GOTTA DANCE Pre-Broadway in Chicago Thread — Page 3

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gleek4114 said: "Sadly it looks like a trip this weekend isn't doable, but I am still trying to get up to Chicago before the 17th. I had a couple questions. First, does anyone else have any discount codes? On Broadway in Chicago's website there is one for $59 tix in the balcony (with code CHICAGO) which I don't think is a very great deal. Second, how has rush been at this show? Busy, or pretty easy to obtain? Also, where have the seats been located?

I had never done a rush ticket before -- I came in a cab from Skokie and got there about 10 minutes to 2 -- I went to the window, asked for a single and asked if there were any rush tickets -- and I got one for $25 and it was row F in the center orchestra! It was NYE and there was no evening performance, but there were TV commercials about how the cast was performing at Chicago's NYE celebration (don't know where it was) -- so maybe that's why there were so many seats available (plus being New Year's Eve where many people had nighttime plans and going to theater in the afternoon not on their radar).

Later that night I was part of WFMT radio's annual 3-hour musical celebration -- there were about 70 people in the studio audience -- I talked up "Gotta Dance," asked if anyone had seen it yet and maybe a half dozen people responded that they knew about it, but I don't think anyone there had seen it yet -- and it was an older crowd, which is prime audience for this show.

I encouraged them as best I could not to miss it -- though I wish the show had a more descriptive title. A few years ago there was a film called "Something's Gotta Give" -- I never went, thinking that title was so vague -- but when I saw the film on TV I loved it (and have rewatched it a few times, too). When I hear the title, "Gotta Dance," I think of the elaborate production number at the end of "Singin' In The Rain" -- it's a great number, but no connection to this show.

Or maybe they chose that title because of that -- anyone who loves "Singin' In The Rain" will love "Gotta Dance."

"

***SPOILERS BELOW***

Saw the show today and it's cute. Unfortunately, it rarely is any more than that. I found the book to be very cliched and trite. The first act is stuffed with "we're old" jokes the likes of which retread decades of sitcom one-liners. There are fun moments, as with the aforementioned Engel first-act raptacular which is quite fun and Engel makes the most of it (as well as all her material, good or bad). But the first act suffers from two glaring book errors:

1. The premise. We're really not given much information as to WHY this is happening other than the basketball team suffered a bad season and is trying to win back its fan base. Which doesn't make any sense unless we know WHY someone thought up this particular idea and WHY the idea was thought to be good enough to be given legs. Later, we're told that it's suddenly getting a lot of press and publicity and they're going to play to a crowd of 20,000. How did that happen? No clue. It just does. There are two characters who feel any sense of importance on the quality of the performance and talk it up, but none of the seniors really seem concerned about it until a perplexing plot device in the second act that ends up being more about "team spirit" than anything else.

2. It takes WAY too long to get to know the characters. By the end of the first act, White and DeShields are really the only characters given more than two dimensions and then they add Chinn in act two. Everyone else is two-dimensional, including Engel, despite her early surprise reveal. I wish the hoary "old people" jokes would get ditched for more insightful character-driven dialogue. Let the natural quirks and points of view of the characters drive the comedy. We know they're old from the start and we've heard hundreds of old people jokes. It's too bad the show stays at that level for so damn long.

The design is instantly reminiscent of Bring It On (even borrowing one of the moving screens), High School Musical and at times, The Full Monty. The ever-present girders of the gym are a distracting eyesore for all the non-gym scenes, especially the Princess songs (all performed while riding in a car) for White that rely on the TV screen to provide a moving backdrop that is both lazy in its creativity and intrusive to the scene. Let the screen represent the technology it is as it is used in the rest of the show and come up with something more creative and less distracting for the Princess scenes. The only wow moment in the design is the finale and it looks great.

The songs are pretty good ranging from nondescript to hummable. I was really looking forward to The Waters Rise from what people were saying but boy, it is depressing, which ultimately makes it stick out like a sore thumb in a show that is mostly emotionally light. The number occurs in a brief Chorus Line-esque sequence of short funny moments of confessions to the audience, but there is nothing before or after that ties it together. It would have been so much more effective if Chinn's character ultimately tells us how she copes with it (her husband's Alzheimer's). She describes the awfulness, but her character is known for her optimistic joy. This song is the perfect opportunity to express her balance of emotions. It just brings the show to a screeching depressing halt before continuing with more cuteness. My 70 year-old mother lost her husband to a battle with cancer five years ago. As soon as the number was over, she said, "God, that was depressing". She felt it might have worked in a show that was more emotionally dynamic as part of a longer conversation, like Next to Normal, but as it is, it doesn't fit the rest of this show.

As far as the complaints about the finale, perhaps it has changed over the past few weeks? It started out with the younger cast for a brief dance into, and the younger characters later join the seniors, but it's mostly celebrating the senior cast and in the end, the collaboration of the generations and celebrating the "ageless" idea of being a dancer (an intermittent plot theme that sort of provides the climax to the story).

The cast is mostly wonderful. Powers is a weak link in a cliche-heavy part of a wealthy senior woman clinging to youth whose husband left her for a twenty-something "skank". It takes a lot of bite to make it work and Powers just doesn't have it. Engel does her thing and it works beautifully. DeShields is on point all the time and he's radiant. Ticotin deservedly received the biggest ovation of the evening for Como No, the most energetic and exciting number of the show. White provides the most honesty for the most grounded character in the book. And Alexander is a comedic highlight bringing more truth than old-school rimshot takes to her punchlines. The rest of the cast is fine, but saddled with middling material. I remember Burton delivering her solo with perfection, but I've already forgotten what is was about or even sounded like. What I do remember is how she was able to convincingly portray a defeated character saddled with a thankless task. Unfortunately, that's 99% of her character, who appears in about 50% of the show.

