CHICKEN & BISCUITS Previews- Page 8

[adotburr]

Posted: 10/8/21 at 9:48am

Dollypop said: "TheSassySam said: "I would really love to see this show, but will be in town a few days after it closes. Any chance we may get an extension?"



I'm pretty sure that Circle-in-the-Square has another show booked into it already.

"

American Buffalo just announced a limited engagement beginning March 2022 at Circle in the Square. 

[BIG BALONEY]

Posted: 10/8/21 at 10:00am

The show had a 2:10. running time and it needed an intermission. It got a standing ovation because everyone's butt was hurting. Not a great show but passable and it's been done in many ways on tv and movies before. Tyler Perry has nothing to worry about, he's still on top.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 10/9/21 at 1:47pm

Fri night, sold out crowd, sro.....lots of late comers.

Adorable. We really enjoyed this, perhaps not as much as others, but a fun night.

Yes, clocking in at more than 2 intermissi9nless hours was a bit much, and I dont see a lot of time being shaved off with tighter timing....but I do think some bits could be trimmed.

I really loved the church/audience response aspect...it added a layer to this white girl's enjoyment. It was seldom distracting or too much.

As to Michael Urie's character as written....I thought they overused his Jewishness unneccessarily....esp for someone that wasn't actively/religiously Jewish. Just seemed lots of it could have been scrapped.

I also found some of the staging to be overly awkward, as if the director didn't have any experience with thrust stage blocking. Some of it was awkwardly presentational/unnatural.

Other than those quibbles, we really enjoyed our evening, as did the nicely diverse audience. (Or so it seemed.)

[BwayStarlette]

Posted: 10/9/21 at 4:04pm

I thought it was super engaging and fun. Too long though. But really funny with some great moments.  And I LOVE Michael Urie :) 

[Dollypop]

Posted: 10/9/21 at 5:03pm

FYI: Michael Urie does read the BWW message boards

[dramamama611]

Posted: 10/9/21 at 7:02pm

And? Did anyone say anything disparaging about him?

[Dollypop]

Posted: 10/9/21 at 7:34pm

I wasn't saying anyone had. Just stating that he lurks here.

Sorry if I was misinderstood.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 10/9/21 at 11:36pm

(With apologies and all due respect to Mr. Urie, if he reads this - I respect you and your co-stars as artists. But having said that...)

I very much did NOT enjoy this. I don't mind a silly, lighthearted comedy. I don't need everything to be high art. I just didn't find it funny in the slightest. I laughed maybe twice the whole performance, and even then not very enthusiastically. Everything struck me as very low-hanging and old hat. And the 2+ hour runtime felt interminable long to me. 

I went with a group of 4 total. 2 of us hated it, the other 2 enjoyed it. And the audience overall was absolutely loving it. Which is genuinely great! Wish I had been a part of that. In that sense, it reminded me of the experience of seeing "Getting the Band Back Together."

Got rush this morning - very easy. Nobody really started lining up until just before 10:00 - and even then it was only a few of us. $29 was a great deal - like 2013 rush prices! Seats were in the section closest to the doors, toward the back, but not all the way. The house was pretty full, with only a few scattered empty seats, and the occasional group of 2-4 empty. 

Updated On: 10/9/21 at 11:36 PM

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 10/10/21 at 2:14am

OK I already started writing this post and then accidentally somehow lost it and it’s really late here so I’m gonna try to keep this quick so I can pass out in bed.

So it wasn’t too long ago I was fretting on here that I didn’t know when I would be able to get back to Broadway and that it might be 2023. Well to my surprise I was here this weekend. How that happened could be its own thread but suffice to say I will do just about anything for Madonna including booking a last minute Friday flight and hotel using miles & points and culminating in marching the streets of Harlem after 2:00 a.m. on Saturday with Madonna & Jon Batiste and about 200 others singing Like A Prayer.

But I digress…

So my friend came in from New Jersey on Saturday. Took me a while to sufficiently recover from being up so late and he didn’t make it in time to make a matinee anyway. But we still still managed to see two shows. American Utopia (my choice) at 5:00. And then Chicken & Biscuits (his choice) at 8:00.

For Chicken & Biscuits, my friend clued me into the Digital lottery. I ended up winning before he got notified so I’m not sure if I ever asked him if he ever found out if he had also won, but we bought two tickets with my win for $33 each. Seats D411 & D413.

For American Utopia, we went through the TKTS booth at Times Square. Ended up with really good seats in row L right orchestra for $85 each plus fees. There were tickets that were about $20 more but I’m happy that we were sitting a little further back then what the seats would’ve been for the more expensive tickets as I think they were like row D but they were extreme side seats maybe.

