Death Takes a Holiday- Page 2

Posted: 6/12/11 at 9:13pm

After Eight if you find the whole concept unpleasant then I guess you were set to dislike it from the start.

[After Eight]

Posted: 6/12/11 at 9:40pm

Eric,

I was not set to dislike it from the start, as I knew nothing about it when I went it.

My dislike began when the show unfolded.


Death is a very powerful conceit, probably the most powerful of all. It's terrifying and forbidding. So it's not something to present playfully or romantically. What could be more grotesque than to see Death dancing like Gene Kelly in Singing in the Rain singing a jaunty tune about how nice it is to be on holiday.

The more I think about it, the more repugnant the whole evening seems.

[darquegk]

Posted: 6/12/11 at 10:00pm

But isn't that tne entire point? The show's premise hinges on the absurdity (at least in concept, if not in execution), of turning our notion of what death (or Death) is on its head. One's personal feelings on if death is a taboo will certainly influence one's perspective on a show where Death himself is the main character.

[After Eight]

Posted: 6/12/11 at 10:11pm

^
You're right. My personal reaction to the way this conceit was presented made me loathe this show.. Other people here seem to have had no problem with it, so good for them.

[AC126748]

Posted: 6/13/11 at 8:32am

Death is a very powerful conceit, probably the most powerful of all. It's terrifying and forbidding. So it's not something to present playfully or romantically.

Nice to know that your opinion is the end-all be-all for how concepts are to be presented in all of fiction.

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 6/13/11 at 11:47am

I was at Saturday's matinee and the show has SERIOUS problems that need addressing before the show opens. I think some of the problems are fixable, but not sure about some of the others. For what little it's worth:

1. Score is very nice with several gorgeous ballads;
2. BIG Problem: The guy playing Death has no charisma, no gravitas, no nothing. It doesn't help that he's the shortest person in the cast (at least he LOOKS like he's the shortest), but this guy can't sing, can't dance, can't act;
3. Book is confusing and fragmented into so many pieces that I couldn't follow who was who or which end was up;
4. Staging is stodgy, at best; and
5. Some very fine talent is getting lost in the proceedings.

I noticed that Tommy Tune was in the audience and was wondering if an SOS has been sent to him to serve as play doctor. This ailing show needs all the help it can get.

[DeNada]

Posted: 6/13/11 at 12:34pm

I'm surprised you didn't like Julian Ovenden. He is a total ham, but he's got a glorious singing voice normally so I'm very surprised you'd think he can't sing . And he's apparently 5ft 10 so I'd be very surprised if he looks short.

Obviously I can't speak for this production but he's a talented enough performer and is very well regarded in the UK.

[whatever2]

Posted: 6/13/11 at 12:51pm

i've always thought ed's posts were pretty accurate, so i'm kind of surprised by this one, too ...

fwiw, i did think julian looked short -- and am quite surprised to read he clocks in @ 5'10" -- but it didn't bother me any. i thought ed's more substantive criticisms of his performance were not representative of what i saw a day later ... my partner and i found him charismatic and engaging.

the show does need tightening (what show doesn't after four previews?), but we just didn't see the train-wreck ed described.

chacun a son gout ...

[jv92]

Posted: 6/13/11 at 12:51pm

I saw Tommy Tune at the matinee too, and wondered the same thing. I thought it was awfully early to be calling in a show doctor, but you never know.

[whatever2]

Posted: 6/13/11 at 1:02pm

i was seated in front of the director on sunday, and overheard a fair bit of conversation ... it didn't sound to me like anyone was in a panic -- quite the opposite, in fact.

[chrisampm2]

Posted: 6/13/11 at 1:15pm

It's not as if Tune has no other reason to be there. Even if it were perfect, wouldn't he attend to support a friend?

Posted: 6/13/11 at 7:02pm

After Eight--I apologize for seeming to pick on you. I guess I just find the whole idea fascinating--and I adore the movie, but that's my background witht he subject.

[After Eight]

Posted: 6/13/11 at 7:41pm

Eric,

You're not picking on me.

You're a hail well met fellow, and a real smart one too.

If you find the concept fascinating, then I say go for it.

I would really like to hear those two pretty ballads gain, so I hope the show gets recorded.

As for the lead, though I didn't feel as negatively about him as Ed, I understand his objections. I can't say I was much taken with him myself, but that may also be due to the role he's playing, which, as I think you know, I didn't care for.

[EarthLuau]

Posted: 6/16/11 at 4:56am

Any chance of a Broadway transfer? With a February 2012 opening, perhaps?

Posted: 6/16/11 at 5:29am

I am a little surprised that anyone could find Julian Ovenden flat,or short for that matter. But he's a fave performer of mine.

After Eight--thanks for that, I find this whole forum sometimes a bit mean, and worry how I come across. It does sound like it would be an interesting score to hear, anyway....

[mallardo]

Posted: 6/16/11 at 8:24am

I haven't seen this show but the two shows I did see with Julian Ovenden he had loads of charisma, a gorgeous singing voice and was far and away the best actor in the cast. I'm surprised at what I'm reading.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 6/16/11 at 7:13pm

I saw this last night and I guess I liked it more than anyone thus far in the thread. There are still problems, mainly with the tone of the book in spots, but I thought the score on the whole was very strong.

