LENNON - 1st Preview Review- Page 3

[JulieJordan]

Posted: 7/8/05 at 3:01pm

It's just not good. jukebox or otherwise!

[justme2]

Posted: 7/8/05 at 3:02pm

Have you seen the show, Gatsby? I have and it's NOT a jukebox musical. Are you using that as an excuse to not see the show?

Don't rob yourself of seeing ANY theater based on preconcieved notions. Try it first!

[broadwaybelter]

Posted: 7/8/05 at 3:05pm

yes exactly justme2, very well said, i think thats whats hurting many Broadway shows, your opinion of the show is your opinion, it will not be the same for every other person, so see the show and if you like it great, and if you dont then okay!

[Gatsby]

Posted: 7/8/05 at 3:20pm

Yes, I did see the show. That's why I can confidently say jukebox. And you're right, it's an opinion. It's just that too many of those "It's-good-to-compile-previously-released- songs-that-have-nothing-to-do-with-a-plot-into-a-musical" is a sad thought. Whatever happened to the origianlity of collaboration and new writings? I only say this because I am a die-hard musical theatre person and not the general public who blindly follows the fold and accepts rehashed crap.

[Shawk]

Posted: 7/8/05 at 3:25pm

I think we can safely say that most people on this board are not really the general public. The general public, I would hazard a guess, doesn't spend a lot of time on Broadway messageboards.

While the "jukebox" trend is not one that I am very excited about, I'm also not very excited about how reactionary people are about anything seen as "jukebox." Just because so many of these types of musicals have been bad doesn't mean that they all will be, and I think it's unfair to catagorize "Lennon" with "Good Vibrations." Bad theatre is bad theatre, regardless of whether it has original music or not.

[Gatsby]

Posted: 7/8/05 at 3:30pm

Everything you say is correct - I do not disagree with that. I am just encouraged by new works like "Piazza" and "Spelling Bee". It just seems that it can be done for the art of it rather than the money and business side of a show.

[ken8631]

Posted: 7/8/05 at 3:30pm

I guess I am part of the general public since I really don't know much about theatre (being an engineer) - but since I live near NYC my wife and I have seen a lot of it (on and off and off-off Broadway).

Anyway, before I leave for tonight's Lennon show, anyone remember what the approx running time is???? 1 1/2 hrs? 2 hrs? 3 hrs?

Thanks ahead of time :)

[ken8631]

Posted: 7/8/05 at 3:33pm

Thanks to JulieJordan (who didn't like the show) in another thread -
Running time is (she says) 2 hrs 20 minutes...

Yuck, lots of others letting out around then too - traffic traffic!

[brdwyalicia04]

Posted: 7/8/05 at 3:38pm

Awwww, now you guys are making me want to jump on the next plane to NYC and see the show. I would want to see it especially for Will Chase. I heart that guy. He is Talented! Hope he does a terrific job in Lennon! Can't wait to read reviews about him.

[fengshuihellnyc]

Posted: 7/8/05 at 4:50pm

Well Mister Matt since a simple spelling error as I was typing quite quickly seems to be a great thing to make childish humor out of maybe you should get a life.

Posted: 7/8/05 at 6:45pm

I was at the opening preview last night. Anyone who calls "Lennon" a jukebox musical either hasn't seen it, or if they have they aren't capable of ascertaining what a jukebox musical is.

As for new writings, that would be a bit difficult in Lennon's case, now wouldn't it? But his music is as timeless as his message.

GO SEE "LENNON". You will be very happy you did. The music is of course incredible and it's even more incredible when performed by this outstanding cast.

As for the sound question, the sound is excellent both up front and in the rear orchestra. Very powerful, excellent balance, great vocal blend, and not "too loud" even from fourth row orchestra. I didn't get up to the mezzanine last night but in a theater as "small" (by Broadway standards) as the Broadhurst (around 1,100 seats IIRC) I'm certain the sound is excellent up there as well.

I hate to make unfounded accusations, but some people here, especially those who knock shows without ever seeing them, seem to be suffering from a chronic and probably very well deserved case of sour grapes. That's the only logical conclusion I can come to regarding the outright nonsense some of them are posting here.

