Everybodys Talking About Jamie transfer?- Page 4

[Observation]

Posted: 10/22/18 at 1:06pm

Has anyone seen Michelle Visage in the role? 

Wondered how she's doing!

[Skip23]

Posted: 10/23/18 at 2:34pm

Did anyone go to the screening last night at the Cineapolis in Chelsea NYC?

[Gensho]

Posted: 10/24/18 at 10:14am

haterobics said: "YvanEhtNioj said: "That paired with Michelle being in it would push people even more, I think."

I love Michelle, but if I were a potential investor and getting more people to come to a show hinged on gays coming to see Michelle Visage, not sure I could write that check. When you're stunt casting out of the gate...

Unless this is her real background and I'm completely unawares."

Out of the gate? The show was running for over a year before they cast Michelle Visage! 

 

[haterobics]

Posted: 10/24/18 at 10:24am

Gensho said: "Out of the gate? The show was running for over a year before they cast Michelle Visage!"

This thread is about bringing the show to Broadway, not the UK run.

[binau]

Posted: 11/6/18 at 2:10pm

Observation said: "Has anyone seen Michelle Visage in the role?

Wondered how she's doing!"

I recently revisited the show - Michelle is sassy and can pull off the rapping & singing. It's a great part for her - suddenly "Work of Art" as camp and pointless as it once seemed is now just camp. IT's the moment she needs to give audiences what they want of her Her accent was absolutely awful, not able to get rid of her American twang. But she tried. 

The show is in great shape - the understudy Jamie is a much stronger singer than the 'real' Jamie (who I saw last time). Whoever played the mother (not the original) delivered a great vocal and acting performance - was not disappointed at all after wondering how someone else could take on the role.

 

Updated On: 11/6/18 at 02:10 PM

[BroadwayBen]

Posted: 11/6/18 at 2:52pm

I finally got and listened to the cd.   While some of it is a lot of fun, most of it was real average musical theatre to me.   The character ballads are so predictable.  I'm not sure this could withstand Broadway's tougher critics. 

[BuddyStarr]

Posted: 11/7/18 at 10:54pm

 Saw this tonight, I really wanted to love it, but thought it was mostly mediocre. The only two good songs were the ones a friend sang. Glad I saw it but it would never work on Bway. 

[uncageg]

Posted: 11/7/18 at 11:27pm

Saw it tonight and this really needs to transfer. It is truly wonderful.

I listened to the recording a while back and thought it was just ok but in context this is a wonderful score and I will be revisiting it.

Of course some minor changes (Jokes and references) would need to be changed but I would love to see it transfer just as it is and with as much of the cast as possible in the filming.

I found it hard to understand them for the first 20 minutes or so but I found myself settling into it and understanding practically everything they said.

An excellent and heartwarming story that I think would have young theatergoers flocking to see it. JMO

[Robbie2]

Posted: 11/8/18 at 12:42am

Nobody's talking about a transfer this season!

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 11/8/18 at 1:01am

Saw tonight's broadcast.

The good: Mcrea. Glad they preserved his performance before he aged out of the role. He's got the sass and camp in his head in the imaginary opening number, but soon sinks into anxiety and insecurity that he has to fight his way out of.

Act One's structure does a great job introducing his allies, foes, dreams and internal conflict.

The mother. She could have been a saint but they do a nice job showing that she's a bit of a mess and causing both harm and good.

The bad:
Filler. You could easily cut three or four filler songs and have a tighter show.

The Drag Queens. Odd that they should be the blandest characters in the show with the worst songs. Not a single funny line between them. If they're supposed to be bad drag queens then give them something like "Gotta Have a Gimmick" and let them stop the show. Otherwise prune them out.

Act two's structure. Having Jamie's' priorities go from the drag show to the prom seems out of order, especially since the student body already saw his show. Nothing left to prove.

He's got three antagonists to confront in act two; the father, the teacher and the bully. The script gives them equal weight which rushes Jamie's arcs with each of them. Nothing builds. Most interesting is the idea that his mother has become an obstacle through her over protectiveness but that's resolved too easily.

