HOW TO DANCE IN OHIO Broadway Previews- Page 3

[BroadwayNoob2]

Posted: 11/18/23 at 3:16am

Do you find it uncool that the director is striving for authentic representation? This musical isn't just another Broadway production; it's shaping history. Notably, 45 artists made their Broadway debut through this show. Wondering why so many? Well, there was a lack of autistic artists on Broadway before. Instead of sticking to the easy path of casting neurotypical actors, they took the challenging route. They scouted talented artists from across the nation, helping them achieve their dreams of gracing Broadway's stage.

Updated On: 11/18/23 at 03:16 AM

[BroadwayNoob2]

Posted: 11/18/23 at 4:15am

Updated On: 11/18/23 at 04:15 AM

[BJR]

Posted: 11/18/23 at 8:45am

Bobster159 said: "BoringBoredBoard40 said: "Where did $600K come from? I hadn't seen that reported. That seems incredibly low for the size of this show and theater. Sure, the set's simple, but it has a cast of 21, a decent-sized band, and over 1000 seats. As I recall, Akimbo has been reported at $570K, and that's much, much smaller in all regards."

I suppose it's all those young performers with pretty low contracts? Cuz that does seem shockingly low. But if true, good news for their chances, for sure.

[Pro-1686404964]

Posted: 11/18/23 at 10:32am

BroadwayNoob2 said: "Do you find it uncool that the director is striving for authentic representation? This musical isn't just another Broadway production; it's shaping history. Notably, 45 artists made their Broadway debut through this show. Wondering why so many? Well, there was a lack of autistic artists on Broadway before. Instead of sticking to the easy path of casting neurotypical actors, they took the challenging route. They scouted talented artists from across the nation, helping them achieve their dreams of gracing Broadway's stage."

Yes.  This is truly groundbreaking.  The commitment is amazing and highly commendable.   The show itself is beautiful, entertaining, heartfelt, and Broadway.  Fantastic family show - gives us something other than Disney.   Rooting for a long run for this talented cast and creative team. Three preview performances in and the buzz among my friend group (families with kids) is off the charts.  Going back again today with five friends.   Excited to see how things have shifted since Wednesday night (first preview).  Will share my thoughts later.

[Jakeevan942]

Posted: 11/18/23 at 11:27am

I’ve already seen the show twice. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt compelled to come back to a piece this quickly, but this is a special little show, with 7 star-turn debuts from the autistic company members. I’ve had some nice conversation with members of the creative team about this piece-the show was essentially frozen for this week, as they had to balance afternoon timing the past few days with rehearsals for the parade. Expect more substantive changes to go into the show next week.

I will admit that I have a lot of friends involved as co-producers on this, but I have no stake in the project, and I’ve paid to see the show twice in the first three days. Several of them have said they are involved with this one as they felt it was important to affiliated with a project like this, something that moves the needle forward for representation in the industry, regardless of the economic outcome.

And yes, as discussed, the running costs, at least the budget projections, are as low as reported elsewhere in this thread. The team worked to maximize the impact of the show, while effectively minimizing what it costs to run, unlike several million+ operating costs in the past few seasons.

[wish i were here2]

Posted: 11/18/23 at 12:14pm

I saw this this past Thursday (the day where the turntable broke and the show was halted for 30 min) and all in all the show is cute and you do leave the show feeling like your soul is full, in some capacity.

I do commend the show for its representation on Broadway with the core 7. The cast is amazing (shout out to Liam Pearce as Drew) and each are doing great work with the material they were given. However, I think my biggest gripe with the show is the sheer amount of subplots and characters. I will put more details in the spoiler and my thoughts.

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

There is the base plot of the dance, then each of the core 7 have their own subplot, Dr. Amigo has a subplot, his daughter has a subplot, even each of the parents have subplots. It's just a lot. 

Honestly, I feel like the core 7 should've been a core 5, as I feel like Mel, Tommy, and Remy could honestly have been combined into one character. I find it a crime that they did not flesh out the characters of Caroline, Marideth, and Jessica even more, as they are based on the actual individuals in the original documentary. Drew's character is fine, but like the others, could've been fleshed out more as well.

