FINIANS RAINBOW REVIEWS- Page 3

[bjh2114]

Posted: 10/29/09 at 11:29pm

They updated stuff that wouldn't have made sense at all today. They left the rest of the show the same because that's how it was written. You don't rewrite a show every time you revive it. The show is hardly dated. The themes are still relevant. As for the plot, it didn't make much sense in the 1940s either. It's a fantasy plot that has no foundation in reality whatsoever. So the plot isn't dated, it's fantastical. So the only thing that could be considered dated is the dialogue itself. But if you look at any musical from that period, the writing styles are the same.

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 10/29/09 at 11:31pm

Dare I say I actually enjoyed Finian's Rainbow more than I did the revival of Ragtime? Yes, the Ragtime score is impeccable, but I think I was ultimately thought Finian's created some magic, while Ragtime left me more admiring that moved by the piece.

[wickedfan]

Posted: 10/29/09 at 11:32pm

Nearly every revival alters something about its original source. Theatre is a constantly morphing thing. Somethings that worked in the 40's don't work today. Especially in comedy. Them tinkering with it has nothing to do with them thinking the show is dated. They wouldn't DO it if they felt that way. It's about making a few alterations so that today's audiences can view the show with the same enthusiasm as they do.

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 10/29/09 at 11:32pm

givesmevoice: I remembered reading that now that you brought that up.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 10/29/09 at 11:33pm

Dare I say I actually enjoyed Finian's Rainbow more than I did the revival of Ragtime? Yes, the Ragtime score is impeccable, but I think I was ultimately thought Finian's created some magic, while Ragtime left me more admiring that moved by the piece.

Dare I say I actually enjoyed Finian's Ranibow more than I did the revival of Hair? I find it hard to believe that people feel that Hair is more relevant outside of its original time period than Finian's is.
Updated On: 10/29/09 at 11:33 PM

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 10/29/09 at 11:35pm

But that's my point, givesmevoice. The AIDS plotline in ACL (and to some extent, the racist plotline in FINIAN'S) is so 1975 that the show will never be totally relevant but the direction should bring it as much into 2009 as possible. Without retooling the show 1000000% to like have it take place in space with aliens and robots.

But what about shows like Fiddler on the Roof? It's clearly set Tsarist Russia in 1905. I don't think pogroms are as big a problem now as they were then, so is it a hopelessly dated show?

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 10/29/09 at 11:36pm

Perlman recently had an interview on TheaterTalk in which they asked him about retooling the show and the only thing he referred to really strongly was the racism and dated elements of the book. It was completely evident that it was a major, major reason why he reworked the book.

And I think FIDDLER is an unfair comparison. The plotline IS this family's struggles living in Tsarist Russia. ACL's major plotline isn't about being gay/a drag queen; its a subplot. Same with FINIAN'S racist themes.


Updated On: 10/29/09 at 11:36 PM

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 10/29/09 at 11:38pm

Clumsy, they used blackface in the movie, too. (I am completely unashamed of my love for the movie) I thought it was an interesting choice to use two actors, but I think it works a lot better.

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 10/29/09 at 11:39pm

givesmevoice: If Fiddler is dated, then I personally give up. I've never seen the film, but I sort of want to dive in and check it out.

[Kad]

Posted: 10/29/09 at 11:40pm

There is something inherently different between Fiddler on the Roof and A Chorus Line and Finian's Rainbow: when the latter two were written, they were set in the time they were written.


Edit: Also.. I do not recall an AIDS subplot in ACL. Its premiere predates it.

Updated On: 10/29/09 at 11:40 PM

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 10/29/09 at 11:41pm

It's a total downgrade from the play, but I would definitely recommend looking for it on Netflix, Clumsy! It's very 60s and pretty terrible. And I love every minute of it.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 10/29/09 at 11:43pm

Woah, I don't even know where I got an AIDS subplot from. I read givesmevoice's post about it being written at the dawn of the AIDS pandemic and slipped up what I was talking about. I was talking about the gay/drag plotline. Sorry about that.
Updated On: 10/29/09 at 11:43 PM

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 10/29/09 at 11:44pm

Very readable and quotable review from Isherwood.
Sometimes an actress/singer has to let a magical role
come to her and Baldwin's reviews prove it's her time.
Isherwood's sainthood to Newman is well deserved.

