LEMPICKA Reviews- Page 4

[Kad]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 10:01am

OhHiii said: "Given the STARK lack of any visible advertising this morning for this show, I'm willing to bet they have just enough in reserve to make it to nominations week and will post closing notice on Wednesday, May 1. This will get technical nominations easily, but really not much else that would give any hope of boosting it. There's no money to be made by shows playing hero and pushing through the awards time period. We saw how that panned out for Some Like It Hot, Shucked and Kimberly Akimbo last year."

I mean, Kimberly will have played almost 650 performances before it closes this month- more than the original production of Sweeney Todd, among others. Hardly something to dismiss. 

[theatergoer3]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 10:03am

Holden is getting dragged on Twitter but having seen an earlier preview, it’s a very fair review of the piece. 

Updated On: 4/15/24 at 10:03 AM

[Kad]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 10:05am

Why is she getting dragged? She’s said nothing out of line with what others have. 

[OhHiii]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 10:05am

Kad said: "OhHiii said: "Given the STARK lack of any visible advertising this morning for this show, I'm willing to bet they have just enough in reserve to make it to nominations week and will post closing notice on Wednesday, May 1. This will get technical nominations easily, but really not much else that would give any hope of boosting it. There's no money to be made by shows playing hero and pushing through the awards time period. We saw how that panned out for Some Like It Hot, Shucked and Kimberly Akimbo last year."

I mean, Kimberly will have played almost 650 performances before it closes this month- more than the original production of Sweeney Todd, amongothers. Hardly something to dismiss."

I mean, that's very clearly not the point I making which is a financial one. Kimberly Akimbo lost money for months leading up to the Tonys and very quickly started losing money again thereafter. There is no scenario in which you can call KA a financial success because it limped along through the awards. It won, it still lost money.

[OhHiii]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 10:07am

theatergoer3 said: "Holden is getting dragged on Twitter but having seen an earlier preview, it’s a very fair review of the piece."

If twitter is where your most ardent supporters are, you've already failed.

[theatergoer3]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 10:10am

Kad said: "Why is she getting dragged? She’ssaid nothing out of line with what others have."

Largely for opening her review with a criticism of how the show opens/it being a memory piece in a season full of them. 

[Kad]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 10:11am

Most shows lose money. If it were badly struggling like a production like Lempicka currently is, it would’ve closed last year. But it managed to eke out a run far longer than most  shows and beyond what many expected from it. It wasn’t a case of delusion, as it is for some productions that keep trying to squeeze blood from a stone or bet on a Hail Mary awards turnaround. There was a not unreasonable path to recoupment for it, even if it fell short. , 

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 10:26am

Any and everything on X should be taken with enough salt to stop your heart cold. Also, the only post I saw “dragging” Sara Holdren is from Michael R. Jackson, who is terminally online and full of resentment and lukewarm takes. His thesis on her review seems to be that critics should stop telling theatre-makers how they could have bettered their own show, and then a short scroll down, he’s crapping on Joker 2 based on his own preconception of what movies should be. (I’m not a fan of Joker and won’t be seeing Joker 2, but like… c’mon.)

At any rate, Sara’s review is extremely measured and frequently finds things to praise amidst the critiquing. Much more graceful than most of the critics last night, and with far more insight and thoughtfulness.

Updated On: 4/15/24 at 10:26 AM

[Falsettolands]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 10:47am

I wish everyone in this project the best, because despite not liking the show it was clearly made with good intention and I was never offended.

But I can’t help but wonder…could we be seeing a closing notice posted within the next couple of days?

[Kad]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 10:47am

Yeah, Jackson has a habit of sniping at critics criticizing while also... being a fairly strident critic of other peoples' work himself.

[OhHiii]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 10:51am

Michael R Jackson thinking he’s Jeremy O Harris with these takes….other reviews said MUCH pettier things, yet he’s going after one of the only prominent female critics in the biz? (Though I suppose his feelings toward women in general can be gathered by how he writes about and for his own female characters in his shows.) Nevermind that Sara is one of the best in the biz when it comes to being measured and thoughtful. She even gave praise to Be More Chill for gods sake.

Twitter has convinced people like him who reach a certain level of following/echo chamber that the only way to cope with criticism is to say the critic is problematic or that they aren’t qualified because they didn’t “get” a show. There are PLENTY of actually problematic critics (Rex Reed HELLO?). 

 

 

[DaveyG]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 10:52am

Kad said: "Yeah, Jackson has a habit of sniping at critics criticizing while also... being a fairly strident critic of other peoples' work himself."

Holdren has responded to him: "Calm down. It's obviously meant in jest. But it's also a joke based on the fact that this show, as do several others this season, traffics from the get-go in a huge cliché. To point that out is hardly a demand for a croissant."

[kdogg36]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 11:15am

OhHiii said: "I mean, that's very clearly not the point I making which is a financial one. Kimberly Akimbo lost money for months leading up to the Tonys and very quickly started losing money again thereafter. There is no scenario in which you can call KA a financial success because it limped along through the awards. It won, it still lost money."

