Posted: 6/17/22 at 8:09am
Has anyone seen Between the Lines yet? If so is it worth going to see?
Posted: 6/17/22 at 8:55am
I absolutely adore Jodi Picoult as an author - I have read all of her novels. Curious to hear how this musical is.
Posted: 6/17/22 at 2:08pm
First preview was last night; it had been pushed back a couple of days because of their COVID situation.
I’m eager to hear thoughts on this one - Arielle Jacobs is fantastic and from the demo tracks I’ve heard so far, Elyssa Samsel and Kate Anderson are about to prove their worth on the NY stage.
I heard promising things from KC Rep but that was back in 2017.
Posted: 6/17/22 at 6:19pm
All performances have been cancelled through Wednesday afternoon; the show will return 6/22 at 8 PM.
Posted: 6/19/22 at 10:15am
Curious about the show as well. Has anyone seen it yet? I know performances have been limited. Also looking for discount codes!
Posted: 6/19/22 at 10:29am
Anastasia_Beaverhausen said: "Curious about the show as well. Has anyone seen it yet? I know performances have been limited. Also looking for discount codes!"
I posted this last week on the discounts thread, but they've since fixed it, so it only applies to standard seats through 7/24. It also says that the discount is valid through today only:
$50 seats for BETWEEN THE LINES, with code BTL2ST50 on 2st.com. It's supposed to be good for regularly priced seats through 7/24, but seems to be glitchy. For the first couple of weeks, it's only good on standard seats, but after that, it's good on any seat through 7/24, including premiums and platinums. Then, after, 7/24, it's also good on any seat, but on weekends only, through the end of the run.
Posted: 6/19/22 at 10:55am
Thank you!! It worked! I was looking for July 7th, and it only allowed the discount on the $100 tickets, but a great discount! ☺️
Posted: 6/20/22 at 6:23pm
Two additional performances have been added for Sunday 6/26, at 2 and 8 - all tickets are $55.
At both performances, the role of Prince Oliver will be played by Dan Hoy, and the roles of Frump / Ryan will be played by Martin Landry. Go understudies!
Posted: 6/21/22 at 11:36am
Opening night has been pushed back to July 11.
Posted: 6/21/22 at 4:08pm
How did you all get that discount code to work? I was emailed the same code, and the site accepts it, and then does not offer any discount on the tickets.
Posted: 6/21/22 at 4:11pm
Matt Rogers said: "How did you all get that discount code to work? I was emailed the same code, and the site accepts it, and then does not offer any discount on the tickets."
The code was only good through Sunday, but it basically gave two separate options to add to your cart, one full price one discount, when you clicked on any non premium seats
Posted: 6/21/22 at 4:27pm
Actually, the code still works on non-premium seats from 6/28 - 7/24.
Posted: 6/21/22 at 6:19pm
Yesterday, Jacobs also tested positive.
When the show resumes performances, don’t miss Aubrey Matalon as Delilah!
Posted: 6/21/22 at 7:50pm
TaffyDavenport said: "Actually, the code still works on non-premium seats from 6/28 - 7/24."
Oh, huh! It says “Discount valid through 6.19.22” but does indeed still work. Seems like they really messed up the implementation of this code… To our benefit though!
Posted: 6/27/22 at 8:45pm
Sounds like Matilda meets Wonderland meets Diana.
Posted: 6/28/22 at 11:11pm
I saw it tonight.
I finally got the $50.00 discount to work, and I had a great seat.
Let me just start by saying that they spent a TON of money on this production, and you can see it. As cheap as the revival of Into the Woods looks, this thing looks spectacular. They clearly have bigger plans for this. Daryl Roth is the lead producer.
I don't know what was going on tonight, but it seemed like the theatre was filled with comped friends of the production. Jodi Picoult gave a very long speech before it started, and when it did start, the applause and reactions to everything were over the top. It was an extremely friendly crowd.
It is almost children's theatre. Almost.
The plot involves a gawky girl who is dealing with parental divorce and she escapes into a fairy tale book she finds in the library. Romance and hilarity ensues......or something.
The prince from the book makes some sort of psychic connection with the gawky girl and they enter each other's worlds.
There is a lot more to it than that, but that's the basic idea.
It has a lot of fun sequences, and a lot of heart and humor, but a lot of the interesting ideas that it starts in Act One are abandoned in Act Two.
The music is very Disney-esque, and while I don't mean that as an insult, at some points, you will think you are about to hear a ballad from Aladdin or The Little Mermaid. The orchestrations at some points sound exactly like a Disney animated movie.
Speaking of mermaids, there is a fun mermaid number. I can't believe I just typed that sentence. Well, it will be either fun or annoying, depending on your ability to set logic aside and just go with it.
The production relies a lot on projections, but they are some of the best I have seen.
I don't know. I have to admit that I didn't love it, but it feels like there is something special here that is going to be around for a long time.
If you can get a good seat for a discount, definitely give it a shot.
