Posted: 10/11/22 at 5:41pm
The projection and costume design as well as the choreography have me very excited. I think it’s a really sleek design which probably looks great in person. Can’t wait to see this!
Posted: 10/11/22 at 6:26pm
Not sure what their audience target is besides teens? This should have stayed off-Broadway.
Posted: 10/11/22 at 9:07pm
I'm the target demographic here actually! young gay teenage female into kpop. And this production looks so cheap based off the previews. Why would I even see kpop on Broadway when there's so many real kpop groups touring right now? A rush tickets would be nice, but I wouldn't spend over $45 on this. If I want to spend $100+ on kpop for a night, I'd go to these, which are already in America:
LOONA, NYC August 2022: https://youtu.be/Qngsh1Wyczw
WINNER, NYC September 2022 (this concert was FREE, by the way): https://youtu.be/aEQHYU3gsHM
I loved Broadway longer than I've loved kpop but this show doesn't particularly appeal to kpop fans in a traditional way. We love seeing our idols because we have our bias (for instance, seeing loona meant seeing Yves up close), we get to engage with our idols using lightsticks (as you see in both videos, loona's lightstick is the crown and the colors symbolize our favorite girls), and we want to see their songs that we all know and love. What kpop fans do not want to see is a social commentary on the cruelty in the idol industry, we already hear enough of that between idols getting no paycheck (loona), idol dating bans (most girl groups), and risk of disbandment for lack of fans (CLC). I suppose some might be interested in that, but I just don't think it's enough people for this to last long or have a great shot at cleaning up the Tony's. It's not artsy and small like fun home, it's not big and spectacular like Moulin rouge, it's not groundbreaking and genre-defying like Hamilton, it's just another musical. If anything, a kpop musical might work if it was a jukebox musical based off of BTS and their rise to fame, but I can't imagine it working in most iterations otherwise. And going back to the others who said the costumes look cheap, youll see that true kpop idols costumes never skimp on the $$. just look at Kep1er's clothes
Posted: 10/11/22 at 9:48pm
I'm pretty sure that most of the show, at least the music, is done with projection mapping across the white scenic elements and show deck, which doesn't come off as well in pictures as it will in person. Is this the first time that a musical has done it's press preview in the venue with full tech like this, rather than in the rehearsal room like normal? I kind of like it.
I'm looking forward to the first performance on Thursday-I really enjoyed this one in its immersive form off-Broadway, but I'm led to believe that it is a fundamentally different piece, with a reworked plot and a bunch of new music, so we'll see. I know they've been workshopping this proscenium, linear-plot version for years but, this is closer to a new show opening cold than an off-Broadway transfer.
We'll see how it all plays out on Thursday.
Posted: 10/11/22 at 11:40pm
Really curious if they have the vocal stamina to perform songs live every night. I was into Kpop for a while.. and while they are really talented, they had trouble performing live for consecutive days. Just didn't have the proper training for it. Which is why every Kpop group has lipsynced at least once in a public performance.
The dancing looks great though!
Posted: 10/12/22 at 12:36am
Just got an email for telecharge that they're doing $45 lottery rush.telecharge.com
Posted: 10/12/22 at 1:05am
So I gotta say that these preview clips have kind of turned me off from this production.
I was lucky enough to to see this off broadway and still consider it one of my top 5 theatre experiences of my life. The music, the plot, the set, the talent. I still hum some of the songs (with the help of Helen Park’s YouTube page and this nyt article Here).
What worries me about this new version is both the lack of plot for more of a concert vibe as well as replacing some really great music. I remember LMM tweeted after seeing it off broadway to record the album ASAP. I wish they did.
I wait for feedback from the first preview with baited breath.
Posted: 10/12/22 at 1:19am
count me as among the uninspressed with this footage who saw this off-bway
Posted: 10/12/22 at 6:18am
That video preview... yikes.
Posted: 10/12/22 at 9:04am
They sound terrible and winded.
Posted: 10/12/22 at 10:39am
Yeah they sound hella winded. Real K-pop groups sing over backing vocals to make up for the intense choreography
Posted: 10/12/22 at 1:12pm
The release of this is…ill-advised to say the least. It may look good on stage with an audience (the off Broadway production was great!) but this looks amateurish. I’ll wait for the show but my excitement has plummeted.
Reminds me of when they released the American Psycho rehearsal clips. That show was so dependent on its visuals, it’s electronic score, yet they released a video of them performing it in a dingy rehearsal room.
Posted: 10/12/22 at 1:17pm
^was just gonna say something about the American Psycho press rollout. Difference here is they aren’t in a rehearsal room, this is actually what the show is going to look like on stage. Just poor choices all around here, I think this had so much potential and could’ve been such a breakthrough for what Broadway could be and they totally missed.
Posted: 10/12/22 at 1:39pm
I feel like sound design is going to be critical. It can't be too much like a pop concert when most people won't go to the show knowing the lyrics. I'll be very interested to hear what people think during previews. (I haunted the Strange Loop thread for ages waiting for them to work out the sound design.)
For people who saw the Ars Nova version, how much of the plot is conveyed through the music?
Posted: 10/12/22 at 3:11pm
VintageSnarker said: "I feel like sound design is going to be critical. It can't be too much like a pop concert when most people won't go to the show knowing the lyrics. I'll be very interested to hear what people think during previews. (I haunted the Strange Loop thread for ages waiting for them to work out the sound design.)
