FINDING NEVERLAND Previews- Page 10

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 3/27/15 at 10:42am

Here's Michael Riedel's Latest Column...

[JaglinSays]

Posted: 3/27/15 at 12:27pm

So much better than what I heard at the Lunt.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vyr9erda4U&feature=youtu.be

[valeposh]

Posted: 3/27/15 at 12:53pm

Riedel needs a puppy or something else to make him less bitter. He hasn't mentioned the show at all, just Weinstein.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 3/27/15 at 1:21pm

Well realistically speaking, let's face it, with all the crap Weinstein's put so many people through on this show, he's gonna kinda be the main focus.

[Back Row]

Posted: 3/27/15 at 5:15pm

Jaglinsays, you have been shilling for the original creative team and enthusiastically panning every element of the current incarnation of this show ever since it went into rehearsals for the A.R.T. Are you somehow connected to the original production? And as for "what you heard at the Lunt", are we to believe that you purchased a ticket to a show you hate so much?

[CarlAlan610]

Posted: 3/27/15 at 7:03pm

AMEN!!! Im so tired of the negativity! Its a great show. As lovers of musical theater we should want these shows to succeed!

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 3/27/15 at 7:12pm

CarlAlan,
With all due respect, what if we honestly don't think it's a good show? Why should those who believe it is of inferior quality cheer it on to succeed? Just because I don't like this show doesn't make me any less of a musical theater lover. Do you love every musical that has ever been produced on Broadway?? If not, you are a very negative person and should be ashamed.

[pacificnorthwest]

Posted: 3/27/15 at 7:21pm

Whizzer: May I expand on the question asked of you about four shows? Can you rank all the 2015 shows you've seen, from your favorite on down?

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 3/27/15 at 7:37pm

I certainly don't like everything out there..but personally I would NEVER wish for something not to succeed. Lots of people's jobs are lost if/when a show closes. It's no skin off my back...if I don't care for something, I don't go. If I spent money to take a chance, and I still didn't like it..oh well, that's the way it goes.

And I don't have to like everything out there..there are different shows for different audiences. I agree it doesn't make anyone less of a musical theater appreciator to not like something.

But do I hope it closes and doesn't succeed to prove I am right..just NO.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 3/27/15 at 7:57pm

pacificnorthwest, I'm heading into Dr Zhivago now, but I'll think of the order after and post it tonight.

Kathy, I'm not actively wishing for a show I don't like to close or people to be out of work. I guess I just don't understand the mentality that was implied that we have to be rah rah cheerleaders of every Broadway, regardless of quality or whether we like it. There are many, many shows I love and wish well, but if anyone doesn't enjoy a show they should be allowed to voice a negative opinion without fear of having their love of theater called into question.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 3/27/15 at 8:48pm

I mean I know this is ironic coming from someone who gave crap to Whizzer last night for not liking the show but it should simply be a matter of, if you like it, like it, if you don't, don't.

What I've always found fault with in this forum is the idea that if this specific demographic that posts here doesn't like something then that makes it official somehow, that it's a bad show and anyone who says otherwise is wrong. Again, what you like or dislike, I've felt, is purely subjective.

Well, unless you're After Eight.

[jpbran]

Posted: 3/28/15 at 12:27am

My mini-review (I'd posted this to Facebook a little while ago in response to some friends asking what I thought):

"Finding Neverland" was a skillful piece of manipulative, audience-pleasing stagecraft -- and it worked on me. Some BRILLIANTLY staged moments (including a silly-but-cool Act 1 finale), and some shameless tear-jerking... I predict a huge hit despite several pedestrian songs. It was produced by Harvey "Miramax" Weinstein if that gives you an idea of its unsubtle desire to please & entertain, which it mostly successfully does. Nice to see Kelsey Grammar chewing the scenery with gusto and Matthew Morrison freed from "Glee" purgatory."

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 3/28/15 at 12:30am

Pacificnorthwest,

It is hard to rank the shows in a specific order because for some it is truly comparing apples to oranges, but in general clumps:

So far my favorite, not necessarily the "best," but most enjoyable for me was The Audience. I absolutely loved Mirren and could watch it once a week if I were able.

In the next group I loved The Visit, Something Rottem!, You Can't Take It With You, Curious Incident, Disgraced, The King and I, Hand to God, Skylight. (Adored Fun Home off-Broadway and will see the Broadway version shortly. Wolf Hall Pt 1 was also exquisite, but feel I can't totally judge it until I see Pt 2 as well.)

