Jason Robert Brown, Taylor Mac, Rob Ashford collaborating on MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL musical adaptation - Page 5

[BalconyClub]

Posted: 7/24/24 at 12:50am

carolinaguy said: "Some of the posts here mention audience participation or involvement during parts of the show. Can anyone elaborate on that?"

The show hasn’t changed much since the Chicago reviews were posted.

An audience member is offered a drink near the top of the show. “Jack Daniels” was Tuesday night’s reply.

The entire audience offers four or five “Yes” replies in a conversation with The Lady Chablis in the Public Square.

Act Two opens with TRUE CRIME, which has good engagement with the audience. We answer Chablis’s inquiry, “Who’s your pretty, pretty princess?”

The Playbills continue to lose their last few pages at the end of the performance, when Chablis asks us to tear out the last few pages.

The Playbill confetti effect lasts for maybe two seconds. There isn’t much hang time with the glossy, ripped pages. The lights dim quickly after the torn pages are tossed.

A much better confetti effect ends BOOP! An avalanche of confetti is shot into the air from both sides of the house, then floats down gracefully in the air, bathed in bright white light. The confetti appears colorless under the lights.

But once the confetti reaches the floor and the house lights come up, one realizes that the confetti is all sorts of different colors. It’s a simple effect that mirrors one of BOOP’s storylines.

[starlightexpress2]

Posted: 7/24/24 at 11:25am

This website is genuinely among the worst websites I have ever used.

BalconyClub's message isn't displaying so I'm adding a reply to theoretically add the 5th page.. hope it shows up now.

Great summary btw Balcony

[Leaf Coneybear]

Posted: 7/24/24 at 4:32pm

Caught this last night - Didn't really like it. I knew the basic plot of the book but have never read it or seen the movie.

Let's start with the things I enjoyed: Ghee, it goes without saying, is incredible. Great comedic timing from them, and some genuinely funny one-liners as well. The idea of the audience being the author was really cool, I think it's a great way for them to sort of "overexplain" some plot points to make the plot clearer. I want to go against the grain here and say that I also really liked the creepy cemetery vibes! Ulimately they dind't end up doing much with it, which is sad, because the sound effects, lighting, and moss on the trees was very atmospheric. Too bad the show wasn't like that.

The score is forgettable. I might almost even say bad, but I don't know much about music theory etc to make that statement, so I'll just say I didn't like it. The lyrics were boring, the tunes were boring, I was really disappointed considering how much I love Parade and TL5Y. At least 13 has some catchy tunes. I almost laughed out loud at how bad "Sad House" is. Also, there's no reason for that number about the dead mom. It adds to the creepiness of the show, but again, the show doesn't really lean into that at all.

I particularly disliked Ghee's 11 o'clock number - which I know will be an unpopular opinion. Of course they gave a great performance, but it really seemed like it came out of nowhere for me, and reeked of a "let's throw in an empowerment ballad" moment to ensure the show seems inclusive. The woman in front of me was crying and gave a standing O afterwards, though, so maybe I'm just being cynical. 

Adding to that, lots of costume change moments for Ghee that seemed like they were just there for audience to applaud, fine, lots of show do that. But I kind of thought that dresses looks a little... cheap. Death Becomes Her had a lot of these moments as well, but the dresses were so dazzling I didn't mind clapping.

Last night was the fullest I've seen the Goodman in a while, which is great to see. The audience (besides the man next to me who fell asleep) seemed to have a lot of fun, particularly during Ghee's cabaret-style numbers. Lots of whooping and cheering during these.

Overall, I'm just disappointed. I think this should has a lot of potential if it would 1. Get better music and 2. Decide what it wants to be. Is it a murder-mystery? A musical comedy? A political commentary? Not that it can't be all of the above, but right now it is trying to be all three and isn't working.

The way I see it, they can lean into the creepiness of it all and focus more on the murder (wild to me that it doesn't happen until the end of Act 1, when it's kind of the main conflict) and the town's/murderer's reactions. Or they can focus on the vignette of characters throughout Savannah and make it more of a silly comedy with some underlying tension. Or they can focus almost entirely on Ghee's character and her reactions to the town and the murder. Not all of them. 

Okay, my final issue: The ending with the program was very cute, but seemed out of place entirely. Is this show about self-acceptance? The scene's with Ghee's character would make you think so, and that makes sense with the end activity. But the main plot of the show is about an old man who murders his young (racist? abusive?) lover, and Southern America's prejudices. It just seemed odd to me to wrap it all up with "Be who you want :)" Like... sure, but what does that have to do with anything?

 

 

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 7/25/24 at 4:54pm

Lady Chablis' establishing song has been posted on line. It sums up one of my issues with the libretto. She starts out fully formed. She doesn't go on any sort of emotional journey. When she sings her 11 o'clock number it's the same sort of self-affirmative "I'm fabulous" number as this opening.

