Jamboree - What A Mess- Page 3

[smidge]

Posted: 7/17/16 at 11:44am

Ah, I was row D, right orchestra. Probably several evacuees! 

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 7/17/16 at 11:47am

Looked like many more than several.

[John Adams]

Posted: 7/17/16 at 11:55am

After Eight said: "If you don't care about the public response to your work, then present it as a private theatrical, as the royalty and aristocracy did centuries ago."

I believe all performers, writers, artists, etc. care about public response to their work. They would have to be robots not to. I think SmoothLover's comment had more to do with how he thinks Tesori processes that public response (and to be fair, he couched his comment with a disclaimer that he was speculating, which I thought was a respectful thing to do), and then make a choice to either continue to move forward, or whither and cringe. Perhaps his specific choice of words words was hyperbolic, or meant for effect, but I feel like I knew what his intention was.

"Don't present it for the consumption of the 'masses' you look down on; don't expect the 'masses' to shell out dough for your personal ego-satisfaction; and most of all, don't complain about the 'masses' who complain about having wasted their time and money on the crap you wish them to come to and sit through. And further yet, don't then scorn/mock/berate them for not 'getting' or 'appreciating' your 'genius,' à la No Life in that lifeless, tuneless bore of a musical."

I feel like I'm very possibly clueless about that statement. Does/did Tesori do that, or behave that way at some point?

Updated On: 7/17/16 at 11:55 AM

[swanjewel]

Posted: 7/17/16 at 12:14pm

I really did expect some kind of introduction and thought it was strange their was no banter between Groff and Foster. It's well known that Groff is a huge fan of Foster so it was weird they didn't get a chance to speak a little to the audience. Maybe that was on purpose I don't know. 

Like I said in an earlier post I was there for Groff and enjoyed what I got. 

[jayinchelsea]

Posted: 7/17/16 at 12:25pm

I've read all the comments, and frankly left me confused. I had a good time, it was fun, great to see Sutton and Jonathan, loved the opening, loved most of what they did (not the Fred and Ginger, though), and still think Jeanine is extraordinarily talented. Like most of the new material. Thrilled that I was there. Sorry!

 

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 7/17/16 at 12:25pm

Exactly, swanjewel. I thought the Zach/Cassie dialogue in the opening was brilliant and hilarious, and was hoping we would see more along those lines throughout the night. 

[mpkie]

Posted: 7/17/16 at 1:12pm

jayinchelsea said: "Thrilled that I was there. Sorry!"

No need to be sorry. The thread is skewed this way because most people are not going to want to be the dissenting opinion. I loved being there. There were so many things I enjoyed about last night:

The A Chorus Line opening parody, Sutton's "Left Behind", "Forget About the Boy", "Love on Top", Ayodele's tap performance and her story, Lazour brothers' "Tahrir Is Now" performance, Julian Hornik's voice. The good stuff heavily outweighed the mediocre stuff (that includes "When", which was pedantic as hell and not very creative). I walked away very happy.

Again, I didn't expect a traditional night of theater; that expectation seems totally off. I think context would have changed everything, before and during. A proper explanation of how the night was going to go, and some of you wouldn't have bothered to buy a ticket. They shouldn't have billed "special guests" for one and should have been upfront that they meant new artists instead.

But I'm sure there are MANY people who enjoyed last night.

[bway1497]

Posted: 7/17/16 at 1:18pm

swanjewel said: "BroadwayConcierge said: "Question: did anyone get the "I wrote a song and every egg shattered" or whatever piece at all? Was I missing out on something massively? I was beyond confused."

I didn't get it either. And I don't think many others did. I definitely could have done without the new work. I was just there for Groff really. 

 

I didn't see the jamboree, but it sounds to me that this song was the Act II opener from "Futurity" at Soho Rep. last season, in which it was used quite effectively. Perhaps out of the context of the show's score, it might not land as well. Reminds me how much we NEED a proper recording of "Futurity" though.

Sad to hear that new work was not warmly embraced last night. Again, I didn't see it, so I can't be too upset.

