FINDING NEVERLAND Previews — Page 7

I sat in Row S of the orchestra all the way to the side and the view was fine but I don't think I would like to be further back. I think Front Mezz would be ideal.

I think it was a little long (especially in the first act) and not everything worked but overall I really loved it. When it was good, it was amazing. Much of the music is just ok..some of it sounded a little familiar... but there are a couple of really good songs/numbers (and yes Play was hysterical). James and Peter's duet was just lovely. I thought all the leads were just great. The boys were charming, the cast first rate..

I know the audience howled but I could have done without the "wink, wink Cheers joke"...Kelsey Grammar not withstanding. I didn't care for the "in" jokes that took you out of the play - it's not that type of show. It didn't need them.

Who is this show geared for? I saw a kid in the audience with a binky in his mouth..certainly not the target audience. I think families with older kids will like it, adults will like it, but while optimistic at the end, it's pretty sad for younger ones.

But it's still a preview..let's see what if anything gets changed.

I wish I could get to PAINT YOUR WAGON but my schedule sadly just didn't allow at all this week. Was so mad at myself when I realized what I'd scheduled in the way. Ah, well....

I really wanted to like this. I even prepared myself for it to not live up to the movie. But there's not living up to something and then there's just abysmally BOMBING.

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You're a little creepy stage door person.

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I thought this was pretty poor. It felt very contrived without a real sense of flow and completely lost any of the charm of the movie. It does improve a lot towards the end, the pub song onwards it much stronger and flows much better. The pub song is also perfect fit for the show, the rest of the songs are mainly forgettable with only lmk solo and 'when your feet don't touch the ground' really sitting right.

Matthew Morrison is the stand out, his accent is pretty good and he does the best he can with the material. Kelsey Grammer gets the best one liners, but didn't like the knowing nod to cheers, took you out of the show.

The set I found mainly ugly, and considering it's producer and creative team the staging was quite basic for the majority of the show.

Overall it just felt cold and corporate without any real heart which considering the story is a real shame

I'm British and love Peter Pan and for me no it didn't capture that magic. I think their aim, especially in the first half is to focus on how JM Barrie wrote the play and get inside his mind (resulting in some weird numbers) so when im meant to care about the relationship between Sylvia and james, I didnt

I also don't remember them kissing in the movie, but I could be wrong as I've not seen it in a while.

**** SPOILER-ISH ****

Yes, the Tinkerbell moment is still what the audience first experiences.

Does anyone have any thoughts about how this effect was accomplished?

On a different note, in addition to the "Cheers" joke and the fairy joke, they should also cut the actor's mouthed reaction to Barrie at the rehearsal. Unfortunately, all three of these moments got lots of laughter, so I doubt they'll cut them.

anyone think this show will get shut out of nominations because people don't like Harvey?

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"anyone think this show will get shut out of nominations because people don't like Harvey?"

It could get shut out simply because of the competition. I can't think of a single category where it would not be at best a toss up for the last nomination available. Harvey doesn't help things when he dares Brantley to give him a bad review, as he did in his Hollywood Reporter interview, but I don't think that will end up being a factor in the number of nominations it gets. The competition is just likely to be too strong in every category.

I think the Weinstein hate could affect the critics, but as I said, I doubt that it will be much of a factor with the Tony nominations. The consensus seems to be that Fun Home, Something Rotten and The Visit will be the front runners for Best Musical. That leaves Finding Neverland, Honeymoon in Vegas, The Last Ship, Dr. Zhivago and An American In Paris competing for the final spot. The leading actor category is even more competitive, because it includes the revivals. It's too early to predict with any level of certainty because much of the strongest competition has not opened yet. However, it is not too early to say that it will be very, very competitive. Again, it's not Weinstein that could get FN shut out. It's the competition.

"I can't see the show or Matthew not being nominated. I don't understand how Tony voters would rule out a show because they don't like Harvey Weinstein. So what? You don't have to have dinner with him. He's a successful producer and possibly an a$$, but that's a problem that shouldn't influence the opinion on a show or a cast. The cast is building something beautiful on stage every night, and that shouldn't be affected by personal opinions."

And there are people who don't care what the heck is going on backstage, they just wanna see a show.

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If there is such a thing as 'Weinstein hate,' it certainly hasn't stopped him or his movies from getting nominations or winning awards in the past.

More notably, 'Finding Neverland' sold out its first preview, and its first complete week of previews was sold out, too. It made the $1 million-dollar club with only 7 performances. So far, there's an audience eager to see this show.

I don't give a fig about Harvey and how crappy he apparently is. I care that if I'm plunking down a zillion bucks to see a show, that I am getting my money's worth. And if a producer being a bastard behind the scenes accomplishes that, then so be it.

Despite a few (very small) things I'd change about it, I enjoyed the 7th preview immensely. I was entertained and moved. Nothing wrong with that. And of the 4 brand new shows I saw this past weekend, it was the only one that I felt truly knew when to end it. No lingering. (I'm looking at you, Gigi, AAIP and It Shoulda Been You!)