Video: J. Harrison Ghee Performs 'Let There Be Light' from MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL (broadwayworld.com)

 

[SisterGeorge]

Posted: 7/25/24 at 6:19pm

MrsSallyAdams said: "Lady Chablis' establishing song has been posted on line. It sums up one of my issues with the libretto. She starts out fully formed. She doesn't go on any sort of emotional journey. When she sings her 11 o'clock number it's the same sort of self-affirmative"I'm fabulous" number as thisopening.

Video: J. Harrison Ghee Performs 'Let There Be Light' from MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL (broadwayworld.com)

Hadn't heard any of the score until now. Are you sure that song's from a NEW musical?
"

 

[BenjaminNicholas2]

Posted: 7/25/24 at 6:55pm

As someone who actually knew Chablis in passing, if she were alive today, she'd have a **** fit over these costumes.

And as others have already said, she's written here as a one-note character.  

It's sad, actually.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 7/26/24 at 11:11am

I don't really have an opinion on this delicate and discussion-worthy matter, but I'm sharing because it is of interest:

I'm starting to see some brouhaha from individuals in the trans community who are displeased that Lady Chablis (a trans woman) is being played by an actor who is not trans. Ghee is nonbinary and uses he/she/they pronouns but I does not identify as Trans.

If this gains traction, it could derail the show entirely since Ghee is, reportedly, the best thing about it.

(if anyone would like to respond with "IT'S CALLED ACTING" or anything along those lines, you can write your complaint on a piece of paper and then burn it up, which would be a more productive thing for you to do)

[wsondheim94]

Posted: 7/26/24 at 10:05pm

I think this is a tricky and nuanced argument as I know many in the trans community (anecdotally, for what it's worth) consider those that are nonbinary to be apart of that community... Don't worry, i'll print out this post and burn it now.

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 8/2/24 at 8:59am

Caught this show last night. Hewitt was out, but I'm happy to report that his understudy did a great job.

If this show makes it to Broadway (and I suspect it will), it will be because of J Harrison Ghee. This is the first time I've seen them live (I almost got to see their Daphne in Some Like It Hot, but instead I got the phenomenal Demarius R. Copes), and they were transcendent. Their 11 o'clock number is the high point of the show.

In terms of structure, Act 2 is about a hundred times stronger than Act 1. The biggest issue with the show as it currently stands is that Act 1 is about 80 minutes, and the actual plot doesn't start until 79-and-a-half minutes in. It's just meandering between various personalities, all of whom get engaging, really character-specific music (this is one of the most non-JRB JRB scores I've heard, and I welcome this range we're seeing from him), but it doesn't feel like it's moving towards any particular goal.

The big thing that needs to be done between now and a potential transfer is a massive overhaul of the Act 1 book scenes. They have a show that will appeal to a lot of different audiences, but that won't matter if we don't know why we should care until just before the intermission.

[pc1145N]

Posted: 8/4/24 at 8:23pm

Today's matinee was cancelled after the show was scheduled to begin, 2:00pm CST.

Does anyone know why?

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 8/4/24 at 9:03pm

Oh, I was pissed. I had tickets for last night and they emailed a few hours before saying it was canceled. Annoying since I came from out of state but these things happen. Had tix for today at 2, then, and they said it was happening. They had an understudy list up (Hewitt was out along with a few ensemble members) and then we just waited. And waited. An entire theater full of people crammed in the lobby with ushers having no idea why after the scheduled curtain time, the doors still hadn’t opened.
 

I’ve been to enough theater over the years to know that we were just waiting for the announcement and we finally got it at 2:10. Again, these things happen however they HAD TO KNOW they couldn’t perform before everyone started to arrive. If it was the same issue that prevented last nights show, this should never have happened. 

[Ravenclaw]

Posted: 8/4/24 at 9:09pm

pc1145N said: "Today's matinee was cancelled after the show was scheduled to begin, 2:00pm CST.

Does anyone know why?"

It's covid-related. Cases are surging now--Chicago Shakes had to cancel Lord of the Rings earlier this week for the same reason. I saw another local show that had 14 actors out with covid this weekend. This current strain must be really rough because it's been a while since we've seen this level of absences.

[carolinaguy]

Posted: 8/5/24 at 9:09am

I also had tickets for Saturday night, and I did not receive any email or other communication about the cancellation. So I got to the lobby only to be informed that the reason I planned a whole long weekend in Chicago was cancelled. Things happen, but it was still disappointing. At least I became aware of Little Bear Ridge Road in time to snag a Friday night ticket for that, so I did get to see some good theater and make my first visit to Steppenwolf.

Side note: The Lollapalooza event was in Chicago this past weekend, which I didn't know when I booked and it meant hotels were all super-duper expensive.

