HARMONY previews — Page 4

bwaylyric said: "Anyone have success with rush or lottery for this? Where are the seats located?"

I did the $18 rush around 11 AM last week (maybe the last of those tickets). My seat was in Orch O on the left - slightly farther back than would be my preference, but an amazing price for a full view (there is a bit of business that occurs in the front of the house as well as the boxes).

This one is a bit of a mixed bag for me. The cast is great and the story is fascinating, but the writing and production are a bit lacking.

The six men are all phenomenal and have their own fleshed out characters to portray. Chip Zien proves once again that he’s a true Broadway legend. Sierra Boggess and Julie Benko are wonderful, and I’m glad we got a duet between them in the second act... Who doesn’t love an act 2 female duet - a la “In His Eyes” and “It Comes As No Surprise”?!

Manilow's score is passable, but never particularly special or memorable. It’s a bit monotonous and one note. The slower songs and ballads are better than the upbeat numbers. The book is rather choppy and jumpy. It feels like there are about four separate opening numbers and a few finales as well. I couldn’t help but think that Cabaret and the recent musical stage adaptations of Doctor Zhivago and Anastasia were all tossed into a blender and this was the output.

The set is pretty ugly. The black mirrored vortex studded with flashbulbs is cool for the first five minutes, then it just feels like an eyesore for the rest of the show.

I think what makes this show resonate is that it is so relevant and eerily timely. There are some deeply unsettling moments where you could feel the audience’s tension and discomfort and hear the shocked gasps with the relevance of some parts.

It’s interesting to me that this show has been kicking around in development for so long. It still feels like a show that could use another workshop or two. There’s no denying that there is a powerful and intriguing story at the heart of this show, but the individual elements just don’t do it justice.

Updated On: 10/25/23 at 06:25 AM

BoringBoredBoard40 said: "Boy this show was BAD and just emotionally manipulative.

Certainly, there is a reason it kicked around for 25 years before finally getting to Broadway, shocked that the Times gave this a rave off-broadway.

The first act is boring and filled with very corny humor, the second act is slightly better but the emotional impact is only there because of the real-life story and Chip Zien performance"

Spot on!! Saw the show last night and couldn’t agree more!!!!!

The more I mull over this show, the less I like it... I give it an A for effort and for telling an important and timely story, but I feel like it could have been so much better (especially considering the insanely long development period/road to Broadway). This is very similar to how I felt about Allegiance back in 2015 - a very noble effort to explore an important part of history and tell a truly fascinating story, but despite the best of intentions, it just didn't really work for me.

Barry has described the Harmonists as "Manhattan Transfer meets the Marx Brothers," but these guys don’t sound as good as MT and they’re not as funny as the Marxes. It achieves Wikipedia's description of the Hamonists ("the hallmark was its members' ability to blend their voices together so that the individual singers could appear and disappear back into the vocal texture" ) but that's tricky to dramatize as a musical. Some of them are close to anonymous as human individuals. The lack of sharpness in the writing might have been combated by diversifying the look of the guys in casting (height, body size, facial hair, head-hair, etc) and in the acting/directing.

This show is an interesting companion piece to SHUFFLE ALONG (2016) but what made that show more impactful is that when the white producer says "they won't remember you," we're imagining people forgetting Audra and Billy Porter and BVD and those dazzling tappers. The theme hits harder, and the characters they play are in dialog with the actors' personas. Harmony tells us is that these guys made a modest cultural impact, but unfortunately the most interesting part of the legacy is them being broken up by the Nazis. FULL MONTY also successfully sustains 6 unique characters, but it has the benefit of gradual intros over the course of the first act. Harmony tries to get through a ton of shoe leather in 15 minutes AND introduce Ruth and Mary. It's a poorly-set-up first act that causes problems later.

Julie's role has that "male writer doing yas queen feminism" vibe that feels inauthentic here because Ruth's throughline isn't properly woven in to the full story. Sierra has a little more material but the impact is similar. But when we have trouble grasping the characters of the six main people, it's tough to justify fleshing out tertiary parts.

This for me is the most interesting type of show to analyze: it's good, but has elements of unrealized potential. It’s why we go to the theatre and return to imperfect shows. That HARMONY's second act is as impactful as it is is a testament to the power of their real-life story, Chip's performance, and Barry/Bruce knowing when to crank up the sentiment.

Updated On: 10/25/23 at 12:39 PM

And, if I may, musically - a few solo piano interludes appear to be directly influenced by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty's Ragtime, final scene . I found myself humming the lyrics "the skies were blue and hazy, rarely a storm, barley a chill" during one of those. And they fit!!

So, it appears this is following the standard Broadway World pattern where the first set of people who see it love it and then a few pages later, everyone hates it. Knowing for a fact that the first group are longtime Broadway World posters and not shills, now I don’t know what to think. I was ready to buy tickets based in the first posts but after these recent ones, I may have to wait to see if they release a discount code.

Matt Rogers said: "So, it appears this is following the standard Broadway World pattern where the first set of people who see it love it and then a few pages later, everyone hates it. Knowing for a fact that the first group are longtime Broadway World posters and not shills, now I don’t know what to think. I was ready to buy tickets based in the first posts but after these recent ones, I may have to wait to see if they release a discount code."



Everyone has different tastes and enjoys things for different reasons. I’d be lying if I said said I know one of the reasons I enjoyed this is because it’s great to have a new Jewish musical and one that I’ve seen improved so much. Was my opinion clouded by my exposure to the show previously? Maybe. That’s why I’m looking forward to going back and seeing it again.

Barrymore doesn’t always work so try Regular or Economy if not.

This show has been showing up on TDF intermittently so grabbed a ticket for tonight’s performance after seeing the initial positive reviews here. Still optimistic despite the slight shift in opinion recently haha. Haven’t had a good cry in the theatre since Phantom closed so wondering if that part will ring true for me.

Has anyone else here seen the show through TDF yet and can report on what kind of seats you got?

I was B1 in the mezzanine and thought the seat was great. Perhaps seeing it from a bit of an angle was a factor. I remember the row B in the Barrymore seems closer to the stage than other theatres (not thinking about the newer barns).

Saw the show last night after having seen it last year at NYTF, where I quite enjoyed it, but particularly Chip Zien, who I thought was a stunner. After seeing it again, I'll say the show itself is good, not great, but Chip's performance in act 2 remains a must-see. I think it's clear that he'll be Tony-nominated, but, if the show can stay open until June, I wouldn't be surprised at all if he won.