For the Broadway prodcution, does anyone know when the Lunt-Fontanne box office will open??
A Chorus Line revival played its final Broadway performance on August 17, 2008. The tour played its final performance on August 21, 2011. A new non-equity tour started in October 2012 played its final performance on March 23, 2013. Another non-equity tour launched on January 20, 2018. The tour ended its US run in Kansas City and then toured throughout Japan August & September 2018.
Anyone who did student rush... how many people rushed and how early did you show up to get tickets? You never know with these out of town shows what crowds will be like. If you could respond asap that would be great!!
I rushed the first preview and got there a little after 9am (the box office opened at 10) and was the last one in line to get tickets. The only reason why I was the last to get tickets was because there was a family that had been there since 4am that bought 8 of the 12 tickets. The guy in front of me got there 10 seconds before me. I'm going to assume people getting there at 4am is an extraordinary situation.
"Chicago is it's own incredible theater town right there smack down in the middle of the heartland. What a great city! I can see why Oprah likes to live there!" - Dee Hoty :-D
I saw the show on 11/15 and really enjoyed it. Bebe Neuwirth and Nathan Lane were outstanding, (as I would expect). The real surprise for me was seeing Krysta Rodriguez. I have seen her in four different shows now and she just keeps getting better and better. I loved her portrayal of Wednesday. Pugsley's hair bothered me. He was not wearing the wig that is shown in the picture. It looked very much like Adam's real hair.
Additional cutain SPOILER!!!!
SPOILER . . . . . . .
There is another element in addition to what was previously posted about the curtain. At the beginning of the show, just after the overture, a hand comes out of the center split curtain and opens the curtain. Of course you wait to see what character is opening the curtain. But there is nothing but the hand, Thing was opening the curtain. It was very clever and very funny.
Interesting... the musical claims not to be influenced by the movies, yet Nathan Lane has (wisely) adopted Raul Julia's pan-European accent from the film series.
While the opening number is wonderful and a few other songs are appropriate, there are a few too many clunkers here for this score to be considered anything beyond serviceable. Krysta's first song sounds like a lame WICKED cutout, Bebe's "Second Banana" MUST go and Grandmama and Pugsley really don't make any impact and seem to be in a different show altogether... that being said, Carolee and Mann are quite good and Mann's Squid number is well done and a lot of fun. Lane's big second act song is good but needs lyric work None of the score lives up to the opening number, sadly, and the Finale is atrocious.
All this being said, it is Lippa's best score besides his WILD PARTY, but, like that show, it has two great songs and a lot of garbage (though there is less obvious garbage here, just uninteresting dreck).
The whole score has a been-there-done-that feel to it and sounds like something Kander & Ebb wrote a few songs for on a long weekend and gave over to Stephen Schwartz to rewrite and supplement with new songs. The opening number is fab and totally original though... too bad little of the rest of the score even comes close to that level.
Lippa seems unsure whether he wants a book musical or a sung-through piece like WILD PARTY. The songs tend to come in two types- "Park and barks" or novelty "star turns;" or seven-minute extended musical sequences that drive the plot along but keep pausing for lengthy dialogue moments that can't be cut or moved aroudn without destroying the scene and the song.
The Second act is defentally the weakest point in the show. The first act was great, but by act 2, it just got boring.
By the way, for anyone curious, everybody in the cast does come out to the stagedoor with the exception of Nathan Lane, who I spotted leaving out a side entrance.
The Second act is defentally the weakest point in the show. The first act was great, but by act 2, it just got boring.
By the way, for anyone curious, everybody in the cast does come out to the stagedoor with the exception of Nathan Lane, who I spotted leaving out a side entrance.
Bebe - I thought she was great. I loved her costume, acting, and singing. I was sitting in the box seats ( via student rush) and had a hard time hearing her singing throughout the show. Maybe it's just because there was another one that night. - Bebe did not stage door because it was a matinee. We were all told right away.
Nathan - Was wonderful. His delivery, accent, and stage presence just blew me away. One thing I didn't like was when he said something that was inappropriate to the Beineke's he'd say excuse me. I went too far. What I liked about the original Addams Family is that they didn't know they were going too far and would of never said excuse me. - Nathan did not Stage Door because it was a matinee. We were all told right away.
Kevin - was HYSTERICAL! He is the narrator of the show and has a lot of interaction with the Ancestors. I really enjoyed his song "The Moon and Me". - Kevin did come out the stage door.
Jackie - Was by far my favorite part of the show. unfortunately, she didn't have any of her own songs which disappointed me. And, she really wasn't in a lot of the scenes. Almost every line that comes out of her mouth is a laugh! Quit your damn texting and pick up a book and read it for once was hysterical! - Jackie did come out at the stage door. However, you did have to ask her to sign because she wasn't expecting anyone to want her autograph.
