Is Burlesque in Trouble? - Page 2

[RUkiddingme]

Posted: 7/11/25 at 7:46am

During the second act of Gypsy they have some bad things to say about Burlesque.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/11/25 at 8:50am

Wait, first preview they said they wouldn’t be using full costumes because it was now “second dress rehearsal”? 
LOLOL

[tomorrowBIGLITES]

Posted: 7/11/25 at 9:33am

I am now of the belief that any of these “based on a movie” musicals these days no matter the quality usually always make it. They may have longer roads but they always make it

It’s just a game about do they stay open.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 7/11/25 at 9:38am

Not surprised that this sounds like a complete disaster.

[GottaGetAGimmick420]

Posted: 7/11/25 at 9:58am

(Insert joke about Todrick hopefully paying his dancers here)

 

but no really, as someone who watched his season of celebrity big brother in real time, I still can’t believe he admitted to that on live feeds. 70% of the new songs are his. He left rehearsals to go dance in Bares in the US. This just reeks of a vanity project

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 7/11/25 at 10:31am

I still haven’t worked why anyone forgave him. 

[verywellthensigh]

Posted: 7/11/25 at 10:33am

tomorrowBIGLITES said: "I am now of the belief that any of these “based on a movie” musicals these days no matter the quality usually always make it. They may have longer roads but they always make it

It’s just a game about do they stay open."

Do you mean make it to New York?  I don't think Diner, First Wives Club, Mystic Pizza, Flashdance or Desperately Seeking Susan made it. Sure, there's hacky doo-doo like Back to the Future and Pretty Woman, but those titles are, as the kids used to say, "iconic".  Burlesque has an audience of some gay men with low standards but that's probably about it.  

[Kad]

Posted: 7/11/25 at 10:47am

I somehow missed that Todrick was also in this and that he substantially padded out the score with his own new songs. So he’s now directing, choreographing, starring in, and writing this thing? That’s insane. 

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 7/11/25 at 11:07am

I see this a week from tomorrow and I cannot WAIT. The reports I'm getting from my Brit friends (which echo what is being said here just with more use of the 'c' word) are filling me with utter joy. My husband's gonna kill me, but I gave in to his wish of Hercules so he gets to Wagon Wheel Watusi for the night. 

[verywellthensigh]

Posted: 7/11/25 at 11:47am

Collapse?
Catastrophe?
Calamity?
Callous?
Cruel?
Cheesy?
Cloddish?
Crap?
Childish?
Cheap?
Chintzy?
Crippled?
Crusty?
Calibre?
Cack?
Chips?
 

Updated On: 7/11/25 at 11:47 AM

[KrupYou]

Posted: 7/11/25 at 12:02pm

I am hearing it a dazzling....numbers are supposed to be thrilling.......

[inception]

Posted: 7/11/25 at 12:35pm

Kad said: "I somehow missed that Todrick was also in this and that he substantially padded out the score with his own new songs. So he’s now directing, choreographing, starring in, and writing this thing? That’s insane."

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 7/11/25 at 1:21pm

During this process, he’s also been developing & workshopping an original musical titled ‘midnight’. Todrick wants to be a jack of all trades so badly, which is ambitious and all that…but he needs a team of people to ground him as opposed to hyping up all of this. You can try to do everything when you’re making YouTube videos, sure, but not a project of this magnitude.

I’m sure a lot of it is ego driven, but the more hats he wears, the less number of people that have to get paid, lol. 😉

I’ll never forget his (extremely tacky and overdone) house tour he did a few years back, where he acts like he owns Kristin and Idina’s original Wicked costumes…it’s even funnier when he says the Elphaba dress is the “original from San Francisco before it went to Broadway” yet it’s clearly not. He’s been sued for back rent on said house and the furniture inside (both he tried to pass off as owning) while also posting an Amazon wishlist to his fans for toiletries. He’s a nut. 

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 7/11/25 at 2:12pm

God damn Todrick is such a f*cking loser, but he's got Charisma! He knows how to sell the snake oil and not get ran out of town even tho he very much should be with his various actions. 

[BoringBoredBoard40]

Posted: 7/11/25 at 2:55pm

Diane Warren who co-wrote some of the songs in the movie wrote a pretty scathing post on her Instagram about the show today, especially about cutting " You Haven't Seen The Last of Me" from the score, which won the golden globe that year for best song

Updated On: 7/11/25 at 02:55 PM

[inception]

Posted: 7/11/25 at 4:02pm

She wrote:

"So it appears that Burlesque is no longer an adaptation and more lightly inspired by the movie.

Based on what I've been told by multiple attendees,  the cast who didn't move from Manchester with the show have had a very lucky escape.

Cutting 'You Haven't Seen The Last Of Me' though?  These reviews are going to be very telling"

Then it says "The Choice" in the same font as the logo for TV show The Voice

[Kad]

Posted: 7/11/25 at 4:05pm

“So it appears that Burlesque is no longer an adaptation and more lightly inspired by the movie.

