grade...tonight felt just about the same. I agree with BJH in most aspects, except I really appreciated Irwin and found Houdyshell to be far too broad. I thought the kids did a fine job, but agreed, they felt so young. Definite talent (especially the shortest of the girls- she has something and can really dance!), but it felt really amateur.

Gina Gershon....my goodness. My facebook status was "I'd rather listen to Allison Janney sing any day." It was so disappointing. Both she and Stamos were so pitchy...usually flat. With very forced vibrato when present. Overall lackluster.

The piece really plays so dated, and I don't know if there's any way around it.

The McAfee's home set looked straight out of IKEA. No joke.

The first act felt very short and the second act dragged to no end.

I'm glad I saw it, and paid $10, because I would have felt very cheated, otherwise. I wish them the best during previews and beyond! They've got a lot of work to do.

In other news, the new Henry Miller's Theatre is lovely! I enjoyed entering on mezzanine level. And the bathrooms are spacious! :o) Also, I really enjoyed finding more and more relics from the original structure as I walked around.

[Anakela]

Posted: 9/10/09 at 11:27pm

wow- except for the fact that I was sitting in the mezz and not the orch, I feel like *I* wrote dramadude's review. Pretty much everything that I thought and have said since walking out of the theatre, from the sound down to the I *loved* Gershon in Boeing-Boeing but sat there tonight wondering how much Andrea Burns could have killed as Rose, was in that review.

I don't know that I would call it worse than the most recent Grease revival, but it was definitely far far from 'perfect'.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 9/10/09 at 11:27pm

Uh oh...

[WestVillage]

Posted: 9/10/09 at 11:27pm

bjh ... I agree with everything you said. boring boring boring. Jane was the only good thing in the show. Funk stunk. Not sexy, can't sing, can't act, can't dance. Looks pretty, but that's not right for Conrad. I couldn't stand Irwin. Allie has no presence and blended in with the woodwork. Gina was terrible, John too stiff (Happy Face fell flat on its face). The kids were overly obnoxious. Choreography was insipid. I too have seen better community theatre and high school productions of Birdie. Another Roundabout clunker.

[Drunk Chita Rivera]

Posted: 9/10/09 at 11:30pm

I was right. I predicted the show would be mediocre at best. I couldn't wait to go to leave and go to bed.

John Stamos- BORING. His singing was okay. His acting was like he was reading the script the first time aloud. And he was just all around blah and could not carry the show.

Gina Gershon- 3 things you need when being in a musical. Singing, Dancing, and Acting. Her Singing- 5/10 Her Dancing- 0/10 Acting- 5/10. Why the hell was she cast. She isn't even a big name, everyone who I have talked to has no idea who she is. I was bored every time she sang (spoke really) or did anything. Rose is supposed to be a hot and interesting and the kind of character that you always want on stage like Anita in WSS.

Nolan Whatever his name is- HELLO?! Wake up! You're on Broadway, did you not get the memo? He always looked bored. His singing was flat. He doesn't dance. And his acting is mediocre. Awful casting, he isn't even a big name either, I have no idea who the hell he is.

Allie Trimm- Finally something redeeming. I loved Allie in 13 and thought she was great in this. Maybe just compared to other people she was great but I liked her. She is going far, so far she has had 2 featured roles in 2 shows in the past 2 seasons.

Bill Irwin- Was I missing something? I found him to be extremely annoying and not funny at all. The crowd loved him.

Jayne Houdyshel- She was good at first but got old very quickly.


This show will be a hit. It will extend. Critics will absolutely PAN it but audiences will like it. It has no chance at winning any Tonys.

[blaxx]

Posted: 9/10/09 at 11:30pm

Consensus: it blows.

Thank you for saving me some good money :) I'll pass on this one, I think.

[dramadude]

Posted: 9/10/09 at 11:31pm

I enjoyed this more than "Grease", but Jenny Powers was the only positive that I walked out of the theatre with that night.

So as far as Henry Miller's Theatre is concerned, I felt like I was in a nice high school auditorium. Maybe in part due to the fact that it was very modern, but the aisles were carpeted with cement floors under the seats. If I remember correctly, Studio 54 has cement flooring throughout the entire theatre. It made me and those around me feel slightly detached from the show. I know it sounds odd, but the lack of carpeting didn't help the show.

I also heard from a friend that the ushers are not getting paid as much as they would from one of the "Production" Broadway houses. I say "Production" because all of Roundabout's shows (with the occasional exception like "SITPWG") are on Equity "LORT" contracts. The actors (and evidently the ushers) in this case are making less than a performer on a "Production" contract. I know this doesn't really tie into the conversation, but just a note if it hasn't already been mentioned.

The theatre itself is nice, minus the odd bathroom slanted stone sinks and those around me unable to turn on the water.

Updated On: 9/10/09 at 11:31 PM

[jagfkb]

Posted: 9/10/09 at 11:33pm

So I shouldtry and see avenue q this Saturday instead now, right?

[WishingOnlyWounds2]

Posted: 9/10/09 at 11:35pm

Eh, I'll probably wind up seeing it... most likely just for Allie and to see "The Telephone Hour" live.

[blaxx]

Posted: 9/10/09 at 11:35pm

There's no question! Avenue Q is great, don't miss it before it closes!

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 9/10/09 at 11:35pm

Non-profit runs can't really qualify as hits or flops.

You were doomed to hate this show regardless Chita in your quest against The Roundabout (though their Sunday is your favorite).

[luvbrdway]

Posted: 9/10/09 at 11:36pm

Well, this is disappointing. Two shows I wanted to see on my NYC trip next month were 9 to 5 and Bye Bye Birdie. Guess I'll go to plan "C" - which I haven't formulated yet.

[gypsy4]

Posted: 9/10/09 at 11:37pm

they should have just done a broadway transfer of the nsmt production.

bye bye birdie Updated On: 9/10/09 at 11:37 PM

[CyCoSpAz2]

Posted: 9/10/09 at 11:37pm

"So I shouldtry and see avenue q this Saturday instead now, right?"

Absolutely.