I Didn't Particularly Love SA, Am I Going to Hell?- Page 2
I Didn't Particularly Love SA, Am I Going to Hell?
jordangirl
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/1/06
#25re: I Didn't Particularly Love SA, Am I Going to Hell?
Posted: 6/26/07 at 6:47amI was underwhelmed by it too. I figured going in I would love it or hate it because I've got two friends I trust implicitly with all things theatrical. One loved it and one hated it. Hmmm...not a big help. So I rushed it and went. All I could think was I must be missing something because it just didn't do it for me. I'm glad I saw it so that I know about it from my perspective, but I'm also glad I ONLY spent $25 on it.
LIVE THAT LESSON!!!!!!
#26re: I Didn't Particularly Love SA, Am I Going to Hell?
Posted: 6/26/07 at 8:37amEVERYONE I know who is not in their teens disliked SA. So you're not alone.
bdboston
Featured Actor Joined: 12/13/06
#27re: I Didn't Particularly Love SA, Am I Going to Hell?
Posted: 6/26/07 at 8:38am
Add me to the contingency that was at last night's performance and was non-plused in every way. That was "Best Choreography" material? Stomping feet and a nonsensical Macarena bit? Since when is outlining one's chest/breast with your fingers choreography? And "Best Orchestrations"? I didn't think so. "Best Book"? The plot was incredibly threadbare; I'd have given that award to GG or even Curtains. I only got into the story during it's last half hour, yet even that was predictable. I'll totally give credit to the performances, which were wonderful. Set design and lighting were impressive, too.
That said, it certainly wasn't the worst thing I've seen. I'm just glad I didn't pay full price.
#28re: I Didn't Particularly Love SA, Am I Going to Hell?
Posted: 6/26/07 at 8:48amI had originally fallen in love with the cast album and then seen the show months later. I was a bit disappointed with the show on a whole however the vocals made it worth it. I would pay top dollar again to watch them sit on stools and sing. This show isn't for everyone...it's an acquired taste. So I can completely respect people who just can't warm up to it.
#29re: I Didn't Particularly Love SA, Am I Going to Hell?
Posted: 6/26/07 at 8:53am
no you aren't going to hell. don't worry.
anyways, i kind of left a bit disappointed with SPRING AWAKENING
again, too high of expectations
but i wouldn't say anyone not in their teens doesn't like the show
its my dad's favorite show we've ever seen, and i know some teachers at my school who saw it and loved it. and there are plenty more adults besides those 4, haha...
logan0215
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/05
#30re: I Didn't Particularly Love SA, Am I Going to Hell?
Posted: 6/26/07 at 10:52am
LiTtLeDaNcEr729, I agree 1000-fold and also find it odd we were on the same show schedule!
I can see how with all of the hype around it now and the difficulty in getting good seats (which I think is really important for that show...being up close makes it intimate which is critical) that this could be the case.
I feel after thinking about it that the hype wasn't what would have ruined the show for me. I can see hype for what it truly is, hype. I'm able to discern hype from good content.
For instance, I had a friend who went to see GG and was completely overwhelmed and loved the show. He told me I would HAVE to see it ASAP and I luckily had the chance soon after that and had a cathardic experience. He then saw SA and had a seemingly religious experience and I was again urged to go see the show which I did. I've had a stemming interest in seeing both shows from GG being off-Bway and also having seen Duncan Sheik live in 2004, but regardless of my expectations for the shows I went in wanting to enjoy them.
For the record, I was in the 9th Row Orchestra, so I'd say I was within that "intimate" section.
if you've purchased the OCR, the music at least will grow on you.
I do plan to listen to the show after having seen it, but I can't say that the beauty of the music drew me in to the show while seeing it live which is function of a good score, not to just thrill you after the fact. I feel as though I will enjoy it as its own entity, and as I said in my first post, it is one "part" of the musical that works really well but doesn't combine with the other great working parts to make an engaging show.
As for your concerns over the plot - it's not a plot flaw that various storylines aren't more developed - the point is to show the different storylines in a meaningful way (which I believe is accomplished more than sufficiently by the songs..) and have you at the end realize how they're all connected into the broader theme(s) - which is the function of Song of Purple Summer
See, I didn't see that tie-in at all, and I think therein lied the problem.
Finally, to say GG was robbed is a gross inaccuracy. SA has a MUCH better score...like, light years stronger. And by far the most important part to the value of a musical is...*shocker*...the music :)
Yes, a musical is the music, but thats why there is a TONY for best score of a musical. As a part of the musical, SA's score stands alone wonderfully, but I do not feel that the entirety of the shows outshines the beauty of GG.
GG is a show I could go see every week. I've seen it twice in a month and may be going back tonight to catch Christine post-TONY. Each person I've gone to see this with has wanted to go back again and agree it is the kind of show you could see over and over.
VIETgrlTerifa
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/18/04
#31re: I Didn't Particularly Love SA, Am I Going to Hell?