Updated On: 6/28/22 at 11:11 PM
Posted: 6/29/22 at 7:40am
Also, I forgot to mention that the program uselessly says this takes place “Just before the pandemic of 2020”, which is completely pointless, as this has nothing to do with the pandemic at all, and no hint of anything like it coming on the horizon is mentioned anywhere at all in the show. So if you see this program note, you might wonder if act two is going to turn into some sort of a pandemic parable or something, but don’t worry - it doesn’t happen.
Posted: 6/29/22 at 12:03pm
I'm seeing this on Saturday and apparently Jodi Picoult is doing a talkback afterwards. I had no idea when I bought the tickets. The music was written by Elyssa Samsel and Kate Anderson who also wrote the music for the short Olaf's Frozen Adventure which is on Disney Plus. Kate is Kristen Anderson-Lopez's sister. The show is also based on one of Jodi's young adult novels and not one of her mainstream adult novels so that might explain some of the observations.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing this!
Posted: 6/29/22 at 6:40pm
I REALLY wanted to love this but instead found myself just enjoying it. My biggest gripe was with the book, and I think my issues with some of the dialogue and the way the high school scenes were presented might go away on a second viewing knowing that that’s the direction the show went in.
I’ve loved a lot of the songs Elyssa Samsel and Kate Anderson wrote for Central Park so I was expecting to really like the music and I did. It’s definitely one of the strong points of the show in my opinion. The strongest is the set which when I walked in looked like just a big screen, but the way everything is done is great. The cast was also really great, it’s a show where everyone gets their moment. Jake David Smith was the standout as Oliver and Aubrey Matalon in for Delilah was amazing too.
There were some VERY noticeable lighting & sound issues, but this was only their 5th preview so not a big deal.
Today was one of the “talkbacks”, I haven’t attended many but I wouldn’t really describe it as that? Jody Picoult talked about the history of the book/show and then did a short Q&A. They also were handing butterfly pins out afterwards.
The first question asked was “why isn’t this on Broadway,” and Jody Picoult answered that there IS hope for Broadway and obviously said that it would depend on the success of this run. Interestingly though she mentioned that they’ll be recording a cast album in early August (and it was supposed to be earlier if not for their COVID issues the past few weeks).
If anyone is interested in hearing some of the music, they recorded 6 songs with the pre-COVID cast which are out as an EP
Updated On: 6/29/22 at 06:40 PM
Posted: 6/29/22 at 7:28pm
Apparently Aubrey just turned 21 today - and it sounds like she is killing it in her brief stint as Delilah!
If Broadway really is the hope for this title, I’d think most of the cast would transfer… but I would like to see Carolee Carmello as Grace / Queen Maureen. Nothing against Murney, but when I first heard “Start Again Tomorrow” I kept hearing Carmello in my head. She’d sound beautiful.
Posted: 6/29/22 at 7:55pm
We saw the 4th preview of this on Tuesday night. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and were impressed by the understudy for Delilah, Aubrey. Vicki Lewis, mask and all, was hilarious and a standout.
We came into the show knowing nothing about the book - I had received the code and thought. "Why not?" The story was clever, easy to follow, and touching.
As others have mentioned, there were some lighting issues - especially with the spots on Aubrey.
We thought the music and lyrics were very good, although we didn't really enjoy the "Chemistry" Song - not sure if it was the music, staging, or the way it was sung/delivered.
We have already booked a repeat visit for after the show opens, and are bringing our friends and their two high school girls. Hoping this sells well and finds success.
Posted: 6/29/22 at 10:29pm
Someone should ask Jodi Picoult at another one of her endless talkbacks why the program says this thing takes place "Just before the pandemic of 2020” when that has nothing whatsoever to do with the show.
Posted: 6/30/22 at 10:38am
Saw this last night (got a rush ticket through TodayTix) and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think my expectations were pretty low because it sounded so cheesy/corny, but I ended up having a good time. I enjoyed the score - it wasn't anything ground breaking, but the songs were fun and catchy.
My main issue with it was that it didn't feel like it had quite figured out what they wanted the tone to be and/or who they're targeting in terms of audience. It feels like they were aiming for something along the lines of Dear Evan Hansen or Mean Girls where it was aiming for high schoolers but could also be viewable by adults, but some of Between the Lines felt like it was a bit too juvenile for high schoolers/teens, but then there was also a strong strain of bite/edge to it (I assume to appeal to the adults) so it was a bit strange to me. Like it kind of felt like a mashup (in terms of tone) between Frozen and Mean Girls.
Still - there were moments I enjoyed so much much - the mermaids, Inner Thoughts, the Mr Darcy librarian, were a few. I kind of found myself much more interested in the side characters and their moments/plot points than the "love story" between two main characters.
I thought the production quality was really high - the set, costumes and the projections, etc were really strong. I agree with the person is that they really put money into this and it shows.
Overall - I enjoyed this show. I think with some tweaks it could be something really special and cool.
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