IN MY LIFE REVIEWS- FIRST PREVIEW- Page 4

[yodamarie78]

Posted: 10/1/05 at 1:21am

The biggest problem with the show is that it is all over the place. I couldn't ever invest emotionally in any of the story lines because they were everywhere. We have JT and Jenny, Vera, Winston and the Opera, God wanting to be in the Opera and being conflicted about whether he should get involved in what's going on, Samantha and Nick, Nick feeling guilty about killing Vera, JT's random 50's mother... There was no continuity because it jumped all over.

I also thought the scenes between JT and Jenny were the weak link. I was generally annoyed or bored by their dialogue.

The actors did well with what they had, but the show was so badly written and directed there was very little they could do.

I think if they do some major revamping I would be interested in seeing it again after previews, but I would have to know that some big changes were made, as it stands I could not sit through it again.

ETA: And I'm still confused about the theology of the show. All the dead people sit around in heaven and lament the fact that they are dead? And what was with Al guilt tripping Vera about dying? Updated On: 10/1/05 at 01:21 AM

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 10/1/05 at 1:26am

i completely agree yodamarie! how funny was it when they said "my cat named yoda!"

[yodamarie78]

Posted: 10/1/05 at 1:29am

It was one of the few moments I genuinely enjoyed, but I think I was supposed to be sad... Oops.

[liotte]

Posted: 10/1/05 at 1:33am

I don't even remember the cat reference. When was that?

[yodamarie78]

Posted: 10/1/05 at 1:36am

During Vera's "What a Strange Life We Live" when she was talking about her jeans and bike and shirt with the monsters on the sleeves.

[lite2shine]

Posted: 10/1/05 at 1:38am

Wait a minute!

>Also, Joe Brooks is determined to run the show at least for the 120 performances or whatever it is to get regional rights, so don't expect a one week run.

120 performances? That's more than three months. Even Lennon didn't last that long on Broadway, and the cast in Lennon are veteran actors who had much more Broadway credits than IML cast.

Does the show have that much backing/investors??

[broadwaybelter]

Posted: 10/1/05 at 1:39am

joe brooks has enough money to keep the show running for a while

[liotte]

Posted: 10/1/05 at 1:39am

Oh yeah, I remember the part about the monsters on the sleeves, I think I didn't listen carefully to the lyrics after that because I was trying to picture the shirt and kept thinking about a shirt that one of my 6 year old boys has.

[smartpenguin78]

Posted: 10/1/05 at 1:47am

The Cat named Yoda part was funny.
I agree the CD's must have helped, I also heard people coming in talking about how they loved several of the songs.

[Tiny-Toon]

Posted: 10/1/05 at 1:49am

I know for a fact that a lot of the tickets tonight were comped. This show doesnt have any ticket sales.

[ZONEACE]

Posted: 10/1/05 at 1:50am

I'm rushing the matinee tomorrow. I can not wait.

of the 4 songs on the sampler the only one that caught my interest was teh title song, it was actually ok.


This is gonna be such a great time. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 10/1/05 at 1:52am

yes zoneace, you will definitely not be bored. honestly, everyone must see this show...it is a once in a lifetime experience.

[ZONEACE]

Posted: 10/1/05 at 1:56am

anyone planning on going tomorrow? is it wrong that i am this excited for a show that is such a **** storm?

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 10/1/05 at 1:57am

i think MEF said he was going tomorrow.

[broadwaybelter]

Posted: 10/1/05 at 2:05am

what souvenirs were they selling?

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 10/1/05 at 2:06am

"We can still be friends..."

I still can't believe what I saw on stage tonight. When is the last time you heard "moo shu pork" as a rhyming song lyric? Truly, I was entertained; not bored for a minute.

There are NO words...

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 10/1/05 at 2:35am

So I went in tonight not knowing what to expect. I figured it was going to be a flop, but I didn't think it was going to be this awful. **This review does contain spoilers**

I went with two of my friends Barry and Walter. We sat down in our seats in the back of the orchestra and looked at the set (there was no curtain). It was just a grey brick wall. Walter immediately said "the set looks gorgeous" obviously with tons of sarcasm in his tone of voice. The show didn't start until about 10 after 8pm, but I guess that was expected of a first preview.

