Posted: 6/28/23 at 4:53pm
Tcioffa said: "Jqygee was really off last night. Weakest performance in the show"
I think posting the same critique three times should suffice.
Posted: 6/28/23 at 6:19pm
EDSOSLO858 said: "I’m going to take part in tomorrow afternoon’s B-roll shoot… is anyone else here attending?"
I'll be there too! Found out last night from their FB post.
Posted: 6/28/23 at 6:55pm
EDSOSLO858 said: "I’m going to take part in tomorrow afternoon’s B-roll shoot… is anyone else here attending?"
I’ll be there bright and early. So excited to be a part of it!
Posted: 6/28/23 at 8:08pm
Saw this last night. Jaygee was the weak link, unfortunately.
For someone who has such history with this show, her vocals felt... Unconfident.
Her dancing and movement were superb. She physically commanded that stage.
The rest of the show was beautiful. I would have liked to see them pull even less punches with the Marcos regime, but it was far more damning than what they did with Eva in Evita.
Updated On: 6/28/23 at 08:08 PM
Posted: 6/28/23 at 9:17pm
I had reservations about seeing this again after loving it at the Public but so glad I did. It’s as exhilarating as it ever was. Got TKTS second row side section last Sunday mat and the view was just fine. The leads, especially Llana and Ricamora, were outstanding. The show stopped for about 10 mins right before Aquino’s first number, but otherwise it’s in terrific shape. A plus to being on the floor during previews is that You might just end up dancing alongside David Byrne, who seemed to be enjoying himself, even as he was being herded about while taking notes.
BTW, I went to Piazza that night and I think I saw Jose Llana in the audience, although I know there was. 6:30 HLL, so maybe not.
Posted: 6/28/23 at 10:18pm
SisterGeorge said: "I had reservations about seeing this again after loving it at the Public but so glad I did. It’s as exhilarating as it ever was. Got TKTS second row side section last Sunday mat and the view was just fine. The leads, especially Llana and Ricamora, were outstanding. The show stopped for about 10 mins right before Aquino’s first number, but otherwise it’s in terrific shape. A plus to being on the floor during previews is that You might just end up dancing alongside David Byrne, who seemed to be enjoying himself, even as he was being herded about while taking notes.
BTW, I went to Piazza that night and I think I saw Jose Llana in the audience, although I know there was. 6:30 HLL, so maybe not."
Pretty sure I was on the floor for the same performance you saw, I had the lovely opportunity to not only dance near David Byrne but get a little audience participation (I was specifically sung to during that first number after the stop 😁)
I told my friends they need to enter the lottery for the floor tickets and I cannot wait for the recording.
Posted: 6/29/23 at 5:04pm
Saw the matinee and LOVED it.
Definitely more style than substance - but oh what style! Alex Timber vision and his dream design and creative teams' execution are a marvel.
If immersive theater is the way of the future - Oklahoma was to the traditional book musical what Here Lies Love will be to the immersive theater musical.
Appreciated how they asked audience members to fill out a survey seeking feedback on narrative clarity, visibility, hearing, sound balance, etc. Some balance issues making an occasional lyric hard to hear, but confident that will improve with time.
Highly recommend the dance floor for those who are able to explore that option. (I had a TDF ticket for the floor).
Posted: 6/29/23 at 5:35pm
Just got back from the B-roll shoot. Arielle is just too good for this world.
Posted: 6/29/23 at 6:08pm
EDSOSLO858 said: "Just got back from the B-roll shoot. Arielle is just too good for this world."
I agree. Always had a great attitude and kept all of us energized! For a portion of it I sat in front mezz and Jose Llana told us during the break that Arielle has 22 costumes! And remember this is a 90 minute no-intermission show!
Posted: 6/29/23 at 9:35pm
Weren’t people trashing her during Aladdin that she was all out of tune? (Not trying to rehash and happy she’s getting good reviews and I can’t wait to see the show)
Posted: 6/29/23 at 10:13pm
RippedMan said: "Weren’t people trashing her during Aladdin that she was all out of tune? (Not trying to rehash and happy she’s getting good reviews and I can’t wait to see the show)"
Cant speak to her Aladdin run but she sounded absolutely perfect last weekend, start to finish. And its a hell of a singing role for 90 minutes.
Posted: 6/29/23 at 10:20pm
Wick3 said: "EDSOSLO858 said: "Just got back from the B-roll shoot. Arielle is just too good for this world."
I agree. Always had a great attitude and kept all of us energized! For a portion of it I sat in front mezz and Jose Llana told us during the break that Arielle has 22 costumes! And remember this is a 90 minute no-intermission show!"
