Posted: 1/8/16 at 4:45pm
Saw it with Rees and Neuwirth. It was entertaining . It did not help when Lane constantly bad mouthed it.
Posted: 1/8/16 at 5:04pm
Addams Family was in perpetual rewrites from its first out-of-town to hitting licensing. The version Lane did, which WAS somewhat scattershot, was a fairly different show from the one Roger Rees eventually took over.
As far as Sweet Smell of Success, I've defended it many times here. The show shaped up a lot for Broadway from its initial out-of-town run, and many of the complaints of "stand and march choreography" refer to the Chicago version and not the Broadway incarnation. Plus, in terms of book, score and performances, the show came the closest I've ever seen to genuinely evoking, and not sending up or merely referencing, the style of film noir onstage. That may, in fact, be part of the reason some didn't like it.
Posted: 1/8/16 at 9:34pm
Women on the Verge and Big Fish were two more shows that I was curious about but not enough to see before they closed.
Posted: 1/8/16 at 9:47pm
Saw them both and enjoyed them both.
Posted: 1/8/16 at 9:52pm
I thought the Addams Family was decent but I agree that Nathan didn't help it by his seemingly embarrassment of being part of it. Whatever the issues between him and Bebe should have been secondary to the success of the show. Their egos got the best of them.
Young Frankenstein had the pressure of the Brooks/Stroman high expectations. It wasn't awful but could never live up to those expectations. I loved Christopher Fitzgerald and Megan Mullally but thought Roger Bart was a poor choice for the lead. Sutton added very little to a role that she was way beyond at at point of her career.
Posted: 1/8/16 at 10:00pm
Re Young, I think Mel sold his sold to the devil for those reviews. No way were the critics going to give him another set of raves with Young. .The devil came around to collect this time around.
Posted: 1/8/16 at 10:17pm
yes, Mr. Roxy, the knives were sharpened, just like with The Odd Couple. Mel was quite carried away with the success of The Producers and did not make many friends on Broadway. Hopefully Lin-Manuel will keep his head about him with Hamilton's success. So far, so good it seems.
Updated On: 1/9/16 at 10:17 PM
Posted: 1/9/16 at 9:43am
darquegk said: "Addams Family was in perpetual rewrites from its first out-of-town to hitting licensing. The version Lane did, which WAS somewhat scattershot, was a fairly different show from the one Roger Rees eventually took over.
"
That's not exactly true. Yes there were many re-writes before the show got to NY and during previews...and the show changed quite a bit after it closed on Broadway for the national tour. But the show that Rees got was the same show that Lane was doing. Outside of a few key changes in the music and some personality vibes, there weren't changes.
Can there even be changes? I thought once a show was set, it stayed the same for the entire run. I am fairly sure they would have changed things mid run had the had the opportunity - like gotten rid of that ridiculous squid, (octopus? whatever was in the basement) scene.
Personally i thought it worked better with Rees than it did with Lane because Rees was ultimately more charming and debonair which worked well with the character of Gomez. It was never a great show..but it was never quite as bad a word of mouth said it was.
Posted: 1/9/16 at 9:49am
Oh! I thought you meant after Broadway. Rees took over the role in its later regional runs, as his partner www doing the rewrites.
Posted: 1/9/16 at 10:51am
The show "Lennon" just to see how bad Yoko could screw up his life story.
Posted: 1/9/16 at 11:43am
darquegk said: "Oh! I thought you meant after Broadway. Rees took over the role in its later regional runs, as his partner www doing the rewrites.
"
Really? I didn't think so. Roger was on Broadway and closed the show for the last 9 months with Bebe first and then Brooke Shields but another actor played the role on tour. Unless he filled in for couple of days for some reason or another, he wasn't on the tour.
Posted: 1/9/16 at 12:20pm
I am sorry I missed "Catch Me If You Can," which was probably not a bad show but was also not a hit.
Updated On: 1/9/16 at 12:20 PM
Posted: 1/9/16 at 2:02pm
"I am sorry I missed "Catch Me If You Can," which probably was probably not a bad show but was also not a hit.
I saw this show and it was pretty good. It had some good performances from Aaron Tveit and Norbert Leo Butz (won Tony award) and got mixed reviews.
Posted: 1/9/16 at 2:07pm
I guess "Bonnie & Clyde" was considered bad and I wanted to see that show because the music I heard was pretty good and I wanted to see Jeremy Jordan.
Posted: 1/9/16 at 2:08pm
Bonnie was great. Those who dismissed it were the critics who dismiss anything Wildhorn does.
Posted: 1/9/16 at 3:14pm
"Metropolis." Played the vinyl often when it first came out, for mysterious reasons. I've never met anyone who actually saw it.
Posted: 1/9/16 at 3:42pm
I saw "Catch Me If You Can" and thought it was great! Aaron Tviet/Tveit and Norbert Leo's work was energetic and fab-u!
I saw that Norbert Leo Butz and Luke MacFarlane are in a new PBS series but I don't know what it is about.
Posted: 1/9/16 at 4:03pm
Agree with you re Catch Me
