City Center's 24-25 Season: Ragtime, Urinetown, LaChiusa's Wild Party, Love Life- Page 22

[Huss417]

Posted: 5/3/25 at 10:06am

Stagestrucklad2 said: "Jesse Green‘s review was, if anything, kind. I thoughtthe choreographywas not great, and this was the first “Conga” I’ve ever seen that was not a showstopper. Billy Porter’s THE LIFE still holds the record as Encores’ worst production, but I thought this WONDERFUL TOWNwas among the bottom five. And I’ve seen every Encores show."

Reading all this I'm glad I asked for a Refund for Sunday Night. One The Life is all I can handle. 

I am still not sure why this production was even done as the 2000 version was just a great time in the theatre. With so many shows to choose from still not sure why they wanted to revive this.

[ChiDoc]

Posted: 5/3/25 at 12:09pm

Well, this is a shame.  I have my $30 ticket for the final performance, and there’s part of me that still might go because I’ve never seen a show at Encores, but I might be abandoning this to pick up a ticket to Dead Outlaw instead.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 5/3/25 at 12:39pm

Has the second mounting of an Encores show ever been better than the first? The three they’ve repeated are Fiorello, Call Me Madam, and now this. I didn’t see the original mounting of either show but the three repeats are not among Encores’ best efforts. 

[Huss417]

Posted: 5/3/25 at 12:52pm

I have yet to see where they improved on the original presentation.

There was also Pal Joey which was LuPone's return to the NY stage after Sunset. City Center then did it in 2023. Not Encores per se but most people thought it was.  The former was a perfect day in the theatre. The latter, not so much.

[Ke3]

Posted: 5/3/25 at 2:26pm

Huss417 said: "Stagestrucklad2 said: "Jesse Green‘s review was, if anything, kind. I thoughtthe choreographywas not great, and this was the first “Conga” I’ve ever seen that was not a showstopper. Billy Porter’s THE LIFE still holds the record as Encores’ worst production, but I thought this WONDERFUL TOWNwas among the bottom five. And I’ve seen every Encores show."

Reading all this I'm glad I asked for a Refund for Sunday Night. One The Life is all I can handle.

I am still not sure why this production was even done as the 2000 version was just a great time in the theatre. With so many shows to choose from still not sure why they wanted to revive this."

I mean they didn't want to. This was their replacement and being a replacement I'm sure their options on what to do were rather limited. 

Anika is not on stage enough (my dream Desiree in ALNM) but I guess I'm glad I missed this one.