Hands on a Hardbody previews thread — Page 5

I'm not the subject of these threads and shouldn't be made to be.

Just discuss the shows themselves and there will be no problem.

Personally (and I'm aware that no one cares), I'd rather read After Eight's curmudgeonly critiques than five pages of offended and uninteresting bitchery about them.

Really liked the music and the staging ... the book might need some work. Didn't really care for the 'dealership is in trouble' subplot. But nonetheless a good show!

Saw this last night, knowing next to nothing about it, so went in with a completely clean slate and very excited to see a new musical (I didn't know it was based on a documentary, so thought initially that it was completely original). Have to say I agree with Mercedes and AfterEight on this one. I was so unengaged in what was happening. I didn't care about the characters, I didn't care who won the truck. It never brought me into their world; I sat there bored and looking at my watch. It is way too long, and probably would work much better as a one-act. Way too many songs. I found myself rolling my eyes every time there was an intro for yet another song, thinking "didn't they just finish one, oh lord here we go again". I just didn't find it interesting at all. To each his own, but this was definitely not my cup of tea.

So thrilled to hear that Hunter Thompson has been revived to appear in this show!

If there's whiskey, blow, or guns involved, I especially see it being his kind of show.

Updated On: 2/28/13 at 10:36 AM

I saw this tonight on a TDF ticket (which btw is getting borderline too expensive for me to afford at all) and overall was left with a sort of "meh" feeling. They're already fighting an uphill battle as far as the subject matter, and the first 30-40 minutes of the show really drag. It picks up a little towards the end of the act, but it was too little too late for me. I have patience for something to take time to develop when it feels, in the end, like it's worth the time it's taking, but for me this really doesn't.

I think one of their bigger mistakes was giving each contestant a "big number" to themselves (in some cases, the contestant got more than one). The comparisons to A Chorus Line are apt as far as basic format (and I think that show certainly is the blueprint for shows like this one and Spelling Bee, as others have mentioned), but A Chorus Line in its final version does not give every character a big "step-out" number. In spite of that, we (or at least I) feel like we get to know what we need to know about each of the characters, and there are specific choices made about which characters in that show we get to see more of, which completely works and makes what could be very tedious really exciting. Hands on a Hardbody kind of does the opposite: each character gets their big "step-out" moment (in the second act, it happens right before they take their hands off the truck, which got to be annoying for me). It feels like what the first draft of A Chorus Line was, with each character stepping out and telling their story in turn. And in spite of the fact that most of the characters in A Chorus Line don't get a whole song all to themselves, I feel I know more about those characters than I ever learned about the people in Hands on a Hardbody.

I am completely in favor of writers taking a risk on material that is non-traditional fodder for a musical, because it can give us things like Next to Normal and Grey Gardens. But it can also give us things like this. The material needed a defter hand, someone who was more willing to slice and cut and trim. This should be a one-act musical; there is no reason for it to run for 2 hours and 40 minutes, especially when you walk away feeling like you know nothing about the characters and aren't given any real reason to care about any of them. The social/political parts of the story felt heavy-handed and not very insightful to me, and they didn't really add anything or make me care any more about the characters.

The performers are good, particularly Keala Settle and Hunter Foster, who are given the most to work with. I really wish someone would write a role for Hunter Foster that is worthy of his talents, though, he was magnificent in Urinetown and while this shows off some of what he is capable of, it's still less than what he deserves to be working with as a performer.

I was pretty disappointed by this, all told. I walked in really wanting to like it and walked out not feeling much of anything at all.

I'm wondering how it would feel to the audience if each contestant doesn't get a solo number given that this seems to be a point raised repeatedly in the comments here. Would it be weaving some of their stories into ensemble numbers like At the Ballet or Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen, Hello Love? Reduce the # of contestants so it plays more like Spelling Bee? Approach this differently than either of these two shows' example?

It does seem like "the truck competition show" holds potentially limited marketing appeal. Since the competition is really just the vehicle for the story, I would hope they find a compelling way to market the meaning and not just the competition. The title already hints at the latter.

Saw it last night and hated it. Walked in thinking I would love it, walked out wishing I hadn't wasted my evening.

