LEMPICKA Reviews- Page 12

[gordi_92]

Posted: 4/19/24 at 3:01pm

I am looking but I cant find anything :(

[inception]

Posted: 4/19/24 at 3:04pm

The8re phan said: "
How does one stumble upon these things... were they just laying on the sidewalk somewhere on W48th street?

Do tell......"

I've read you can catch all sorts of things going through the Ramble at 1am.

 

[BCfitasafiddle]

Posted: 4/19/24 at 3:19pm

Is Eden back in? I'm going tomorrow and she's really the only reason I'm seeing the show. 

[hache2]

Posted: 4/19/24 at 3:58pm

BCfitasafiddle said: "Is Eden back in? I'm going tomorrow and she's really the only reason I'm seeing the show."

I heard that Eden was hoping to be back tonight so tomorrow (Saturday) should be safe. That said I was told from reliable sources that Mariand was amazing but obviously played the role somewhat differently than Eden.  

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 10:25am

Is Eden back? Asking for a friend 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 11:08am

She was out of both Saturday shows. No word yet on today.

[inception]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 12:00pm

If it is the same cold bug as is going around on the West Coast right now, there's no way anyone is back singing in under a week.

[MezzoDiva47]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 12:07pm

eden still not back for today

 

[Robbie2]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 12:08pm

MemorableUserName said: "She was out of both Saturday shows. No word yet on today."

Mariand is on again today for the matinee her 7th performance! She’s amazing - don't miss her! 

[binau]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 12:16pm

I also did 'hear' a bit of Mariand’s tracks and wow. I'd love to see both her and Eden. I know it is ridiculous and I deserve all the ridicule I get for defending a show I haven't even seen - BUT I do think there is a reason why people like Sara B are getting all defensive over the negative reaction. The show MIGHT be a mess, I don't know - but come on there is something very special happening with some of this music. It is just so inspired and performed so well. I think to some people it is so self evident on a first listen that it is shocking to hear otherwise (I am absolutely shocked that I read comments suggesting all the music sounds the same).

Ben Brantley descried the score the NYtimes as "stirring, richly polyphonicmusic" - I think he is right. And it's very rare to come across this. I think history will be kind to this show on disc. 

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 12:22pm

binau said: "I also did 'hear' a bit ofMariand’s tracks and wow. I'd love to see both her and Eden. I know it is ridiculous and I deserve all the ridicule I get for defending a show I haven't even seen - BUT I do think there is a reason why people like Sara B are getting all defensive over the negative reaction. The show MIGHT be a mess, I don't know - but come on there is something very special happening withsome of this music. It is just so inspired and performed so well. I think to some people it is so self evident on a first listen that it is shocking to hear otherwise (I am absolutely shocked that I read comments suggesting all the music sounds the same).

Ben Brantley descried the score the NYtimes as "stirring, richly polyphonicmusic" - I think he is right. And it's very rare to come across this. I think history will be kind to this show on disc."

But what is the purpose of the score in the context of the story it’s trying to tell? I agree there is some interesting music in the show, but within the context, it’s kind of baffling and strange. Like, from the beginning, why does the overture sound like we’re about to watch Riverdance on molly? What is the style, and how does it serve the story?

I really feel like I’m taking crazy pills when people talk about this show like it was unfairly derided. To me, and to almost everyone I’ve spoken to about it in person, it’s a conceptual mess.

Updated On: 4/21/24 at 12:22 PM

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 12:54pm

ColorTheHours048 said: "
I really feel like I’m taking crazy pills when people talk about this show like it was unfairly derided. To me, and to almost everyone I’ve spoken to about it in person, it’s a conceptual mess."

i hear you but i feel like *im* crazy because while these are perfectly legitimate criticisms of the show, and i agree with some of them, the response to Suffs has been "solid but middling score" or to Hells Kitchen as "dumb as bricks book but great songs" and then Lempicka feels more like "lots of solid elements but since they dont cohere properly the entire thing is a total irredeemable mess." i dont quite get it-- and to each their own! but it just seems oddly harsh. and i really have no skin in this game, and agree the show has its problems.

i did finally hear mariand torres sing "woman is" and wow. 

