IF/THEN Musical WITH SPOILERS

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 11/6/13 at 8:58am

Because apparently any hint of the plot is a "spoiler".

Idina comes back to New York and has 2 friends, LaChaze and Anthony Rapp. She has to make a choice about which friend to go with and it alters the next 5 years of her life.

If she goes with Anthony, she gets a high-powered city development job and become incredibly successful but then she's all alone until the final scene when she meets James Snyder, back in that same park 5 years later. Her name is Beth.

If she goes with LaChanze, she misses getting the high powered city job and has a terrible job at MTA. She meets James Snyder and ends up following in love with him and starting a family. 5 years later, she's in the same park and she meets Jerry Dixon who gives her the high powered city development job. Her name is Liz.

LaChanze is a lesbian and Jenn Colella is her girlfriend. They break up in "Liz" and get married in "Beth".

Anthony is bisexual and in "Beth", he is in love with Idina and in "Liz", he meets Jason Tam and they adopt a baby together.

So there you have it. This isn't even the big spoilers, just a very basic description.

[tazber]

Posted: 11/6/13 at 9:08am

Well since it's clearly labeled "WITH SPOILERS", could you share what the big twist is at the end of Act 1?

I'm curious.

[promisespromises2]

Posted: 11/6/13 at 9:51am

I feel like the big plot twist was in the beginning of the second act! I feel awful for spoiling though, so I won't be the one who says it! I guess you could say there were a few twists that weren't expected!

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 11/6/13 at 11:11am

At the end of Act 1, she finds out she's pregnant. In Liz, she has the baby. In Beth, she has an abortion, though they actively avoid saying the word.

I honestly don't see how it's possible to talk about this show without ANY spoilers. James Snyder and Jason Tam don't appear in the Beth story. Tamika Lawrence isn't in Liz. Jerry Dixon is a very minor friend role in Liz and a potential love interest in Beth. Even the songs are spoilery. James Snyder's big number is a Soliloquy-esque song about becoming a father, for god's sake.

And all of this is completely subject to change because it had it's very first performance ever last night! You can't just break this show down to a simple "A barber kills people and makes them into pies" description. Sorry- spoiler alert!

Updated On: 11/6/13 at 11:11 AM

[Brave Sir Robin2]

Posted: 11/6/13 at 11:29am

This show seems like a really interesting connect, but it's pretty confusing. Is the show as confusing?

[AC126748]

Posted: 11/6/13 at 11:34am

I love this thread. Spoiler-hysteria has really gotten out of hand. Honestly, if you want to go into a show from a completely blank point of view, then show some self-control and divest yourself from message boards.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 11/6/13 at 12:18pm

This synopsis is interesting but what were the performances like? How's the music? Most importantly, is there a show curtain?

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 11/6/13 at 12:29pm

I'll reserve judgment until I actually see the show, but based on this synopsis, it seems like the writers are saying some awfully offensive things about women having to choose between a family and a career. Maybe it's addressed in the show, but why can't a woman have both? Why is the central character without love and without a family in the storyline where she's successful at work and without a fulfilling career in the storyline where she has a loving family?

That feels awfully backward to me, especially considering the fact that the creative team is entirely male.

Updated On: 11/6/13 at 12:29 PM

[mcsquared]

Posted: 11/6/13 at 1:18pm

I was really confused since I didn't realize there were two storylines until well into second act. In the "loving family" storyline somehow she transitioned from the sucky transit job to being a college professor though I missed how/when that happened so it wasn't like she had given up on fulfilling career in that option.

I was confused with the weddings whose it was--when Idina was in white it was clearly her, but the others were dressed the same so wasn't sure if Lachanze married in one and was just a bridesmaid in the other. Also not sure in which storyline Idina kissed her boss Stephen--it seemingly happened on the same night in which she sleeped with Lucas--since L and Josh are both blond I didn't notice the switch in actors. I think part of the problem was the cell phone intro to opening made it seemed like Idina was talking on the phone when she was setting up the plot. It didn't click until the same scene was repeated in second act. In general, it seemed as if the audience needed a score card or cheat sheet to keep track of action. I didn't notice any difference in lighting or even the "Liz" vs "Beth" distinction between two forks at all until you all brought it up.