Seattle and Foster are doing wonderful work. And there is obviously a lot of talent in the ensemble. But the songs are dreadful and the lyrics are even worse. Sad to think that the lyricist is the daughter of the late, great Adolph Green... "Joy of the Lord" is certainly the best number in the show. But that is only because of the staging and it's not enough to carry the rest of the score

But sadly the whole "suspend your disbelief" and go along with it thing does not work. Let's spend days trying to win a truck that we've walked all over, jumped on, sat on, scuffed up with our boots. And then when the dealership manager says "Who wants to win a truck with handprints on it?" you can't help but think about the 100+ boot-prints covering it.

Long. Dull. Disappointing. But Christ, that score is dreadful.

I really WANTED to like it. But nope.

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Lots of folks from here at the show last night, appearently. I was also there and thought it was 85% wonderful and that with a bit of tweaking could be truly spectacular. I found the score really rich and nicely varied, even if Amanda Green still isn't the greatest lyricist in the world.

But what I found more than anything was that I was just tremendously moved. The intensity of these characters' desire for something as simple as a truck is heartbreaking and beautiful. I was in tears more than once. And what's been said about Keala Settle is true. She's stunning in this show, and "Joy to the Lord" is one of the best numbers I've seen in a long, long time.

I do think Act 2 could be trimmed a touch. Hunter Foster gets maybe one more number than he needs. Although I couldn't tell how much I felt that because of the material and how much it was that he was the one actor who left me a bit cold. I'm not suggesting he's bad, but there was this feeling I got from him that he was playing a CHARACTER while everyone else was playing a person. His performance just didn't feel honest to me, not as lived in as the other folks on stage.

I'd disagree with After Eight on the set (don't worry folks, I'm responding to a single point, not turning this back into a page of criticism of people on here). I didn't find it hard to look at or dispiriting. It's very straightforward, but I found it starkly beautiful, especially under Kevin Adams' fantastic lighting. I tend to respond well to a minimal approach, though, so perhaps it's just a question of personal aesthetics. I'd agree wholeheartedly that Leap of Faith, Catch Me If You Can, and Chaplin were eyesores, but this set, in all its simplicity, seemed masterful to me.

It's a beautiful show that I found earnest and uplifting.

I'm mostly an observer here, so my input might be unwelcome, but I think the reason so many people have trouble with After Eight is precisely because he doesn't merely discuss the shows, but also passes judgment on those whose opinions differ from his. He may not even realize he's doing it.

Of course he does. It's intentional. It's not as if this were an isolated incident or just one person with some sort of grudge against After Eight. He's been called out on his ridiculous behavior numerous times by numerous people.

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I saw the show this afternoon and was very underwhelmed. My biggest issue with the show (in a nutshell) is this: for a musical with such a unique conceit and unorthodox subject, it is incredibly banal and mundane. The music all sounds the same, the characters never really pop, and quite frankly, I just didn't find myself invested in the contest or the people involved. The one number in the show that takes a creative risk is the standout, far and away; and that is "Joy Of The Lord." I have to give Neil Pepe and Sergio Trujillo credit for keeping the action moving for the most part, even though there are hardly any set or costume changes. It's certainly got some inventively-staged moments and sequences. But on the whole, I thought the book and score were very mediocre. The opening and finale are nice, "Joy Of The Lord" is rousing, but everything else registered as pretty bland to me. If you asked me to hum you a few bars from the show, I couldn't. And I got out less than two hours ago.

The cast is pretty good, but nothing spectacular. Keala Settle certainly fares the best, but you have to wonder if it's because she's given the one moment in the show that really sticks. I was not a fan of Keith Carradine at all. He seemed to be phoning it in the entire time and none of his more emotional moments rang true for me on any level. Hunter Foster is Hunter Foster. I'm not sure why people get on Sutton's case so much for "giving the same performance in every show she's in," when her brother is ten times more guilty of doing so.

I give the creative team a lot of credit for doing something original, but I just wish the execution was more precise and original in itself. I thought the score sounded far from "fresh" or "new" for a Broadway musical. I wished they would've taken more risks, because when they did, it really payed off and worked wonderfully. Sadly, those moments are a bit too few and far between. It just didn't do it for me.

Updated On: 3/12/13 at 06:26 PM

These types of shows are tough. It could end up like A Chorus Line and be genious, or it could up like Happiness at Lincoln Center. The one major mistake people make these day is giving every character a solo. Just look at Ghost or Addams Family.

The 12 hour mark? Do you mean within the contest? (or is this an expression with which I am unfamiliar?) If you do, how long does it take to get there?

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