CAROUSEL (2018) Previews- Page 18

[DAME]

Posted: 3/8/18 at 4:42pm

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 .  

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 3/8/18 at 4:42pm

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."

This would also not be the first time that this board didn't see eye-to-eye with general audiences, nor the last.

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 3/8/18 at 4:50pm

^Yeah. The reviews on this board have been wonderfully honest and valid, as they usually are, but sometimes the general audience will really disagree with the opinions of this board. I've seen critics disagree too. I'm interested to see if this is an absolute flop or if the critics and the general audience will take well to this. From what I understand, the audience response in the theatre has been pretty enthusiastic. I'm just intetested by just how incredibly negative the reviews here have been, while elsewhere they're positive with some lukewarm reviews mixed in.

[raddersons]

Posted: 3/8/18 at 5:13pm

^ I think that has a lot to do with expectation. I think people here don't want to see just another Carousel revival, they want to see something a little more cutting edge and modern, especially since it's a piece that handles such a delicate topic. However, general audiences are probably fine with seeing just another Carousel. 

[Elfuhbuh]

Posted: 3/8/18 at 5:23pm

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. 

[newintown]

Posted: 3/8/18 at 7:16pm

“General audiences” tend to think anything on Broadway is great, partly because they paid an enormous sum to see it, and partly because they see so little live theatre, it always excites them. And that’s fine. And dull.

Posted: 3/8/18 at 9:59pm

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

[Dancingthrulife2]

Posted: 3/8/18 at 10:18pm

standingovation79 said: "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."

But if you consider his recent work on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I wonder who are the producers that would put so much faith in him.

Updated On: 3/10/18 at 10:18 PM

Posted: 3/8/18 at 10:26pm

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]

Posted: 3/8/18 at 11:31pm

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. For us it was one of the true triumphs of that season.

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 3/8/18 at 11:42pm

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.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 3/9/18 at 1:26am

This is so much worse than I ever imagined. An unmitigated waste. With a cool poster.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 3/9/18 at 1:30am

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

[NOWaWarning]

Posted: 3/9/18 at 5:11am

 I think that has a lot to do with expectation. I think people here don't want to see just another Carousel revival, they want to see something a little more cutting edge and modern, especially since it'sa piece that handles such a delicate topic. However, general audiences are probably fine with seeing just another Carousel.

Really? I, for one, wasn't hoping for a cutting edge or modern Carousel. I just wanted a well acted, well sung, well directed production with lush design. And, you know, the full score. 

 

[devonian.t]

Posted: 3/9/18 at 7:16am

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...

[newintown]

Posted: 3/9/18 at 7:44am

"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...

[WaffleOnWheels]

Posted: 3/9/18 at 8:13am

Just posted this morning: 

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

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

[WaffleOnWheels]

Posted: 3/9/18 at 8:13am

Double Post

Updated On: 3/9/18 at 08:13 AM

[theatregoer3]

Posted: 3/9/18 at 8:16am

Speaking of Nicholas Hytner, I’m halfway though his book, “Balancing Acts”, and it’s fantastic! He writes all about his time at the NT. It’s such a great read and I highly recommend it. He doesn’t drag you through his childhood or home life like other theater autobiographies. He knows what we’re here for and he delivers.

Highly recommend!

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 3/9/18 at 8:45am

Beautiful b-roll! And the actual Carousel is jaw-dropping!

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 3/9/18 at 8:45am

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.

 

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 3/9/18 at 9:23am

WaffleOnWheels said: "Just posted this morning:

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

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

Thank you so much for posing! This production looks truly beautiful!

 

[Musicaldudepeter]

Posted: 3/9/18 at 10:28am

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

[Kad]

Posted: 3/9/18 at 10:40am

Very young Taye Diggs and Brian D'Arcy James can be seen in the ensemble.

And 23-year-old Patrick Wilson was Billy on the tour.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 3/9/18 at 11:25am

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