[quizking101]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 12:56pm

Both Eden Espinosa and Amber Iman are out this afternoon. Mariand Torres and Ximone Rose are on.

Not gonna lie, a little bummed

[Popular]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 1:28pm

quizking101 said: "Both Eden Espinosa and Amber Iman are out this afternoon. Mariand Torres and Ximone Rose are on.

Not gonna lie, a little bummed"

I saw Ximone in La Jolla. She was fantastic! 

[quizking101]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 1:51pm

We’re still on the sidewalk waiting to get in and it’s 10 minutes until curtain. What’s very weird is that something is going on but we aren’t being told anything.

 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 2:18pm

The two leads are out so they’re probably rehearsing them

[Blindbutlerdeafmaid]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 3:35pm

quizking101 said: "Both Eden Espinosa and Amber Iman are out this afternoon. Mariand Torres and Ximone Rose are on."

I truly don't know how more people don't just collapse coming out of opening amymore.

Day time rehearsals with one day a week off (which is often spent leaning rewrites) become an ever longer tech process that ends with no day off into previews. The last bit, 10 out of 12s, stretch your days so much that by the time they're done you're happy to have the day part back, but you've largely switched your entire routine from daytime work to nighttime work (with daytime rehearsal potential and more rewrite learning.)

After a couple of weeks of that (with marketing thrown in), you open (with all the obligations that that entails) and then (theoretically) record the album on the next day off... and are back into an eight show run the next day... or same day if the album takes two days.  

What used to be a grueling couple of weeks, is now a grueling couple of months.

Throw in all the respiratory illnesses that being jam packed into a tiny set of rehearsal rooms / a really old building seems to encourage and it's truly a miracle ANY cast makes it to the stage the week after opening.  By the time a company reaches that next day off (eight performances in), even the strongest have to feel hit by a train. You want to single out the stars for how they carry the weight of these new twenty million dollar shows without running themselves into the ground, but then you realize the stage managers and production teams have weeks of work that require mountains of paperwork before they even walk in the building, and the chorus spends months now in constant motion. 

It becomes completely understandable that people get sick and can't do what it takes to bounce back. You look at the schedule and you just say: "when would they?" 

Updated On: 4/21/24 at 03:35 PM

[Robbie2]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 5:04pm

quizking101 said: "Both Eden Espinosa and Amber Iman are out this afternoon. Mariand Torres and Ximone Rose are on.

Not gonna lie, a little bummed"

Don't be as Mariand is amazing in the role and a wow what a beautiful voice -powerful and you won't experience pitch issues or hear her sing flat all all during the show! As for Amber she's great in it but tell us about Ximone's performance. They need to give Mariand 1 night a week as they did for Lea in FG having Julie Benko go on Thursday nights! 

[DAME]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 5:09pm

This is not going to last long enough to go thru all that.

[quizking101]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 5:12pm

BOY WAS MY TREDIPATION MISPLACED AND I’M THRILLED I WAS WRONG.

Mariand PERFORMED! Without the knowledge she had only been on a few times and with minimal preparation, she had a fully fleshed out character, nailed every joke, sang every note beautifully, and completely ate it all up! By “I Will Paint Her”, I was won over and then some.

With no comparison to Amber, Xiomone also SANG and she had all the moxie and zest of a devil-may-care European prostitute and nailed it from “Don’t Bet Your Heart”. This was her first performance in the role on Broadway 

This show is weird as hell and couldn’t pick a tone to save its life, but it gave me life and I really want to go back again. But both understudies KILLED

 

Updated On: 4/21/24 at 05:12 PM

[TheQuibbler]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 5:23pm

I also saw Ximone in La Jolla (she replaced Iman for the last few weeks) in what I think was only her 3rd performance and she performed like she originated the role. I think audiences are in good hands with her, plus she had experience playing the role full time. 

