Donnybrook! First Preview

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 2/7/13 at 10:26pm

I caught Donnybrook! tonight and it was a bit of a disappoint; not because of the cast/production, but because the show is really a dud. The OBCR has some nice tunes and Susan Johnson is always fun, but it sounds so "musical comedy" and the surrounding book really isn't.

The play is generally more of a character study than plot-driven. In that respect I really enjoyed the new orchestrations with piano, violin, cello and harp. It helped the songs feel more intimate. Even with all my reservations about the show I would like to see this recorded. Everyone, especially Jenny Powers and James Barbour, was in great voice, and I think it would be good to preserve the score in this altered state.

I can only imagine what the original was like with direction and choreography by Jack Cole. Some of the pacing was too slow in the second act, but that will get cleaned up for sure.

I really do love getting the chance to see these flops- if only to put some context around the cast recordings I've listened to for so long without completely knowing the surrounding story. I guess the problem with sitting through these remountings is that the shows don't function on several levels, and I often leave the theater saying to my friends, "Well now we know why Donnybrook! closed after 68 performances."

[egghumor]

Posted: 2/7/13 at 10:35pm

Thanks, Whizzer, for the latest of your astute-as-always dispatches. Like you, for decades I've had a fondness for the cast album, especially Susan Johnson, but the rest of your observations don't much surprise me. Besides probable book and tone problems, the only non-material related reason I could imagine for the show's very short run was the time of year it opened, which also must have strongly worked against it. Thanks for reminding us that Jack Cole staged the original. Glad you were able to give kudos to the company tonight. I saw James Barbour in JANE EYRE and thought he was splendid.

Updated On: 2/7/13 at 10:35 PM

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 2/7/13 at 10:46pm

James Barbour sounded wonderful tonight. "A Quiet Life" was particularly well-performed. If you're a fan of his it might be worth seeing just to hear him sing the score.

Flop albums don't get much better than Susan Johnson, unless your name is Karen Morrow, and Kathy Fitzgerald does well with the role. It's just so obviously the "comic relief." Time to have someone come out to ham it up and distract us from the serious, and oddly uninvolving, main story. I think it's one of those shows that's always going to play better on disc than actually sitting through it.

[egghumor]

Posted: 2/7/13 at 10:53pm

I might have been tempted to shout out a request to Kathy Fitzgerald to please perform ALL of Susan Johnson's numbers from obscure flop shows!

[twinbelters]

Posted: 2/8/13 at 12:30am

^yes

I wish the obcr was finally released by Decca on cd =)

[notabb]

Posted: 2/8/13 at 9:14pm

It may not be a cd but you can get DONNYBROOK on iTunes .

[jayinchelsea]

Posted: 2/9/13 at 4:02pm

and it sounds amazing. I've had the obcr since it came out, and I can tell you it never sounded as good as it does on iTunes . Original show got mixed to good reviews, but it's true, listening to the score on vinyl, where it's very well sung by the leads (not Just Susan Johnson, but Art Lund and Joan Fagan too) has always made me want to see it. Now I will, and glad to hear that it's being well sung.

[twinbelters]

Posted: 2/9/13 at 4:09pm

But it's not an authorized recording and I would like the recording remastered from the original tapes. Liner notes would be nice, too.

[madlibrarian]

Posted: 2/9/13 at 7:16pm

Wouldn't it be nice if we got a recording of this Donnybrook? Didn't Irish Rep do a Finian's Rainbow a few years back and make a recording, with Melissa Errico no less? Hey, Mr. Producer, I'm talkin' to you, Sir...

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 2/9/13 at 8:32pm

The OBC of DONNYBROOK! is available on CD-R through Amazon (see link below.) It comes from a company called Master Classics Records, does anyone know anything about this firm?
DONNYBROOK!

[madlibrarian]

Posted: 2/9/13 at 9:17pm

Reportedly the CD-R is an unauthorized dub of an LP with bad sound, distortion, and no packaging. Caveat emptor.

The release of the real original cast recording onto CD is supposedly held up because Kapp/Decca/MCA/Universal/whoever can't locate all the original paperwork to clear the rights with all the participants.

So a new cast recording of this production would be very welcome.

[After Eight]

Posted: 2/10/13 at 9:04pm

A breath of spring in this cold, snowy winter of our theatrical discontent.

Romantic, spry, humorous, and charming, I was altogether captivated by this delightful show, an example of the way musicals once were and were always meant to be until people mucked them all up.

An evocative design framed in bright blue and emerald green. Beautifully directed and choreogaphed. A fine cast, with Jenny Powers as a standout.

My sole qualm is the cutting of several songs, especially "Mr. Flynn," and the use of traditional Irish songs. The latter provide atmosphere, but take away from the original score.

This musical is so much better than any put on in the last 30 years or so, that you don't know whether to rejoice in seeing it, or despair at what we have been deprived of.

[goldenboy]

Posted: 2/11/13 at 10:56pm

What an odd musical. And it made me say... What is with those silly Irish people? "You're not a man unless you fight me?" This is the Irish experience.? If I were Irish, I'd be appalled. I thought Donnybrook was a town like Brigadoon. Never realized it was a public brawl. The show was slow going for the first fifteen minutes. The score? Not the best. The love at first sight between the two leads was odd and hokey. James Barbour was perfect casting in the part and did indeed knock the song Quiet Man out of the park....and the production decent. but I agree with the first poster... This is a character driven show that didn't need to be be musicalized.

That said, I am glad I saw a production of Donnybrook and very grateful to Irish Rep for New Girl in Town and this. I love to somehow see Jack Cole's original choreography for this or Bob Fosse's for New Girl in Town. Can we bring American Dance Machine back?

[chrisampm2]

Posted: 2/11/13 at 11:31pm

After Eight, I imagine you're hoping for high dudgeon-ed responses, but really, "an example of the way musicals once were and were always meant to be until people mucked them all up?" Who created the grand musicals of yesteryear? Robots? To a certain extent that's what it would take to create something akin to them now I guess, so maybe you're on to something. Times and tastes change.
And there's no musical since ~1983 to match Donnybrook? Donnybrook?! So what gets in under the deadline, La Cage?

[After Eight]

Posted: 2/12/13 at 7:02am

^

Yes, La Cage.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 2/12/13 at 10:39am

"The Quiet Man" was my late father's favorite movie so my brothers, sister, mother, and I headed up for the matinee this past Saturday. My father loved the film so much that he wanted to name me Mary Kate.

I enjoyed the use of songs and music cues from the film but I was hoping certain moments from the film could gave remained. Pattyfingers in the Holy water, anyone?

Now, I am well aware that the transition from screen to stage will never be exact. But I just feel this production lacked the heart and spirit of the original film. The cast was fabulous but I found the material to be dull and lifeless. It lacked spark for me. There was a huge plot issue that really took away from the show IMO. But I won't go into the specifics on that because it could be considered a spoiler.

Maybe it's because the film had such an importance in my life but I just felt like Donnybrook fell short for me.

[newintown]

Posted: 2/12/13 at 11:12am

I think that the problem with film-to-musical adaptations is that people seem to want them to be a pageant of their favorite scenes/lines/moments faithfully re-enacted, with the non-intrusive inclusion of some songs.