I feel like they need to remove the entire subplot of Dr. Amigo looking for love and remove the daughter entirely. As, with these you sorta lose time to care more fore the core 7. Also, remove some of the parents material as well.

The music is decent, but some tend to drag. When the turntable broke, we were roughly 30 min into the show. Only 3 songs were performed so far, out of 11 or 12 total songs in Act 1. Also, would like to note a majority of those 30 min were completely sung through and there was very little book scenes between each song, so it just felt like it was dragging. (Sadly, a good amount of people left during the time they were fixing the turntable and at intermission).

Additionally, it was not until the latter half of Act 2 where an overall conflict is actually seen, and characters start to feel less one dimensional. I mean this since each one the core 7 subplots were all based on situations that autistic people encounter everyday, which is great to see this representation on stage, but since a lot of the characters weren't fully fleshed out, it started to feel like autism was their only quality.

All in all, I am curious to see how this show ends up after opening night and if somethings will be cut or not. 

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 11/18/23 at 12:28pm

An insightful write-up, wish i were here2.

I’d be surprised if any characters or any material get cut. The modus operandi in the current climate is to protect peoples’ feelings, and no one wants to risk having actors’ tears on their hands. 
 

By the time the parade is over, they might just say “let’s just keep it frozen.” It gets harder to make changes rapidly after you’ve been in a nightly habit for that long. 

Updated On: 11/18/23 at 12:28 PM

[Bobster159]

Posted: 11/18/23 at 1:07pm

Not to split hairs but people are conflating gross break even with operating costs. If a show’s operating costs are $600K, that means the break even is going to be at least $100K more. 9% lost to ticketing fees to give the net gross and some 5-8% to the theatre plus some minimum royalties. For all those quoting the docs please look again at your recoupment charts…

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 11/19/23 at 12:22am

I just came back from this show and I really wanted to like it, but it failed miserably.

[BoringBoredBoard40]

Posted: 11/19/23 at 12:24am

muscle23ftl said: "I just came back from this show and I really wanted to like it, but it failed miserably."

care to expand on that....

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 11/19/23 at 1:09am

I thought it was a bunch of TIKTOK cliches and a bad story, no dancing, I don't think autism was portraited well, but that's just my point of view-so apologies to anyone offended. All the "funny" lines weren't funny, but the audience that mostly seemed papered laughed at everything probably to be nice to the person that gave them free tickets. I want to forget all about it, and I did pay for my tickets and the price was way too high for what I saw onstage. But it wasn't the worst thing I have ever seen, but I do find it deceptive that the show is called "how do dance in Ohio" and there is no professional dancing at all in the show.

The actors were great though and the songs were fine, but the material wasn't.

The marketing, the marquee, the logo are excellent and the fact they are next to the mega hit Merrily will definitely help bring them business with a ton of people who passed by and saw the marquee or that didn't want to spend a fortune to see Merrily.

[Menken Fan]

Posted: 11/19/23 at 9:12am

Saw last night and thought this was a big miss. I sat near some of the creatives and heard them discussing the heavily industry papered audience. I watched the documentary before seeing this, which was probably a mistake. The documentary focused on working through the challenges faced by the subjects of the film in preparing for the dance. And the challenges were clearly challenges, which gave them something to work with and for us to root for. The main 7 on stage did not seem to accurately represent these traits, at least nowhere near those in the film. At most, they just seemed a little shy or socially awkward.
 

Many other elements of the film that provided insights into the lives of the subjects were missing. The musical strayed quite a bit from what happens in the film, and in the wrong direction. The originally planned dance actually takes place in the film and is a celebratory conclusion. I didn’t understand why it was presented onstage differently. 
 

The greater problem with this show has been described already. WAY too much time spent with the doctor, his daughter, the parents and the reporters. Almost none of that was in the film and its addition to the musical adds nothing.
 

