City Center Encores! 2023-24 season: PAL JOEY • ONCE UPON A MATTRESS • JELLY'S LAST JAM • TITANIC- Page 13

[Dylan Smith4]

Posted: 2/21/24 at 11:53am

quizking101 said: "Early reports from friends who were at the invited dress last night are RAVING! Some were even saying that this seemed to be the most “ready for Broadway” production that NYCC has put up recently and they were astounded at how everything came together in 10 days.

I bought a ticket for Sunday night. Not sure if this is going to sell out (judging by the large amount of empty seats for each show) but it seems like it would be in your best interest to go."

Oh, now I am really hyped for this weekend! If this were to transfer, it won't be until next season. Either summer or fall if they wanna fast track this to Broadway.

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 2/21/24 at 3:19pm

 

[Huss417]

Posted: 2/21/24 at 8:04pm

I think I prefer Nicholas Christopher bald over this wig. I didn't even know it was him at first.

[Matt Rogers]

Posted: 2/21/24 at 10:00pm

This will probably be an unpopular opinion but I saw this tonight and found it to be pretty excruciating, overall. 
 

Great choreography, and seeing Leslie Uggums was amazing.

However, the sound was not great and it was impossible to hear lyrics clearly. I was in the back, and no one around me had any idea what was going on. 

Well, hopefully people enjoy this. I did not. 
 

 

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 2/21/24 at 10:11pm

Updated On: 2/21/24 at 10:11 PM

[jakethesnake]

Posted: 2/21/24 at 11:39pm

Matt Rogers said: "This will probably be an unpopular opinion but I saw this tonight andfound it to be pretty excruciating, overall.


Great choreography,and seeing Leslie Uggums was amazing.

However, the sound was not great and it was impossible to hear lyrics clearly. I was in the back, and no one around me had any idea what was going on.

Well, hopefully people enjoy this. I did not.


"

I was lucky enough to get a ticket to the invited dress.  I thought the show was brilliant.  So well cast, and I had no problems with the sound.  This was one of my best theatre experiences in a long while. Different opinions.  That’s what makes the world great.  

[Wick3]

Posted: 2/21/24 at 11:58pm

I sat in the mezz and had no issues with the sound. Loved it! I didn't know anything about the show beforehand but loved the music. Joaquina was amazing! I didn't recognize Oak at first. I thought it was so cool to see the original Hunnies from 1992 perform the same roles in 2024!!!!!! They were great!

[RUkiddingme]

Posted: 2/22/24 at 12:28am

Huss417 said: "I think I prefer Nicholas Christopher bald over this wig. I didn't even know it was him at first."

 

That wig is just awful!  Makes me NOT want to see the show.

 

[Alessio2]

Posted: 2/22/24 at 3:16am

Really enjoyed Jelly’s Last Jam tonight other than Billy Porter. He was in a completely different show than the brilliant ensemble cast! 

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 2/22/24 at 5:04am

Billy usually is in a completely different show. 

[quizking101]

Posted: 2/22/24 at 8:44am

Is stage dooring usually a thing at City Center? I’ve never been

[Huss417]

Posted: 2/22/24 at 8:59am

What was the running time of the show?

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 2/22/24 at 10:20am

quizking101 said: "Is stage dooring usually a thing at City Center? I’ve never been"

Yes, I've done it a couple times. It's on the 56th street side, and there's a public access walkway that cuts across just to the right of the main doors when you're exiting. You can also go directly to the 56th street side if you're seated house right and when leaving the main auditorium into the lobby you turn left (in the direction of the stage though you'd be out of the seating area) instead of right (towards the main doors/lobby where you came in), if that makes any sense 

[EthelMae]

Posted: 2/22/24 at 10:55am

I’m seeing Jelly’s last show. Excited. 

I was taken aback when I saw Mr. Christopher’s wig in the clips too. I didn't recognize him either. Then I thought, Mr.  Christopher is such a fine actor (just saw his incredible performance as Sweeney Todd), he must have a reason for wearing it. Or, perhaps, the director decided to go that way. Well, I searched for images of Jelly Roll Morton on Google and, sure enough, Mr. Morton had hair that looks very similar to the wig Mr. Christopher is wearing! We can put that discussion to bed!

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 2/22/24 at 12:10pm

Rave from Theatermania:

https://www.theatermania.com/news/review-jellys-last-jam-not-only-blows-the-roof-off-city-center-it-obliterates-it_1731046/

[UWS10023]

Posted: 2/22/24 at 4:27pm

Huss417 said: "What was the running time of the show?"

The running time is 2 hours and 20 minutes. The first act is much longer than the second.

Me thinks this is a show that benefits from a critic’s seat. I have not seen it yet,  but I have heard varied opinions.

