Hands on a Hardbody previews thread- Page 2

[PlayItAgain]

Posted: 2/24/13 at 2:53am

ok lets not get ahead of ourselves, RENT won a pultizer. HOAHB is good but not like Pulitzer winning good.

[KylePKJP]

Posted: 2/24/13 at 3:16am

I'm in no way saying Hands On A Hardbody is worthy of a Pulitzer. But I have to add that there has always been a strong argument that Rent was not deserving of that honour.
Updated On: 2/24/13 at 03:16 AM

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 2/24/13 at 3:21am

Whizzer, your review totally just made me want to see this show. I wasn't too sure it was my cup of tea at first (because of the subject matter), but I'm also very intrigued by the idea of musicalizing a documentary.

Updated On: 2/24/13 at 03:21 AM

[KylePKJP]

Posted: 2/24/13 at 3:22am

Marvelous... you won't be disappointed. :)

[Luv2goToShows]

Posted: 2/24/13 at 7:33am

Thanks, WhizzerMarvin TrinaJasonMendel love (and respect) your opinions and reviews. I have a ticket for this in April, but now I am curious and want to see it sooner, will have to grab a ticket on TDF for this week. : )

[After Eight]

Posted: 2/24/13 at 7:54am

Play It Again and Kyle,

Sorry to have to be so blunt, but considering your rudeness, I'd say I'm treating you with a velvet glove :

You both need to grow up----- and fast.

This is a discussion board, not a cookie-cutter love fest. There is NEVER going to be unanimity of opinion, no matter how forcefully you try to impose it. You're going to have to be mature enough to accept that, and not stomp your feet in a hysterical temper tantrum like some four year old.

"Let me first say that I know and respect that everyone is entitled to their opinion,"


You'd never know it from your vituperative rant.

"I saw this at La Jolla and the characters motivations for taking part in the contest and their willl to keep their eye and "hands on" the prize was enthralling and profound."

I found it boring and clichéd. So what? Big deal. Why is it any skin off your back?

"I don't know what the hell show you saw, but it sounds like you need to stop seeing shows all together because you're never going to be satisfied with anything you see."

Nonsense. I like what's worth liking. Just recently, I was in seventh heaven over Donnybrook!, which I wish I had seen a second time instead of the show last night.

And where do you get off telling a theatregoer not to go to the theatre? You need to learn some humility, not to mention manners.

" Ease off your need to pi$$ on a show because you fancy yourself a critic when rather it sounds like you're just being a plain old nasty b!tch."

See above comment.

And by the way, the people who constantly lavish inordinate praise about a show's merits are the ones who are doing harm to the readers on this board, because they lure people into the theatre, who then find themselves "taken." We saw this with Once. Rave after rave on this board after the first previews. One dissenting voice, raked over the coals, naturally. And now, a year later, we find the most mentioned show on threads dealing with overrated shows is----- Once.

I now await your apology (all the while cognizant of the French saying, "Wait for me under the elm.... You'll be waiting a long time"). LOL.

[leefowler]

Posted: 2/24/13 at 8:02am

After Eight is correct in saying that this board would be a dull place indeed if only positive views were expressed.

After Eight is incorrect, however, in suggesting that After Eight's opinions are the only correct ones.

I saw Once in previews, and loved it. That doesn't mean that I was "taken in" by it, or that After Eight's negative view of it has turned out to be the correct one. I thought it was great when I saw it, and that's that. Someone's negative view of it is equally valid, but not more so.

[April Saul]

Posted: 2/24/13 at 8:34am

After Eight, you are of course entitled to your opinion, but personally, you have dissed so many productions I like that at this point, a negative review from you makes me think I'll probably like the show! Just saying...

[tazber]

Posted: 2/24/13 at 8:35am

Thanks for all the wonderful reviews. Even After Eight's review was insightful and well rounded.

I wasn't really excited about this (not a Phish fan) but when Whizzer raves and After Eight doesn't outright pan then that's a show I have to see.

[trentsketch]

Posted: 2/24/13 at 8:59am

I think the reviews so far are very informative. I'm willing to give a review in one of these threads a good bit of thought when they actually put thought into their argument. Everyone so far has done that.

The only thing I don't agree with is singling out Once as proof of too much positive feedback. Every show that wins Best Musical gets similar backlash. Last year, right before the Tonys, threads were popping up about how overrated and boring The Book of Mormon was. The same two years ago with Memphis and three years ago with Billy Elliot. It's part of the life cycle of any popular media. Commercial theater gets hit with it harder because people can have months or even years to hunt it down rather than the weeks of a film's life cycle or days of a TV episode's half-life.

The discussion of the media--praise, condemnation, and everything in between--will impact how you view the show. No piece of art or media exists in a vacuum and no one is incapable of shutting out all context from the discourse about some aspect of a production or the context the creative team was inspired by to view art in a vacuum.

Hands on a Hard Body, God bless it, is a wacky idea for a musical. When I heard it announced, I immediately understood the appeal because of the documentary. That doesn't make a two act musical about people standing around a truck for days any less bizarre. This show is going to be polarizing in the same way shows like Once (actor musicians, adapted pop/folk score, non-narrative score), Spelling Bee (over the top actors as children conceit, big audience participation, slight subject matter), and Fela! (rock concert as theater, non-narrative songs, biographic & political material) were all polarizing. The conceit of the show can be just as informative as the book, the score, the design, or the casting. Not everyone is going to respond to every concept and that doesn't make an opinion right or wrong; it makes it their opinion. If they do more than just say "it's great/it sucks" and walk away, then they're providing a worthy view of the show.

