#1
Posted: 4/22/08 at 11:14pm
WithoutATrace should be replying to this post sometime soon. We saw the first preview of GLORY DAYS this evening with AdamGreer, who might also pop in.
Runtime ran exactly 90 minutes
Show started 10 minutes late
Spotted in the audience: Rob Ashford
First off, let me start off by saying that I HATE these kind of shows. I expected something like "A Separate Peace". But instead got the silly, stereotypes of college boys. Disappointing. VERY.
I really consider this, honestly, to be one of the worst things I've seen. But please note that this kind of material does NOT do it for me.
This should NOT be playing to Broadway houses. It will only appeal to the general stereotypical college student and THAT IS IT. Or unless you're desperate to look at semi-attractive, over-age twinks trying to pass off looking 19.
*****LOADED WITH SPOILERS THROUGH END******
For those who haven't figured it out yet, GLORY DAYS is the story of 4 teenage boys returning home after the first year of college. They meet up on the football field (which they were all kicked off of for their terrible skills - or lack thereof) for one night to hang out and seek revenge on the old jocks that roamed their high school by ruining their alumni game by setting off the sprinklers in the middle of it.
Secrets are revealed, like how Jack is gay. And Jack kisses Will who doesn't stop him but isn't gay. (CAMP, anyone?) And Andy's the homophobic butch dude who just can't cope. And Skip just loves everyone and hates to see them fight.
They all part ways at the end of the night and nothing changes except for the fact they are no longer friends. Real happy story here. Will, our "narrator", confesses that he will begin to write a new story because he wants to write and yadayadayada his epiphany is that high school is over or something like that. Real moving, I'd say.
The good:
Adam Halpin as Skip, the most underdeveloped character, uses this unintentional secrecy about his character to his advantage and delivers a full, beautiful performance.
The lighting is cool, nothing mindblowing, but it definitely is impressive or Mark Lanks' Broadway debut as a designer.
The bad:
The plot - or lack thereof.
The set - or lack thereof. (Some cheap plastic bleachers/risers that look like they were recycled from SPELLING BEE'S Broadway set and a marble floor that acts as grass, apparently.) One actor tripped while maneuvering around these death trap risers. It's terrifying to watch them run up and down them and see the riser buckle underneath their weight.
Andrew C. Call, you're all right, is obnoxious. His performance is so over-the-top and matches every stereotype of a "meathead". He doesn't even TRY to break out of the mold the book lays out for him. He doesn't TRY to complete a character. He just overacts and hams everything up to the thousandth degree. Everytime he spoke, I wished he would stop.
The score is repetitious and dull. It tries to be new and fun and is certainly... new. But I think we might've heard it from Joe Iconis or Pasek and Paul or Brian Lowdermilk before. It's just... familiar. And dull. And all sounds the same after a while.
The direction - or lack thereof. The staging consists of pacing back and forth, jumping up and down risers, running up and down risers, sitting on a riser, standing on a riser, singing on a riser, jumping off a riser, jumping on a riser, climbing on a riser, running on a riser, walking on a riser, pacing, you guessed it, on a riser! These actors know how to act a song, yes. But it is so precise and the beats are so laid out perfectly, okay, this is a beat change, this is a new thought - that nothing is fresh. NOTHING IS HAPPENING. I repeat: NOTHING IS HAPPENING ON THIS STAGE. It is, byfar, the most boring piece of theater I've ever seen in my life.
The lyrics are AWFUL. Almost as bad, if not equally or worse, than THE PIRATE QUEEN's atrocious lyrics. One song, "We've Got Girls" professes that these boys have the girls. Not only do they have them but -- "We've got them by the balls." Another, "Other Human Beings", which could be, if worked out right, a great anthem against homophobia, fails miserably when Jack tries to convince Andy you can't call someone a "faggot." Apparently we are raised from the cradle and taught how to treat "Other Human Beings", which is repeated over and over again with these incessant, cringe-worthy notes.
And yes, folks, there's even a "doomdoomdoom" music whenever the boys begin to fight.
THE OKAY:
Steven Booth and Jesse JP Johnson are both fine in their roles. They are doing the best they can with them, though Steven Booth is a bit of a poor man's Aaron Tveit. They are talented young men and I look forward to seeing Jesse JP Johnson work again in the near future. He's adorable, has a beautiful voice and does have some great on-stage charisma. Except when he falls on a riser. Ouch.
SONG LIST (I know some will ask)
My Three Best Friends
Are You Ready for Tonight?
We've Got Girls
Right Here
Open Road
Things Are Different
Generation Apathy
After All
The Good Old Glory Type Days
The Thing About Andy
Forget About It
Other Human Beings
My Turn
Boys
My Next Story
*****END SPOILERS*****
Anyway, long story short, this is byfar the worst musical of the season, if not the worst of the past five or six.
And for those who are going to say it's only the first preview: many people have told me not much is going to change besides some staging and technical stuff... It is and, apparently, will remain a carbon copy of the Signature's production. Not sure if it's true, but it's what I've heard.
