HIGH FIDELITY lives on, will play in Chicago
HIGH FIDELITY lives on, will play in Chicago
#1HIGH FIDELITY lives on, will play in Chicago
Posted: 6/25/09 at 6:19pm
http://www.playbill.com/news/article/130575-High_Fidelity_Musical_by_Tony_Winner_Tom_Kitt_to_Get_Chicago_Premiere
I attended closing night on Broadway. I didn't like the show but it was by no means painful to sit through. It was somewhat enjoyable, which is better than what I have to say about many other movie-to-stage transfers.
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle
--Aristotle
#2re: HIGH FIDELITY lives on, will play in Chicago
Posted: 6/25/09 at 6:45pmI hope people don't go to this expecting anything approaching the quality of the N2N score. I still can't wrap my head around the idea that N2N (which I think is terrific) was composed by the same person as HF (which I thought was dreary).
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GoodbyeLoveRENT
Chorus Member Joined: 9/16/08
#2re: HIGH FIDELITY lives on, will play in Chicago
Posted: 6/25/09 at 7:02pmHow ironic, I randomly got in the mood to listen to the cast recording yesterday. I do enjoy the music, it's kind of catchy in my opinon.
#3re: HIGH FIDELITY lives on, will play in Chicago
Posted: 6/25/09 at 7:03pmI like the score for High Fidelity and I don't care who knows it. I agree that it doesn't approach the greatness of Next to Normal, but it's not completely terrible either.
millie_dillmount
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/22/04
#4re: HIGH FIDELITY lives on, will play in Chicago
Posted: 6/25/09 at 7:13pmI liked some of the songs, and the cast was good (I saw it in Boston), but I was not overly thrilled with the production at all. Hope it can find an audience in Chicago.
"We like to snark around here. Sometimes we actually talk about theater...but we try not to let that get in our way." - dramamama611
tourboi
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/15/05
#5re: HIGH FIDELITY lives on, will play in Chicago
Posted: 6/25/09 at 7:17pmThis production has a very unique take to it, though. I think it could work.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#6re: HIGH FIDELITY lives on, will play in Chicago
Posted: 6/25/09 at 7:45pm
The Chicago Tribune reports: A new, drastically retooled Chicago production of the Broadway flop "High Fidelity" is to open in August in the Piper's Alley space currently occupied by the long-running production of "Tony 'n' Tina's Wedding." Peter Amster will direct.
According to Stef Tovar, artistic director of the Route 66 Theatre Company, Route 66's new, Chicago-style "High Fidelity" will jettison the Broadway set and its mostly witless conceit, replacing it with what Tovar describes as a "'Flight of the Conchords'-style presentation," replete with the performers playing and singing their own music.
"We think the source material is very good," Tovar said. "It is a matter of how it is presented. We're not taking ourselves too seriously."
"High Fidelity" features music by Tom Kitt, lyrics by Amanda Green and a book by David Lindsay-Abaire.
Based on the beloved Nick Hornby novel and the subsequent movie (which was filmed in Chicago), "High Fidelity" was a disaster on Broadway in 2006, lasting only 13 regular performances.
The new Chicago show--an Equity production with a relatively large cast--will be staged inside what has been Vinny Black's Coliseum, wherein attendees at the nuptials of Tony and Tina are fed ample quantities of pasta. The banquet hall will be turned into Championship Vinyl, the record store at the center of the "High Fidelity" story.
The bar in the rear will remain.
As in other cities, the Chicago "Tony 'n' Tina" (which has been playing for a decade) has been dwindling in popularity over the last year or so and has greatly reduced the once extensive schedule of performances. The show may return for the holiday season, but Tovar also hopes that "High Fidelity," which is being produced as a for-profit venture with investors attached, will turn into a long-running attraction.
#7re: HIGH FIDELITY lives on, will play in Chicago
Posted: 6/26/09 at 12:47amOh joy, how will I EVER contain my excitement?
#8re: HIGH FIDELITY lives on, will play in Chicago
Posted: 6/26/09 at 1:16amI love the show and I'm glad to see it live on. But the set was definitely not the problem on Broadway...
#9re: HIGH FIDELITY lives on, will play in Chicago
Posted: 6/26/09 at 1:12pmoooh, fun! I'll see it :) There are days I can't get certain songs from this out of my head. Can Will Chase come too? lol
"You don't just stop posting horse s*** on the web!"-The [Title of Show] Show
#10re: HIGH FIDELITY lives on, will play in Chicago
Posted: 6/26/09 at 3:18pmI'm planning on seeing it. I like the score and at least something new is finally going into that space. I never saw Tony and Tina' Wedding there (though I have seen the show before) mostly because I couldn't imagine it would be selling well with all the discounts advertised every day for YEARS. It would be far too depressing and uncomfortable to see a show like that where the cast outnumbers the audience.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
Yankeefan007
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/20/04
BenEBoyd
Swing Joined: 6/26/09
#12re: HIGH FIDELITY lives on, will play in Chicago
Posted: 6/26/09 at 3:26pmI really like the score
Love the Tussin
Chorus Member Joined: 6/1/09
#13re: HIGH FIDELITY lives on, will play in Chicago
Posted: 6/26/09 at 3:37pmHas anyone else caught that it's awfully appropriate that it's playing in Chicago?
Let me watch your toes and fingers twitch.
#14re: HIGH FIDELITY lives on, will play in Chicago
Posted: 6/26/09 at 4:17pmKey word being "awfully"?
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
RippedMan
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/14/05
#15re: HIGH FIDELITY lives on, will play in Chicago
Posted: 6/26/09 at 4:40pm
I don't get the hype over the score. There was only one good song: "Crying in the Rain," but it was an interesting idea, but I just don't think the story is all that interesting.
Anyone else think Will Chase could make a good replacement for Dan in Next to Normal? He has a history with Tom Kitt.
GoodbyeLoveRENT
Chorus Member Joined: 9/16/08
#16re: HIGH FIDELITY lives on, will play in Chicago
Posted: 6/26/09 at 6:48pmI can DEFINATELY see Will as Dan. His "I've Been" would be fantastic.
PastorErnst
Broadway Star Joined: 4/20/09
#17re: HIGH FIDELITY lives on, will play in Chicago
Posted: 6/27/09 at 6:57am
High Fidelity will also have a production in Toronto, Canada at Hart House Theatre this upcoming winter. I haven't seen it, but I may check it out... with low expectations, so as not to get disappointed.
High Fidelity @ Hart House Theatre, Toronto, Canada
#18re: HIGH FIDELITY lives on, will play in Chicago
Posted: 8/27/09 at 4:25pmI'm going to the Chicago production tonight. Anyone else seen it?
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
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