DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES Previews — Page 2

I was very happy to see this commercial during Sunday Morning on CBS yesterday. It really helps set expectations.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1nBaNwP_Vc/?igsh=MTBoNDllZGpqYjUxYg==

Rentaholic2 said:

What could possibly lead them to being surprised by the darkness of the show...oh wait:



Honestly, it might as well have an exclamation point at the end.

"

Right! The only thing missing is a #YouWillBeFound-style inspirational Twitter campaign to go with the artwork… “Come have a #MagicTime with us and experience #Forgiveness at #DaysOfWineAndRoses!” “Are You Blue? Raise a glass and join us #Underdeath at #DaysOfWineAndRoses!”

Hopefully they start emphasizing the tone of the show more, like in that commercial Melissa25 shared, because you don’t want the first thing people discuss after hitting the sidewalk to be how the show was different than expected, rather than the merits of the show.

I surprised this isn't selling better......

Is the show too dark to today's audiences?

EDSOSLO858 said: "BETTY22 said: "I surprised this isn't selling better......

Is the show too dark to today's audiences?"

I was looking at the seating charts just a couple hours before the first two previews and they appear to have been very well sold - comps?"

I’d say a combination of comps, same-day sales, and TKTS. Looking at the availability for tonight and the rest of the week, however, it’s not looking great for them.

Regarding the marquee pic, it's unfortunate that they're not using the updated artwork, which more accurately conveys the tone of the piece:

When I saw the show yesterday, there was an extremely long line for will-call. My assumption is that this means there were a lot of comps, but it's just an assumption because I don't really know how that works.

I thought the show was wonderful and quite fascinating. It's an old-fashioned story and more than a little didactic, but with this cast it works beautifully. O'Hara's performance was an emotional tour de force; I've never seen an actor go through so many extreme moods in such a short amount of time. When I listened to the songs before I saw the show, I found them rather puzzling and hard to get into, but the score meshes perfectly with the book and, now that I know the context, I'll definitely enjoy listening to the music again. The sound design was impressive, with each individual instrument in the gorgeous orchestration coming through crystal clear.

BETTY22 said: "I surprised this isn't selling better......

Is the show too dark to today's audiences?"


Why would you be at all surprised by this? It doesn't have famous IP or stars who are box office draws outside of theatre circles (& some MT diehards already saw it at the Atlantic and won't see again), it's not an uplifting story, and it's starting previews in the dead of January. Since day 1 everyone here has been talking about what a financial risk this show is.

I hope, financially, this fares better than the last time Kelli was on Broadway with an original musical based on a film, which also began previews in January.

Updated On: 1/8/24 at 05:46 PM

I saw it last Sunday and thought it was pretty disappointing. Sure O'Hara and James CAN sing and if you are here for that then this is a treat. However, there are many choices about the show that are simply buffling. First, the large ensemble except the girl is basically living props and they basically do not get to sing AT ALL iirc. I'm happy that they have a job to pay the bills but it does feel like a waste of resources. Also, O'Hara's powerhouse singing is way too powerful even for the barn of studio 54, to a point that in some of the later songs you don't feel that alchoholism erodes her at all, and for this reason the "redemption song" towards the end feels like it comes out of nowhere. To be honest, I think the show can do without 50% of the songs and put more focus on developing the characters especially in the first thirty-ish minutes, because as it is now the characters begin spiraling before the audience gets to know them enough to care. The highlight for me, though, was the motel scene, which I desperately wanted more of because how much more it did to establish the characters in both the book scene and song than the rest of the show combined.

The new image is much better. But, I still think the colors, the front, and the layout (especially the way the words are slanted) are conveying something much less serious than the show actually is.

rattleNwoolypenguin said: "I think they made a mistake not leaning in harder visually to the dark aspect of it. I think that would actually hook people is a really striking intriguing image. Use black and shadows. People LIKE darkness. But they want to more than anything know what they're getting into."

You mean something like this?

I like it too but it doesn't position or highlight your Broadway stars. I like the new photo showing them holding drinks but agree that the font should have been changed.

Perhaps I am just really starved for reasonably intelligent adult musical theater, but in the couple of days since I saw this it's gone from quite mixed to nearly tremendous in my own memory of it while I play the cast album. I think this is a real illustration of the Sondheim line of a "hummable" tune simply being one that's been repeated enough. Not that it's the measure of success, but after a few listens I can already hum much of this score, which is more operatic and formally winding than most musical theater but hardly lacks beauty or nuance. There is some really good writing in this, music and lyrics both, that is pretty insightful about the sentimental & magical thinking that are often present with addictive personalities, and which we carry complicated relationships to forever. My problem with it dramatically was that the major turns in character behavior, especially Kelli's, often felt extremely sudden and unclear. I had some trouble following the literal events, having not seen earlier versions in their entirety. Still, it's something of some artistic and thematic substance on Broadway and I will happily see it again.

EDSOSLO858 said: "ColorTheHours048 said: I’d say a combination of comps, same-day sales, and TKTS. Looking at the availability for tonight and the rest of the week, however, it’s not looking great for them."

They’re dark tonight."

I was looking at whatever the next available date was on the website, so it would have been the next day. My point still stands, as I was talking about how sold they were for the week.