The show begins with Vera, JT and Jenny singing "Life Turns on A Dime," one of the songs on the CD sampler. JT and Jenny meet in what appeared to me a diner with bar stools and we find out about JT's tourets. Sometimes, at the end of his sentences, he yells out random words that rhyme with the final word in the sentence. His funniest exclamation was f*ck, suck, duck. Also, at one point (forgive me for not remembering the exact words) he ended a sentence with dime and then added crime, mime, time, LEMON! Jenny said that he should have used the word lime, but JT said he liked lemons so he said that word instead.

Then we are introduced to Winston, a gay guy pretending to be god. He is creating a tragic opera and using two people on earth (JT and Jenny) as the characters. All of Winston's scenes are hilarious and also pointless. He also has the flashiest costumes of the evening...all completely ridiculous. (poor catherine zuber going from LITP to this)

We also meet Al, who is trying to audition for God's opera, but is unsuccessful because Winston doesn't think he is talented enough and he doesn't look right for the part.

Two other characters are Samantha, Jenny's good friend, and Nick, Samantha's boyfriend who died in a car crash.

As stated before, there are way too many storylines going on at the same time and it makes the whole piece a jumbled mess. We find out that JT has a brain tumor and he needs to be operated on immediately or he will die. During one of Winston's songs, he takes a skeleton out of the closet and starts dancing with it. While this is going on, there are projections of dancing skeletons on the wall behind him. He even moves the skeleton's arms and legs to a badly choreographed number. That was truly the highlight for me...since it was so funny.

So basically, Winston wants to create a tragic opera where the man (JT) dies at the end. However, Al wants a happy ending. We find out that Al is really God, and not Winston. So Al decrees that JT survive and gets rid of the tumor so he and Jenny can be married. During the wedding, a huge cardboard lemon comes down in the background and Jenny's bouquet of flowers, is a bouquet of lemons. I think she also had some lemons in her hair.

To fill you in on another side story, Samantha really missed Nick, her boyfriend who is now dead. He died in a car crash. What we find out is that the car Nick hit, had Vera in it. Vera is JT's little sister. Vera and Nick have a chat in heaven and she forgives him for killing her. At one point, Vera sings a song about her new jeans, her favorite shirt with the monsters on the sleeves and her cat named Yoda.

Other highlights were when Al sang a song about a Volkswagen and the song about Dr. Pepper. Also, towards the beginning, when the pirates came out and were singing with Winston, the entire audience was laughing so hard.

There are so many more insane aspects of this show, but you all must see this for yourselves to believe it. I could probably never sit through it again, but it was worth my $30 on tdf.

I was in the back of the orchestra and witnessed approximately 10 people leave the show before it was over. Some of the people who left were in the center orchestra, sitting directly IN FRONT of Joe Brooks, the writer and director or the show. Also, the three people sitting to my right, and the gay couple in front of me couldn't stop laughing...and neither could I. I was trying so hard to suppress my laughter that I found I was crying almost throughout the entire show. I kept looking over at my two friends during the show thinking "what are we watching right now?" During the curtain call, I asked the gay couple in front of us, "what did we just witness?" Their answer: "History!"

I'm sorry if this review was a bit scattered, but the show is as well, so it's only fitting. I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have.

Even though the show was awful, if you enjoy flop musicals, this one is a must see. I would not be able to make this stuff up if I tried.


Updated On: 10/1/05 at 02:35 AM

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 10/1/05 at 3:07am

ugh, wish i was in NYC!!! I want to see this so bad.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 10/1/05 at 6:38am

Really excited to see it this afternoon after reading your reviews....was there an intermission?

[alli2]

Posted: 10/1/05 at 8:08am

I have nothing constructive to add for this thread, except that I'm very excited to see this show on Wednesday night!! Hahahhaa.

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 10/1/05 at 8:08am

I'm no longer going tomorrow night. I'm now going to the Sunday matinee.

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 10/1/05 at 8:12am

Nope. No intermission.

If this actually opens, the reviews will be a bloodbath. But they'll also be *really* entertaining.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 10/1/05 at 8:12am

Good Call MEF -- Jessica Boevers is one of the shows saving graces -- and she wont be doing either show on Saturday apparently.

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 10/1/05 at 8:15am

Yeah, that's what I figured. I've seen Jessica in other things (Oklahoma, ALNM, Philadelphia Story). She's never really impressed me before, but several people told me she saves the show, so I figured I should see her.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 10/1/05 at 8:24am

P.S. Yes, there will be a cast recording, and bizarre as the show is, I could actually see commmunity theatres attempting to stage it.