Posted: 6/26/07 at 11:31am
Finally, to say GG was robbed is a gross inaccuracy. SA has a MUCH better score...like, light years stronger. And by far the most important part to the value of a musical is...*shocker*...the music :)
By far? I thought SA's score was laughable at best. However, it's been said a million times on this board and it'll only turn into a Spring Awakening is the greatest vs. Spring Awakening fans defense vs. Spring Awakening is overrated vs. Spring Awakening absolutely sucks sort of argument. Plus, it's only the Tonys.
#32re: I Didn't Particularly Love SA, Am I Going to Hell?
Posted: 6/26/07 at 11:40am
The title of this thread made me giggle.
BobbyErikValjean- I'm 18, and I severely dislike this show.
And aside from that, I won't rant and rave, but I will simply say that I do not like this show.
#33re: I Didn't Particularly Love SA, Am I Going to Hell?
Posted: 6/26/07 at 12:15pm
I'm with logan 100%. I saw the show Saturday and was very underwhelmed. Liked the score, the lighting, the singers (I hesitate to call them "actors"), but the pieces just didn't add up. I thought the book was atrocious, the story was very poorly told and there was almost no character development. The show was void of dramatic tension, so there was no emotional payoff.
And I, too, am in the intended age bracket for this show.
SporkGoddess
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/27/05
#34re: I Didn't Particularly Love SA, Am I Going to Hell?
Posted: 6/26/07 at 12:19pmVIETgrlTerifa: I agree. The score is mediocre at best, and the lyrics are God awful.
gymdudeva
Broadway Star Joined: 1/29/07
#35re: I Didn't Particularly Love SA, Am I Going to Hell?
Posted: 6/26/07 at 12:27pm
I think VerticalHour has a good point about expectations. When I think about it, the stuff I have liked best was when I went in not only with no expectations, but with little knowledge of the show (maybe the cast album and a review or two, at most). I went into SA back in January with a pretty clean slate (I ahd not even joined this board yet), sitting on stage, not knowing what to expect at all, and was blown away! (By the way, I am 46 years old.) I recently saw GG and, while thinking it was a very very good show, I think I would have liked it better if I had "discovered" it and not have read umpteen discussions on boards like these.
Which raises an interesting point: I try to find out a lot about shows I am thinking of seeing, in order to make the right decisions. However, perhaps there is a balance between that, on the one hand, and expectations (and knowing too much what to look for, flaws, etc.) on the other.
#36re: I Didn't Particularly Love SA, Am I Going to Hell?
Posted: 6/26/07 at 12:33pm
I also have a pretty good success rate with enjoying shows if I have no expectations. I mean, I've seen 'Blood Brothers' about a million times, so I can - and will! - come out of a show bitching about something trivial like one cast member not singing a line in a way I prefer, even though there are several acceptable ways to sing it. But I've been to see countless things without knowing the cast recording or ANYTHING in advance, and I've enjoyed them intensely. 'Sunday In The Park With George', 'Caroline Or Change', 'Frost/Nixon', the list goes on. They do say that familiarity breeds contempt. Maybe contempt is a bit harsh, but overexposure to a show (and especially its hype!) can certainly do its bit to turn people off.
gymdudeva
Broadway Star Joined: 1/29/07
#37re: I Didn't Particularly Love SA, Am I Going to Hell?
Posted: 6/26/07 at 12:38pmI've actually had some amazing audience experiences at community theatre and college shows, because I go in expecting them to suck.
#38re: I Didn't Particularly Love SA, Am I Going to Hell?
Posted: 6/26/07 at 12:45pm
I hated Spring Awakening, so if that's a ticket to hell - I'll bring the cheese straws. It'll be a party.
I never really sat back too much and thought about why I hated it though - I just really did and I chalked it up to personal opinion. Other people have hated shows that I really love, and it doesn't really bug me either way. I occasionally get offended when people suggest that perhaps I just didn't "get" it - like if I were smarter I'd enjoy it.
Please.
But don't be concerned, you for sure aren't the only one.
#39re: I Didn't Particularly Love SA, Am I Going to Hell?
Posted: 6/26/07 at 12:45pm
Spring Awakening does nothing for me, but I understand (mostly) why people enjoy it. What bothers me about the show is not its flaws which every show has to one extent or another, but the creative team's lack of historicity. They always throw around words like "groundbreaking" as if they are the first rock musical. This arrogance drives me to distraction.
There are lots of interesting things going on in Spring Awakening and the music is fine and rock-like, but there were shows like Tommy and Jesus Christ Superstar and Rent as well as more traditional shows that incorporated rock elements, long before there was a Spring Awakening. Musical theatre can work with or against tradition but most of the time shows at least acknowledge that the tradition exists. At the Tonys, when Stephen Sater and Duncan Sheik and Michael Mayer were fellating themselves over their "groundbreaking" vision to introduce musical theatre to rock, I could have thrown something at the television. Long story short, they have an interesting show, but its NOT NEW.
#40re: I Didn't Particularly Love SA, Am I Going to Hell?
Posted: 6/26/07 at 12:47pm
I am in group that was underwhelmed as well. Thought I would love it after hearing all of the "it's the NEW "Rent", comments.
