Flying Over Sunset - Previews Thread- Page 22

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 12/6/21 at 2:05pm

^Thank you for your insightful review. 

[njguy2]

Posted: 12/6/21 at 3:20pm

My wife and I saw the matinee yesterday. I really, really wanted to like it,  but as another poster mentioned I left with a glass half full mentality. Most of the other reviewers have touched on many of the thoughts I had at the end of the show. 

The good - For me some of the performances were noteworthy. I enjoyed Carmen Cusack's portrayal of Clare Boothe Luce, but was beyond impressed with Hadden-Paton's Huxley and Sella's Gerald Heard. Unfortunately, there was an understudy for Mr. Yasbek. His dancing was phenomenal, acting was good, but his vocals did not rise to match the others. Many times throughout the show I thought to myself this might have been a more interesting play. The scenic design was first rate and definitely lifted the show out of mediocrity. I thought the original premise was interesting. For me, when scenes clicked they clicked and gave glimpses as to what might have been. The Rexall scene, the tap number, and the beginning of Act 2 were highlights. I thought some of the supporting cast were extremely strong with standouts being young Cary and Clare's mother.

The not so good - The score was there, but nothing really caught my interest. Even the big 11 o'clock number in Act 2 was a bit of a letdown. Even the day after, I can not recall anything from the score. When scenes didn't click for me they seemed awkward and clunky. I realize that portraying an LSD trip is open to interpretation but the entire ocean scene was a loss for me as well as the scene where Clare goes to visit "heaven".

It was nice to see an original production and I will say that unlike others I was never bored, my wife not so much. I wish the show well and appreciate the creative minds behind it. I am glad I went, but I use a very simple system to determine my final thoughts on a show. Would I see it again? Probably not.

I wanted to weigh in on the walking. To me it felt like a visual representation of chanting. To me, I saw it as lulling into the LSD trip experience IMHO.

Updated On: 12/6/21 at 03:20 PM

[ArtMan]

Posted: 12/6/21 at 3:45pm

I wanted to weigh in on the walking. To me it felt like a visual representation of chanting. To me, I saw it as lulling into the LSD trip experience IMHO."

Interesting perspective.  I like the passing of time, interpretation better.  But that could seem too obvious.  Your input could be on to something.

[Synecdoche2]

Posted: 12/6/21 at 4:40pm

this show looks and feels nothing like tripping on acid, and the actors just came across as stoned.

[JaglinSays]

Posted: 12/6/21 at 5:43pm

Are there any actors of color in the production? 

The absence of Bipoc characters seems out of step with the times. 

[ArtMan]

Posted: 12/6/21 at 5:51pm

JaglinSays said: "Are there any actors of color in the production?

The absence of Bipoc characters seems out of step with the times."

Yes, there are.

[SmoothLover]

Posted: 12/6/21 at 8:33pm

Some of the music reminded me of Carnival.

[JayElle]

Posted: 12/6/21 at 11:43pm

NJguy wrote in part, "My wife and I saw the matinee yesterday. I really, really wanted to like it,  but as another poster mentioned, I left with a glass half full mentality."

Agree NJguy2.  I couldn't figure out what was wrong with it. Story and characters out-of-touch with today's theater goers perhaps?  Watched several of his movies this week including Houseboat with Sophia Loren that they referenced in Flying.  The chemistry jumped off the screen.

I primarily went to see Yasbeck who takes every chance to get a tap number in.  Yasbeck was not very good at imitating his voice. (Tony Curtis always aced it.).  

As for the walking, I wondered if they were walking Sunset Blvd.

Looking forward for reviews and what they thought.

[LexiGirl]

Posted: 12/7/21 at 12:03am

ArtMan said: "Interesting perspective. I like the passing of time, interpretation better. But that could seem too obvious. Your input could be on to something."

The clock idea makes sense to me, but the passing of time didn’t because they were walking counter-clockwise. Maybe because they were all looking back on their life, almost turning back time on their trips? The chanting actually makes a bit of sense, too.

[starcatchers]

Posted: 12/7/21 at 12:07am

I really, really wanted to enjoy this. Tony Yazbeck and Carmen Cusack are among my favorite performers ever, but I found myself absolutely bored out of my mind. 

The entire cast is stellar. The aforementioned in particular are in fabulous form. The kid who plays young Cary Grant? My mind was blown. But even they couldn't make me interested in the material itself. 

[djoko84]

Posted: 12/7/21 at 3:22am

The show was terrible. It was soooo boring. I couldn't get into it. That's really all I have to say. Not worth wasting more of my time.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 12/7/21 at 11:24am

Any reports on Yazbeck's return tonight? I found his contribution critical. He's a genuine triple threat, and his charisma is the centerpiece of act 2's somewhat dubious start, not a small thing in a show about strangers to one another who suddenly find themselves tripping with a movie star. I never heard if he was ill or had an injury, only that he didn't have Covid. He's very effective in this show, whatever my misgivings about its second half.

Updated On: 12/7/21 at 11:24 AM

[SmoothLover]

Posted: 12/7/21 at 12:18pm

JayElle said: "NJguy wrote in part, "My wife and I saw the matinee yesterday. I really, really wanted to like it, but as another poster mentioned, I left with a glass half full mentality."

Agree NJguy2. I couldn't figure out what was wrong with it. Story and characters out-of-touch with today's theater goers perhaps? Watched several of his movies this week including Houseboat with Sophia Loren that they referenced in Flying. The chemistry jumped off the screen.

I primarily went to see Yasbeck who takes every chance to get a tap number in. Yasbeck was not very good at imitating his voice. (Tony Curtis always aced it.).

As for the walking, I wondered if they were walking Sunset Blvd.