Lesser gripes are that the set is almost nonexistent, the turntable is overused and unnecessary, the music is unmemorable, the lyrics are laughable, and no one changes clothes for the entire show until the dance. 
 

I tried hard to focus on and care for the main subjects, but couldn’t in this show. 

Updated On: 11/19/23 at 09:12 AM

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 11/19/23 at 9:31am

I don't remember the last time I had so little desire to see a brand new musical on Broadway. For reference, I try to catch most shows that open on Broadway (I, admittedly, do skip some of the straight plays that hold no interest to me), but How To Dance In Ohio just does not sound very interesting to me... These initial preview reactions are not doing much to change my mind either. I may just sit this one out.

[LucyEth2]

Posted: 11/19/23 at 12:32pm

Completely agree with Menken Fan.  Yes, this show is groundbreaking in its way, but I think if it were simply a musical ABOUT autistic characters and not STARRING autistic actors we'd be having a different conversation.  I look for craft when I go to the theater, and that was pretty lacking for me.  The music is only serviceable (although the vocal arrangements are wonderful), too many of the lyrics land on the wrong sy-LAB-ble, and if one more person sang about their inner feelings and conflicts, I thought I'd jump out of my skin.  Restlessness was my primary emotion.

I'm also a bit confused about the show's POV regarding autism.  On the one hand, the autistic actors (all exceedingly charming and capable) are highly functional and don't seem to have let autism define them.  The characters themselves, on the other hand, are just the opposite.  They're awkward and fearful and more than once the audience let out an "Awwwwww..." when they were expressing their anxieties.  I found it infantilizing, to be honest.  We cheer the autistic actors, but feel sorry for the autistic characters.  It's a weird dichotomy that didn't sit well with me.  

[BoringBoredBoard40]

Posted: 11/19/23 at 10:43pm

I went to the matinee today to reasses after the end of the first week of previews 

 

I have seen far worse shows and I think my intital reaction was sckewed by reading some negative comments the night before but this does feel under-developed and desperately needs to lose 20 minutes, and probably 3 or 4 storylines, a show that probably could have benefitted from another out of town run or a off-broadway run with a non-profit

and while the music is very ballad heavy, their are quiet a few gems, I can see Unlikely Animals become a audition staple for sure. 

Also for whoever said the show has no dancing...there as several numbers with full chereography

I would give it a 6 out of 10

Updated On: 11/19/23 at 10:43 PM

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 11/19/23 at 10:44pm

I enjoyed this quite a bit today, but I do think it feels like it's in previews (in that I could definitely see changes being made).  I actually kind of liked that the first act didn't have stakes, as I found it pretty interesting to just see the kids interacting with each other and with Dr. Amigo, and I almost wish the whole show was just about them in group therapy learning the skills they needed.  The concept of the dance felt like it was introduced somewhat abruptly, but it was also interesting to see how that affected the different characters and what approaches each one took.  The first act closer felt a little strange because it seemed like it was trying to make an event seem like a big deal just to have something to close on, but it didn't feel like that big to me, especially compared to some of the dramatic stakes in the second act (which in some cases felt like they were just a wrench thrown in for the sake of having stakes).

But I thought the show did a wonderful job of introducing each of the characters and letting them be fully realized (most of them at least).  In particular, I liked how Dr. Amigo was clearly a great person to be leading this group, but also made his own missteps, and you could see him coming up with different ideas on the fly for trying new methods.  I would've liked to see more about the relationships between some of the core 7, and it was difficult to keep track of how old each one was (before seeing the show I assumed everyone was in high school, but that was not the case).

I think the music serves the piece, but none of the melodies really jumped out at me.  They were different enough and had interesting enough orchestration that I enjoyed them while they happened, but there weren't any songs I really had a desire to listen to again.  Some of the lyrics felt a bit basic, and for a lot of the rhymes I could complete the line in my head before they said it (which isn't something that I notice a lot), but I enjoyed the sentiment of a lot of them.