I’m not really gonna say too much about either show other than to say that I found American Utopia to be transformative, transporting, cathartic, meaningful and joyful. My friend who really is not as familiar with David Byrne or the Talking Heads and only knew three of the songs in the show really enjoyed it and said that he was glad that we had gone. And as you can tell, I really loved it. I laughed and I cried. And having already seen the filmed production on HBO did nothing to rob it of its power for me. If anything I felt like being more familiar with some of the songs helped me.

So now for Chicken & Biscuits. I really had a good time. It’s definitely broad comedy. But I really enjoyed the performances. I will say that our seats were extreme side seats in the equivalent of left orchestra. We were the last two seats against the curtain or the wall. If you’ve been to the show you’ll know what I mean by the curtain. Didn’t miss anything meaningful, but they definitely weren’t ideal seats but I don’t feel like we missed anything much. Just some entrances and some facial reactions mainly. Plus for $33 you can’t complain. My friend and I agree that it felt like a better written Tyler Perry movie if it was a play. (As an aside: My friend reminded me that Medea started out in plays before she was a character in movies). That might seem like an insult depending on how you feel about Tyler Perry movies (I’m not a fan), but I did enjoy this and we both agree that we are glad it’s on Broadway. As others have mentioned, it could use some trimming. It’s a little long for a show with no intermission. But nothing that was interminable. I chuckled a lot.

Having seen the play now, I don’t think there’s a lot of sense in getting upset about how characters are characterized since the play traffics in some pretty broad stereotypes of all the characters.

If I could’ve seen one more show while I was here it would be Caroline, or Change but sadly I leave tomorrow.

Lastly, a comment about the audiences. Of course David Byrne was bound to bring in people that are not maybe naturally people that go to the theater. I don’t know if something has changed in me during the pandemic or if it was just because of the concert nature of the show, but it didn’t bother me much when people randomly got up and started dancing during the show or when I saw people using their cameras to take a photo or a short video but overall that was pretty rare except at the one point in the show where he encourages us all to get up and start dancing. That was an amazing experience after this last 19 months of mostly hoarding up in my home.

For both shows, I was impressed with the amount of mask adherence. If I did see somebody (very rare) with their mask down, they quickly brought it back up on their own.

Aw, Broadway. I’ve missed ya. I suspect there will be tears tomorrow when it comes time to leave.

Updated On: 10/10/21 at 02:14 AM

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 10/10/21 at 9:01pm

I very much did NOT enjoy this. I don't mind a silly, lighthearted comedy. I don't need everything to be high art. I just didn't find it funny in the slightest. Ilaughed maybe twice the whole performance, and even then not very enthusiastically. Everything struck me as very low-hanging and old hat. And the 2+ hour runtime felt interminable long to me.

I went with a group of 4 total. 2 of us hated it, the other 2 enjoyed it.And the audience overall was absolutely loving it. Which is genuinely great! Wish I had been a part of that. In that sense, it reminded me of the experience of seeing "Getting the Band Back Together."

Got rush this morning - very easy. Nobody really started lining up until just before 10:00 - and even then it was only a few of us. $29 was a great deal - like 2013 rush prices! Seats were in the section closest to the doors, toward the back, but not all the way. The house was pretty full, with only a few scattered empty seats, and the occasional group of 2-4 empty."

Wow, thanks for that review J. It was not a million paragraphs, which is appreciated by me. My favorite thing you said? 

In that sense, it reminded me of the experience of seeing "Getting the Band Back Together."

That is NOT a compliment!!! 

 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 10/10/21 at 9:05pm

Miles2Go2, I didn't enjoy the show nearly as much as you did, but as always, I enjoyed reading your post. Always welcome to read something so authentic and your genuine enthusiasm for your experiences always shines through, which is worth reading at any length.

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 10/10/21 at 9:32pm

MemorableUserName said: "Miles2Go2, I didn't enjoy the show nearly as much as you did, but as always, I enjoyed reading your post. Always welcome to read something so authentic and your genuine enthusiasm for your experiences always shines through, which is worth reading at any length."

Thank you! 

[JBroadway]

Posted: 10/10/21 at 9:32pm

@Sutton

What’s that old Mark Twain quote about “I would’ve written a shorter letter, but I didn’t have the time”? That’s how I feel on this board. I know you don’t like it, but to each their own.

I guess this time I had “enough time” for a shorter post. Maybe because I was trying not to be too unkind toward the show, since I can tell a lot of people are enjoying it more than I did.

And yeah, on that note, the “Getting the Band Back Together” comparison wasn’t meant as a compliment, for the exact reason you’re thinking

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 10/10/21 at 9:36pm

Haha. I appreciate you, your thinking, and your jokes. Always.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 10/10/21 at 11:47pm

It was cute and I had a great time. The wrong running time and no interval annoyed me. But with the effect of the pandemic and unrest in the world, I found it a welcome distraction.

I don’t think the reviews need to be “raves”, but I do wish they were more supportive.