I doubt the producers of Kimberly Akimbo have much regret about staying open through last year's awards season. I would guess that they're happy that their show had a healthy run, won the big Tony, and lost some money - rather than closing early and losing some money.

Even from a purely financial standpoint, do you think the show will lose more money than it would have if it closed last spring? It's a genuine question; I'm not sure of the answer. I suspect it had enough good weeks over the past year that keeping it open was a smart business move, even if it will still close at a loss.

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 11:20am

Falsettolands said: "I wish everyone in this project the best, because despite not liking the show it was clearly made with good intention and I was never offended.

But I can’t help but wonder…could we be seeing a closing notice posted within the next couple of days?"

I’m seeing comments elsewhere (on DL) of “In two days”. 
Not sure if that means it’s closing on Weds or the notice will be coming out on Weds.

Updated On: 4/15/24 at 11:20 AM

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 12:05pm

BorisTomashevsky said: "I’m seeing comments elsewhere (on DL) of “In two days”.
Not sure if that means it’s closing on Weds or the noticewill be coming out on Weds."

Shows don't typically close mid-week. They have to pay everyone through Sunday.

I have no insider knowledge to this matter, but if they raised only the minimum capitalization (instead of the max), it's possible that they don't have the money to keep running at a loss without a priority loan. Floating "we post closing in two days" can sometimes be a way to attempt to persuade a co-producer/investor to put up some additional funds, though putting a dollar into this sinking ship would be foolish and is not going to help its touring or licensing chances at all.

It's interesting that there are NO pull quotes on the website and socials when they do have shareable quotes that can be used, and typically there's a "war room" of press/advertising on Opening Night + an early-morning ad meeting the day after.

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 12:42pm

Very true, it would be strange to not finish out the week. I suppose it sounded plausible when I read “two days” since the situation must be desperate and nothing would surprise me with this show. 

Posting notice “in two days” makes more sense.

[Mr. Wormwood]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 1:15pm

OhHiii said: "Given the STARK lack of any visible advertising this morning for this show, I'm willing to bet they have just enough in reserve to make it to nominations week and will post closing notice on Wednesday, May 1. This will get technical nominations easily, but really not much else that would give any hope of boosting it. There's no money to be made by shows playing hero and pushing through the awards time period. We saw how that panned out for Some Like It Hot, Shucked and Kimberly Akimbo last year."

It's not gonna get technical noms...

[mpw2]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 1:38pm

Queerty's take on one of the few Broadway shows this season with LGBTQ+ content.
https://www.queerty.com/madonnas-muse-lempicka-steps-into-the-spotlight-20240414

[OhHiii]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 1:39pm

Ok, perhaps not re: tech noms. 

Also, MRJ has now responded to Sara and completely contradicted his very own argument. He himself is telling a critic how to approach her work that she should not be critiquing how an artist approaches their own. He's made this exchange a....loop.

https://x.com/TheLivingMJ/status/1779915256149450929

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 2:00pm

There are some in this industry who have tried to craft a bad-faith narrative of "Holdren is a failed director so she became a critic" to diminish her work. That may be part of what's fueling MRJ's tweet exchange and companies like O&M (Lempicka's press rep) signal-boosting it.

What she is articulating is totally in line because, in her eyes, that framing device is lazy and doesn't work. It's hardly different than making a pithy remark like "all shows should have a climactic eleven o'clock number" or "all shows should end act 1 with an unanswered question to drive the action forward in act 2."

[Kad]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 2:01pm

He’s been on an anti-critic tear following the reviews for Teeth. I respect him a lot as an artist but he needs to step away from the keyboard. 

[BJR]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 2:15pm

OhHiii said: "Ok, perhaps not re: tech noms.

Also, MRJ has now responded to Sara and completely contradicted his very own argument. He himself is telling a critic how to approach her work that she should not be critiquing how an artist approaches their own. He's made this exchange a....loop.

https://x.com/TheLivingMJ/status/1779915256149450929"

But he's exactly right. If a critics wants a certain type of show, absolutely nothing is stopping them from making one themselves. Evaluating the effectiveness of what the creatives were trying to create is an entirely separate thing.

[Charley Kringas Inc]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 2:21pm

Woah, I didn't expect the reviews for this show to be so negative, ouch. I hope this doesn't close before I get to see it.

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 2:31pm

BJR said: But he's exactly right. If a critics wants a certain type of show, absolutely nothing is stopping them from making one themselves. Evaluating the effectiveness of what the creatives were trying to create is an entirely separate thing."

She made a joke about something that has become a cliche this season. She wasn't really asking for anything, but was pointing out how overdone the flashback structure is this year. Jordan's hissy fit about this only shows that he lacks a sense of humor and reading comprehension skills.

 

[BETTY22]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 3:37pm

These reviews are awful.