For people who saw the Ars Nova version, how much of the plot is conveyed through the music?"
I have a similar question, rather an extension of that question to those who've seen the Off-Broadway or re-worked proscenium versions -- is all of the music strictly for the "rehearsals" and "concert" sections, or are there actual book songs, that further along the narrative? Granted, this production has been worked on a lot to adapt to a less immersive production and through a few iterations since then.
Posted: 10/12/22 at 4:42pm
All the songs are diegetic, at least they were at Ars Nova. But they related to particular moments in the scenarios.
Posted: 10/12/22 at 6:44pm
HeyMrMusic said: "All the songs are diegetic, at least they were at Ars Nova. But they related to particular moments in the scenarios."
Agreed. I saw the off-bway show back in 2017 and from what I recall, the audience were divided up into 3 groups for the immersive experiences where for each rotation, each group experienced: 1) tour of the kpop 'factory' showing the physical sacrifices and rigorous dance training of the ladies; 2) knowing the male group F8 and 3) MWE's dressing room.
It really didn't matter which order you experienced each of the rotations but the songs they sang all related to that particular moment/scenario. For me, my favorite scene was MWE's dressing room.
In the press preview yesterday, I wish LUNA sang one of her solos (if they kept it.) Below is a youtube video of Ashley Park singing "Phoenix" with an introduction by songwriter Helen Park. I really hope they kept this song if it made sense. In the off-bway production, Ashley Park performed as MWE.
Posted: 10/12/22 at 9:19pm
The main thing I hope about this production is that it keeps the commentary element. The show at Ars Nova was actually pretty critical of the behind-the-scenes practices and mindsets the KPOP "factory," and it explored how the presentation of KPOP is influenced by the pressures of selling a "perfect" pop star image to a Western market.
With the marketing around the this production, it almost feels like they're piggy-backing on the very thing they were critiquing.
But maybe I'm judging too soon. Maybe that's all part of the plan; to sell the show to KPOP fans, then once they're in their seats, encourage them to peel back the layers, and introspect about how they consume this form of entertainment.
Posted: 10/12/22 at 10:09pm
Anyone else think they did the press preview like that to save on spending money on a B-Roll shoot...because it certainly is feeling like it...
Posted: 10/12/22 at 11:14pm
dearalanaaaa said: "I loved Broadway longer than I've loved kpop but this show doesn't particularly appeal to kpop fans in a traditional way. We love seeing our idols because we have our bias (for instance, seeing loona meant seeing Yves up close), we get to engage with our idols using lightsticks (as you see in both videos, loona's lightstick is the crown and the colors symbolize our favorite girls), and we want to see their songs that we all know and love. What kpop fans do not want to see is a social commentary on the cruelty in the idol industry, we already hear enough of that between idols getting no paycheck (loona), idol dating bans (most girl groups), and risk of disbandment for lack of fans (CLC). I suppose some might be interested in that, but I just don't think it's enough people for this to last long or have a great shot at cleaning up the Tony's."
This is interesting to hear. Personally, as somebody who's a fan of Broadway but not particularly of Kpop, this show sounded uninteresting to me until I looked up some reviews of the previous production and learned that the show show provides some critique of the industry, rather than simply being a glamorous celebration. (Maybe it says something about the marketing, that I only figured out that the show includes some 'commentary' by digging into the reviews?) Everyone's welcome to have their own preference regarding the type of show they want this to be, but it will be interesting to see if it does find its audience and if so, who that will actually be.
(Edit: Managed to post this before reading the most recent posts and realising JoeW4 pretty much made the same points already.)
Updated On: 10/12/22 at 11:14 PM
Posted: 10/12/22 at 11:28pm
If there’s one thing that becomes apparent year after year, it’s that these theatrical marketing agencies need to stop hiring theatre fans as employees and recruit actual marketers because it’s a completely different skill set. The industry has become former theatre kids with a Twitter account rather than people who actually Understand how people interact with content. I left the marketing side of the industry a few years back because did this.
Posted: 10/12/22 at 11:54pm
BroadwayNYC2 said: "If there’s one thing that becomes apparent year after year, it’s that these theatrical marketing agencies need to stop hiring theatre fans as employees and recruit actual marketers because it’s a completely different skill set. The industry has become former theatre kids with a Twitter account rather than people who actually Understand how people interact with content. I left the marketing side of the industry a few years back because did this."
The marketing for most Broadway shows is tragic and such a turn off to the general public. It looks so tacky and unappealing. Say what you want about Scott Rudin but at least he had taste. I got a mailer for an upcoming Broadway musical (I will spare saying which one) and it was so hideous I thought it was spam mail from some local restaurant. I agree that more shows need to hire actual marketers with taste and vision.
Posted: 10/13/22 at 1:43am
Who does the marketing for Funny Girl?
I don't think it's the fault of former theater kids that many people have defaulted to text only merch that anyone could order from a website. Critiquing the social media team is fair, but maybe everyone's just feeling uninspired. (See: Camelot artwork)
Posted: 10/13/22 at 6:18am
Veering a little off topic, but here's a random tidbit: today I learned that there was a Coyote Ugly musical in South Korea in 2011, starring Luna.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNcxPB5HUJM
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