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 10/11/21 at 3:12am

dramamama611 said: "
Adorable. We really enjoyed this, perhaps not as much as others, but a fun night.

Yes, clocking in at more than 2 intermissi9nless hours was a bit much, and I dont see a lot of time being shaved off with tighter timing....but I do think some bits could be trimmed.

I really loved the church/audience response aspect...it added a layer to this white girl's enjoyment. It was seldom distracting or too much.

As to Michael Urie's character as written....I thought they overused his Jewishness unneccessarily....esp for someone that wasn't actively/religiously Jewish. Just seemed lots of it could have been scrapped.
"

i think adorable is the perfect way of putting it, and i couldnt agree more re it needing an intermission. Re Logan's Judaism- I'm not sure I think it should be scrapped but yes, they take it nowhere. If we are mentioning it/focusing on it, I guess i expected it to come into focus a bit and then it.... didn't. 

Still had fun and hope this gets a long run (Despite the weak reviews)

[Dollypop]

Posted: 10/11/21 at 3:02pm

A question for my Jewish friends:

I've taught with many Jewish people and whenever we attended the wake of a Christian co-worker, the Jews would respectfully sit in the back row of the funeral home--far away from the casket. Sometimes they would offer their condolences to the family from across the room if the family members were near the deceased.

In this play, Urie's character gets close enough to the casket to peer into it. Is this a faux pas in staging?

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 10/11/21 at 5:15pm

Dollypop said: "A question for my Jewish friends:

I've taught with many Jewish people and whenever we attended the wake of a Christian co-worker, the Jews would respectfully sit in the back row of the funeral home--far away from the casket. Sometimes they would offer their condolences to the family from across the room if the family members were near the deceased.

In this play, Urie's character gets close enough to the casket to peer into it. Is this a faux pas in staging?"

Yes, the whole thing was wrong--Jews also aren't supposed to attend funerals in a church (especially if it's an actual church service), or enter a church at all if they're observant, just like they're not supposed to look at the face of a dead person. I'm thinking there might have been a line early on in the introductory scene with his boyfriend that made it sound like he wasn't observant, which might have been their way of getting around it? If not, then, yeah, it was all wrong (and they probably shouldn't have emphasized the fact that he was Jewish so much.)

[sassylash3s]

Posted: 10/11/21 at 5:25pm

I saw it over the weekend, and I believe Logan says he’s never been to a synagogue at all, and if that’s the case it’s not so far-fetched to me that he would not have kept these customs around Christian church funerals.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 10/11/21 at 5:38pm

"Jews also aren't supposed to attend funerals in a church (especially if it's an actual church service), or enter a church at all if they're observant, just like they're not supposed"

Wow! The rabbi in our town regularly attends Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve at one of the Catholic Churches. He sings along with the choir, too!

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 10/11/21 at 5:57pm

Um, observant Jews have no non Jewish friends? So they can NEVER attend a funeral if they have people in their lives that don't observe their religion?

Cool. 

[JBroadway]

Posted: 10/11/21 at 6:29pm

I've never heard of any of the rules, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's a real thing for ultra-conservative Jew . But for reform Jews, who I'd guess make up a majority of Jews in the US, I doubt any of rules are taken seriously. I've never known a Jewish person in my life to refuse to enter a church, or attend a funeral at a church. 

And it's made quite clear in the script that the the character isn't observant. I don't think that's just "a way around it" - it's just a truth about the character. It's fairly common. And I think making the character Jewish was an elegant way of showing that, not only is this character white, but he also wouldn't be familiar with Christian traditions. 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 10/11/21 at 6:32pm

"Jews also aren't supposed to attend funerals in a church (especially if it's an actual church service), or enter a church at all if they're observant, just like they're not supposed"

Huh?? We’re Jews, not Vampires.

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 10/11/21 at 6:38pm

Jordan Catalano said: ""Jews also aren't supposed to attend funerals in a church (especially if it's an actual church service), or enter a church at all if they're observant, just like they're not supposed"

Huh?? We’re Jews, not Vampires."

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/4091056/jewish/Why-Cant-Jews-Attend-Church-Funerals.htm

(But even the above notes,"The above is meant as a general outline of how Jewish law approaches the question of entering a church and attending a non-Jewish funeral. However, each situation is individual and nuanced, and there are many factors to take into consideration. It is thus important to always consult with a competent rabbi who can advise you regarding your specific situation."



 

 

Updated On: 10/11/21 at 06:38 PM

[dramamama611]

Posted: 10/11/21 at 6:47pm

I was raised conservatively and never heard any of this. None of it. I would say that hasn't been followed by most Jews except, possibly, by Orthodox and Hasidic Jews. There is no was this character would have had any sort of reference to anything different.

I'm nearly 60 and know my parents have attended many a funeral in churches.