I also didn't buy the sudden reveal that Jamie thinks he's ugly, no matter who called him that. McCrea's a sexy twink. He's not Fanny Brice.

Updated On: 11/8/18 at 01:01 AM

[GreeneStreet]

Posted: 11/8/18 at 1:28am

I’m sorry, but what was new about this production? I feel like it was the same story line as so many other “teen woke shows”. I could have just seen DEH and Kinky boots and enjoy myself more than this. Of course in theatres its different then an actual theatre. The whole thing just felt like I've seen it 10 times.

[zainmax]

Posted: 11/8/18 at 11:56am

MrsSallyAdams, good points! Are you a dramaturg?

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 11/8/18 at 12:16pm

Thanks zainmax! I'm not a professional but I've been known to dramaturg productions every now and then.

[zainmax]

Posted: 11/8/18 at 12:34pm

I liked the show, but I feel like the writers would probably benefit from what you have to say!

[Wick3]

Posted: 11/11/18 at 7:56pm

Anyone see the movie today (or plan on seeing it on Wednesday)?

I didn't know about the movie showing here in NYC until yesterday! I couldn't make it today but when I was looking at tickets with friends it looked like there was a lot of availability. For those who have seen it, was the showing sold out or did it look like it had plenty of empty seats?

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 11/11/18 at 9:40pm

I saw it today (the viewing looked sold out) and I overall really enjoyed it. I think there are pitfalls the show could have easily fallen into but didn’t. Is it perfect? No, but it’s pretty darn good and the score is clever and catchy. The lyrics actually rhyme and are genuinely funny. Definitely fewer cliches in the lyrics than in Kinky Boots or Dear Evan Hansen.

I loved the representation of the cast and characters: bigger drag queens, brown and Muslim characters... an overall colorful and body positive cast. I’d love to see more of that here in NY. I mean, they have multiple characters in hijabs. Have we ever seen that on Broadway?

While I do believe there are things to improve (that was a great list, Mrs. Sally), it’s such a fun, entertaining, touching show.

And yes, this is different because it’s inspired by a documentary and it deals with an already out teenager-slash-aspiring drag queen in modern society where it is acceptable to look up to drag queens. Not all drag/high school stories are the same. This one is very specific, in fact.

[ggersten]

Posted: 11/11/18 at 11:29pm

My spouse, daughter and I had a private viewing in Denver.  Well, it wasn't supposed to be private, but we were the only three people in the theatre.  There was a bit of snow on the ground.....and the manager said the theatre had barely advertised the show.

My spouse saw the show in London and liked it.  I liked it - thought it had catchy moments - McCrea was electric.  I very much enjoyed the actor who played Hugo.  I think several of the characters were not very well developed - the teacher and the bully in particular.  I also think the three drag queens were wasted - I was looking forward to a "Got to Have a Gimmick" type number - but alas no.  Indeed, the way they were presented, Jamie should have looked at them and decided, "yeah, being a drag queen is not such a great thing".  

I thought the filming was done really well.  I think I read on theatreboard when this showed in the UK that they filmed three performances, but that most of the film is from one performance.  I'm sure there are indications, but I didn't see them.

Happy to have seen it.  

[Lot666]

Posted: 11/13/18 at 10:56am

My husband and I saw this on Sunday afternoon.

MrsSallyAdams said: "The Drag Queens. Odd that they should be the blandest characters in the show with the worst songs. Not a single funny line between them. If they're supposed to be bad drag queens then give them something like "Gotta Have a Gimmick" and let them stop the show. Otherwise prune them out."

They were oddly bland for drag queens. In stark contrast to the megawatt personas of so many RuPaul's Drag Race alumni, the ones in this show don't make much of a case for the fabulousness of drag. 

MrsSallyAdams said: "He's got three antagonists to confront in act two; the father, the teacher and the bully. The script gives them equal weight which rushes Jamie's arcs with each of them. Nothing builds. Most interesting is the idea that his mother has become an obstacle through her over protectiveness but that's resolved too easily."

