LEMPICKA Reviews — Page 9

Of all shows for people to embarrass themselves over, they choose THIS one?

Jordan Catalano said: "Of all shows for people to embarrass themselves over, they choose THIS one?"

Yeah, that’s the part that’s really confusing to me. The critics were not out of sync with the word of mouth. The show was struggling financially from the get-go as well. This was a DOA flop before the critics even took their seats.

At the risk of going there, I’ll go there: it has hints of the “deplorables” approach from a few years ago. Alienate people like that, and see how well it works out for ya.

Pull quotes don’t need to be approved by the critic, no. Often critics have no idea they’re quoted until they see it.

Whilst I certainly think the level of unnecessary snark and negativity in reviews and the Broadway online community generally has increased these past few years (for a community that loves to preach about being all about love and inclusivity, it can be remarkably nasty imo!) it’s bizarre to see the ‘backlash’ that the negative Lempicka reviews have caused - just because a show might be progressive and daring etc, it doesn’t make it immune to criticism. And it doesn’t do the show and/or Broadway any favors by attacking those that didn’t love it as being out of touch or unwilling to appreciate “art” etc - it reminds me of when Billy Eichner decided to attack anyone who didn’t go and see his gay romcom as homophobic and bigoted! All that did was turn people against the show more!

Yeah, I think this sort of thing has a real chance of backfiring or at the very least being totally useless. Since it's being egged on by the production to some degree, there's apparently a belief that any attention to the show is good- but from what I'm seeing, the people who actually could buy tickets are being turned off by it. The relationship of Broadway to its very online fans seems to be wildly misunderstood by the industry. Most of this online fan support does not translate into actual ticket sales, since many of these fans are either young or cannot easily get to NYC. Getting into social media fights is basically all many of them can do to support the show. I guess there's a belief this could turn into newsworthy buzz, but it's such a tempest in a teapot I can't imagine it will.

Meanwhile, in a time in which day-of sales are increasingly important, all Lempicka now has is an ad that effectively says, "We don't know if you'll like it."

Updated On: 4/17/24 at 10:27 AM

MemorableUserName said: "jagman106 said: "There was a large contingent of women sitting behind me wearing shirts identifying their advocacy for the LGBTQIA+ community who were particularly vocal during those particular scenes. I found the whole audience experience interesting, but I doubt the producers can sustain that type of audience for very long."



That's one of the dumb things about the response to the reviews. A big expensive Broadway musical cannot survive with a niche audience. It can be made for a certain audience, sure, but it needs to appeal--and sell tickets--to a lot of people outside of that group. Yet so much of the response to the reviews is stuff like this, which is one of the Google results that comes up when I search for Lempicka review:


Putting out the message that an already struggling show is not for certain people may rally your core audience, but it's also explicitly telling a lot of other people not to come."

I can't agree more with your comments. As a gay man, I was put off by the early ad saying that gay men will remember Eden as the best Elphaba! I'm not employed in the theater, just a long-time theater-lover, but I would think that any marketing strategy would try to attract a broad population of audience members. The rally cries of the show's supporters are misguided, as they are reacting to what they perceive to be critics' attacks on innovation, diversity, and inclusion. This show is not the first show to depict lesbianism, and frankly, I didn't think any of those scenes were outrageous (I'm sure conservative tourists might be outraged, but I'm not sure how appealing this show would be to those folks anyway). The reactions I witnessed last night from certain audience members seemed orchestrated or just people manifesting an agenda - each of which I found to be unnecessary. Any savvy theater-goer would not be fazed by content of the show as long as the show was good. Some of these supporters thinking that DEI supersedes quality just cause me to shake my head. This situation should not be a "We're here, we're queer, get over it!" kind of thing. I believe that these reactions undermine efforts of the community to be accepted as more mainstream.

I wonder if the deceptive ads have been pulled. I saw one on IG early this morning, but now I don't see them on any of my social media. I just received an email from Telecharge advertising the show with what appear to be more legitimate pull quotes. Perhaps there was enough backlash for the producers to rethink their ad strategy. I realize desperate times call for desperate measures, but compromising ethics is rarely, if ever, a good idea. Anyone still seeing the Brantley v. Green ads?

jagman106 said: "I wonder if the deceptive adshave been pulled. I saw one on IG early this morning, but now I don't see them on any of my social media. I just received an email from Telecharge advertising the show with what appear to be more legitimate pull quotes. Perhaps there was enough backlash for the producers to rethink their ad strategy. I realize desperate times call for desperate measures, but compromising ethics is rarely, if ever, a good idea. Anyone still seeing the Brantley v. Green ads?"

It was never an ad (to my knowledge). It was merely a social post, and if you look at the show channels on Insta and X, it remains there.

Jordan Catalano said: "Eden posted online she’s out of both shows today."



Interesting! So the understudy will take the lead role. OUAOMT did the same so that every understudy got the chance to take each role before announcing the closing date

pablitonizer said: "Jordan Catalano said: "Eden posted online she’s out of both shows today."



Interesting! So the understudy will take the lead role. OUAOMT did the same so that every understudy got the chance to take each role before announcing the closing date"

While getting to go on might be a plus for the standby, Eden is clearly sick in her IG story. I’d say no need to start conspiracy theories but stirring the pot seems like what this board likes to do best.

I’m at the matinee right now. Mariand Torres is going on for her and has never practiced with the cast. The performance still hasn’t started yet. It’s going to be interesting.