Emcee's BROOKLYN review.... hmmm.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/16/04 at 1:13am

So. Brooklyn. TGIF and I were going to rush RENT, but, we suck and didn't realize that the performance schedule changed again. Now RENT is dark on Wednesdays... oy. So, we walked up Broadway and tried to find something else to tickle our fancies. We decided to go the lighthearted route, and see what we could get for Brooklyn.
TGIF: What's your rush policy?
Box office guy: Well, you know... whatever.
TGIF: Okay, um, how are the seats?
Box office guy: ah, you know... wherever!
It was $25 so we decided to take what 'whatever' seats were. Sixth row center orchestra.... this was an hour and a half before curtain, mind you. *shakes head*

So, this show is bad. It's just bad. I whole-heartedly wish that Taboo was still on that stage. It honestly is one of the first shows that I walked out of really thinking "wow. That was terrible," but despite that, one thing I can't say is that I was bored.

I feel like the show had very good intent, but that it just has trouble actually working in reality. One thing that I thought of while I was watching, was what Raul Esparza once said about the context of his fight with Rosie. He said that a lot of times, musicals, as they're developing sort of start heading off in some direction, but no one really knows where they're headed, and that suddenly, they're just so far off course, and no one realizes it. I feel like Brooklyn started travelling and just never came back. It's a show that seems like it had good intentions at its core, but that it's those good intentions and creativity just gone wrong and gone overboard.

The music - The only song that I can really say that I liked was "Once Upon a Time." I know that the "American Idol" comparison doesn't give much in the way of specifics, but after hearing the whole score for the first time, I see where those are coming from. The songs that are written specifically for American Idol are cheesy, cliche, standard pop songs, that are written for the sake of being written; I felt like that was how Brooklyn's score was, for the most part. The lyrics were trite and rather corny at points, and I didn't find much of the score very memorable at all.

Sets/Costumes - I'm usually a big fan of sets that are sort of all-purpose, but moreso the ones that don't change, but can represent much more than what they actually are on the surface; things like RENT and CABARET - they had simple, singular sets, but they could double as so many, many different locations. Brooklyn has one set, and it's a nice set, I suppose - but it very much doesn't allow you to be transported away like the street performers seem to want you to be, by this fairytale. TGIF has an interesting point about that fairy tale "transportation," but I'll let her bring that up. I saw it more as being a situation where they *want* you to know and keep in mind that you're watching a performance within a performance, but she saw it differently, and rather insightfully... but I'll let her say it whenever she gets home. As for the costumes and props... I see the intentions; again, in the fact that these people are street performers, using whatever they can find, but some of it is more than a little overkill. I mean, when I heard they wore garbage bags, I thought someone was just going to wrap it around his or her waist... NOTHING like what they actually do. And the plastic shopping bags, and the angel wings, and the potato chip bags, huge bows (WHAT was that? I can't believe they kept that)... *shakes head* Very weird, rather obnoxious, I thought. More of that "creativity gone wrong" idea, I think.

The cast - It's a shame, really. Vocally, this cast is IMMENSELY talented (especially Karen Olivo - who, by the way, is gorgeous), but they're stuck in a pretty horrible show. I think Eden is absolutely adorable, and her screeching was pretty minimal tonight. I mean, I've heard her do worse. The problem is, though, that even though the vocal talent in this cast is very obvious, with the exceptions of Ramona Keller and Kevin Anderson, I found it very difficult to discern much in the way of their acting ability, because of they material (or lack thereof, I suppose) that they've got to work with. Ramona's performance was a really great standout, and Kevin struck me as someone who is probably a pretty versatile performer. He reminds me a bit of Will Chase, and if he looked a couple of years younger, I think I could see him portraying that sort of Roger or Radames, maybe.

The plot - The story is cute, I have to admit - the core story of Brooklyn going to find her father, the competition, etc. But the excecution of the story is just campy. And bad... like it was trying to be bohemian, but couldn't. I think the one thing that really, truly bothered me - and I don't say bothered in a "oh, it was annoying" kind of way, but seriously got to me - was the use of drug references. I felt like it was sort of just stuck into the show as a way of trying to salvage some sort of moral merit in this mess of a campy musical. It almost seemd like with the father, someone just thought one day "hey! Let's put him on drugs... thicken the plot or something." I also hated that in Paradice's number where she talks to the audience about AIDS and safe sex, etc... I felt like that was the same kind of thing.... trying to salvage depth. (Another example, though not making me quite so angry, was the final monologue by the guy who played Streetsinger. It's like he was looking for a "and the moral of the story is" sort of idea that just wasn't there.) Anyway, it bothered me to see this, because these are issues that ARE real, and by sticking them so haphazardly into a show in whose context they otherwise don't matter, simply in order to make it more like other shows, it seemed like it was taking the dignity away from the ones that are TRULY dealing with those issues in a context that's real and a context that's meaningful. You know what show I'm mainly alluding to, but in general, it really bothered me.

Alright, that's really long. I'm sorry... thanks for reading, if you did.

Updated On: 12/16/04 at 01:13 AM

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/16/04 at 1:21am

Thank you!

<3333

[LaeloftheLakes]

Posted: 12/16/04 at 1:28am

I don't know if you have already...but definitely check out broadwayabridged.com's parody of BKLN. Hilarious. Your post reminded me of it...I'm going to read it again!