I liked, but had some issues with On the Twentieth Century, Heidi Chronicles, Elephant Man, Love Letters, Honeymoon in Vegas, It's Only a Play (w/Nathan...after the cast change it was devoid of laughs), Gigi, A Delicate Balance

Things I was mixed/just alright, but nothing great were The Country House, On the Town, Holler If Ya Hear Me, The Temptations and Four Tops, Fish in the Dark, The River

Things I didn't like were Side Show, This is Our Youth, Constellations, The Real Thing, Finding Neverland, Doctor Zhivago, American in Paris

Bottom Two were It Shoulda Been You and The Illusionists.

The hardest thing for me to place is The Last Ship. The score has grown on me over time and it was professional and sincerely presented...it just left me so cold both times I saw it.

[pacificnorthwest]

Posted: 3/28/15 at 12:51am

Thank you Whizzer. That's both interesting and helpful, as I plan my near-future theater weekends.

As a silly aside, my eyes were playing tricks on me as I read your comments tonight about "Dr. Zhivago." When you wrote "Eugene Onegin," I misread it instead as my hometown... Eugene, Oregon, and momentarily was trying to figure out what Eugene's arts community had to do with Dr. Zhivago on Broadway. :)

[HamBiggar]

Posted: 3/28/15 at 9:44am

Jaglin is right.

Saw the show this week. Easily one of the most charmless, crass evenings I've ever experienced in the theater. The book and score dumb down the source material in a depressing way. The performances are paint by numbers.

Between this and the godawful Radio City show, it seems like Weinstein should stick to movies.

[rob136]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 5:03am

In my opinion, this was the best new musical I've seen this season, although I haven't yet seen Fun Home for what that's worth.

It had some beautifully staged moments, as others have said, with big numbers and a general "Disney" kind of magical feel to it for most of the show. Kind of a spoiler, I guess: I particularly liked the attention to the children's handling of their father's death.

This is definitely a nominee for Best Musical, and I think it has a decent shot of winning it too.

[Mike3]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 1:28pm

I saw this last night and was very disappointed.

With one or two exceptions, I found the score (and especially the orchestrations) terribly bland.

I go to the theater to be moved, and this left me cold.

[VotePeron]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 1:48pm

If Finding Neverland wins the Tony for Best Musical, I'm not sure I will have any faith left in this community. Between The Last Ship, The Visit, Fun Home, Something Rotten, and possibly Dr. Zhivago, Neverland will be lucky to be nominated - if it even gets nominated.

But glad you liked it that much!

Updated On: 3/29/15 at 01:48 PM

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 2:59pm

Well, from what I've been reading here, I'm very sorry to hear the show isn't doing it for people on this board.

But for the record, I don't think it'll actually win Best Musical.

Updated On: 3/29/15 at 02:59 PM

[Back Row]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 4:18pm

The competition is going to be pretty stiff for a best musical nomination. No one says much about The Last Ship, but I have a feeling that it won't be completely forgotten when the nominations come out. Morrison is one of about five actors with a realistic shot at one of the last two nominations for Best Actor In a Musical, so, along with Grammer, he may get some recognition, but I don't foresee any other nominations.

[Bilbo3]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 4:25pm

With Best Musical, It seems like it will come down to FUN HOME or SOMETHING WROTTEN for the win. I have a good feeling FN will get nominated, but I doubt it has a good chance at the win.

[Sunny11]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 4:59pm

Its intresting. I can go on to Finding Neverlands official facebook page and twitter tag after every performance ends and see glowing reviews from the audience members who then say that they are getting more tickets and/or recomend it to other people. On Ticketmaster 5 upcoming matinees are taged as being close to sold out allready . They have grossed over $ 1 million in its first week of previews and is reported to have done the same this week. These sources would indicate that word of mouth is strong at this point at least.

[VotePeron]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 5:09pm

I said this in my initial review, and I will say it again.

The last 20 minutes of Finding Neverland perfectly combine ridiculous spectacle with emotional heart tugging, which skews most theater-goers perception of the show. After seeing what happens in the finale, no one even thinks to look back at the major flaws of Act 1.

And Sunny, yes, if word of mouth won shows Tonys, then Finding Neverland would have no competition.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 5:11pm

Do you really expect anything else from its official Facebook page?

I admit I like a lot of Gary Barlowe's songwriting. Rule the World, etc are great pop anthems--but they are also pretty generic in terms of what they address. Nothing I have heard from this score seems to be even up to that standard.

[rcwr]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 5:17pm

I know I'm in the minority here, but I find a lot of depth in that score. "When Your Feet Don't the Ground" is about two fundamentally different ways of handling grief. The lyrics and music and counterpoint structure show each singer explaining their way to the other, yet it's not a competition -- James tries to coax but Peter holds his ground -- and the song conveys clearly that no matter which path you take, the grief is still grief, because no approach to grief has the power to erases it. That's pretty real-life layered, IMO.