FINDING NEVERLAND Previews — Page 15

Does anyone know if any red carpet entrances are planned for opening night which can be viewed by the public? Harvey can never pass up an opportunity for promotion.

The lyricists and composers are the same people: Gary Barlow and Eliot Kennedy both wrote all the music and lyrics together.

Really glad to hear such positive review! I loved the show as well. Glad others are enjoying it despite its flaws and all the negative buzz.

Hmmmmmm......saw this 2x in Cambridge and really loved it, although flawed. Caught it over the weekend, and was less impressed, but not enough to dislike. Of course, that could be that it WAS the third time and things are not as magical, or the fact that I was in the back of the mezz....which is, perhaps, twice as far away as the ART.

While I didn't dislike Morrison, I did prefer Jordan. I thought Jordan was warmer and that his character had more fun with the boys. His singing was first rate.

I was surprised how much I liked Grammer, although his voice was much stronger in Act I than II at that performance.

I like many of the changes, but actually MISSED the human/dog. As an actual dog, there seemed no reason to actually have him.

Still didn't love any of the boys' performances, or their song.

I don't know how many Tony noms this might muster (I wouldn't think too many) but I do think it will financially do quite well.

Also, as to Jordan's comments about audience and house staff, I had no such issues with my audience on Friday night...except that they were a bit noisy at the beginning of each act. No issues with bad behavior or children.

It has always been "open ended" - many new shows only release tickets a few months out at a time....to get those houses well sold. (A technicality, really, but it wasn't "extended".)

Seems by some in the media more a referndum on Weinstein than anything else. Haven't seen it yet, but my friend thought the "cliches" worked.

Saw this last night and I'm just kind of baffled. Like, I don't get why people are flocking to it? It doesn't really have spectacle. It doesn't really have that interesting of a story. The characters aren't particularly well drawn. I don't get it? I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it.

There was just no concept. The set was this like story-book looking set, which was rather ugly and made the whole stage feel cramped. The set pieces tracked on, but I saw actors moving most of the scenery, which made the whole thing feel slightly cheap. I just thought the whole show would have this big, expensive look to it, and it looked cheaper than Pippin. There was only one moment of real "magic' and even it felt cheap by having the actors in the dark throwing things into the light. I thought there'd be flying and all this creative, inventive direction, but it was all very straight forward.

The music was very English pop, which I don't mind, but it didn't particularly suit the story. "Stronger" is a catchy tune, but me and my friend were like "what is he stronger than?" The stakes didn't seem all that high for such an involved song with jungle drums and pirate ships. "Circus In Your Mind" and their duet in Act II were the highlights to me. But again, I felt like they were horribly staged.

Morrison was fine. He was in great voice, and he seem committed. But that accent. It wasn't bad, but it just seemed over powering and a little hokey.

Laura Michelle Kelly was just beyond to me. She was in glorious voice. I wish her big solo had been a better song, but she killed it. And her vocals throughout were pretty awesome. Just wish she was given more to do. She barely registers.

Warlow was great. He was also in great voice, and really killed the part.

The boy playing Peter was terrible. His vocals were off, and his big duet with Morrison was so awkward cause the harmonies were all out of key. The song is just too high for him. So why they would cast him I don't know. It doesn't sound good in his voice.

Overall, I'm just confused as to why this is such a hit. I mean, they cast a So You Think You Can Dance winner as Peter Pan, and she doesn't do anything. She dances for 2 minutes in the opening and then disappears. What's the point of her? We're all waiting to see Peter Pan cause they've been talking about it for 2 hrs, and then we finally see her and she's in a terribly visible harness and then that's it.

I don't get it.

I'm of two minds on FN-- you can see my emotional rave a few posts higher up on this page from when I saw the show on my own back in April. Had a great seat in the 5th or 6th row 3 or 4 seats off the aisle, and was surprised to find I had the time of my life. Full of enthusiasm for everything but its lyrics which I thought abominable, I giddily brought my husband to see the show in late June (when, as it turns out, both Kelsey AND Laura Michelle Kelly were out-- grrrr.)

Long story short, my hubby HATED the thing, and frankly I could see his point. The thrill I had felt at least 4 or 5 times back in April as numbers built to their climax was weirdly missing now. Obviously the careful balance between the leads was absent (the man standing in for Grammer was especially inadequate), but nothing seemed to land as it had for me that first time. Even the creation of that pirate ship at the act one curtain which had me absolutely grinning from ear to ear in April-- even that moment seemed substandard on second viewing.

Which only means that if you LOVED Finding Neverland, I'm happy to agree with you.

And if you LOATHED Finding Neverland, I'm happy to agree with you. :)

Updated On: 8/30/15 at 12:58 PM

Does anyone know if Anthony Warlow is extending or if Kelsey's coming back in September. No announcement has been made and its getting close to the time when we should hear something.

Heard recently that Mr Warlow is doing Fiddler in Australia early next year.

^And the theatre still has all promotional pictures with him on it (except the marquee and the flags that had their picture and name) with the cast, and pull quotes that say "Kelsey Grammer is delightful!" or something like that which is telling that he should be making a return to the production soon.

Oh I think I misunderstood what you had originally said. I didn't doubt he was returning but I thought that was what you were saying. I was just curious about the return date because we haven't heard anything about it since. I'm sure he'll be returning this fall.