[After Eight]

Posted: 2/24/13 at 9:06am

"Someone's negative view of it is equally valid, but not more so."

That's not how it is seen by many here. When I gave the sole negative review of Once-- with well-reasoned arguments by the way --- it was NOT treated as equally valid. Quite the opposite. I was demonized, vilified, excoriated, spat upon....you name it. Now it turns out that many people disliked it as much as I did.

April Saul,

As you know, you are one of my favorite posters on this board, so whatever you like is fine by me. And if I'm a barometer in reverse of what you will like, then I'm only too happy to help out.

[leefowler]

Posted: 2/24/13 at 9:20am

After Eight,

Over all I agree with your posts...What I disagree with is when you say, "I like what's worth liking".

[dramamama611]

Posted: 2/24/13 at 9:41am

AfterEight, as much as I usually disagree with his comments, has every right to dislike (and TALK about his dislike) as every one else. Yes, his style of writing certainly makes it sound like he knows he is right, and everyone else is wrong. So what? How does that change what YOU feel about a show?

I loved Once. The nearly 100 people I brought with me loved Once. That doesn't that AfterEight needs to like it.

I hated (with an intense passion) Rent. The world loved it. It ran for 12 years. Doesn't make me wrong.

How is criticizing a poster any different than criticizing a show? It's not, in fact it's worse -- you are knowingly attacking an individual, not a piece of work. (The work, BTW, expects criticism.)

[theatergeek3]

Posted: 2/24/13 at 9:43am

I saw the previews last night and Hands was honestly one of the best shows I've ever seen. I thought it would be really good but I didn't think t would be THAT good! Keala Settle & Hunter Foster TOTALLY deserve Tony's; they were just amazing. It was so moving but it was also funny which I did NOT expect so it had a good balance. When people took their hands off the car it was always so terrible because you knew how much it meant to them & how much they wanted to win. I will definitely be coming back to this show again! I would definitely recommend it. The only problem I had were mics. I felt like the orchestra was often louder than the people and you couldn't hear them, or even when the orchestra wasn't playing it was a little hard to hear some of performers, especially Keith Caradine.

[Sinfonian4life]

Posted: 2/24/13 at 10:04am

@PlayItAgain well i missed the part it a sign. When they were spinning the truck really really fast during, i believe Joy, i thought it was going to a chair. I was in row O, orchestra center and, as i said before, creative was behind me and they were making notes for changes. You could hear them whisper which made the nerdy musical boy inside me even happier. They were also having a good time with the performances too. Cant wait to go back, in the meantime I'll keep my hands on it.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 2/24/13 at 10:18am

perfectlymarvelous and luv2go, I hope you do go see it (earlier luv2) and look forward to hearing what you both think!

re: After Eight, yes the board would be a boring place without dissenting opinions. Discussions became impossible when they are one-sided. For me it's not the content of what After Eight writes, but rather the tone in which he usually writes that rubs me the wrong way. His initial comments about Hardbody were not written inappropriately at all though. He (mostly) didn't like it and told us why. There was no name calling and he didn't make personal attacks until he was attacked. Many of us, myself certainly included, have long not so pleasant histories with After Eight, but that doesn't mean he has any less right to post on this board.

[GatorNY]

Posted: 2/24/13 at 1:01pm

Just got a ticket on TDF for Tuesday night. Very excited after reading these posts. Sounds like the show is in great shape already. Do you think there will be many changes before it opens?

[Kad]

Posted: 2/24/13 at 1:29pm

Whizzer, your review really piqued my interest. I have to admit, I wasn't really sure what to make of the show from what I had read about it. And I can't say I really expect it to last very long on Broadway. But I'm all for something as unique as this seems to be.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 2/24/13 at 2:07pm

I don't think there will be many changes during the preview period- honestly they don't need to make many changes. Act two needs some minor tightening, but it's not like there was some glaringly bad song or cringeworthy book scene that needed to be rewritten. The show is in great shape already. I'm not familiar with the version out of town, but maybe the creative team did what they were supposed to do and fixed any problems before it got to New York!

That said, my least favorite song was John Rua's in act two. It was alright, and he sang it very well, but (slight spoiler) since his character starts to hallucinate things I would have liked to see some of that worked into the song lyrically and through the orchestrations. This is minor, nit-picky stuff though.

Kad, it may well not last long on Broadway if they can't figure out a way to market it effectively. I don't think the show will be for everyone, but I'm very glad some producers took the risk to bring it in.

[sundayclothes2]

Posted: 2/24/13 at 2:16pm

Well, they've completely re-designed the set since La Jolla.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 2/24/13 at 2:24pm

I just looked up some pictures...the truck out of town appears to be black and on Broadway it is red. That alone is a great change. Loved the red truck.

[Kad]

Posted: 2/24/13 at 2:30pm

Oh yeah, the marketing is terrible. No idea of what it's about, who it's by... anything about the show, really, just seems to be glazed over.

[sundayclothes2]

Posted: 2/24/13 at 2:49pm

The bilboard background is also new. In La Jolla, it was just a sky...

Edit: In LJ, it also didn't look like a parking lot... at all. So I'd say that is another great change. Updated On: 2/24/13 at 02:49 PM

[Matt Rogers]

Posted: 2/24/13 at 3:06pm

Let me get this straight. You're only allowed to post a review of this thing if it is a gushing, googly, practically in the producers' pocket rave??? If you do anything less than pass out from pure joy after seeing it, you are not allowed to post a review without all you bitches reaming someone a new one??? I'm just trying to get the rules straight here.

Updated On: 2/24/13 at 03:06 PM

[Kad]

Posted: 2/24/13 at 3:46pm

If that's what you're trying to do, you're doing a terrible job.