CAROUSEL (2018) Previews — Page 18

GeorgeandDot said: "JAS, look at the response on Show Score, Twitter, Instagram, etc. It's pretty positive, especially when compared to the reviews on here. This wouldn't be the first time this board has given a show terrible reviews, but it turned out to be pretty good and went on to have a healthy run."

I don’t know hon . I think this chat board has been fairly aquarate. In particular With Wizzer and call me Jorge keeping the vibe honest .

I agree with this assessment. ^ A lot of general audience members are satisfied with good singing and pretty sets when it comes to revivals of old musicals, and aren't necessarily concerned with whether the production does anything "new" or "different" with the material. That's not to say this is a bad thing; it's just a difference in expectations.

Yes, it may have had a "workshop" but not in the sense that say a new show has one or a less experienced team would have had. I guarantee you with O'Brien, he staged it and almost nothing was changed unless it came from O'Brien himself. Whether he's had a major hit in the last decade or not has nothing to do with it. He's a talented legend in the theater and he's trusted....is Carousel Revival a mistep, yes. But if the show had had a real workshop, lots of this would have been questioned by the producers and changed. O'Brien is too big for that. The trusted him 100 percent because that's why they hired him.

Updated On: 3/8/18 at 09:59 PM

Lots of people...you don't get to where he is with out being really talented and being able to handle a show like a big broadway musical. And not everyone could put together half of what he does mind you. I agree with you, Charlie wasn't great, but I think he saved that from being a total flop which it wasn't. He inherited that from the west end team that basically dumped it when the director got a film gig. There's lot that people probably don't know about why that show was a miss, that isn't just O'Brien's fault.

Someone in a Tree2 said: "Plus O'Brien did a terrific job with THE NANCE only 5 years ago. Though that show may not have recouped, it was very well received, was up for a number of Tonys, winning 3."

The Nance was produced by Lincoln Center Theater, so it didn't really matter if it recouped or not.

Also, it is not a question of Jack O'Brien having an unlucky streak. It's a question of him proving over and over again that he is a total hack who got lucky literally once sixteen years ago. I said it. His recent track record as a director is downright pathetic, and he's shown no sign of intelligence, insight, or craft outside the successes that others guaranteed for him.

Updated On: 3/9/18 at 01:30 AM

I wonder whether Hairspray was more of a team effort, with plenty of other strong voices in the room?

I gave him the benefit of the doubt with Love Never Dies because ALW is almost impossible to handle. But his Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, Sound of Music and Carousel rest squarely with him...

Just posted this morning:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuWkYugDL_c

40 minutes(!) of press reels from the 1994 production.

newintown said: ""I wonder whether Hairspray was more of a team effort, with plenty of other strong voices in the room?"

Well, the writers were alive and involved, so I would guess that helped..."

Also keep in mind that Rob Marshall was involved with the early development stages of Hairspray before he had to leave to make the film version of Chicago.

The way Michael Hayden puts Sally Murphy onto the carousel horse in that production during the overture Is everything, much like the King/Anna tension before Shall We Dance? Sizzling!

Also, didn't realize Phoebe's psychiatrist boyfriend Roger (Friends) played Jigger in that production (Fisher Stevens?)

Updated On: 3/9/18 at 10:28 AM

Goodness, if those clips didn't give me chills!!