Cry Baby Reviews - YIKES!- Page 7
Cry Baby Reviews - YIKES!
re: Cry Baby Reviews#150
Posted: 4/25/08 at 4:32amI'd call the Post review Mixed.
-Kad
"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)
re: Cry Baby Reviews#151
Posted: 4/25/08 at 4:33am
EVERY show *deserves* a shot
It's thinking like that that got us BRING BACK BIRDIE, and ANNIE TWO.
It's a noble thought, but wrong! Not when people are being asked to shell out $100 or more for tickets.
The scenario with CRY BABY is a perfect example. One John Waters film was adapted for the stage and turned out to be a huge success. To be fair, it had some talented people and a director who fused the best elements together into an enjoyable package. So, they decide to Xerox the master plan, only this time the creative team is a little less seasoned. Given its pedigree, it seems to be in for either a long lingering money-losing run (like WEDDING SINGER) or the producers will pull the plug fast (like HIGH FIDELITY.)
Cast albums are NOT "soundtracks."
Live theatre does not use a "soundtrack." If it did, it wouldn't be live theatre!
I host a weekly one-hour radio program featuring cast album selections as well as songs by cabaret, jazz and theatre artists. The program, FRONT ROW CENTRE is heard Sundays 9 to 10 am and also Saturdays from 8 to 9 am (eastern times) on www.proudfm.com
re: Cry Baby Reviews#152
Posted: 4/25/08 at 6:33am
2 out of 5 stars.
NY Daily News
Equus (11/8), Billy Elliot (11/8)
re: Cry Baby Reviews#153
Posted: 4/25/08 at 6:35am
Check out Spencer Liff in that uniform!
HOTTIE!
-Kad
"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)
re: Cry Baby Reviews#154
Posted: 4/25/08 at 6:37am
"Yeah, I'm sure the reviews will kill this show. They did it for Wicked for too. They also saved Grey Gardens. Thank goodness. Reviews make or break every show."
That's a bad comparison. Wicked was going to be a huge hit regardless of its reviews- by that point everyone knew the show was settling in for a long run. With Grey Gardens, everyone knew it was going to get good reviews, particularly for Ebersole, but that it would still struggle to find its audience.
Joined: 12/31/69
re: Cry Baby Reviews#155
Posted: 4/25/08 at 6:58am
Brantley was much more gentle than i thought he'd be.
this is what ive been saying:
if audiences like LENORA more than ALLISON, you're in trouble.
& if audiences want the male lead to get out of the way so they can see more of the chorus boys, you're in trouble.
Joined: 12/31/69
re: Cry Baby Reviews#156
Posted: 4/25/08 at 7:04am
honestly, they should just plaster the city with Spencer Liff posters.
that would do more to promote the show than anything else.
re: Cry Baby Reviews#157
Posted: 4/25/08 at 7:05amNorn, I LOVE YOU.
-Kad
"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)
Leading Actor Joined: 1/8/05
re: Cry Baby Reviews#158
Posted: 4/25/08 at 9:26am
The reviews are unfortunate, but Brantley's review (while negative) is pretty mild. I really thought he'd just destroy the show.
However, I don't see Crybaby being a strong enough show to bridge the gap between bad reviews and a lengthy run. That's always sad, because you know that a large percentage of the cast is working hard. Poor Laura Jordan at the end of that show, standing in a pie pan for 20 minutes. This show could have been something really interesting, if done well. Sorry to see it wasn't.
re: Cry Baby Reviews#159
Posted: 4/25/08 at 9:32amWell, Brantley basically said that the show is too bland for him to write any kind of fun, scathing, bitchy review.
Leading Actor Joined: 1/8/05
re: Cry Baby Reviews#160
Posted: 4/25/08 at 9:37am
I feel like the show fell into the awkward category of "not bad enough to be good" and "not good enough to be good". And then they froze it. Give it another month of re-writes, maybe you'd have something. But where it stands now, I can't possibly see a healthy run coming.
The only hope that they'll have is that so many revivals opened this year and not that many new musicals, meaning they could be defaulted into a Best Musical nomination, which just might trick people into buying tickets for awhile.
re: Cry Baby Reviews#161
Posted: 4/25/08 at 9:47am
Speaking of flops, Wickedfan, 1964's BEN FRANKLIN IN PARIS received 3 favorable, 2 mixed, and 1 unfavorable review and lasted 215 performances at the Lunt-Fontanne. It starred the incredible Robert Preston who had spectacular stage presence in the title role. The score was very good. I thorougly enjoyed the show.
Did you see it or were you in it? It does not deserve to be grouped with the other outright flops that you mentioned several posts ago. Seeing Preston act was a good enough reason to go.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/8/04
re: Cry Baby Reviews#162
Posted: 4/25/08 at 10:05am
"Given its pedigree, it seems to be in for either a long lingering money-losing run (like WEDDING SINGER) or the producers will pull the plug fast (like HIGH FIDELITY.)"
a very astute assessment, frontrowcentre
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/7/04
re: Cry Baby Reviews#163
Posted: 4/25/08 at 10:25amMaybe if they retitled the show "BLAND-BABY" it would find its audience.
http://www.roches.com/television/ss83kod.html
**********
"If any relationship involves a flow chart, get out of it...FAST!"