 

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 7/17/16 at 1:51pm

The Egg song was performed by Cesar Alvarez, who did indeed write Futurity (which I missed). Can you explain the context of the song in the show? Thanks

[smidge]

Posted: 7/17/16 at 1:53pm

I hope I didn't appear to be too down on the show, it probably was a matter of expectations. It just could have used some tightening and framing. Totally agree on Julian Hornik, he was my favorite of the new artists presented. Groff and Foster are adorable, and like others here, I was satisfied with everything they sang.

[John Adams]

Posted: 7/17/16 at 2:21pm

bway1497 said: "Reminds me how much we NEED a proper recording of "Futurity" though."

I don't know if this would be considered a "proper" recording, but is this something you might be interested in?

PS: This review made me laugh! (Can't tell if it's a "back-handed compliment"?):

“Positively gasp-worthy. Those who like their theater messy and beautiful are liable to fall in love with FUTURITY.” – THEATERMANIA

Updated On: 7/17/16 at 02:21 PM

[swanjewel]

Posted: 7/17/16 at 3:35pm

I definitely agree the show needed an explanation as to what was planned for the evening. Then people could have said, "Oh, ok that's not for me. Nevermind." I had no idea what I was going to see so I had no expectations. I am happy that went.

[bway1497]

Posted: 7/17/16 at 3:39pm

WhizzerMarvin said: "The Egg song was performed by Cesar Alvarez, who did indeed write Futurity (which I missed). Can you explain the context of the song in the show? Thanks

 

"It's a little fuzzy in my mind at this point, so if anyone members the exact context a little better, feel free to chime in. Basically the show felt to me like a narrative based song cycle of the relationship between creation/birth and death/war. SLIGHT SPOILERS: This song punctuated the finishing of the main character's invention, a "Steam Brain", and basically just stood for when a creation changes the world so drastically. It was a group number in the show as well.

 

John Adams, Thanks for that link! I do have that recording, but it doesn't really suit the show. The show's orchestrations were a lot fuller, the chorus bigger and the songs more varied in style than what is present there. Still a great recording for what it is though!

[SmoothLover]

Posted: 7/18/16 at 5:20am

John Adams said: "After Eight said: "If you don't care about the public response to your work, then present it as a private theatrical, as the royalty and aristocracy did centuries ago."

I believe all performers, writers, artists, etc. care about public response to their work. They would have to be robots not to. I think SmoothLover's comment had more to do with how he thinks Tesori processes that public response (and to be fair, he couched his comment with a disclaimer that he was speculating, which I thought was a respectful thing to do), and then make a choice to either continue to move forward, or whither and cringe. Perhaps his specific choice of words words was hyperbolic, or meant for effect, but I feel like I knew what his intention was.

"Don't present it for the consumption of the 'masses' you look down on; don't expect the 'masses' to shell out dough for your personal ego-satisfaction; and most of all, don't complain about the 'masses' who complain about having wasted their time and money on the crap you wish them to come to and sit through. And further yet, don't then scorn/mock/berate them for not 'getting' or 'appreciating' your 'genius,' à la No Life in that lifeless, tuneless bore of a musical."

I feel like I'm very possibly clueless about that statement. Does/did Tesori do that, or behave that way at some point?

 

 

I was wondering the same thing. Perhaps After Eight thinks that Tesori speaks through me. After Eight should call the City Center box office for a refund and if that does not work she should sue for emotional distress.

 

"

 

Updated On: 7/18/16 at 05:20 AM

[After Eight]

Posted: 7/18/16 at 8:03am

John Adams said: 

I feel like I'm very possibly clueless about that statement. 

 

 Smooth Lover said:

"I was wondering the same thing."

 

Actually, I think you are both clueless. You, Smooth Lover, wrote  that you admired a "screw  'em" attitude on the part of an artist with respect to the public. I responded to this statement that YOU expressed, saying I don't at all admire such an attitude, and said that artists have an obligation  to concern themselves with their public. Mr. Adams responded that he  completely disagreed with that idea, putting down the public with the derogatory term "masses."  In a subsequent post, he then went on to to contradict himself thoroughly on this point, showing that yes, indeed, he is clueless.

