GETTIN' THE BAND BACK TOGETHER Reviews — Page 2

ntrackbar said: "You totally buried the lede - “BROADWAY NICKLEBACK”"

You know, I really should've posted that whole paragraph because it's so...incredible.

"Such moments, if there were more, could have saved the show, especially with a cast this appealing and given John Rando’s bright, comic staging. But there’s the music. Such crummy music. Mark Allen’s ersatz score sounds like rock, it resembles rock, but in its robotic squareness and thuddingly stupid lyrics, seems more like an algorithm synthesizing Top 40 hits of the past several decades. To put it in Billboard terms: Nickelback is generally regarded as the ****tiest rock band in history, right? Gettin’ the Band Back Together is Broadway Nickelback. By not taking the characters seriously or trusting the audience to invest in quality original rock (as Once, Spring Awakening and others did), the creative team thinks bro-mantic farce, bombastic stage effects and chorus girl T&A will tap a huge market."

WAIT! Marilu Henner hands out Rice Krispie Treats?! Well, NOW let me go buy a ticket.

@dramamama611 Playbills are printed each week (and the deadline is usually the week before they are printed) BUT opening night title page inserts are printed the evening before opening when there is a last min change. Would have been easy to do an insert. I think it shows that it was a hastily arranged press stunt and that they didn't even bother to follow through with the stunt.

"[Mark Allen]'s tunes are so rote they’re textureless, and his lyrics make about as much sense as random phrases sent through several passes of Google Translate.

“I took the safe road / to a life of stocks and bonds,” Mitch sings. “And bonded years / the same day reloaded / and hindsight crystal clear.” So true."

Crying actual tears of laughter right now.

"There are 12 Grundleshotzes, one of whom, Sarah Saltzberg, also provided “additional material.” (I wish it had been subtractional.)" –– Jesse Green, NYT


For some reason this made me laugh out loud.

Question: Since it's been noted that Ken's schtick is scripted, does he now collect an ACTOR'S salary????

dramamama611 said: "Question: Since it's been noted that Ken's schtick is scripted, does he now collect an ACTOR'S salary????"

I think I read somewhere that Ken doesn't always do the speech, sometimes one of the actors does it. But I would guess that no, he's not being paid by Actors' Equity.

Updated On: 8/13/18 at 10:43 PM

A one-star review from Time Out New York:

"Gettin’ the Band Back Together gives us no reason to care about the insipid Mitch—who, in the age of Facebook, somehow knows nothing about what has happened in his hometown for the past 20 years—nor does it even treat the band’s reunion with much enthusiasm. We barely see the guys rehearsing, and two of them have to be blackmailed into joining the group at all, but the show awards them women as participation prizes. Mitch’s love interest is played by the talented Kelli Barrett, whose career to date suggests the result of an inadequately specific wish to a genie. (“Yes, yes, you will originate roles in three Broadway musicals!” the malevolent spirit cackled as he readied the scripts for Baby It’s You, Doctor Zhivago and this.)"

What's next for the Belasco? Too soon?

re opening night playbill and the inserts:

it's the gospel. if you are there, you're in; if not, you're not eligible.