The reviews all point out how fabulous the score is,
so why no mention of Rob Berman, who is responsible for taking care of it?

[A Director]

Posted: 10/29/09 at 11:47pm

A day or two after Finian's Rainbow opened in 1947, Oscar Hammerstein, took out an ad in Variety praising the show!

The Sharon and Woody love story helps the satire go down.

Every show is dated after it's original run. Promises! Promises! is dated! Company is dated! West Side Story is dated!

Fiddler on the Roof is not about pogroms; what the show is about is the title of the opening number.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 10/29/09 at 11:47pm

I was talking about the gay/drag plotline.

How is that plotline dated? The only thing in Paul's monologue that could be considered dated is the mention of Times Square in its sleazy days. But that's history.

[CyCoSpAz2]

Posted: 10/29/09 at 11:49pm

Really hope these reviews actually get people to buy tickets (unlike Brighton Beach Memoirs). This show deserves a healthy run, but they were having a hard time (literally) giving away tickets tonight.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 10/29/09 at 11:50pm

Fiddler on the Roof is not about pogroms; what the show is about is the title of the opening number.

Yes, but I just picked the pogrom plot point as an example.

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 10/29/09 at 11:50pm

Ooh, this sounds like my type of movie!

Fiddler being dated would hurt me too much to even go there.

[Kad]

Posted: 10/29/09 at 11:50pm

"Woah, I don't even know where I got an AIDS subplot from. I was talking about the gay/drag plotline. Sorry about that."

Ahh. I was literally going nuts thinking I had somehow blanked out on part of that show.


Most musicals that are set in, and comment on, the time they are written are going to be dated after its premiere.

Updated On: 10/29/09 at 11:50 PM

[allofmylife]

Posted: 10/29/09 at 11:50pm

You don't need to update Hamlet or Othello or any opera to get a hit production. A hit is a hit is a hit.

This is basically an affirmation of how good a job Lane, Harburg and Saidy did in 1947 (and BTW, Finian's Rainbow was called "groundbreaking" and was one of the hottest tickets in town back then.)

Updated On: 10/29/09 at 11:50 PM

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 10/29/09 at 11:52pm

Finian's Rainbow is one of the most popular musicals in the Czech Republic, in case anyone needs to be carrying that little piece of trivia around.

allofmylife, I love that picture!

[jeffrey1dog]

Posted: 10/29/09 at 11:53pm

NY1 is MIXED to POSITIVE

I just saw Roma Torre's review on TV. It's not online yet though. When she began I thought it was gonna be bad but she totally fooled me and turned it into a love fest

I couldn't be happier for all the positive reviews. As I've said before, it's by far the best new show I've seen so far this season!

[matineeidol2013]

Posted: 10/30/09 at 12:10am

wow wow wow wow is all i can say horray for finians! this is phenominal news. that an old show that nobody thought was a.) needed on broadway and b.) wouldnt succeed, is adored by the critics, and, from the word of mouth im hearing, the audiences as well! proves my point exactly that and old fashioned golden age show WAS in fact needed on broadway. it's adding whimsy and beauty to the great white way. i love you finians!!!

[MarkK]

Posted: 10/30/09 at 12:20am

amNY is a Rave

So in spite of all its creakiness and political baggage, it's truly wonderful to have "Finian's Rainbow" back on Broadway. It feels rather like finding a "terrifish, magnifish, delish" crock of gold in the middle of Times Square.
amNY

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 10/30/09 at 12:26am

I am delighted to read the rave reviews and look forward to seeing the show when I am in town next month.

It's hard to argue with a score that just sparkles from Overture to Finale without a single weak song in the group.

But like a lot of 1940s musicals the book scenes do go on and on without really leading anywhere. I think that is the element that makes the show feel (to use a loaded word) dated. The fantasy and political satire are pretty timeless...but unlike more recent shows were every line of dialogue and every lyric carries the action forward, there is still a lot of the vaudeville-styled "sketches" in the show, and songs like "Something sort of Grandish" that just take an idea and spin it out into a 4 minute number But the song is so delightful that only a tone-deaf curmudgeon would object.

And yes, Wickedrocks, this isn't another WICKED. But we already have one of those playing. Isn't it fun to see what shows were like before 2003?

It was an era when the songs were paramount. Composers aimed at getting hit records from their scores, and audiencs were content to relax and enjoy the songs and get back to the plot later.