Liked it, but didnt love it--- I like the score, but I find myself laughing (and not in a good way) while listening to it---
The dialogue (I believe its between "Dont Do Sadness" and "Blue Wind") is really bad !!
#41re: I Didn't Particularly Love SA, Am I Going to Hell?
Posted: 6/26/07 at 1:17pm
Yes.
#42re: I Didn't Particularly Love SA, Am I Going to Hell?
Posted: 6/26/07 at 1:21pm
I didn't hate it, but was also underwhelmed. Expectations might have something to do with it. I bought the cast recording several months ago, listened to it several times but never connected with the music. I expected that I would like it better seeing it in context. After seeing it the music is still bland to me and I also felt the acting and directing was incredibly heavy-handed. I seemed to like it better than the woman next to me, though, who exclaimed "This is stupid, just STUPID!" during intermission and the couple behind me who clutched their pearls and exclaimed how no child should be allowed to see this (way to miss the point, guys!).
I applaud the creative team for taking chances and playing around with form (even though it's not as revolutionary as they say). And, even though I know they've been developing the project for 6-7 years, I think the subject matter is incredibly timely and important.
logan0215
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/05
#43re: I Didn't Particularly Love SA, Am I Going to Hell?
Posted: 6/26/07 at 1:34pm
Which raises an interesting point: I try to find out a lot about shows I am thinking of seeing, in order to make the right decisions. However, perhaps there is a balance between that, on the one hand, and expectations (and knowing too much what to look for, flaws, etc.) on the other.
I consider myself a purist. I do not listen to cast recordings or soundtracks (I list soundgtracks because I do the same for Cirque du Soleil shows) previous to seeing them. I try to avoid videos and such unless they are small previews or the TONY performances.
My only real expectation was to enjoy myself and possibly have half as a cathardic experience as my friends had.
At the Tonys, when Stephen Sater and Duncan Sheik and Michael Mayer were fellating themselves over their "groundbreaking" vision to introduce musical theatre to rock, I could have thrown something at the television. Long story short, they have an interesting show, but its NOT NEW.
I saw a thread directed at the producers of the show and their "arrogance" in TONY acceptance speeches, and now having seen it I understand. I think that the show is more based in shock-value (masturbation and onstage sex) than on being ground-breaking.
To quote Michael Dale's review of the show, which I've now read and relate to my feelings on the score:
"Perhaps Sater was thinking of how sensitive, poetic adolescents might express themselves in private journals when he penned “The Song of Purple Summer” and “The Mirror-Blue Night” (I’m at home with a ghost, who got left in the cold / Who knocks at my peace, with no keys to my soul.), but clarity is a virtue in musical theatre, where you can’t play a track over again to decipher the meaning."
#44re: I Didn't Particularly Love SA, Am I Going to Hell?
Posted: 6/26/07 at 2:42pmAnd we are going to rehash this again....
logan0215
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/05
#45re: I Didn't Particularly Love SA, Am I Going to Hell?
Posted: 6/26/07 at 2:58pm
Thanks for the amazingly insightful contribution to the conversation.
By now you know the thread title, so if you don't want to visit my little "waste of bandwith" then stay the **** out.
#46re: I Didn't Particularly Love SA, Am I Going to Hell?
Posted: 6/26/07 at 3:24pm
i didnt have any actual problems with the script or the music or the actors/actresses, it was mostly i was just uninterested by all the male characters. not because of the way the script was written, but because i just was uninterested about who they were and what they had to say, haha. if they had more parts by the ladies, then i wouldve been more interested, but so many parts were just the boys sitting in class or the reformatory or their house talking about how horny they were, haha.
i definitely see why people enjoy it, and i did enjoy it no doubt, but its just not my kind of thing really :)
#47re: I Didn't Particularly Love SA, Am I Going to Hell?
Posted: 6/26/07 at 3:30pm
"Finally, to say GG was robbed is a gross inaccuracy. SA has a MUCH better score...like, light years stronger. And by far the most important part to the value of a musical is...*shocker*...the music :)"
Says you.
#48re: I Didn't Particularly Love SA, Am I Going to Hell?
Posted: 6/26/07 at 3:54pm
I really enjoyed Spring Awakening. The music was incredible, and overall I thought was the acting quite good. And I was lucky enough to see it from the front row, and really soak in the energy from the stage.
I get the hype. What I didn't, and don't get, is why the story and "theme" are so urgent in the way critics and fans have deemed it. I'm 16, and am part of the targeted audience for the show- but I didn't walk away from it saying "OH MY GOD...THIS SHOW CHANGED MY LIFE!" I though it was a good story, but that was it. So when I hear it being compared to Rent, yeah...they both have rock scores. But I feel that the message from Rent is more accessible, and because of that you can't really compare the two shows.
And I felt The Song of Purple Summer felt a little out of place, and defidently think it was underwhelming as the closing number.
jordangirl
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/1/06
#49re: I Didn't Particularly Love SA, Am I Going to Hell?
Posted: 6/26/07 at 4:02pm
"And I was lucky enough to see it from the front row, and really soak in the energy from the stage."
Not to mention the spit from Groff. :P
LIVE THAT LESSON!!!!!!
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