 

[Huss417]

Posted: 2/22/24 at 4:58pm

UWS10023 said: "Huss417 said: "What was the running time of the show?"

The running time is 2 hours and 20 minutes. The first act is much longer than the second.

Me thinks this is a show that benefits from a critic’s seat. I have not seen it yet, but I have heard varied opinions.

"

Thanks.
Saw the original production so looking forward to revisiting it. My only disappointment is the casting of Billy Porter but maybe he will surprise me.

[Ensemble1696584123]

Posted: 2/22/24 at 5:56pm

Definitely seems like critics have sat up and taken notice of Nicholas Christopher being successful in two roles in this month. Hopefully everyone else does too

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 2/22/24 at 6:50pm

Vulture:

The Jazz Age Reborn: At Encores!, Jelly's Last Jam
From tap to vocals, an astonishing achievement for such a short run

https://www.vulture.com/article/theater-review-jellys-last-jam-encores.html

 

The Wrap:

‘Jelly’s Last Jam’ Off Broadway Review: How Jazz Was Born, or Was it?

Jelly Roll Morton gets the anti-hagiography treatment

https://www.thewrap.com/jellys-last-jam-off-broadway-review-billy-porter/

"Playing the bejeweled angel, Porter is, well, Porter: flamboyant, loud and often downright obnoxious. In the beginning, he nearly wipes the stage with Christopher, who enters with his back to the audience and doesn’t seem to know that he’s being radically upstaged. Fortunately, there’s genius in that approach to playing Morton, who never seems to care what we think of him. Porter demands our attention, Christopher earns it in a slow-burn performance that ends in Morton’s grand self-immolation."



NY Stage Review:

Jelly’s Last Jam: Exuberant Jelly Roll Morton Musical Revived with a Significant Hitch

By David Finkle

★★★☆☆ Robert O’Hara directs the George C. Wolfe–Susan Birkenhead–Luther Henderson bio tuner, starring Nicholas Christopher

Updated On: 2/22/24 at 06:50 PM

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 2/22/24 at 7:29pm

NYT Critic's Pick from Green and a flat-out rave:

‘Jelly’s Last Jam’ Review: A Musical Paradise, Even in Purgatory

Did Jelly Roll Morton “invent” jazz, as he claimed? A sensational Encores! revival offers a postmortem prosecution of one of the form’s founding fathers.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/22/theater/jellys-last-jam-review.html

"That painful history can be alchemized into thrilling entertainment is both the central idea and the takeaway experience of “Jelly’s Last Jam,” the jaw-dropping Encores! revival that opened on Wednesday at City Center. Especially in its first act, as it tells the intertwined stories of Jelly Roll Morton and the early years of jazz, it offers up wonder after wonder, in songs and dances so neatly conceived and ferociously performed that in the process of blowing the roof off the building they also make your hair stand on end."

 

[Huss417]

Posted: 2/22/24 at 7:35pm

MemorableUserName said: "NYT Critic's Pick from Green and a flat-out rave:

‘Jelly’s Last Jam’ Review: A Musical Paradise, Even in Purgatory

Did Jelly Roll Morton “invent” jazz, as he claimed? A sensational Encores! revival offers a postmortem prosecution of one of the form’s founding fathers.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/22/theater/jellys-last-jam-review.html

"That painful history can be alchemized into thrilling entertainment is both the central idea and the takeaway experience of “Jelly’s Last Jam,” the jaw-dropping Encores! revival that opened on Wednesday at City Center. Especially in its first act, as it tells the intertwined stories of Jelly Roll Morton and the early years of jazz, it offers up wonder after wonder, in songs and dances so neatly conceived and ferociously performed that in the process of blowing the roof off the building they also make your hair stand on end."

"

Thanks for sharing but the Times review is behind a paywall.

[halfhourcheckwithmerman]

Posted: 2/22/24 at 7:44pm

Gift link: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/22/theater/jellys-last-jam-review.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Xk0.9McJ.Oux5rOS1fvSu&smid=url-share

[Huss417]

Posted: 2/22/24 at 8:28pm

halfhourcheckwithmerman said: "Gift link: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/22/theater/jellys-last-jam-review.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Xk0.9McJ.Oux5rOS1fvSu&smid=url-share"

Thanks. :)

[ACL2006]

Posted: 2/22/24 at 8:38pm

I'd assume Nicholas Christopher is out of SWEENEY these next two weeks.?

 

Billy usually is in a completely different show. 

 

So Billy Porter is in the Billy Porter show? Not Jelly's Last Jam. As expected.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 2/22/24 at 9:25pm

Jesse Green mentions rumors of Broadway aspirations for this revival...who's behind it?

Updated On: 2/22/24 at 09:25 PM