Based on what I’ve been told by multiple attendees, the cast who didn’t move from Manchester with the show have had a very lucky escape. 
Cutting ‘You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me’ though? These reviews are going to be very telling.” 

Warren’s post
 

[RUkiddingme]

Posted: 7/11/25 at 4:16pm

inception said: "She wrote:

"So it appears that Burlesque is no longer an adaptation and more lightly inspired by the movie.

Based on what I've been told by multiple attendees, the cast who didn't move from Manchester with the show have had a very lucky escape.

Cutting 'You Haven't Seen The Last Of Me' though? These reviews are going to be very telling"

Then it says "The Choice" inthe same font as the logo for TV show The Voice"

Dianne Warren didn't write that!  She can't talk or type that much without a dozen curse words in there!

[mitchern]

Posted: 7/13/25 at 2:40pm

So I had a fun night — let’s get that out of the way first. But let’s also not pretend that Burlesque (in its current preview state) isn’t an absolutely wild mixed bag.

First: Todrick. My god. The man is devouring so much scenery I’m shocked he has any enamel left. Honestly, it’s his show in every way — starring, directing, writing — and you can feel it. Why this wasn’t just turned into a full-on one-man Todrick musical (Todlesque?) is anyone’s guess. Why he’s also directing it is the bigger mystery.

Musically, there’s good and bad. I’m fully with Diane Warren here — cutting the most iconic number from the movie is… bold. Especially when Orfeh slayed it in concert earlier this year. That said, she’s doing the lord’s work with what she’s been given. True pro energy.

Jess Foley is stunning vocally — truly. But there’s a point where “doing the most” becomes “doing too much,” and we found it.

And then there’s George Maguire, an Olivier winner, doing a striptease in lingerie that had me audibly gasp — and not in a good way. If I were still dancing, that might’ve been my “I’m out” moment.

Costume-wise, it seems like only Todrick got the full treatment. The ensemble looked like they raided the back of their own closets (with wigs to match — we couldn’t stop laughing). It’s all very “runway on a budget.”

All of this sounds harsh, and maybe it is. But there is a genuinely entertaining, potentially great show somewhere in this chaos. It was only the third preview, and the audience gave it a boisterous standing ovation — so clearly, someone is eating it up.

There’s a Legally Blonde reference in one of the stronger numbers that actually made me laugh out loud — and also made me think: this is the problem. Too many moments like that, being thrown at the wall. Some of them land, but a lot don’t. It’s a classic case of overreach. Todrick has written some good songs and knows how to work a stage, but here he’s bitten off way more than he can chew.

Anyway. Just chew on that.

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 7/13/25 at 3:22pm

Todrick made it all about himself? *GASP*

Could have never seen this coming...

[RippedMan]

Posted: 7/13/25 at 5:25pm

Making all about him clearly means they took a sharp turn from the movie. So I’d say that’s a dumb move. 

[macbeth]

Posted: 7/15/25 at 4:31am

I flew in yesterday and caught last night’s preview, and I’m aligned with most of the tea already spilled here. The biggest issue, no surprise, is Todrick. The man had more costume changes than Cher’s first farewell tour, and for what? He’s written himself into every crevice of the plot, and we’re forced to watch him vamp through scenes that should absolutely not be about him. It’s giving "supporting role who didn’t get the memo." He barely leaves the stage and you start to wonder if the title was meant to be Burlesque featuring Todrick Hall.

Costume-wise, it’s a bizarre mashup of semi styled chaos. Some ensemble members are in full looks, others look like they wandered in from Camden Market. It almost works in a “we’re in rehearsal just go with it” kind of way, but it’s still jarring when one dancer is in sequins and the one next to them is in street clothes.

This show should be about the women...but it very clearly isn’t. It feels like Todrick went out of his way to make sure neither of them, especially Orfeh, got to fully take the spotlight. I mean, why cast Orfeh if you’re not going to let her blow the roof off?

Jess Folley was new to me, but vocally she’s a beast. Once she stops looking like she’s trying to remember blocking and just owns it, she’ll be dangerous in the best way.

And then there’s Orfeh—absolutely criminally underused. She’s got one Act 2 number that had me misty, and she still manages to wring every last drop of emotion out of the rest of her frankly meh material. I’ve always said she could sing the phone book, and some of what she’s been given here is somehow worse than that.

And can someone tell me where You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me went? That song was half the reason I booked this trip. No excuse for cutting a moment that iconic, especially when the woman best equipped to deliver it is standing right there.

Evita tonight. Hercules tomorrow. Just For One Day Thursday. Let’s hope someone gives the women their show back.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 7/15/25 at 9:15am

Which producer is calling the shots over there and felt all this was a good idea? They have multiple lead producers but none of them have a hugely impressive track record as lead producers. Is Steve Antin to blame?

[verywellthensigh]

Posted: 7/15/25 at 9:26am

Me, loving the fiasco of it all and dying to hear more. 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/15/25 at 9:37am

I’m not seeing this until next month so hoping it can hang on until then, before completely imploding.