[MsPiety&Rectitude]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 5:26pm

PipingHotPiccolo said: "ColorTheHours048 said: "
I really feel like I’m taking crazy pills when people talk about this show like it was unfairly derided. To me, and to almost everyone I’ve spoken to about it in person, it’s a conceptual mess."

i hear you but i feel like *im* crazy because while these are perfectly legitimate criticisms of the show, and i agree with some of them, the response to Suffs has been "solid but middling score" or to Hells Kitchen as "dumb as bricks book but great songs" and then Lempicka feels more like "lots of solid elements but since they dont cohere properly the entire thing is a total irredeemable mess." i dont quite get it-- and to each their own! but it just seems oddly harsh. and i really have no skin in this game, and agree the show has its problems."

Yes, well said! It feels to me like Lempicka is being derided because it's an ambitious show. I do not get why people are taking such glee in bashing it while having little-to-nothing to say about middling new shows like The Notebook, Water for Elephants, The Great Gatsby (and not for nothing... those shows are all based on existing properties). And the criticism is certainly harsher than other recently opened shows like Hell's Kitchen (another jukebox show...) and Schele Williams's baffling revival of The Wiz. I also have no skin in this game, but having followed the show for years now, I will admit that I am perplexed by the response. To me, this is exciting new musical theatre. I don't think that it succeeds in every regard, but I think it's interesting, fun, original, engaging, melodic, and dynamic - and filled with great performances.

[bwayobsessed]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 5:44pm

MsPiety&Rectitude said: "PipingHotPiccolo said: "ColorTheHours048 said: "
I really feel like I’m taking crazy pills when people talk about this show like it was unfairly derided. To me, and to almost everyone I’ve spoken to about it in person, it’s a conceptual mess."

i hear you but i feel like *im* crazy because while these are perfectly legitimate criticisms of the show, and i agree with some of them, the response to Suffs has been "solid but middling score" or to Hells Kitchen as "dumb as bricks book but great songs" and then Lempicka feels more like "lots of solid elements but since they dont cohere properly the entire thing is a total irredeemable mess." i dont quite get it-- and to each their own! but it just seems oddly harsh. and i really have no skin in this game, and agree the show has its problems."

Yes, well said! It feels to me like Lempickais being derided because it's an ambitious show. I do not get why people are taking such glee in bashing itwhile having little-to-nothing to say about middling new showslike The Notebook, Water for Elephants, The GreatGatsby (and not for nothing... those shows are all based on existing properties). And the criticism is certainly harsher than other recently opened shows like Hell's Kitchen (another jukebox show...) and Schele Williams's baffling revival of The Wiz.I also have no skin in this game, but having followed the show for years now, I will admit that I am perplexed by the response. To me, this is exciting new musical theatre. I don't think that it succeeds in every regard, but I think it's interesting, fun, original, engaging, melodic, and dynamic - and filled with great performances."

1 agree with you 100%. It's my favorite of the new musicals (Havent made it to Hell's Kitchen or Notebook yet but I think I've seen almost all of the others)

[TimeToDither]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 6:01pm

This whole musical is just so weirdly written. What was I supposed to take away from it? It's got some absolutely thrilling bits in it which makes it all even more disappointing to witness unfold into ... well, not much. This could be easily the best score of this season if they expanded the music bits that actually worked and cut songs of the characters that have nothing of value to say anyway. It'd be still far from richly polyphonic because I've doubts the authors even know what that means but unlike most other scores this season, it wouldn't be so painfully generic.

Was lucky enough to see both Eden and Mariand and if I could choose, I'd go see just the latter.

[yyys]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 6:19pm

Cut that creepy child character and give the husband some depth and maybe another song or two.

Updated On: 4/21/24 at 06:19 PM