If/then Reviews- Page 4

[Goldenboy2]

Posted: 3/30/14 at 9:59pm

I'm really shocked that this musical is taking this kind of a beating. The Best Musical category just got a lot simpler.

[jdrye222]

Posted: 3/30/14 at 10:00pm

C.C Baxter ---- I don't think there has ever been a chance this will "WIN" Best Musical. I actually don't believe it will be nominated.

[djdan1079]

Posted: 3/30/14 at 10:00pm

For those who saw the show in DC as well as NY, did the LaChanze role get cut down over time? Maybe she thought the role would be more significant than it turned out to be. I really thought she was great in a pretty underwritten part.

Also, let's remember that N2N took MANY years and MANY rewrites to get it right. Think of how many incarnations that show went through from the "Feeling Electric" days to off broadway, and then eventually to a Pulitzer. It's a shame that every show can't get that level of time and attention. I guess once you have a hit on your hands, the pressure mounts to get the new shows done quickly. and if you have a star attached, you have to get the show up when you can.

[haterobics]

Posted: 3/30/14 at 10:02pm

"All the time they spent out of town and all the previews and the creative team still couldn't fix what was wrong or (worse) they couldn't see that something was wrong??!?!"

Well, a lot of people (on here) seem to dislike the premise of the show, and the entire bifurcated narrative, so that's nothing you can really fix. They seem to have clarified it to the point where no reviews really mentioned being unable to follow it, that I saw, which was more of a sticking point in DC.

Updated On: 3/30/14 at 10:02 PM

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 3/30/14 at 10:08pm

The NBC review talked about confusing storylines, actually.

[ucjrdude902]

Posted: 3/30/14 at 10:09pm

No NYT yet or did I miss that?

[TheatreKid3]

Posted: 3/30/14 at 10:09pm

NYT Is here. It's Brantley

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/31/theater/in-if-then-idina-menzel-travels-two-paths.html?_r=0

[promisespromises2]

Posted: 3/30/14 at 10:10pm

"All the time they spent out of town and all the previews and the creative team still couldn't fix what was wrong or (worse) they couldn't see that something was wrong??!?!"

Coming from someone who saw the very first preview out of town and the second to last preview out of town, they had a LOT of fixing to do and what they did fix in that time in DC was incredible. I give major props to them for nailing down what needed to be fixed during their run in DC in the time they had.

[blaxx]

Posted: 3/30/14 at 10:12pm

Brantley is passive aggressive

But its conceptual novelty factor aside, “If/Then” more exactly resembles a Lifetime movie — or two Lifetime movies spliced together — the kind in which prominent television actresses, in between crime shows, portray women whose lives are forever altered.

Taken separately, neither plot of “If/Then” is terribly compelling or distinctively drawn. Taken together, they feel less like variations on a theme than dogged reiterations of a theme.

Yet I suspect this show, which has been doing solid business in previews, will have no trouble finding an audience. Ms. Menzel, who brings an anxious intensity to a featherweight part, has an enviable fan base among young female audiences.

[ucjrdude902]

Posted: 3/30/14 at 10:13pm

Alright well let's play predict the pull quotes! 3...2...1...GO!

[bdn223]

Posted: 3/30/14 at 10:18pm

I have to say I think many reveiwers missed the point of the the show, to depict two different versions of one woman's life simply based on going with one friend and answering a phone call or going with another and missing that call and the drastic implications that small decision can make. I think sadley as of right now the only now a least based on her review is Linda Winer of Newsday, which makes me think ones sex really does play a role in what one makes of If/then. As she is the only female reviewer.
Many reviewers are looking at Liz and Beth as "what ifs" of one person when they are and become 2 separate people based on a simple choice.
I also believe it is intentional on Kitt and Yorkey's part that the score blends so well that a times one can't distinquish one song from another. If they wanted you to know the individual songs, their names would be listed in the playbill. Outside of a couple songs I will say I could not tell one song from another in Next to Normal until I listened to the album several times.
A final note is that I find it ironic that in a negative review The Wrap accentially admits that this show will be a Company, Follies, and Merrily We Roll Along, and will be praised in its revivals despite his negativity about the original.

Updated On: 3/30/14 at 10:18 PM

[Sauja]

Posted: 3/30/14 at 10:18pm

Frankly, the reviews are more positive than I expected. A great cast can't save this dud.

[blaxx]

Posted: 3/30/14 at 10:21pm

Outside of a couple songs I will say I could not tell one song from another in Next to Normal until I listened to the album several times.

You lost me there. Wrong at so many levels.

[haterobics]

Posted: 3/30/14 at 10:22pm

"The NBC review talked about confusing storylines, actually."

Well, I discounted their opinion when they suggested it is additionally confusing because the supporting characters also have different lives. First, that's kind of the point of the show, how everyone's life affects everyone around them. And, second, how would it be easier to follow if everything was the same in both worlds EXCEPT Idina playing two roles in the same settings, with the same people, with no differences between the two lives except her.

So, I'd have to say the reviewer is mixed in that instance.

[djdan1079]

Posted: 3/30/14 at 10:23pm

bdn223- If all of the reviewers and more than half of the message board comments are all saying the same thing, perhaps it's safe to assume there are inherent problems with the material.

[steven22]

Posted: 3/30/14 at 10:23pm

Just got home from tonight's show. It was incredible. Idina is giving an amazing performance. The plot is not confusing at all. Anthony, James, LaChanze and the rest of the cast were incredible. Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey put together anther incredible show!

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 3/30/14 at 10:24pm

So, no Best Musical nomination then?

[jdrye222]

Posted: 3/30/14 at 10:24pm

I should preface this by saying I hated the show more than almost anything I've ever seen ---

But - Am I the only one who got from the ending that sometimes what you didn't choose before could come back around at a time when you're better prepared for it? It was my interpretation that when the boring soldier comes back at the end, she would be "starting" that life after having finished what we saw of the other one.

[blaxx]

Posted: 3/30/14 at 10:25pm

So, no Best Musical nomination then?

I think Aladdin, Rocky and this will have to fight it out.

[SomeOtherMe]

Posted: 3/30/14 at 10:26pm

Chicago Tribune is POSITIVE.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/ct-if-then-broadway-musical-review-20140331,0,595426.column?track=rss

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/30/14 at 10:27pm

I would take that as a pan.

How long before it's red hot business drops off?

Can she keep this show open on her own? Time will tell.

[Steve721]

Posted: 3/30/14 at 10:27pm

Brantley is passive agressive. It's the oddest review; it's like he didn't have the energy to write a vicious piece, so he pans it in a really back-handed, "I really don't want to bother with this" way. He has some nice things to say about a few of the supporting players (including LaChanze) and the choreography, but there is virtually no critique of Menzel's performance. Very strange.

[haterobics]

Posted: 3/30/14 at 10:28pm

"So, no Best Musical nomination then?"

Aside from another month of baseless speculation on here, we'll find out on April 29.

"Am I the only one who got from the ending that sometimes what you didn't choose before could come back around at a time when you're better prepared for it?"

You are correct, sir.

[fingerlakessinger]

Posted: 3/30/14 at 10:29pm

I think it still has a shot at the nomination. WICKED got reviews similar (if not worse) than these and still received one.

[blaxx]

Posted: 3/30/14 at 10:29pm

Can she keep this show open on her own?

At this point, she is the only element of hope for the show. Either a huge name to replace her or they better pay her big to stick around.