Spoiler thoughts regarding some of the side plots:

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

I also thought Dr. Amigo's romance plotline needed to go.  I can see how they want to show him making a mistake, but it doesn't really serve the story, and the real mistake is the one with the blogger and not with the newspaper reporter.

I thought the daughter's plotline was interesting though and also provided a good foil to the main dance plotline.  It's clear that she's good at what she does in helping out at the center, and I think it's nice to have a moment where "normal" people run into the same sorts of issues with growing up and figuring out what path to take forwards and knowing what to do.  Her song "Life Interrupts" I think was good both for her but also as meta-commentary that they can prepare all they want but you never know what will happen.  And I think that Dr. Amigo being unable to understand her want to no longer attend Julliard fits in nicely with how he treats Drew who decided not to go to Michigan and how his personal life can sometimes interfere with his clients.

I don't know that we needed the plotlines of the parents, but I thought the song "Getting Ready for the Dance" was pretty sweet, and it was nice to see the parents as human too, ones who didn't necessarily know what they were doing either and just wanted the best for their kids.

Overall, I thought the show was really sweet and I definitely had tears in my eyes multiple times through the course of the show.  

[Voter]

Posted: 11/20/23 at 8:20am

Someone on the show’s team took to Instagram to ask the city to take action against the house pollution from the pedicabs. The last time Glass House did this, they review bombed and protested with music outside.

as someone who lives in the area, I can say these last few days have been unnecessarily loud and disruptive. I walked by the Brooks Atkinson watching a few pedicab drivers get into a dispute with Nederlander security over them blocking the street to stop them from congesting traffic.

curious if it was worse the last few nights? The music? This is largely why the Shuberts haven’t kicked the hornets nest of pedicabs yet— because those guys are huge assholes.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 11/20/23 at 9:54am

I can attest that the pedicab situation has been worse than usual. I saw Wicked Saturday night with some company I had in town, and while waiting for a cab home, I must have dodged about ten pedicabs swerving through the area (in addition to the usual line of them right outside the breezeway)... and the Gershwin has some wide sidewalk space too, so it should have been LESS noticeable than usual. It's really become a nasty problem. Leaving the theatre and being bombarded by a row of pedicabs is really quite annoying when the area is already congested with minimal sidewalk space.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 11/20/23 at 12:14pm

Someone on the show’s team took to Instagram to ask the city to take action against the house pollution from the pedicabs. The last time Glass House did this, they review bombed and protested with music outside.

It's a public sidewalk so I don't think they can do anything about that annoyance. Also, that is f*cking with their money so they will get mean and vindictive pretty quickly. It will be at peak annoyance throughout the holiday season, unfortunately.

Updated On: 11/20/23 at 12:14 PM

[OhHiii]

Posted: 11/20/23 at 1:04pm

The Gershwin, Marquis, Minskoff, Circle in the Square and I imagine the newly lifted Palace are all really the only houses that are insulated from this nuisance.

[KevinKlawitter]

Posted: 11/21/23 at 8:13pm

Planning on seeing this on Sunday - are there any seats where the view is obstructed or where I'd miss some of the blocking or choreography?

[BoringBoredBoard40]

Posted: 11/22/23 at 10:21pm

I was told by a reputable source they are trying to cut 15-20 minutes out of the first act over the next week or so

honestly, cut down the moms, cut the daughter, reduce Amigos romance story

easily 15 minutes gone 

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 11/23/23 at 11:58am

They could chop 45 mins and the show will still be horrible. The characters are not likeable. Well, I only liked the lesbian character and the daughter of Dr. Amigo, who had good moments and sang well. But they were barely in it.

[BoringBoredBoard40]

Posted: 11/23/23 at 12:07pm

muscle23ftl said: "They could chop 45 mins and the show will still be horrible. The characters are not likeable. Well, I only liked the lesbian character and the daughter of Dr. Amigo, who had good moments and sang well. But they were barely in it."

she wasn't a lesbian she was non-binary, my god dude take your clueless nonsense elsewhere 

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 11/23/23 at 12:45pm

I will do whatever you want me to do, if you pay my salary, until then. I will not! :)