[PinkLadyDiva]

Posted: 12/16/04 at 1:28am

I enjoyed Brooklyn, but I tend to see things differently from the average person. As I said in the Adam thread, I saw it tonight as well. I got tickets from a radio station.

I mean Brooklyn isn't the greatest thing I've ever seen. But I still enjoyed it. I'm weird cause I usually don't analyze shows, because it makes me enjoy it less.

[Tiny-Toon]

Posted: 12/16/04 at 1:30am

Im going to rush it again soon..
Am i the only one who got BOX seats for the BKLYN rush?!?!
arrr..

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/16/04 at 1:32am

PinkLadyDiva - I've developed this need to analyze stuff. Like, I'll be sitting at a show formulating what I'm going to write in my head, wishing I had a pen and paper. It's very, very strange.

Tiny, it probably depends on what they have, which would depend on the day.

Lael - haven't seen it, but will read!

[LaeloftheLakes]

Posted: 12/16/04 at 1:32am

Do...it's REALLY worth it. *cracks up hysterically, remembering*

[Tiny-Toon]

Posted: 12/16/04 at 1:34am

Was the theater full today?

Updated On: 12/16/04 at 01:34 AM

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/16/04 at 1:35am

The orchestra was decently filled; not sure about the mezz, though.

[TGIF]

Posted: 12/16/04 at 1:36am

Ahh, great emcee. I was trying to tell people about what we thought and all i could say was "bad". You put it so much more eloquently.

OK this is my take on whole "fairy tale" thing. I like the concept of it, I really do. Who doesn't like fairy tales? So for me, fair tales are supposed to transport you, suck you into this world of make believe. One way to describe it (although it is not a fairy tale) is in Cabaret. The Emcee tells the audience to leave their troubles outside. By the end he says "well where are your troubles now?"

So, going along with that aspect I was disappointed in the costumes and the way the sets were changed. I thought I would have added so much more if they actually used decent (some would say "normal")costumes. They should have made it look real, make it look like what we should be seeing in our mind.

If anything, the set changes and the costumes only distracted the audience. I found myself watching hwat people were setting up rather that what they were singing - although i doubt it was very profound.

[Tiny-Toon]

Posted: 12/16/04 at 1:36am

Yeah.. i think the problem is that i go on weekends..
Then they give the crappy seats.. :0

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/16/04 at 1:37am

That was eloquent, TGIF. YAY!!!

[PinkLadyDiva]

Posted: 12/16/04 at 1:37am

Emcee- I can be a very pessimistic person and once I start analyzing things it can go very very wrong. I started doing that to RENT which I love, and then I started to hate it. Because there are parts in RENT that make no sense to me, well not that it doesn't make sense, but it's just not logical. So from now on when I see things it's either I loved it, liked, disliked it, or hated it. And as for Brooklyn, I liked it.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/16/04 at 1:39am

Fair enough!

I can't re-analyze stuff that I've already conditioned myself to love, though. I mean, I can, but there's still a lot of personal bias in there. Granted, I have no problem admitted that "my" shows have flaws, but it's hard to TRULY go back and analyze them from a newcomer's standpoint.

[LaeloftheLakes]

Posted: 12/16/04 at 1:40am

I agree. I'm the same way.

[TGIF]

Posted: 12/16/04 at 2:35am

Ah, may I also add that only a handful of people gave a standing ovation.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/16/04 at 2:37am

Ha... yes, you may.
I guess that's how people can say that it gets standing ovations... when like three people stand.

[Tiny-Toon]

Posted: 12/16/04 at 2:41am

Well, every time i went to see Brooklyn it got (full) standing ovation.. (i had a box seat so i could see everything in the mezz. too) I'll go next week and see what happens

Updated On: 12/16/04 at 02:41 AM

[QueenMuppet]

Posted: 12/16/04 at 7:35am

I remember a couple of months ago when I returned from Brooklyn and Emcee asked me how it was. My answer was that it was the worst show I had ever seen. I think Emcee thought I was exaggerating at that time... now she knows I wasn't

QM

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 12/16/04 at 8:06am

I admit, I haven't seen all of BROOKLYN. But, to be fair, I like to see every show. I'm thinking of seeing something tonight, should I go the BROOKLYN route? Or maybe even LITTLE WOMEN. I don't know how much I'll be able to think tonight, so maybe BROOKLYN would be a better option.

[joeyjoe]

Posted: 12/16/04 at 8:29am

you haven't seen all of Brooklyn? what prevented you from seeing the whole thing? but given that you've seen some of Brooklyn, i would say see Little Women...

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 12/16/04 at 8:33am

I've seen about 15 minutes of it (i was in and out of the theatre.) I always fall behind when the new stuff opens.

[QueenMuppet]

Posted: 12/16/04 at 8:35am

Munk, you have to catch Brooklyn at some stage, even if it is just to have a good laugh

QM

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 12/16/04 at 8:36am

I'll probably just do it tonight. After Saturday I will be out of town until February on a vacation of sorts...it will probably close during that time - better catch it while I can.

[SWTaffy]

Posted: 12/16/04 at 9:16am

Emcee, I'm glad you liked Karen. She's my favorite. She's the reason that I keep going back. She just looks like she's having so much fun on the stage. Also, She sounds AMAZING on the CD.

I wish that I could have 6th row orchestra for Brooklyn when I did rush.

Updated On: 12/16/04 at 09:16 AM