'Dave' the musical (Kitt, Benjamin, Landau, Meehan) — Page 2

Would love to give a full opinion of the show....but they were unable to finish the second act tonight due to an elevator malfunction onstage. They held for about 30 minutes with several of the cast coming onstage to talk with / entertain the audience. Finally Tina Landau came to apologize to the audience and said all would be offered tickets to a future performance.

The 2/3 of the show we saw we absolutely enjoyed. Drew Gehling was made to play this role. He is just terrific; as is the rest of the cast. There were a number of memorable musical moments; both funny and moving. I just can’t wait to see how the whole thing ends!

RippedMan said: "Well this show has been struggling, ha. These out-of-town try-outs are getting bad."

What was that one song from Avenue Q where you take pleasure in other people's misfortune???

RippedMan, this comment was exceptionally snarky and incredibly disheartening. Do not judge a new show's quality based solely on its ticket sales; judge it based on the material, the cast, and the direction, as all shows are normally judged on!

Updated On: 7/23/18 at 12:07 AM

I think the ticket sales have been strong. Arena has a big subscriber base and there aren’t any discounts being offered now that the show has begun previews, which often indicates good advances. The House was totally full tonight. They had to delay their opening previews a couple of days because the actor who plays the chief of staff (Doug Sills) had his appendix out two weeks ago.

However, he was back in the show tonight and is hilarious. He was the one who was leading all the discussions / talk back with the audience tonight during the delay and had the crowd roaring. Drew Gehling was also doing an Instagram live event and much of the cast was out taking photos / videos during the hold. We’ll see what happens when the run is over and if it has a chance of heading to Broadway.

freewilma said: "Esther2 said: "Saw this tonight. I found it totally charming. The cast is pitch perfect. They do miraculous things on a tiny stage. The only quibble for me was the score was just kinda...there. Not bad, but not terribly memorable.

I'd definitely see it again at some point if discount tickets are available, if only to see if anything is changed.

An enjoyable evening overall."

If you are under 30 years old, Arena has a "pay your age" ticket price. Beyond that I haven't seen any ticket discounts in a while. TodayTix has them at $145!

All unsold tickets are 50% off 30 minutes before curtain. I check online about 2 hours before curtain to see how many unsold seats there are, to gauge my odds. It’s a great deal!

RippedMan said: "Ha! Sorry, wasn't meant as snarky at all. What I meant was the fact that previews were delayed and now they had to refund an entire audience. And then look at Moulin Rouge who had to start late due to the theater being refurbished. Wasn't a dig at ticket sales as I don't care, nor do I have any inkling as to how it is selling."

My mistake! I'm so sorry I misread your post

I hope this does well. I really love this movie and I think it could be great musicalized.

Nothing against Gehling, but I wish that Andy Karl was in this instead of PW.

---

Can anyone give some kind of detail about how Drew Gehling is in the show? I am not familiar with him and it would seem that this show would rise and fall on how good the actor playing Dave is. Also, does it stick fairly close to the film or does it depart substantially? What do they keep and what do they discard? My curiosity is piqued about this show, but not sure whether it is piqued enough to spend the money and trek to this theater.

Christoph said: "Can anyone give some kind of detail about how Drew Gehling is in the show? I am not familiar with him and it would seem that this show would rise and fall on how good the actor playing Dave is. Also, does it stick fairly close to the film or does it depart substantially? What do they keep and what do they discard? My curiosity is piqued about this show, but not sure whether it is piqued enough to spend the money and trek to this theater."

I thought Drew Gehling was wonderful He's goofy and likeable and charming, which makes him a perfect Dave.

As for the comparisons, they've updated the book to include social media/cable news and all that modern stuff really well. The scene where they escape the White House to sing "Tomorrow" on the street in Adams Morgan isn't there, but the Bonnie Hunt character is (yay!). It's pretty close to the movie.

I really enjoyed it.

Am I thinking of a different movie or did I conflate this with In & Out? For some reason I remember this movie as being about a gay presidential candidate concealing his sexuality.

Some reviews are out

http://www.playbill.com/article/read-reviews-for-the-world-premiere-of-new-musical-dave

Pretty positive!

Big praise for the cast in most of these reviews. I'm not in the mood for a feel-good musical about the White House but others might be. Sounds like by aping bad administrations and singing of patriotism the show wants to "have its woke and eat it too."

There’s much to admire in the homespun fable about integrity and patriotism, wrapped in an inviting package filled with buffoonery and self-deprecating humor... “I’m the President,” in which the oily executive flaunts his flaws. “Leave me alone, America — I just want to be President!” he bellows.... Sadly, the production then proceeds to overplay its patriotic messages with a heavy-handed finale that undermines its good intentions. Will today’s Broadway audience really go for that? ~ Variety

This musical is likely to bring needed sunshine to many a progressive-in-bent theatergoer with its playful mocking of a Presidential Administration. Without naming names, Dave seems written just this week. Dave is lighthearted escapist amusement.... At times, I felt there were forced, almost “cheap pulls to patriotism” demanded in the script. One particular moment just caught me wrong, although I understood how it showed the decency of the character Dave. Let’s just say if I wanted to take a knee in that audience at that moment, I would have been booed and hissed at. ~ DC Metro

---

Finally saw this on Friday evening. I thought it was delightful. It is ready for a transfer.

The cast is wonderful. Mamie Parris is incredible, as is the entire company.

The score is a bit middling, but it has some heart.

The worst part, for me, was Landau's direction. It was....exhausting...a lot of pointless crosses/weaving while these massive walls were pushed around by the actors - a very laborious task. Then STILLNESS during musical numbers.

I hope this transfers. Gehling could win a Tony with this - he certainly would have this year had it gone.

I absolutely loved Drew Gehling as Dave. I thought he was the perfect kind of charming to play off of Mamie Parris' cold first lady. The score wasn't the greatest, but there were definitely a couple of songs that I really enjoyed, especially the act 2 opener with the chief of staff Douglas Sills. Would love for this to make a transfer so I could see it again.