Looking forward for reviews and what they thought."

Actors interpret rather than imitate.

 

[broadwaybabywannabe2]

Posted: 12/7/21 at 1:51pm

Lazarus Alas said: "broadwaybabywannabe2 said: "OY VEY!!!...i'm seeing this new musical in 3 weeks, right before Christmas...i thought that seeing a new fresh musical rather than the many juke-box musicals on Broadway would be the way to go...and after reading these pages of comments i now question my decision about seeing this Lapine/Finn musical...I love the Lincoln Center theatre so that thrill is enough i hope to make for an enjoyable evening...maybe in the days and weeks before officially opening things will tighten...here's hoping!!
Side note: William Finn is not involved in this production to the best of my knowledge.
...yikes,,,maybe that is the musical i want to see...lol...thanks for the correction...


"

 

[ashley0139]

Posted: 12/7/21 at 10:02pm

Saw the show Sunday matinee. I really enjoyed it. Not mind blowing or my favorite musical, but an enjoyable day out at the theatre. And I was never bored. I was disappointed to see Tony's understudy and I think that may have affected things. Carmen was the obvious standout to me, with the title song and 11 o'clock number.

As a side note, I would not recommend my seat. With a discount code I still paid $99 or so for a 2nd row seat all the way on the side (I probably could have paid less but I didn't look that hard). The problem was the front row was on the same level as the 2nd row, and the entire 2nd act when they were sitting on the lounge chairs, I couldn't see them when they were sitting due to the large head in front of me. That was the most disappointing for me. However, Carmen sang about 2 feet from my face a couple of times so that kind of made up for it.

I wish I would have the chance to see it again. I think it would help to get a second viewing, but overall I'm glad I saw it.

[SmoothLover]

Posted: 12/7/21 at 10:52pm

Some of the furniture placement could have been slightly more upstage. There is some restricted viewing if you are sitting on the sides. I did not care for the staging ( in terms of the book work) in the therapists office….Tony was looking upstage too much. I would avoid seats in the 100’s and 500’s.

[3NU]

Posted: 12/7/21 at 10:57pm

I saw the show on Friday night but am just getting the chance to write about it now. Like many of you, I really wanted to like this show, but I left disappointment by how much potential was left untapped.

I actually thought Act 1 was pretty interesting, if not a bit slow.  I particularly liked the Act 1 closer (also the reprise of the title song) with

 

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all the imagined/shadow characters asking the protagonists whether they truly understood the risks and potential consequences of tripping together. It made for an interesting premise that was never realized in Act 2. I also found the restaurant booth rising in the air in darkness/under "starlight" to be a compelling visual complement to the "just don't fall" lyric.

As others have already mentioned, Act 2 is simply too long and could benefit from some deep cuts. The most compelling parts of Act 2 (which didn't happen nearly enough) were when the characters interacted with each other during their hallucinations. For instance, I found it super interesting when

 

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Huxley envisioned himself dancing with Maria only to find that Clare had taken Maria's place as his dance partner. Huxley's subsequent panic felt merited because Clare became an unexpected part of Huxley's processing of grief.

Unfortunately, thought-provoking moments like this were far and few between. Too many times when one character was having visions, the other protagonists simply functioned as commentators or (worse yet) were taken out of the scene altogether. Why create a story about people tripping together if there are so few meaningful interactions between them all?

Also, the banal preachiness of James Lapine's book -- especially as Act 2 came to a close -- induced eyerolls from me. It felt as though Lapine didn't think the audience would understand what he was trying to get across.  Sorry, man, but raising the concept of a "23rd ingredient" (fairly insipid, if you ask me) -- and then basing an entire song about it -- is like writing "For Good" but taking out genuine retrospection, emotion, or connection between the characters.

My major takeaway was that this musical could really have benefitted from another year of workshopping and out-of-town tryouts.  A friend who saw the show with me felt it would have been considerably better as a play. At least the set design and projections were interesting. And Carmen Cusack was as glorious as I had hoped.

Oh, and I was also at the first performance where Tony Yazbeck was out.  Definitely a bummer.

[BCfitasafiddle]

Posted: 12/7/21 at 11:13pm

Was Tony Yazbeck back in tonight?

[ACL2006]

Posted: 12/7/21 at 11:31pm

BCfitasafiddle said: "Was Tony Yazbeck back in tonight?"

 

yes

[Lazarus Alas]

Posted: 12/8/21 at 12:35pm

binau said: "I also think it’s a rare example of a musical that might work better as a film than on stage. The concept of people singing only when high immediately takes away the awkward ‘why are they singing’ feel on film, the small characters lend themselves to close ups and since it’s LSD they could make the movie completely stylised/bonkers in a way that’s hard to do on stage."

The idea of a movie version crossed my mind as well. I agree it would make a good film.

 

[Robbie2]

Posted: 12/8/21 at 3:33pm

Anyone know...Is Tony back in the show today's matinee?

[BCfitasafiddle]

Posted: 12/9/21 at 3:09pm

I assume it's frozen now? 

[James2]

Posted: 12/9/21 at 3:46pm

I'm looking at Linctix for the closing weekend.  For those who have seen Sunset, would the left or the right be more opportune?

[DRSisLove]

Posted: 12/9/21 at 4:44pm

Saw the show last evening. Full cast. This was quite possibly the most boring show I have ever seen. I think I checked my watch 200 times. The entire first act (75 minutes mind you) was plot exposition. The second wasn't *as* bad, but I could not wait to get out of there. 

[BCfitasafiddle]

Posted: 12/9/21 at 4:46pm

This is selling so poorly. Opening night is onsale and the entire "Loge" is unsold seats. YIKES!