Krysta - I really don't know how I feel about her. I mean, I liked her but I was also indifferent. She is a great dancer and I just wasn't a huge fan of her solo voice. Again, maybe she was saving it for the evening performance. In the opening of the show she has the braids, then Grandma cuts them off. - Krysta did come out at the stage door.
Adam - Turns out he's a really good singer. It was nice to see him actually acting and singing in a show instead of just walking on stage. - Adam did come out the stage door. He was actually the first one out!
Zach - He really doesn't say much, but he kinda had a good amount of stage time. And, he doesn't sing till the last number. - Zach did come out the stage door.
Terrence - Was Amazing at Mal! I really enjoyed everything about him. Except the love scene with the Squid. - Terrence did come out the stage door.
Carolee - Let me just say, I'm a HUGE fan of Carolee. She had a lot of cute moments throughout the show. And revealed a lot during Full Disclosure. She was just glowing throughout the whole entire show. Even during Curtain Call, she just had a huge smile on her face. - Carolee did come out the stage door. I did stop her to talk and sign. She was great! We had about a ten minute conversation.
Ancestors - I didn't like them at all. Anyone else feel that they were unnecessary? They would just appear out of nowhere and start singing. They reminded me of Haunted Mansion at Disney World. However, I loved there dancing.
Overall, I enjoyed the show, a lot. It does need some work. Bebe's song, Second Banana can go and Move toward the darkness. That song was just a horrible way to end the show. Some of the set pieces can do too. The heads the Ancestors had looked like paper cutouts.
Soooo I just saw ADDAMS FAMILY last night and just wanted to share a few thoughts!
First of all, I thoroughly enjoyed the show. It's nice to finally see an original musical that doesn't strictly follow a movie that it's based off of.
Cast: FABULOUS! Not to be painfully obvious but...Nathan and Bebe were terrific. Krysta as Wednesday really stood out. She has a wonderful voice and really holds her own in this show. Kevin was goofy as Uncle Fester, and although not primarily featured, did a great job with the material he was given. Jackie Hoffman as grandma was hilarious and really nailed her one liners. The rest of the principles, along with the ensemble did an awesome job. I really liked the idea of having the ensemble as the ancestors, they were used effectively, without being a distraction.
BOOK: I really did enjoy the first act. It moved quickly and although it was an hour and a half, it did not seem that long at all. I thought the second act dragged a bit, and could use some tweaking here and there. A few jokes fell flat and some scenes were too long. Also, there were a lot of younger kids in the audience, which probably was not the best decision on the parents part. There were a lot of sexual references, weed jokes, and other content that's not appropriate for 6 or 8 year old kids. So hopefully when they head over to NY they slap on a "recommended for ages 12 and up". Oh! I also think the show needs a slightly stronger ending. The first act ended so well, and the second act ending sort of fell a little flat.
Music: I won't go through each individual song but all in all they were very catchy and kept my attention. I think the second act could use a more upbeat song or two. Ones that stood out were "Pulled" and "Full Disclosure".
Costumes: Overall they worked well. The leads didn't really have too many costume changes at all, but the ones that they did have looked stupendous. The ancestors costumes really stood out to me. They were incredibly detailed and almost pirate/medieval looking.
Set: I thought the set was ingenious. The staircase that was shifted around was utilized effectively. Although some of the scene changes seemed a tad sloppy, primarily because the ensemble was moving most of the set pieces. But I'm sure that will improve over time. Several set pieces, such as the trees, and ancestor statues, were very flat and looked like card board cut outs. At first, I didn't know how I felt about it, but it really helps add to the comic book effect throughout the production.
Overall I really think this production is going to go far. They have a strong cast, brilliant designers, and a book that could potentially be terrific. If you are in Chicago GO SEE THIS SHOW!!! Unless its already all sold out.... :)
Question for those who've seen the show - SPOILER ALERT:
I saw the matinee today (Friday) and at the very end of the Wednesday/Lucas duet in Act II ("Crazier Than You" I believe?) when Lucas runs upstage to stand against the tree so Wednesday can shoot the crossbow, the scrim used for the next scene started flying in. It was low enough so that Wesley Taylor had to run and slide under it to do the "button" of the song downstage of the scrim with Wednesday. It then started going back up, but then came back down for the next scene (which took place downstage of the scrim). I'm convinced someone called a cue early or just wasn't paying attention and flew the scrim in early, but my friend thinks this is part of the show. Can anyone settle our debate? Thanks.
I think that was an "oops" as it didn't happen that way tonight.
Pgenre have you actually seen the show? Your comments are so out of step with the actual show I can't tell if you are just being your usual contrary self of making stuff up.
The tassel bit didn't work tonight. Lane swatted it with the sword, but it stayed where it was. He sort of shrugged and went on.