I smiled more than laughed and in the end, it was a pleasant couple of hours. There is potential for a real cracker of a show, but it still has a ways to go if it's aim is to create a buzz-worthy Broadway show that will be remembered.

I think this musical will redefine musical theatre.

How? It's mostly by the numbers and doesn't really introduce anything very innovative. The story may be a little different, but it's covering a lot of similar territory we've seen from Follies, 70 Girls 70, The Wedding Singer and even The Full Monty (as well as Stepping Out, which received a stage adaptation in the West End). Nothing in its book, score, concept, design, staging or choreographing redefines anything at all. It's a variation on a familiar theme.

Updated On: 1/3/16 at 09:12 PM

I'm really surprised at the harsh reviews for the Chicago pre-Broadway run of this show. I do not have a theater background -- I watched the show having NO idea what it was about (I was in Chicago for 48 hours with one afternoon free) -- all I knew is that Bob Martin, co-writer, was also co-writer of "The Drowsy Chaperone," which I loved, so I wanted to see what he was up to.

I was at a matinee performance on NYE -- I'd estimate that a majority of the audience was 50+ and older -- and they overwhelminging loved it. They looked like the people onstage, they identified with the people onstage -- they were rooting for the people onstage -- and some of it was very funny -- and the cast is terrific.

I'm new to reading and posting here -- it's natural to want to weigh in when a production is new -- but when shows are obviously in development why be so eager to write them off? I think all the raw materials are there -- just needs editing, tweaking, some reshaping. The title is too vague, the use of the term "cougar" is a cliche -- but I figure they'll figure it all out during this process.

Some of the criticism I've read here is valid, but there was no mistaking how much fun the audience had the performance I attended -- and that's who this show is for: the audience. I think this show would appeal to an audience way beyond the typical theater crowd -- I think it would be a real crowd pleaser for community theaters a few years down the line. It's not cerebral, it's just a lot of fun. It makes people happy. It appeals to all ages -- and I think this show can do for older actor/singer/dancers what "Riverdance" has done for Irish step dancers: provide employment and bring new audiences in.

Give them a chance to get it right. I saw an early preview of "Fiddler," that seemed unfocused, but Bart Sher is known for making substantial changes, which he eventually did during the preview process. Theater veterans might think "Gotta Dance" isn't worth their time -- but I think it's the kind of show that will bring in a lot of people who've never been to theater before. Give them time to get it right.

I saw the show yesterday...and I had a lot of fun. No, this is nothing that will change face of theater, it's not the film to stage musical that adds new dimension, and it's not even Jerry Mitchell's best show. But those great veteran actors sell it and sell it beautifully. The reason to see this show is see the great Andre Shields do some swing stepping, Georgia Engel steal every scene she is and Lillias White to give expressions that are worth the price of admission alone. Lori Tan Chinn and Stephanie Powers each have their moments as well. My personal favorite was Nancy Ticotin's salsa number, girl's got some sick legs. I know review were mixed, but I think this show can be saved. I think if they focus less on Haven Burton's head coach story and focus more on our seniors and their trials, I think this could work so much better. I liked david rockwell's gym set, the arena at the end was okay, but did not have the sense of awe that it should have. Also I would totally re-do the last number, the song was pretty terrible. That should be the You Can't Stop the Beat moment, and unfortunately it does not.

From what I understand from a friend who is with the show, they are looking for a theater in the fall. But due to the age of the actors, one where the dressing rooms are closer to the stage, without walking tons of flights.

Saw the show last night. It was a lot of fun, the book was light and fluffy, which I think made some of the heavier handed parts in the show suffer. I see a lot of praise for "The Water Rises," but I thought the song was WAY too dark and that it was presented with little to no lead in or balance. The song is very well-written and is completely heartbreaking but it just feels out of place. The cast was pretty incredible with many standout performances. Lilias White was great as the sassy grandmother, LOVED Georgia Engel and Lori Tan Chinn, they were the comedic highlights. Nancy Ticotin was fabulous and sexy, her number "Como No," was probably one of the better songs. Most of the other songs were tolerable, nothing terrible, although the closing song comes pretty close. As someone already mentioned, it's very much meant to be the "You Can't Stop The Beat" of the show, but instead comes off as a boring retread of "Raise You Up/Just Be." The show has some serious potential to be great but I think it needs a little bit more fine-tuning. I have a friend in the ensemble, who says the show is still going through major changes and 5 hour daily rehearsals, so I think it's definitely possible for them to get to gold; they're clearly trying. One thing I did keep wondering throughout the show was how this could play as a long-running hit on Broadway. The theater was probably at 60% capacity and tickets have been half-price on HotTix.Org since the show opened. I looked for my tickets on Monday, and they released a block of discount tickets through this coming Sunday. The main reason I went to see this was because it was a pre-Broadway premier. I don't think I would have been sold on this based solely on advertisements and the plot, or even the pretty sweet cast. Who out there is willing to pay premium price to see a show like this? It's just a very odd choice for what seems to be such a huge investment. I do hope I'm proven wrong though, as she show and the cast were truly delightful and a fun way to spend an evening.

While you're right on most Chicago tryouts having the same fate, the more recent ones have at least been filling their theaters, regardless of the fact that they did sell discount tickets. I saw On Your Feet twice and both times the theater was almost filled to capacity. I also (unfortunately) saw First Wives Club and that theater was packed, even with all the terrible reviews that followed it. The Last Ship was also almost a full house when I saw it. I recognize that all 3 mentioned shows more or less had a built in audience, so this is a different beast, but I was mostly comparing it to the more recent tryouts we've had. It was even more shocking and noticeable how small the crowd was in thinking about how much smaller the Bank of America Theater is than some of the others in our district.