~ Best12Bars
Joined: 12/31/69
re: Cry Baby Reviews#164
Posted: 4/25/08 at 10:29ami feel bruised for them all, but i gotta say *some* kind of quid pro quo is goin on with that WSJ review!
re: Cry Baby Reviews#165
Posted: 4/25/08 at 10:30am
I guess I'm in the minority but I really enjoyed the show & would see it again in a heartbeat. I hope it lasts a while.
Question/Comment... Is Spencer Liff understudy for Snyder? If not he should be 
Leading Actor Joined: 1/8/05
re: Cry Baby Reviews#166
Posted: 4/25/08 at 10:31amI don't know if he understudies Snyder, but he should have been cast as Snyder. Snoopy the Dog would be a better Cry Baby.
re: Cry Baby Reviews#167
Posted: 4/25/08 at 10:32amWhat about Snoop Doggy Dog?
re: Cry Baby Reviews#168
Posted: 4/25/08 at 10:42am
Snipe if you like about Mermaid. The numbers tell the story of success.
You're forgetting this is BroadwayWorld. Any show that becomes financially successful must be deemed as "crap" regardless its quality or anyone's former opinions of the show. If you do not hate all hit shows and verbally rip them to shreds, then you are obviously not a supporter of musical theatre. Get with the program!
re: Cry Baby Reviews#169
Posted: 4/25/08 at 10:44amHa, Matt. So true.
-Kad
"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)
Leading Actor Joined: 1/8/05
re: Cry Baby Reviews#170
Posted: 4/25/08 at 10:57am
Oh, I know full well about falling in love with a show that's not the best. Hello, I started this BWW account years ago and look at my screen name, lol.
I don't follow critics reviews or financial success as a way to judge my own appreciation of the show. At least, I try as hard as I can not to.
People like Michael Reidel, though, can do some serious harm to the community because they're often hard to ignore. Being a gossip columnist is one thing, but having an ax to grind with a show for some reason is unhealthy. Purposely trying to take a show down? Unprofessional. (Sorry, that's my Reidel gripe, lol)
Cry Baby has some good advance sales, and increasingly strong word of mouth (at least, in comparison to the abominable word of mouth they were getting in the first month of previews before extensive re-writes). I think it might run through the Tony's, but I can't imagine it going any further.
re: Cry Baby Reviews#171
Posted: 4/25/08 at 11:02am
A production on Broadway is on Broadway for a reason, as are the actors themselves.
A production on Broadway is on Broadway because producers have enough money to put it there. Period. It has nothing to do with the final product, which could be good or bad or even go from one end of the spectrum to the other during the preview period. The actors are on Broadway because they were cast in the roles based on someone's opinion...or other reasons anywhere from nepotism to a major financial interest in the production to simply having the right friends. You cannot assume that if an actor is in a Broadway show that he or she must be a great actor and perfect for the role. That is incredibly naive.
re: Cry Baby Reviews#172
Posted: 4/25/08 at 11:08am
People like Michael Reidel, though, can do some serious harm to the community because they're often hard to ignore. Being a gossip columnist is one thing, but having an ax to grind with a show for some reason is unhealthy. Purposely trying to take a show down? Unprofessional. (Sorry, that's my Reidel gripe, lol)
I'm not fond of Riedel either, but this is nothing new to Broadway. Shows have been surviving sensationalists like him for decades. He says good things and bad things and he may be somewhat influential, but I don't think he can control the mob mentality of the tourist masses (who have no idea who Riedel is), so he pretty much has to target the shows that will be most attended by local theatregoers. The man's job is to sell papers by getting people to talk about theatre. At least someone is talking about theatre, which is more than you can say about 99% of the country.
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/7/08
re: Cry Baby Reviews#173
Posted: 4/25/08 at 11:53am
LimelightMike - disagree on so many levels, with that comment.
not every show deserves to have a shot. especially if there are (potentially) better musicals out there that could take its spot.
with the 08/09 season getting crowded, it'd be smart for CRY-BABY to just get out of the damn way!! Let a more worthy show use the Marquis.
October? yikes. that's real wishful thinking.
many of the C-B supporters are trying to turn this around and make it positive but just put all of the reviews together and check it out.
two positives (from two critics who don't have the biggest reputations), one mixed-to-positive, one mixed-to-negative, and a ton of negatives!!
not sure if you can really manipulate that and find a perspective angle on it?
re: Cry Baby Reviews#174
Posted: 4/25/08 at 12:03pm
not every show deserves to have a shot. especially if there are (potentially) better musicals out there that could take its spot.
And based on the tryout, Cry-Baby was considered one those better musicals. One that could distract us from the disappointments of Little Mermaid and Young Frankenstein. It's all about perspective.
Videos
