Is Gigi worth seeing if I know nothing about the show ?

[Islander_fan]

Posted: 6/17/15 at 12:56pm

So I have a 25 dollar off coupon from Today Tix and am figuring out what to see. Gigi, I admit, is a show I know nothing about. I know that it's a classic musical but not one that I have any knowledge of other than the composers. With all that said, is it still worth checking out or is my money best spent elsewhere?

[dramamama611]

Posted: 6/17/15 at 12:58pm

"So I have a 25 dollar off coupon from Today Tix and am figuring out what to see. Gigi, I admit, is a show I know nothing about. I know that it's a classic musical but not one that I have any knowledge of other than the composers. With all that said, is it still worth checking out or is my money best spent elsewhere?"

 

You won't be able to get a definitive answer.  Those that loved it will say yes, those that didn't will not.

 

I'm a fan of the film, but found this to be a bore.  (What else are you considering?)

 

[tazber]

Posted: 6/17/15 at 1:04pm

I'm not a fan of the material* but this production is beautifully mounted.

If you have a coupon I would say go.

 

*I love the score, I just can't get past the courtesan thing. I know it was the norm in that period but it still feels tawdry, even with the re-writes.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 6/18/15 at 12:17am

I had no knowledge of Gigi before I saw it and I loved it. So I say, go, before it's too late. Closes on Sunday.

[skies]

Posted: 6/18/15 at 12:25am

See , it's about this whore....

(cue Wonderful Town music.....)

[ljay889]

Posted: 6/18/15 at 12:45am

Had little knowledge before seeing it, but I found it excruciatingly boring. I could not wait to get out of that theater. Talented cast though. 

[JayG 2]

Posted: 6/18/15 at 8:38am

Why would you want to know all about the show BEFORE going in??? 

Where's the discovery, the element of surprise, hearing  songs for the first time, laughing at jokes you haven't heard before, taking the arc of a character with the character instead of before the character,  being surprised and delighted by the outcome.

I repeat: Why would you want to know the material before seeing the show? Do you want to know about the movie you're seeing before seeing it??

 

[japhun2]

Posted: 6/18/15 at 8:44am

"So I have a 25 dollar off coupon from Today Tix and am figuring out what to see. Gigi, I admit, is a show I know nothing about. I know that it's a classic musical but not one that I have any knowledge of other than the composers. With all that said, is it still worth checking out or is my money best spent elsewhere?

"

No.

[fb1123]

Posted: 6/18/15 at 10:05am

No, I saw it through TDF for around $45 and it was definitely not worth it. There are far better shows to see.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 6/18/15 at 10:15am

Yes as doubt you will ever see it on Broadway again. In addition, it is nowhere near as bad as either the media & BWW critics say it is.

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 6/18/15 at 11:07am

Watch the film instead and see 20th Century or On the Town or Beautiful instead.

Film directed by Vincente Minnelli with Maurice Chevalier, Leslie Caron, Louis Jordan and Hermione Gingold. Music by Lerner and Lowe.

 

[acekatherineplumber2]

Posted: 6/18/15 at 11:13am

Go for it! I knew nothing about it before going in, but it was good enough that I saw it two times.

[Christoph]

Posted: 6/18/15 at 3:45pm

I saw it at the Kennedy Center before its Broadway bow, so I am uncertain how much they have changed it.  It is lovely to look at and I thought Vanessa Hudgens was enchanting...and that was about it.  There are some major problems with the book.  Hudgens is actually not used enough and the highlight is probably The Night They Invented Champagne which caps Act I.  Act II is long-winded and dull and in desperate need of a rousing number, which you don't get.  If your expectations are not high, there are things to enjoy, but the show is by no stretch a success.

[jv92]

Posted: 6/18/15 at 7:08pm

It's a watered-down, boring, uber-PC version of a repulsive, but charming and beautiful looking film. Just watch the movie. Leslie Caron pronounces "Gigi" properly in it, too, which is a big plus. 

 

 

 

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 6/18/15 at 7:28pm

Never thought I would have heard the word repulsive to describe Gigi and on the BWW board no less. Oh well, nothing surprises me anymore.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 6/18/15 at 7:47pm

To be fair, feminist analysis has never been a priority for you.

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 6/18/15 at 10:16pm

"Never thought I would have heard the word repulsive to describe Gigi and on the BWW board no less. Oh well, nothing surprises me anymore."

That's because you were too naïve to understand what was going on. The film opens with the elderly French legend Maurice Chevalier singing a devious and deceptive Lerner and Loewe song called "Thank Heavens for Little Girls" while in a park watching teenaged Leslie Caron frolicking with her female classmates. After Chevalier's death it was discovered that he had multiple photos of Leslie Caron and friends hanging on his bedroom wall.

At almost the same time an alternate version of "Thank Heaven" was found with different lyrics full of double entendres. Dirty Doings had been going on.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 6/18/15 at 11:29pm

But that's why they changed the show, to make it less creepy and way more romantic and empowering to women. You obviously haven't seen it.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 6/19/15 at 12:25am

To Old Blue

I am 68 and far from naive. I was referring to the show.I also do not think the worst in every situation.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 6/19/15 at 12:41am

"I also do not think the worst in every situation."

Just most.

 

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 6/19/15 at 12:50am

"Why would you want to know all about the show BEFORE going in???

Where's the discovery, the element of surprise, hearing songs for the first time, laughing at jokes you haven't heard before, taking the arc of a character with the character instead of before the character, being surprised and delighted by the outcome."


Not everyone is the same. Personally, I like to know about a show before I see it. If there is source material to be had, I'll access it. It enhances my experience. I don't want to miss anything. Yes, I know what's going to happen, but not how. How will that line be read? How will that moment play? Oftentimes, what's on the stage turns out quite differently than what's on the page.


That said, I don't mind going in blind, either.


To answer OP's question, I'll echo dramamama: there is no right answer. Me, I'd go if I could, just for the bragging rights of having seen it since it's closing and because I like Victoria Clark - but if you have limited funds, is your money best spent elsewhere?


Almost certainly.

[SweetLips]

Posted: 6/19/15 at 1:43am

"But that's why they changed the show, to make it less creepy and way more romantic and empowering to women. You obviously haven't seen it."

 Call me naive, and I sure have been called worse things, but I grew up singing show tunes, saw Gigi[film] many times. I imitated a French accent and twirled around the living room singing 'Thank Heaven for little girls'  and until it was brought to my attention here, NEVER did I associate the words to those intentions.

At 70 my innocence is finally ruined--oh well--Thank Heaven for Spunky Men.