The problem with tone lies in them not being able to decide if it's a melodrama or a comedy/farce. It works so much better as a romantic melodrama, and when act 2 pretty much remains in that vein it clicks into place.

For me the revelation was Jill Paice. She's grown so much and really comes into her own with this role. He voice was radiantly golden and the acting often achingly beautiful.

I found Ovenden to have a glorious voice too, but I understand a little bit what people are saying about his acting. When he sang a number I felt like he went a little bit into "concert" mode, if that makes sense. A lot of arm movements and generic hand gestures, but the singing more than made up for it to me.

Rebecca Luker was also in splendid voice, and her act 2 ballad haunting. Matt Cavenaugh had a nice song near the end of act one (otherwise he doesn't really have much to do).

They really should cut the servants in general, but at least their reprise of a song in act 1. They reminded me of Beauty and the Beast characters. Waaaaaaaay too over the top. Someone needs to give Don Stephenson a valium.

Overall I found the whole plot terribly romantic and beautiful. Any of the songs for Paice or Paice and Ovenden were great. I can't wait to go back and see it again.

[jv92]

Posted: 6/16/11 at 9:13pm

Some general thoughts on a few songs:

I thought Matt Cavenaugh's song was absolutely tuneless, and I know I only heard it once. But I can remember several strands of melody from this piece. In fact, I didn't know what his character had to do with anything except for being the dead son's friend.

The "Gay Paree" number (Will there ever be a Yeston show where there isn't an ode to France?) was also unnecessary, but it was incredibly melodic and brightened up the show a great deal, so I would advise them to keep that.

"Life's a Joy" might have been a little didactic for some, but I found it tuneful and enjoyable. In fact, I've caught myself humming it since I saw the show last week.

Luker's number on her dead son was terrific.

A lot of the ballads were very nice.

[AC126748]

Posted: 6/17/11 at 8:06am

I have no idea why Cavenaugh took such a thankless role. Is he really that hard-up for work?

[DeNada]

Posted: 6/17/11 at 8:38am

It's the second male lead in a brand new musical for the Roundabout Company that presumably has the promise of developing into something bigger and hopefully a steady gig for a year or so. It's hardly a crap career move, even if he gets little to do in the show.

I've not heard Cavenaugh sing anything with a more contemporary sound; could he sing the score of Catch Me If You Can or Book Of Mormon without it sounding odd? (I'll fess up that I'm not a big fan of his voice most of the time).

[AC126748]

Posted: 6/17/11 at 8:50am

There is no possible way in which Cavenaugh's role could be considered a "second male lead." He appears in maybe 20 minutes of the show, overall, and sings one (pointless) song. Siberry, Jones, Von Essen, and even Stephenson (the comic relief) have more to do and better written characters.

[Owen22]

Posted: 6/17/11 at 9:04am

The show was almost irredeemably bad. And I am a huge Maury Yeston fan and have loved Julien in the Donmar productions of "Merrily We Roll Along" and "Grand Hotel". But the book is old fashioned and stodgy, the performances (from an oddly semi-star studded cast) are hammy (though I sorta liked Jill Paice, and I usually don't...) and the score is dull. I was so flummoxed at intermission. Not one good melody. That, fortunately, was not the case in Act 2, the music got much better, but the lyrics sometimes bordered on amateurish. Its like he forgot how. And the direction was just atrocious. With high school show costuming. At first I was wondering why Roundabout would dump a Maury Yeston show into the Laura Pells in the middle of the summer...but then the casting persuaded me to see it. Then Matt Cavanaugh sings one song and is in three scenes and I left wondering..."What was going on....onstage and off...?"

[HBP]

Posted: 6/22/11 at 6:36am

Is the show still running around 2h40m? Seeing it this Saturday!

[uncageg]

Posted: 6/23/11 at 11:47am

I am dying to see this and thought about going tonight or Saturday afternoon. I just noticed that it is in previews until July 21st so maybe I will wait a week or so before going.

[Feldzieg]

Posted: 6/23/11 at 12:58pm

I am genuinely puzzled that the same people who condemn Memphis, The Addams Family and Wicked actually like this show. For me it was the worst show I have seen in New York (okay, tied in last place with Baby, It's You).

The songs sound all the same and the book is just amateurish. We were sitting in the last row and were shaken with laughter every couple of minutes because the writing was just so incredibly bad. Everything was cliché and cheesy. The main problem is that the show takes itself so seriously. If you just make clear that this is camp and exaggerate it a little more you could have a hilarious night a la Lucky Guy. But like that it's just a train-wreck. The characters behave very strangely, sometimes in order to accelarate the plot in a direction EVERYBODY knows it's going anyway. Everything is repeated at least three times so that the last row can understand the brilliant story, too. Even the so-called message of the show is spoken out as its last sentence. Seriously, even I had been asleep for most of the show (which I was tempted to but couldn't since my girlfriend was laughing so much) I would have gotten it.

Updated On: 6/30/11 at 12:58 PM