Updated On: 11/6/13 at 01:18 PM

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 11/6/13 at 1:25pm

No show curtain. I started this thread to be about the plot, since someone complained in the main thread. "Idina sings pretty" isn't a spoiler.

somethingwicked, that's why I said in the other thread that I was so mixed about it at intermission, and the all-male creative team definitely made me wary. My friend called it "Can women have it all- the musical". At intermission, it really felt like they were pushing the Liz story as the "happily ever after". She was in a relationship with a guy she loved, she was having a baby. And as a woman who chose the career path myself, I was dreading the second act being all about how sad and depressing Beth's life was because she chose work over family, and how happy and fulfilled Liz's was. It didn't turn out that way. I actually felt like in the end, both of them "had it all", but Beth got the happier ending. If you want Act 2 super-spoilers, I can explain it better, but I didn't want to give away EVERYTHING upfront.

Updated On: 11/6/13 at 01:25 PM

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 11/6/13 at 1:39pm

WTF?... This sounds weird.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 11/6/13 at 2:12pm

Why does it sound weird? The concept isn't that unusual. From the films Sliding Doors, Back to the Future II and Groundhog Day to London's Best Musical winner Our House to the play Sure Thing to Choose Your Own Adventure and several Sci-Fi books, the concept of alternate realities playing out differently based on pivotal decisions has been pretty popular for decades.

Updated On: 11/6/13 at 02:12 PM

[MaddieBB12]

Posted: 11/6/13 at 3:17pm

orangeskittles, I just PM'd you.

[FlowerChild67]

Posted: 11/6/13 at 3:44pm

So, how is the show organized? Are the different storylines intertwined, or first one then the other? (I'm sorry, I'm not sure if that question makes much sense.)

[Kad]

Posted: 11/6/13 at 4:01pm

This sounds like a very mundane, upper middle class choose your own adventure story.

[newintown]

Posted: 11/6/13 at 4:34pm

Why does she have 2 different names? Is she really two different people/characters?

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 11/6/13 at 5:05pm

Her name is Elizabeth. LaChanze knows her as Liz. Anthony knows her as Beth.

FlowerChild, the stories are completely intertwined. They transition back and forth throughout. It was easier to explain the plots separately.

[promisespromises2]

Posted: 11/6/13 at 5:19pm

I've been trying all day to come up with ways to explain this musical and I fail every time. I'm already awful at explaining things! Act two definitely held the most unpredictable of the events for me, and definitely straightened everything out as well. I'm excited to see this again in DC just to watch all of the little things that you guys have been picking up!

[RippedMan]

Posted: 11/6/13 at 6:08pm

Is the playbill still that ugly poster?

[Brave Sir Robin2]

Posted: 11/6/13 at 6:25pm

Does Idina change anything costume-wisr between Liz and Beth?

[promisespromises2]

Posted: 11/6/13 at 6:38pm

Yeah the Playbill is still the poster, haha.

[promisespromises2]

Posted: 11/6/13 at 6:41pm

I wasn't very observant with costumes. Idina mainly wore white dress shirts with jeans or with dress pants. She had a long skirt on with boots at one point and two different dresses for the wedding scenarios. She even gets down to her underwear at one point, haha. I didn't notice any difference between Liz and Beth unless it was jeans vs dress pants maybe?

[Matt Rogers]

Posted: 11/6/13 at 7:28pm

This thing better have flawless book, music, and lyrics, because this plot sounds absolutely ridiculous to the point of being moronic. We get it. Duh. Different life choices will yield different results. This was all covered in a bad Gwenyth (or however you spell her name) Paltrow movie in the late 90's or early 00's. Two Doors or something.

Anyway, I hope this is not as awful as it sounds in your plot description. I had high hopes for this.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 11/6/13 at 7:46pm

I know it's contemporary but it sounds dated? Even the design looks dated.

[evic]

Posted: 11/6/13 at 7:58pm

Cosmopolitan girl sings country music- hee haw. Does any character come back from the dead? Lezzies and Rapp and LaChanze ...oh my.