CAROUSEL Closing 9/16- Page 3
CAROUSEL Closing 9/16
#50CAROUSEL Closing 9/16
Posted: 8/7/18 at 11:12pm
DottieD'Luscia said: "I last saw this production on Saturday evening, July 14th. The front and rear mezzanines were quite empty. I knew then the run of this show was questionable."
Yeah I saw the show on July 28th and saw lots of empty seats in rear mezz, side mezz, and extreme side orch. :/ I was still hoping it would last until the holidays.
From talking to friends who have seen multiple productions of the show, this one seems to be very ballet dance heavy.
#51CAROUSEL Closing 9/16
Posted: 8/8/18 at 12:04am
I'm genuinely shocked. The way they were pricing this show, and holding so many seats aside for Premium, you'd think it was doing gangbusters. Clearly they shot themselves in the foot and their advance was going to drop precipitously come Labor Day.
"Hey little girls, look at all the men in shiny shirts and no wives!" - Jackie Hoffman, Xanadu, 19 Feb 2008
AntV
Broadway Star Joined: 12/23/12
Olivia11
Stand-by Joined: 7/30/16
#53CAROUSEL Closing 9/16
Posted: 8/8/18 at 1:25am
I understand those that love Carousel and were disapointed by this production (or downright despised it)...I really do, I would be very unhappy if one of my favorites was mistreated, but hopefully this helps.
From someone who had never seen a production of Carousel, I’m glad it existed. There were flaws for sure: questionable direction, poor set design, odd costume choices, etc., but there were some beautiful vocal performances (Joshua Henry, I’m looking at you, as well as Jessie Mueller and others); a wonderful full orchestra; outstanding choreography and dance performances (yep, I acknowledge it was balletic in nature and a bit disjointed with the book, but wonderful nonetheless); and Lindsay Mendez.
I enjoyed the evening and my first introduction to this work. I understand it could be better, but I’m glad I got a chance to see it. It is now part of my theater fabric and I occasionally bust out the Carousel Waltz in my car. I’m engaged. Without this production, I would have no experience with it. In this case, partially great is better than non-existent.
#54CAROUSEL Closing 9/16
Posted: 8/8/18 at 3:12am
I haven't been on this board in probably two years, and quickly logged on when I read about "Carousel's" demise. I saw a revival about 50 years ago and adored the show. However, if they started chopping scenes and numbers, it's unsurprising that the show didn't last. I hope "My Fair Lady" has a solid run -- it's another show that I'm hoping to see when I make it back to NYC, probably next year. At least "Hamilton" will still be running -- I assume 
-- and, hopefully, the original POTO production. I've seen the POTO tour four times now, and I just can't warm up to it, even with Derrick Davis's extraordinary performance about a year ago. I suspect that directors of new productions sometimes make changes just to make changes, and not because they really improve the show. That, IMO, is the flaw in the Phantom tour, and it sounds like it may also be the problem in Carousel.
Audrey, the Phantom Phanatic, who nonetheless would rather be Jean Valjean, who knew how to make lemonade out of lemons.
Ravenclaw
Leading Actor Joined: 9/16/17
#55CAROUSEL Closing 9/16
Posted: 8/8/18 at 3:47am
This company included some of the most talented actors, singers, and dancers on the New York stage. First they're saddled with an amateurish production, and now they're out of work. I can't say I'm surprised that word of mouth caught up to this. Jack O'Brien, who used to be one of Broadway's greatest directors, turned in work on an amateur level. From misunderstanding what the piece is about and insisting on unnecessary cuts to his incredibly awkward placement of bodies in space, he failed at nearly every level of the process. This production should have been fantastic, considering all the people involved, and it's a shame that the wrong person was at the helm of it all.
I had major problems with Rob Ashford's production at the Lyric Opera, but at least Ashford understood and respected the piece.
7thbighero
Stand-by Joined: 11/9/15
#56CAROUSEL Closing 9/16
Posted: 8/8/18 at 7:48am
Their social media’s has been very quiet about this for some reason. Nothing from their Facebook or Instagram
#57CAROUSEL Closing 9/16
Posted: 8/8/18 at 8:23am
^They had posted something on their Facebook page last night, but it looks like it's gone now.
