CapnHook's quick thoughts on MERRY POPPINS (12/24)

[CapnHook]

Posted: 12/25/06 at 2:36am

- Disney's third-best show, after LION KING and AIDA.

- I liked that it was darker. My favorite number was "Temper, Temper."

- Bert walking the proscenium of the stage, while technically amazing, was way too obviously harnessed. Took away from the magic. For THAT, if we can see wires, DUMP it.

- Mary Poppins exit flying to the ceiling was amazing. Was sitting fourth row dead center Mezz. Perfect.

- Show should get a nod for Best Scenic Design, definitely. Lighting, too. Possibly costumes.

- Ashley Brown and Gavin Lee were amazing. Great energy from Gavin. Ashley IS Mary Poppins. Rest of the cast was good.

- The special effects were dazzling. I admit, I'm not even sure how some of them are done!

[pandajen14]

Posted: 12/25/06 at 3:09am

I really think the show deserves at least a nomination for best scenic design. Some of the "magic" they made happen on the stage was quite cool and showed a great amount of ingenuity.

I definitely agree with your assessment.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 12/25/06 at 3:48am

How do they do the proscenium thing? I always figured they did it the same way they did the car thing in CCBB.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 12/25/06 at 7:59am

Spoilers:

He's upside down in a harness.

[Princeton78]

Posted: 12/25/06 at 8:57am

You might want to add **SPOILERS** to the title of your thread for those of us who have not seen the show and now know about 2 of the biggest pieces of magic AND how they work.

Thanks.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 12/25/06 at 3:17pm

Oh. But does he walk up the proscenium and then around the top and back down? Or how does that work? Sorry, I know I won't be seeing the show anytime soon, so I don't care if it's ruined. You can PM me if you want, that way it won't ruin it for anyone else.

[BJC899]

Posted: 12/25/06 at 3:35pm

Spoiler ************************


A false wall is off-stage SL that is put in only for the walking bit. He is on a harness that is attached to the top of the stage. He is not really walking up the real proscenium, but rather a piece of wood that is off stage. He "walks" up that wall and then when he reaches the ceiling, he is taping on a piece wood (?) that moves WITH him as he is going across the top of the proscenium. This the basically where the harness is attached to. I felt it was too obvious, but a great effect.

Hope that made sense
Updated On: 12/25/06 at 03:35 PM

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 12/25/06 at 4:20pm

Don't worry, I noticed when I saw him do it in London.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 12/25/06 at 4:26pm

Oh well that's disappointing, but still a cool effect. Maybe in a couple years they'll be able to perfect it.

[boxers7]

Posted: 12/25/06 at 5:14pm

You should change the title of this thread to:
CapnHook quickly ruins MARY POPPINS (12/24) because that's essentially all you do.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 12/25/06 at 5:33pm

lmao

[WickedGeek28]

Posted: 12/25/06 at 5:34pm

If you don't want any spoilers, than don't read a review of the show. It's that simple.

[folkyboy]

Posted: 12/25/06 at 7:04pm

i feel the same way. you KNEW there could potentially be spolers in this by him talking about the show. quit being cheap and go see it!

[CapnHook]

Posted: 12/25/06 at 9:26pm

Oh no! I'm sorry I made you click on a thread that obviously discussed the show and would include specifics about what I saw!

Puh-lease. The only time a "review" thread should include a warning is to say that is DOESN'T have spoilers.

[Princeton78]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 3:51pm

"I feel the same way. you KNEW there could potentially be spolers in this by him talking about the show. quit being cheap and go see it!"

Now I don't have to.

"Oh no! I'm sorry I made you click on a thread that obviously discussed the show and would include specifics about what I saw!"

I can write a perfectly intelligent review of any show on Broadway right now and not include spoilers. Your post is comprised of a review that gives away several of the key magic effects that take place during the show. These are definately spoilers.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 12/27/06 at 4:35pm

No - the mechanics of a show aren't spoilers. Let's get that straight. Telling you specifics about the events of a show are spoilers, such as my saying that Bert climbs the proscenium of a stage. That being said, I knew full well I had included spoilers in my thread. I can control that. What I CAN'T control is your ability to make a judgement and click on the thread to read it.

I, too, can write a review without spoilers. And if I wanted to, I would have added a note saying "No spoilers" in the thread subject title.

The issue here is your stubborness in wanting to have a spoiler warning in my thread title. If anything written in my thread is preventing you from going to see the show, that is your problem, not mine. Frankly, I think that's foolish. Before I saw AVENUE Q I knew there were naked puppets doing sexual acts, but that didn't prevent me from seeing the show. You chose to click on the thread and read it. No one forced you.

Back in September there were test screenings of the film DREAMGIRLS. There were threads here which didn't include a spoiler warning. But they didn't need to. I was smart enough not to click on them. I wanted the film to be a total surprise. I never listened to any leaked music tracks. I stayed away from "review" threads. The only thing I saw were the trailers. And when I saw the film for the first time on November 15, everything was new to me. Nothing "spoiled." Achieved because I was smart enough to know what to read and not read on the internet.

[Princeton78]

Posted: 12/28/06 at 7:47am

Your review included information that should be saved for the theatre and would have been a lovely surprise for those of us who haven't seen it. That said, you should have included the word *Spoilers* in your title, then I would have known to not click on it. There's nothing stubborn about that. It's just common courtesy.

[boxers7]

Posted: 12/28/06 at 9:22am

Capn - I think the real problem here is YOUR stubbornness not to just take the few seconds and type SPOILERS. That's all you need to do. So then people who haven't seen the show don't need to read you telling BroadwayWorld that they should "dump" an effect. Cause I can just see Matthew Bourne pulling Gavin Lee aside tonight and saying, "Gavin, we've had a small issue. CapnHook from BroadwayWorld thinks we should dump the proscenium walk. So, I'll just come up with something new and we'll put it in tonight."