Our theatre has suffered considerably from  the "screw 'em" attitude towards the "masses" that you so highly admire.

Updated On: 7/18/16 at 08:03 AM

[John Adams]

Posted: 7/18/16 at 9:21am

After Eight said: "Actually, I think you are both clueless. [...] Mr. Adams responded that he  completely disagreed with that idea, putting down the public with the derogatory term "masses."  In a subsequent post, he then went on to to contradict himself thoroughly on this point, showing that yes, indeed, he is clueless."

You made me love you -
I didn’t wanna do it,
I didn’t wanna do it…

You are now, officially one of my favorite curmudgeons.

[Kad]

Posted: 7/18/16 at 10:22am

WhizzerMarvin said: "The Egg song was performed by Cesar Alvarez, who did indeed write Futurity (which I missed). Can you explain the context of the song in the show? Thanks"

If I recall correctly, there was no real context for the song. It opened the second act as sort of a non-sequitur. Cesar Alvarez and Samantha Tunis were both the main characters and the sort -of storytellers, and opened each act with a sort of informal emcee-ish back-and-forth and then a song.

 

Anyway, I'm surprised a one-off event like this is raising the ire of certain people. It happened. It's over. Updated On: 7/18/16 at 10:22 AM

[SmoothLover]

Posted: 7/18/16 at 8:15pm

After Eight said: "John Adams said: 

I feel like I'm very possibly clueless about that statement. 

 

 Smooth Lover said:

"I was wondering the same thing."

 

Actually, I think you are both clueless. You, Smooth Lover, wrote  that you admired a "screw  'em" attitude on the part of an artist with respect to the public. I responded to this statement that YOU expressed, saying I don't at all admire such an attitude, and said that artists have an obligation  to concern themselves with their public. Mr. Adams responded that he  completely disagreed with that idea, putting down the public with the derogatory term "masses."  In a subsequent post, he then went on to to contradict himself thoroughly on this point, showing that yes, indeed, he is clueless.

Our theatre has suffered considerably from  the "screw 'em" attitude towards the "masses" that you so highly admire.

 

"

What theatre are you talking about After Eight?  I admire any artist (especially women in the theatre who have long been ignored) who have a vision and work hard to see it through. If all artist created art to appeal to the masses art would be boring. Your posts on this board are often filled with venom so one cannot help wonder if that has more to do with you than the theatre piece you have witnessed.

 

[After Eight]

Posted: 7/18/16 at 8:36pm

"What theatre are you talking about After Eight? "

Our theatre.

"If all artist created art to appeal to the masses art would be boring."

What a joke! And the wretched items  that are concocted for the "non-masses" are not boring? You must not get to see much "non-masses" theatre! Were you at City Center Saturday night? Plenty of "non-masses" songs offered up for the delectation of the "non-masses." They were as boring --- and as ugly --- as hell. Please think before you post!

"one cannot help wonder if that has more to do with you than the theatre piece you have witnessed."

Let me reassure you. It has nothing to do with me, and everything to do with the "screw 'em"-attitude theatre that you so admire.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 7/18/16 at 8:42pm

Jamboree was anything but. It was downright bad

[After Eight]

Posted: 7/18/16 at 8:49pm

^

Yeah. Imagine calling that thing a  "jamboree." Talk about a misnomer!

[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 7/18/16 at 9:33pm

So, are we done beating a dead horse? Seems like we should move on until Jamboree is rethunk...if that's a word. 

[After Eight]

Posted: 7/18/16 at 10:01pm

Michelle,

The thread has continued because obviously, some people are interested in continuing to discuss the matter.

If you're not interested, then no one is forcing you to read it, or comment in it.

You can simply go to a thread on a subject not discussed at length, such as..... well, you know what.

Or better yet, you can start a new thread on your own!

[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 7/18/16 at 10:15pm

I can't imagine not continuing to read, After Eight... 

[After Eight]

Posted: 7/18/16 at 10:23pm

Michelle,

Can you imagine not continuing to comment, then?

By commenting, you are helping to beat this poor dead horse!