Updated On: 7/8/05 at 06:45 PM

[feinstein9]

Posted: 7/8/05 at 8:42pm

hey matt (and anyone else who has seen the ny production)-
i was wondering a bit about something i brought up earlier. do you think the show presents john in too much of a starry-eyed way, ignoring his (many) warts? it's a bit irritating for me to think they'd gloss over things like domestic abuse and drug addiction ect. (and the feelings that it was he and yoko together who broke up the beatles, as you can hear on the "get back" bootlegs). justme said on the other thread that it was a musical not an a&e biography, and that i understand completly. i don't expect every little detail. but if they're building this as a loose biography based off his music and his own quotes, it's not going to be as accurate as maybe it should/could be, since he did rather like to play games with the press. now i am going to see it regardless, so don't just say "go see it!" because i will! i'm totally gonna see it. i just wanna know what jl/beatle fans think. thanks

[justme2]

Posted: 7/8/05 at 8:51pm

Well, they do cover his drug addiction, marriage and crappy treatment of his first wife Cynthia, cheating on Yoko, he and Yoko deciding to leave the Beatles and do their own "thing", and his playing with the press.

They don't cover his lack of parenting Julian, his first son, that I remember sticking out quite clearly for me. I am sure there are many other warts not covered as well. That's all I could think of off hand, though!

[feinstein9]

Posted: 7/8/05 at 8:57pm

ah! thaaaaaaaank you, justme i was hoping someone would know. when i move to ny in august, it'll be the first thing i see.

[Mr. Tuttle]

Posted: 7/8/05 at 9:08pm

Shill alert:

Feng...urging all of us to get tickets now cause they're going to be sold out.

"By the way get your tickets now is my suggestion. Tonights show was almost completely sold out. I think there might have been maybe 15 seats in the theatre. Get it before you can't word will travel very quickly with this show."

Hmmm...get tickets now....almost sold out.....they'll be going fast. Sounds like your normal, average shill.

Can you be more obvious?

Updated On: 7/8/05 at 09:08 PM

[Pinguin]

Posted: 7/8/05 at 9:11pm

Whether or not you want to put Lennon under the label of the "jukebox musical" category or not, the fact of the matter is songs that were written for the radio are not constructed with things like dramatic movement, etc. that are necessary to make songs purposeful and meaningful within the context of a play. The music in musical theatre is supposed to be part of the action, not a break from it, and it's near impossible to integrate music that wasn't written to do that. John didn't write the score for the purpose of having it in a show; it's a jukebox musical.

That doesn't mean it's bad, but let's not try to spin it by saying it's not really a "jukebox musical."

And you have to love people like RentBoy86 who say that it's about Lennon, not the Beatles so don't expect much Beatles stuff...but you have to concede that the Beatles was probably a BIG part of his life. Just MAYBE.

[justme2]

Posted: 7/8/05 at 9:13pm

Where, Tuttle? Feinstein isn't Feng, and I went through the thread to see what you were talking about...


EDIT....nevermind, I found it!! I don't think it's "shilling" though..:)

Updated On: 7/8/05 at 09:13 PM

[Pinguin]

Posted: 7/8/05 at 9:17pm

Well, we certainly should be wary of anyone THAT ridiculous.

[justme2]

Posted: 7/8/05 at 9:24pm

Are you going to see the show Pinguin? I want to know if you will still view it as a jukebox musical after seeing it(if you haven't already!).

Before I saw it in SF, I immediately thought "jukebox musical", not again! After seeing it, I changed my mind..it really isn't one.

[Pinguin]

Posted: 7/8/05 at 9:32pm

If I can get tickets that aren't full price I will most certainly see the show.

But what I'm saying is that you don't need to see a show to call it a jukebox musical; in my opinion, any musical without music written specifically for dramatic purposes is a jukebox musical. I don't think that makes Lennon a bad show, and I certainly wouldn't boycott it on that basis. But if I liked it I also wouldn't try to pretend that it wasn't a jukebox musical.

[Shawk]

Posted: 7/8/05 at 9:35pm

I think the issue is that it's not like many of the previous jukebox musicals with a flimsy construct of a story built around pre-existing songs, it's Lennon's life through songs that he wrote. Does it always work? I don't think that it does, but it gives it a damn good try. But it's really not along the same lines as "Good Vibrations" or "Mama Mia," and it's a bit sad to see it lumped with those shows by people who haven't seen it.

[Pinguin]

Posted: 7/8/05 at 9:41pm

I understand the hesitation, but while the quality of the show may be better, there is still flaw in the method.