It is a MARATHON role. I was listening to the album today and was reminded of just how much of it she sings! Ruthie is credited on 16 of the 26 songs and, based on the content of the remaining 10, I have to imagine she's onstage for most of them and doesn't get much of a break!
Posted: 6/29/23 at 10:35pm
Could Jaygee’s less than stellar debut have to due with her probably not have in ear monitors specifically for her ready yet? Not even sure if they use them for this show, but I suspect they do and perhaps they didn’t get in-ear monitors for her in time.
Posted: 6/30/23 at 12:08am
I saw Jaygee Wednesday afternoon after seeing Arielle at first preview. Jaygee definitely seemed to have problems with her in-ear monitors as she kept touching and fiddling with them.
It was not vocally perfect, but her tone and vocal choices were more similar to Ruthie who leaned on her mix/head voice a lot more. Arielle is probably the stronger vocalist, but I thought Ruthie commanded the stage in a way Arielle did not as of first preview.
Posted: 6/30/23 at 1:17am
RippedMan said: "Weren’t people trashing her during Aladdin that she was all out of tune? (Not trying to rehash and happy she’s getting good reviews and I can’t wait to see the show)"
I only remember that about Courtney Reed (and it was mostly justified.) :-|
Posted: 7/1/23 at 7:41am
We saw it a Thursday night and while it’s ambitious we were in the floor and hated the experience. Being herded and yelled at just completely killed the party vibe they were going for. It was clunky. Front mezz is where to see this show. It’s definitely a visual spectacle and worth seeing. Our other big complaint - Arielle. Not a star in our opinion and that role demanded one. Her singing was tentative and she didn’t have the charisma to do the role justice. Rest of the cast was great.
Posted: 7/1/23 at 4:59pm
Selling a spare ticket for tonight - July 1 - at 8pm. Standing, $50. See the Buy & Sell board.
Posted: 7/2/23 at 9:18am
jpbran said: "RippedMan said: "Weren’t people trashing her during Aladdin that she was all out of tune? (Not trying to rehash and happy she’s getting good reviews and I can’t wait to see the show)"
I only remember that about Courtney Reed (and it was mostly justified.) :-|"
Damn! That's who I'm thinking of, ha. My bad. Carry on.
Posted: 7/2/23 at 9:19am
Saw yesterdays matinee performance through TDF in the standing floor section and need to go back and see this in either the front mezz (or floorside seats) as someone else suggested above. I thoroughly enjoyed Arielle Jacobs, Conrad Ricamora and Jasmine Forsberg, all delivering top notch powerhouse vocals. I was also very much into the Broadway’s transformation with the pink glowing chandeliers and pumping music.
I wasn’t so much into the standing experience. I know it’s still early in previews, but the flow as choreographed by the pink jumpsuit people wranglers, was at times chaotic. I actually think they allowed too many people on the floor making moving around awkward af with the large crowd. There was also something weird going on with the sound where the speakers above the floor would go out intermittently when Arielle was singing. Not only could you oddly not hear anything she was singing, I had no idea how she could hear herself as the only sound of her voice was coming from the very rear of the mezzanine. It was wild. Other than that it was a very unique experience which I ultimately enjoyed but can’t recommend standing.
Need to go back and see how this looks when Lea is in it towards the end of summer when they have more time to work out the creeky clunky technical aspects.
Posted: 7/2/23 at 10:00am
ShowBro said: "I had no idea how she could hear herself as the only sound of her voice was coming from the very rear of the mezzanine. It was wild."
I believe Arielle has a custom earpiece to hear herself like they use at SIX. It's been theorized on here that one of the main reasons Jaygee's first performance as Imelda did not go well is that her's isn't ready and she couldn't hear anything! Not sure about the rest of the cast though.
Posted: 7/2/23 at 11:13am
Was also there on Thursday evening and grabbed a standing floor rush ticket. For the most part really enjoyed the show. Felt like the political atrocities were rather sped through. I wanted more of that. I had fun on the floor for the first part, but eventually you’re just sort of standing there watching. Feels less like a party.
Posted: 7/2/23 at 2:08pm
Agreed with the general sentiment on the floor standing tickets - did it this week and had a great time for about 20 minutes. After that, the execution of the shifting set and everyone moving around made it hard to really enjoy the show itself. It's a very interesting piece of art, but as a Broadway show, it left me wanting a fair amount. Not something I would really recommend to people who aren't die-hard theater lovers.
Posted: 7/2/23 at 3:36pm
Front mezzanine it is then. Thanks, guys.
Posted: 7/2/23 at 3:41pm
Standing for this show was fun for about five minutes......OUCH
Posted: 7/2/23 at 3:48pm
I know this is super niche but did anyone enjoy standing for guys and dolls in london and NOT enjoy standing here? Trying to determine if I will enjoy standing (I enjoyed standing at guys and dolls).