Hey Dottie!
Did your colleagues enjoy the cake even though your cat decided to sit on it? ~GuyfromGermany
Updated On: 8/8/18 at 08:23 AM
#58CAROUSEL Closing 9/16
Posted: 8/8/18 at 8:35am
I find it odd that this isn't on BroadwayWorld's "latest headlines."
The production was OK, I saw it back-to-back with My Fair Lady on a Wednesday in March and found it forgettable.
rg7759
Leading Actor Joined: 5/6/16
#59CAROUSEL Closing 9/16
Posted: 8/8/18 at 9:34am
Explaining to producers: June had bust out all over sir and we just couldn't sustain it..
Loved the actors and the recording, but the good that will come from this is if the director is shunned for good.
Poconopanther
Understudy Joined: 3/31/16
#60CAROUSEL Closing 9/16
Posted: 8/8/18 at 9:40am
I saw the show two weeks ago. All of the stars (Lindsey, Jesse, Renee, Josh etc...) were truly amazing. I could have sat in my seat all night if the individuals would have continued. The dancing was great, but the voices were showstoppers!
The show itself, however, is an odd story. It’s too bad the second act didn’t work as well as the first, but it’s a tough show.
The individual performances were wonderful. It’s not likely this much “Broadway Royalty” will share the same stage again. If you haven’t seen it... treat yourself to Carousel before Sept 16.
Understudy Joined: 12/31/69
#61CAROUSEL Closing 9/16
Posted: 8/8/18 at 9:49amNot surprised by this. But I did think it would go till the holidays. This production had a lot of flaws, but I’ll always be grateful for the fact that it brought all of these incredible performers onstage together and made Lindsay Mendez the star she deserved to be.
JennH
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/14/13
#62CAROUSEL Closing 9/16
Posted: 8/8/18 at 10:13am
I also thought it would last longer and be a victim of the usual slew of January closings, so this shocks me just a tad.
I saw it on a comp a couple weeks ago and didn’t hate it nearly as much as I was expecting to but I’m also not overly familiar with every scene, song, line, etc. in this as much as others are so I guess I went in with not a whole lot of expectations. I wouldn’t have been able to tell you where the cuts are, because because that’s how unfamiliar I am with it.
I wasn’t wholly moved by it like I feel I should be, but Jessie unexpectedly broke me at Billy’s death because she knows not to play it just as mourning over him but also as a new widow who’s thrown into a tizzy with so much anxiety over what’s she’s gonna do next as it was still an era of female oppression. But that was the only moving moment for me which is sad considering something else which is something I’m surprised no one seems to have mentioned...They have RENÉE.QUEEN.OF.OPERA.FLEMING at their disposal and they didn’t give her the bigger, interpolated ending of Never Walk Alone?? That’s bascially the 11 o clock number in this beastly show and they didn’t.give.her.that. I heard the cast recording of it and hoped beyond hope the show was different but nope, they stuck with the anticlimactic ending...
Overall yes this was very amateurishly directed, and relied WAY too much on heavy dancing for a show that no one come to see the dancing for. People see this because they want to hear these glorious songs sung gloriously and be moved by that. The dancing didn’t fit here. Sad to see it go possibly too soon, but it sounds like the better decision.
#63CAROUSEL Closing 9/16
Posted: 8/8/18 at 10:13am
Sad that such a momentous musical got the short shrift this go-round, but oh my god Lindsay Mendez was an unfairly funny Carrie.
#64CAROUSEL Closing 9/16
Posted: 8/8/18 at 10:38amI hope in like 5 years LCT gets a hold of the rights, because I’d just love to see a bart sher interpretation.
In our millions, in our billions, we are most powerful when we stand together. TW4C unwaveringly joins the worldwide masses, for we know our liberation is inseparably bound.
Signed,
Theater Workers for a Ceasefire
https://theaterworkersforaceasefire.com/statement
#65CAROUSEL Closing 9/16
Posted: 8/8/18 at 10:44am
Call_me_jorge said: "I hope in like 5 years LCT gets a hold of the rights, because I’d just love to see a bart sher interpretation."
