Band's Visit not worth 9 Tonys- Page 6

[Juggalo12]

Posted: 6/14/18 at 3:45am

JayElle said: "Not a troll. Didn't think S/Bob or MG were all that great. For musicals, this year was lacking all around. For what I spend on theater tickets every year, I have a right to speak up, especially when the news documented voters voting to protest the commercial nature of recent shows prior to the Tonys."

Thanks for your post and comments. I will heed your warning. I heard some of the soundtrack and was not thrilled. Interesting to note that the off-broadway production did NOT sweep the awards, such as Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle. OCC didn't award a single acting award to those 4 Tony winners. And Drama Desk didn't award it Best Musical, and two of the lead actors weren't even nominated. You're right about the serious lack of good musicals this year. SBSP and MG: pretty awful from the clips I've seen. The presence of the great production of Angels in America saved my entire Bway-going experience this year. I saw it three times already and would probably never grow weary of it. Wish I could say I enjoyed a new musical with the same fervor. I thought Bandstand last year was excellent overall, and I'm glad it's coming to theaters next week through Fathom Events. 

 

[Juggalo12]

Posted: 6/14/18 at 3:49am

Simón Bolívar said: "JayElle said: "The NY Times article said voters were voting "against the commercialism" of the other musicals. It showed. Show was okay, but not great."

And the irony is that the best play went to the most commercial of the lot. Just like in theme park ville. Universal is winning and Disney is loosing"

HP is a brilliant achievement. Two parts of dynamite theater, directed brilliantly. It also won many Olivier Awards. Commercial doesn't necessarily mean weak. And vice versa. 

 

[Juggalo12]

Posted: 6/14/18 at 3:51am

BroadwayMan5 said: "Haven't seen the show yet (seeing it this summer) so I can't really say my opinion on if it deserved it or not but I do get tired of these "sweep" nights. I also wish some really strong shows like Groundhog Day, Come From Away, and Waitress had opened in a year like this instead of in the Hamilton/Dear Evan Hansen/Hello Dolly juggernaut years"

Good point. Agreed.

 

[Juggalo12]

Posted: 6/14/18 at 3:58am

UncleCharlie said: "JayElle said: "Not a troll. Didn't think S/Bob or MG were all that great. For musicals, this year was lacking all around. For what I spend on theater tickets every year, I have a right to speak up, especially when the news documented voters voting to protest the commercial nature of recent shows prior to the Tonys."

JayElle, the Tony voters just finished a late night meeting and asked me to convey this message. "You caught us. It was a protest vote and we were wrong to do that. We feel terrible and we want to make it right. TBV is a crappy little show undeserving of 10 Tonys. It doesn't even deserve the one Tony it already had. And it's big number is some chick singing about some dead film star? I mean come on. So please tell us who your pick was and we'll just pull a "Steve Harvey" and blame the presenter for calling the wrong show's name. It's not too late. We can make this right. Thank you for standing up for great theater by starting this thread. It really moved us!"

Isn't one of the user rules of this board, "Be courteous and respectful to fellow users?"

 

[Juggalo12]

Posted: 6/14/18 at 4:02am

Jarethan said: "I liked The Band's Visit, but I do not think it would have won 10 awards in a lot of years. Let's face it, it was a lousy year for musicals overall and the competition was pretty bare. When they awarded Best Sound,I concluded that a lot of people just checked TBV every time they saw it. I actually had a problem hearing the words -- I had it in no other show that I saw this season, but I admit that I only saw about a dozen on Broadway.

I was happiest when it won Best Book, because I-- and I think everyone else -- thought that Time Fey was going to win because she was Tina Fey, and they hoped this would encourage her to do more Broadway shows. That was not reason to give her Best Book, and thankfully they did not (and I do like Tina Fey).

Haha. I agree. I was glad Fey didn't win, as she had in all the prior awards. However, TBV was not eligible for most of the prior awards, since it was eligible during its off broadway run. 

 

[Juggalo12]

Posted: 6/14/18 at 4:12am

Thanks for the warning. I'm not surprised you were not greatly impressed. But I'm actually glad the show won many Tonys, especially Best Musical. Would we have rather seen SpongeBob SquarePants, Mean Girls or Frozen take it? I can't imagine any of those three being worthy of Best Musical over TBV, even thought I've not seen it yet. I'm not sure the NYT article should be taken so literally. They voted for what they thought was the best show, no matter what they might have expressed in the interview. I would have liked to have seen Harry Hadden win Best Actor, and Norbert for Featured Actor. But I'm just happy the Sponge didn't win much, although winning Scenic Design over My Fair Lady seems absurd. Until the "new musical" competition increases, there will always be sweeps. 

[Loopin’theloop]

Posted: 6/14/18 at 6:13am

Juggalo12 said: "Simón Bolívar said: "JayElle said: "The NY Times article said voters were voting "against the commercialism" of the other musicals. It showed. Show was okay, but not great."

And the irony is that the best play went to the most commercial of the lot. Just like in theme park ville. Universal is winning and Disney is loosing"

HP is a brilliant achievement. Two parts of dynamite theater, directed brilliantly. It also won many Olivier Awards. Commercial doesn't necessarily mean weak. And vice versa.

"

I’m delighted you enjoyed it. The beauty of diverse opinion and all.

But personally I thought it reached of commercialism. I thought the play was an appalling piece of writing. The production is absolutely incredible however. The effects and creativity involved in bringing the magic to life, along with the highly success attempts to create a tangible and believable universe for the play are to be commended. The text-ugh.

are you a Potter fan in general? 

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 6/14/18 at 7:42am

Someone in a Tree2 said: "And isn't it fair to ask a Broadway production to convey its charms equally for row F in the orchestra as much as row F in the mezzanine?"

Exactly. I was the last row of the mezzanine for The Band's Visit, and the show did not play well from a distance at all IMO.

 

[musikman]

Posted: 6/14/18 at 7:52am

I sat mid way up in the mezzanine and I loved every second of The Band’s Visit

[binau]

Posted: 6/14/18 at 7:53am

bwayphreak234 said: "Someone in a Tree2 said: "And isn't it fair to ask a Broadway production to convey its charms equally for row F in the orchestra as much as row F in the mezzanine?"

Exactly. I was the last row of the mezzanine for The Band's Visit, and the show did not play well from a distance at all IMO.

"

I'm not surprised to hear the show doesn't work well from a distance. It is a small show with some understated/nuanced (some might say 'boring' - I wouldn't) performances. But I don't know what can be done about this? This is a similar problem for many plays too, in my opinion. It's the nature of presenting a performance on stage. It's a tough situation - if they went for a smaller theatre (assuming any were available - which is unlikely), the show would risk not making a profit (see: Once On This Island so far). If they went for broader performances, the quality of the story telling/character development would reduce as suddenly the leads don't feel like real people. They couldn't just have a straight film adaptation of the musical and no stage production because no one would pay for that. In my mind, it's just the risk that audience members have to take if they sit further away.

Posted: 6/14/18 at 10:48am

In any other year, I don't believe The Band's Visit wins as many Tonys as it won.  Given the competition, I don't see how it couldn't win 10 Tonys.  The show is a welcome change from the overblown, ostentatious entertainment that makes up too much of Broadway today.  It is beautiful in its subtlety and quiet strength.