DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES Off-Broadway Reviews — Page 4

I think it would be smart to wait until closer to the Tonys just to get some momentum. And I hope they rethink the design/direction and open up it up a bit more for Broadway.

I feel it’s quite common for orchestrations to be expanded on record so surprising they wouldn’t but perhaps times is hard, times is hard.

You've just defined show business, congratulations.

Also I haven’t seen this show but both Akimbo and Fun Home are highly entertaining and joyful at points. With some great songs too. This show has been compared to Passion* earlier, lol. I mean, I would love to see it and it sounds like my kind of show. But let’s not suggest that all little ‘dark shows that could’ are equal. For every Fun Home there is a Caroline, or Change, Passion, The Visit etc.

* To defend Passion I sincerely believe that this score is brilliant and Sondheim/Donna Murphy turned out some of the best work I have ever heard not just in musical theatre but of music, art and acting in general. However that doesn’t mean a mainstream Broadway audience will feel it. They didn’t and don’t.

The level of pretension flying around is wild. This is a movie adaptation musical at the end of the day, and one that was received with muted praise, at best. The smartest thing the producers could do for it at this point is release the recording and let a theater in the UK pick it up and everyone will consider it “prestige” viewing. Broadway audiences (meaning tourists and locals alike) simply will not buy tickets to this. Not in any way that would merit a commercial mounting. Maybe a strictly limited run, but what’s the point?

ColorTheHours048 said: "The level of pretension flying around is wild. This is a movie adaptation musical at the end of the day, and one that was received with muted praise, at best. The smartest thing the producers could do for it at this point is release the recording and let a theater in the UK pick it up and everyone will consider it “prestige” viewing. Broadway audiences (meaning tourists and locals alike) simply will not buy tickets to this. Not in any way that would merit a commercial mounting. Maybe a strictly limited run, but what’s the point?"

These are the types of movie musicals we should aspire to having on broadway because they aren't based on the most popular current IP and can therefore be judged for their own merit and there isn't a sense they have to live in the shadow of the film. And there's a thought and love that goes into really seeing a film like this be adaptable to this medium.

People forget- Light in the Piazza while sure it's originally a novella, the Olivia DeHavilland movie adaptation from the 60's exists and is clearly highly an influence on the musical. Just look at a screenshot and then compare it to Kelli and Victoria.

ColorTheHours048 said: "Movie adaptations can absolutely have merit, in the same way adapting a novel or play can have merit. Of course they can. To me, this didn’t “sing” in the way that other successful adaptations do. It felt like the script of the movie with some ugly songs tacked on, and it didn’t move me at all; it just felt dour. Others feel differently, and that’s great, but I wouldn’t personally consider this a successful adaptation, no matter how artfully it’s crafted. “Artsy” doesn’t always equal “good”. And as much as many would love for Broadway to be nothing but “art,” it primarily has to be commercially appealing. Off-Broadway is a more than respectable stopping point for most shows, especially shows with this kind of subject matter and material."

I think calling the music "ugly" undermines your argument a bit here, ColorTheHours. The score is highly sophisticated and dense, and more of a genuine work of composition than we've had on Broadway in years. Of course, your opinion is your opinion, and you can dislike the music as much as you want, but to say that it's "ugly songs tacked on" I think is overreaching. I can't stand any of Jason Robert Brown's music, but I would never call him an untalented composer or that his songs are tacked on to his shows, because it's just not an accurate criticism.

ColorTheHours048 said: "I wouldn’t put Days of Wine and Roses in the same league as Floyd Collins or Piazza. I can appreciate Adam Guettel’s score-writing and think this score sounded ugly and bland. Dense, yes, but kind of uninteresting. It’s more akin to Myths and Hymns than his actual theatrical works, at least to my ears, and it’s not my personal taste."

I actually disagree quite a bit. One of the things I appreciate so much about Guettel's composing is that he gets incredibly specific about matching style and structure to content, advancing Sondheim's rule to an even deeper level. The score for Days of Wine and Roses is almost uncontrolled, like the characters themselves are with their drinking problems. It flows like jazz as if improvising with itself and never quite sure where it's going, but the harmony and rhythm are rich and the tension pays off ten-fold when it reaches moments of release like First Breath. The structure of the score is completely intertwined with the drama. It actually reminds me a lot of his scoring for Floyd Collins, particularly the way he writes for Floyd and Homer.

Guettel has long been a favorite composer of mine. I think he's just so ridiculously exciting and intelligent in the way he writes. Days of Wine and Roses is bittersweet because on one hand, it feels like the return of a master in full command of a stylistic tradition that's been absent in the push for pop-centered musicals over the past two decades. But on the other hand, it feels like a piece nearly risen from the dead of what no longer exists and is a reminder of what could've been had he been more prolific or if more writers had continued to progress the Sondheim lineage.

Updated On: 7/26/23 at 02:23 PM

I think we can both (A) want the show to be able to find success on Broadway and bring a level of adult artistry to the main stem, while (B) understanding that there's pretty much no route to commercial success for it in the current Broadway landscape & recognizing that big flops or irresponsibly-produced shows can like NYNY lead to investors leaving the industry (since most of these shows are not being bankrolled by billionaires and investors do expect an ROI).

All of the above can be true.

Updated On: 7/26/23 at 03:15 PM

Jordan Catalano said: "No longer The Lyceum but Broadway 2024 is still happening at a slightly bigger theater, I’m told."

Jones? Longacre?

broadwayben3 said: "Kelli is in The Hours in May, I don't see how this could run in the spring during Tony time if she is not in it. Either Fall 2023 or Fall 2024. Studio 54."

There's only 8 performances of THE HOURS in May 2024. So Kelli could conceivably jump between both by missing about 2 cumulative weeks of DOW&R performances. I have no doubt the producers have a plan for this move, whether it's putting her understudy on or buying her out of her Met contract or something else.

The rumor I heard is that this is going to Studio 54 and Roundabout isn't doing a musical this season