I went last night. There was a stop about 20 minutes in. Lasted about 3 minutes. Nothing big. I guess some set pieces didn't come up in time.
My scattered thoughts:
The show was quite boring and pales in comparison to the movie. The set was nice but distracting. The side balconies were rarely used and I wondered why they were there at all. The transitions were big and flashy, but do people go to the theatre for the scene changes? Doubtful when the rest of the show is so dull.
The acting was stale and the only time things got interesting were when the actors started to closely impersonate their movie counterparts. The actors in the movie are so closely connected to these roles it's hard to imagine anyone else playing them. The moment Karen Ziemba made her entrance I thought, "Oh right! Tracey Ullman was in this movie!"...because it sounded just like a Tracey Ullman role. Woody Allen allows his actors to take liberties with his script thus allowing the actors to make the roles their own. I think this is detrimental in trying to adapt his work to new actors and a new medium.
I did wish that Helen was played by Patti LuPone. I'm certainly no LuPone fanatic but someone with her enormous personality could have taken this role (and maybe even this show) to greater heights by breaking through the Diane Weist mold. I think Mazzie is still getting her sea legs but again...she only shone when impersonating Diane Weist in the "Don't speak..." lines.
I found the hot dog song to be a rare highlight because it was something I didn't remember from the movie (mind you, I haven't seen the movie since I was a kid but it was surprising how much I remembered as I was watching this performance). This was the one point in the evening where the audience seemed to perk up.
Betsy Wolfe was underused which is understandable in an ensemble cast of this size. I think we all wanted more from her as her "Baby" number had some real spark without any flashy lights and props.
In general, wanted this to be better, but it's not. It will be a great piece for regional theater so investors will make their money back eventually should this fail to stay in town. I was in the orchestra section and there were many empty seats.
I think Stroman is good at creating flashy numbers and giving us spectacle, but there's seemingly little thought behind it. It all comes across as homage to the golden days of the Ziegfield Follies. That's great and all, but it would be nice to have a greater driving force. I think that can be said for a lot of what is coming to Broadway these days. Does anyone agree?
P.S. Zach Braff was out but cheers to his understudy, Andy Jones, who gave a smooth and confident performance. I was very impressed by how seamlessly he handled this role. Mr. Braff was not missed.
Updated On: 4/2/14 at 10:25 AM