Why? LCT did it once before and it served them well. They have no need to do it again. Also, Bartlett Sher is a very wrong choice for Carousel. I know he's deemed the master interpreter of Golden Age musicals, and most of his revivals have been triumphs, but not all Golden Age musicals are built alike.
"Sing the words, Patti!!!!" Stephen Sondheim to Patti LuPone.
#66CAROUSEL Closing 9/16
Posted: 8/8/18 at 1:52pmWhat are the possibilities of this touring? I’m assuming it would probably be non-eq, but despite the reviews I’d like to see this colossal mess of a production.
In our millions, in our billions, we are most powerful when we stand together. TW4C unwaveringly joins the worldwide masses, for we know our liberation is inseparably bound.
Signed,
Theater Workers for a Ceasefire
https://theaterworkersforaceasefire.com/statement
FranklinDickson2018
Stand-by Joined: 4/6/18
#68CAROUSEL Closing 9/16
Posted: 8/8/18 at 3:25pm
Goodness knows I am no fan of Miss Fleming (especially in any kind of popular music), and I didn't even like the "extra" stuff they gave for her to sing eg "What's the Use of Wondrin" and the end of "You'll Never Walk Alone" which I didn't care for from the recording. Just my opinion.
But I am not sure what the poster is referring to here. I have seen at least 1/2 dozen productions of "Carousel" and even appeared in it myself in a local production. I have never heard/seen of an "interpolated" ending of this song. Would like to know more. Maybe this is done in recent productions?
OP:
They have RENÉE.QUEEN.OF.OPERA.FLEMING at their disposal and they didn’t give her the bigger, interpolated ending of Never Walk Alone?? That’s bascially the 11 o clock number in this beastly show and they didn’t.give.her.that.
#69CAROUSEL Closing 9/16
Posted: 8/8/18 at 3:41pm
Am I the only one who can't believe that "Summer" isn't closing first? I thought for certain 'Carousel' would last longer than 'Summer' - even by a day.
#70CAROUSEL Closing 9/16
Posted: 8/8/18 at 4:10pm
My only complaint is that the closing is an evening performance, which makes a day trip from DC impossible.
Hey Dottie!
Did your colleagues enjoy the cake even though your cat decided to sit on it? ~GuyfromGermany
#71CAROUSEL Closing 9/16
Posted: 8/8/18 at 4:15pm
Poconopanther said: "I saw the show two weeks ago.All of the stars (Lindsey, Jesse, Renee, Josh etc...) were truly amazing. I could have sat in my seat all night if theindividuals would have continued. The dancing was great, but the voices were showstoppers!"
To me this is well captured on the recording. It's hard to believe this revival is such a fiasco when basically all of the performances on the cast recording are such high quality! I guess it's better heard and not seen, perhaps.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
jimmycurry01
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/28/05
#72CAROUSEL Closing 9/16
Posted: 8/8/18 at 4:15pm
ladypresent said: "Good call not bringing in the Lyric opera house of chicago production in..you know the one with actors who could actually act and have sexual and emotional tension? Laura Osnes and Steve Pasquale would (should) have been in this.
"
Yes, it was a good call. That production was tepid and dull. I'm not sure what chemistry you are speaking of. It was one of the biggest wastes of $125 I spent on a ticket. I have not seen the Broadway production, but I feel pretty confident that it could not have been much wors that the production at The Lyric.
#73CAROUSEL Closing 9/16
Posted: 8/8/18 at 4:40pm
David10086 said: "Am I the only one who can't believe that "Summer" isn't closing first? I thought for certain 'Carousel' would last longer than 'Summer' - even by a day."
I seriously thought Summer would close first. Last week they only made 46% of their potential gross and their %capacity was 59.8%. I'll be really surprised if they last past Carousel's closing.
OnBroadway4
Understudy Joined: 8/7/18
#74CAROUSEL Closing 9/16
Posted: 8/8/18 at 4:55pm
How awful are the partial view seats at the Imperial? I won a lottery ticket for Aladdin and was in Box 5 and the view was terrible. I could make out about 30% of the stage if that, with little to no view of the scenery further back. It was not worth the 30 bucks, I would have much rather been told how bad the seat was an opted to pay for a better seat.
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