[ChiDoc]

Posted: 8/5/24 at 6:45pm

Per Chris Jones (behind a paywall here: Goodman Theatre cancels weekend 'Midnight' shows at the last minute (chicagotribune.com)), the Sunday cancellation was an unexpected last minute shortage in the wardrobe crew.

[BalconyClub]

Posted: 8/6/24 at 11:36pm

Full cast appeared in Tuesday night’s performance.

Everyone sounded great, performing to a sold out house.

A few programs in the balcony still carried last week’s insert of understudies/swings, but Tuesday’s show definitely had the standard full cast.

Updated On: 8/6/24 at 11:36 PM

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 8/8/24 at 9:14pm

Caught this last evening and I have thoughts:

I thought the music was well done. J Harrison ghee is amazing, but I feel like that’s where the positives end for me.

The show suffers from having two A plots, where the Jim Williams plot and lady chablis plot are competing for attention and it gets way too muddled.

As much as I love ghee, I have a feeling their characters arch may be the reason why the show is so confusing. It seems the sole star of the show was supposed to be Jim Williams, but then they cast ghee as lady Chablis at some point during the show’s development and it became the Jim and lady Chablis show, but instead of having the characters interact or connecting their stories it’s almost like they’ve created two different musicals.

It honestly kind of reminded me of war paint, where they kind of just went back and forth from one main character back to the other without really connecting their stories until the end and even at the end of the show I’m still left wondering “why these two?” Why is it important that these two characters and their stories are being told side by side.

Ghee had a really awkward gag where, in character, they took out the shows program to see who would play lady Chablis in the musical version of the story and they said “j Harrison ghee.” I could do without that.

Updated On: 8/9/24 at 09:14 PM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 8/11/24 at 9:40pm

I went back to Chicago this weekend since they canceled last weekend and I’m glad I did. I’ve read most of the posts here so I was expecting to find the show very lacking but to my surprise I quite enjoyed it. Now that’s not to say it’s a perfect show, as is. It has quite a few issues (as others have noted) that need to be worked on, if the show is moving forward but unlike other out-of-town tryouts I’ve seen this one is far from a trainwreck or with seemingly unfixable problems.

Starting with the good, I loved this cast. I’m a huge fan of Tom Hewitt for so many years now so getting to see him in a leading role again in a new show is a real treat. I know he’d been sick lately but there was zero evidence of that lingering in his performances this weekend. He sounded fantastic and is as charismatic as he always is onstage.  Ghee is perfection and loved their performance maybe even more here than in “Some Like It Hot”, which it will undoubtedly be compared to. Even Sierra whom I expected to have a forgettable role based on reports was a true standout and hilarious. It is a smaller role than I’ve probably ever seen her take on but that doesn’t mean it’s not a memorable. Her comedic timing is really wonderful, would love to see more of that in future roles.  

As for the score, this is the second JRB score in a year (after “The Connector”) that I’ve enjoyed and for me who has only ever really liked a couple of his shows, that’s saying something.  I disagree with others that there’s no memorable music in this, i have quite a few songs I’ve had stuck in my head and again, for JRB that’s saying something. 

Now the things I feel need work - 

Like others have also said, the beginning of act one in the graveyard is way too long and for me, way too dark. As it stands now the “voodoo” is something that is referenced a few times and then forgotten - I’d love for them to find a way to introduce that element of the show in a different way and maybe sustain it throughout instead of just a couple scenes thrown in. 

One thing I didn’t like at all was all the attention on the debutante girl (I don’t recall her name). It seems to me her storyline exists in this solely to give Chablis that fantastic song at the end. The girls character isn’t interesting enough to devote so much time to and the time we do spend on her (including the pretty terrible Debutante Ball song that stops the show cold) could and probably should be used to flesh out a trial. 

I agree that this is a tale of two stories and that’s the one thing I’m not sure how to fix but I have faith if they want to, they can work it out. It really didn’t bother me as much as other people but it is something that needs to be ironed out as well as figuring out if Chablis is going to narrate the story or not. And that whole thing with looking at the Playbill needs to go. That type of wall breaking takes you out of the show in a way I hate. 

We have one scene with the guy walking the “dead” dog and we need more of that interspersed through the musical - showing us more of Savannah’s “characters”, even in the same way. I think that would be a very fun way to do it in between scenes. 

Again, there’s work to do but that’s what these previews are for and I viewed the show through that lens. Hopefully they have the same notes a lot of us here, have. 

[Ensemble1724848894]

Posted: 8/28/24 at 1:46pm

Does anyone have insight/gossip/rumors into what happens next with this show? 

I was able to see it twice in Chicago and absolutely loved it. Hoping we see a broadway transfer, or atleast a cast recording, soon!