***NOTE: Again, I don't like this kind of stuff. A lot of people do. FORM YOUR OWN OPINION.
Runtime ran exactly 90 minutes
Show started 10 minutes late
Spotted in the audience: Rob Ashford
First off, let me start off by saying that I HATE these kind of shows. I expected something like "A Separate Peace". But instead got the silly, stereotypes of college boys. Disappointing. VERY.
I really consider this, honestly, to be one of the worst things I've seen. But please note that this kind of material does NOT do it for me.
This should NOT be playing to Broadway houses. It will only appeal to the general stereotypical college student and THAT IS IT. Or unless you're desperate to look at semi-attractive, over-age twinks trying to pass off looking 19.
*****LOADED WITH SPOILERS THROUGH END******
For those who haven't figured it out yet, GLORY DAYS is the story of 4 teenage boys returning home after the first year of college. They meet up on the football field (which they were all kicked off of for their terrible skills - or lack thereof) for one night to hang out and seek revenge on the old jocks that roamed their high school by ruining their alumni game by setting off the sprinklers in the middle of it.
Secrets are revealed, like how Jack is gay. And Jack kisses Will who doesn't stop him but isn't gay. (CAMP, anyone?) And Andy's the homophobic butch dude who just can't cope. And Skip just loves everyone and hates to see them fight.
They all part ways at the end of the night and nothing changes except for the fact they are no longer friends. Real happy story here. Will, our "narrator", confesses that he will begin to write a new story because he wants to write and yadayadayada his epiphany is that high school is over or something like that. Real moving, I'd say.
The good:
Adam Halpin as Skip, the most underdeveloped character, uses this unintentional secrecy about his character to his advantage and delivers a full, beautiful performance.
The lighting is cool, nothing mindblowing, but it definitely is impressive or Mark Lanks' Broadway debut as a designer.
The bad:
The plot - or lack thereof.
The set - or lack thereof. (Some cheap plastic bleachers/risers that look like they were recycled from SPELLING BEE'S Broadway set and a marble floor that acts as grass, apparently.) One actor tripped while maneuvering around these death trap risers. It's terrifying to watch them run up and down them and see the riser buckle underneath their weight.
Andrew C. Call, you're all right, is obnoxious. His performance is so over-the-top and matches every stereotype of a "meathead". He doesn't even TRY to break out of the mold the book lays out for him. He doesn't TRY to complete a character. He just overacts and hams everything up to the thousandth degree. Everytime he spoke, I wished he would stop.
The score is repetitious and dull. It tries to be new and fun and is certainly... new. But I think we might've heard it from Joe Iconis or Pasek and Paul or Brian Lowdermilk before. It's just... familiar. And dull. And all sounds the same after a while.
The direction - or lack thereof. The staging consists of pacing back and forth, jumping up and down risers, running up and down risers, sitting on a riser, standing on a riser, singing on a riser, jumping off a riser, jumping on a riser, climbing on a riser, running on a riser, walking on a riser, pacing, you guessed it, on a riser! These actors know how to act a song, yes. But it is so precise and the beats are so laid out perfectly, okay, this is a beat change, this is a new thought - that nothing is fresh. NOTHING IS HAPPENING. I repeat: NOTHING IS HAPPENING ON THIS STAGE. It is, byfar, the most boring piece of theater I've ever seen in my life.
The lyrics are AWFUL. Almost as bad, if not equally or worse, than THE PIRATE QUEEN's atrocious lyrics. One song, "We've Got Girls" professes that these boys have the girls. Not only do they have them but -- "We've got them by the balls." Another, "Other Human Beings", which could be, if worked out right, a great anthem against homophobia, fails miserably when Jack tries to convince Andy you can't call someone a "faggot." Apparently we are raised from the cradle and taught how to treat "Other Human Beings", which is repeated over and over again with these incessant, cringe-worthy notes.
And yes, folks, there's even a "doomdoomdoom" music whenever the boys begin to fight.
THE OKAY:
Steven Booth and Jesse JP Johnson are both fine in their roles. They are doing the best they can with them, though Steven Booth is a bit of a poor man's Aaron Tveit. They are talented young men and I look forward to seeing Jesse JP Johnson work again in the near future. He's adorable, has a beautiful voice and does have some great on-stage charisma. Except when he falls on a riser. Ouch.
SONG LIST (I know some will ask)
My Three Best Friends
Are You Ready for Tonight?
We've Got Girls
Right Here
Open Road
Things Are Different
Generation Apathy
After All
The Good Old Glory Type Days
The Thing About Andy
Forget About It
Other Human Beings
My Turn
Boys
My Next Story
*****END SPOILERS*****
Anyway, long story short, this is byfar the worst musical of the season, if not the worst of the past five or six.
And for those who are going to say it's only the first preview: many people have told me not much is going to change besides some staging and technical stuff... It is and, apparently, will remain a carbon copy of the Signature's production. Not sure if it's true, but it's what I've heard.
***NOTE: Again, I don't like this kind of stuff. A lot of people do. FORM YOUR OWN OPINION.
"I know now that theatre saved my life." - Susan Stroman
Updated On: 4/22/08 at 11:14 PM