During the interval, my husband remarked, "They've introduced a number of plot points in there and I'm curious to see how they're going to manage to resolve all of them." I thought the resolutions were largely simplistic and rushed. The bully's storyline in particular seemed to just evaporate in the end; I didn't buy the suggestion that Pritti's vision of Dean's future would carry enough weight with him to make him rethink his treatment of Jamie.

We also thought the show deserved a better ending than a fluffy production number that had nothing to do with the plot. The story brings up some very serious issues and the ending dismissed all of that in favor of something that would've been more at home as the finale of a jukebox musical.

Updated On: 11/15/18 at 10:56 AM

[Kitsune]

Posted: 11/15/18 at 12:49pm

My partner and I went to a local screening last night. We both agreed that the score (with a few exceptions) was very generic pop, but the performances were good and the book was engaging. 

For the price of a movie ticket, I'm really glad I saw it. That being said, I'm not convinced this *needs* to be on Broadway in its current form.

As for the drag queens - I know almost nothing about the actual place this show is set in, but I assumed the drag queens were supposed to be second-rate, amateur-ish acts you find when you go to less central gay bars. 

[Gizmo6]

Posted: 11/15/18 at 2:58pm

Just to chime in here, I loved the show when I saw it in the West End.

On the matter of Drag Queens, drag queens aren’t one homogenised group, well, weren’t. With Drag Race it is moving in that direction.

English Drag is/was very different to other Drag scenes. And remember this is set in a regional town so a regional gay bar. I have been in gay bars like this in the UK and around the time of the real Jamie’s story and the queens would mainly DJ and comment on the microphone. It wasn’t the big production it’s become.

I think they capture the queens very well, I’d like a better song but I think for a teenage gay boy pre-Drag race those queens any queens would be fabulous.

[BroadwayFanatic454]

Posted: 5/12/19 at 9:01pm

Any speculation and/or rumor of this transferring in the 19/20 season? 

 

Sorry if this is a dumb question, just genuinely curious. 

[YvanEhtNioj]

Posted: 5/12/19 at 11:30pm

BroadwayFanatic454 said: "Any speculation and/or rumorof this transferring in the 19/20 season? "

Nada, sadly. The West End production has started using stunt casting with Michelle Visage and now Bianca Del Rio. Michelle Visage mentioned that if it transferred, she'd love to come over with it but that's the last I heard of anything. 

Next season has no (officially announced) original scores yet, so I think this would be the perfect season for it. I just kinda fear the plot is too similar to The Prom. 

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 3/25/21 at 1:06am

Random bump but at the end of the Broadway Cast Reunion stream tonight for Dear Evan Hansen, one of the hosts was previewing upcoming streams including one involving the cast and creatives of Everybody's Talking About Jamie. The host went on to say that the show is going out on a US tour with Broadway as the intended endgame. I’m not totally sure how accurate that information is or where the host heard it, but I figured I’d share. 

Updated On: 3/25/21 at 01:06 AM

[mcbrown2]

Posted: 3/25/21 at 1:52am

Hi there,

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie,
The musical is inspired by the story of Jamie Campbell, a 16-year-old boy growing up in a former mining village in County Durham. Having already come out for his homosexual orientation at the age of 14, Jamie has yet to deal with an epiphany: He wants to be a drag queen and plans to go to prom in drag.

[greensgreens]

Posted: 3/25/21 at 10:59am

ClumsyDude15 said: "The hostwent on to saythat the show is going out on a US tour with Broadway as the intended endgame. I’m not totally sure how accurate that information is or where the host heard it, but I figured I’d share."

Oh, this tour will kill the show. It won't make it to B'way. There are LARGE swaths of the US where this still won't sell, no matter how liberal we think the US is becoming. Unless it only tours LA, SF, Chicago - I would think it better to just open on B'way with some stunt casting (Bianca actually wouldn't be too bad of an idea),