LYSISTRATA JONES Reviews
LYSISTRATA JONES Reviews
LYSISTRATA JONES Reviews#1
Posted: 12/14/11 at 5:47am
Today is Wednesday, December 14, marking the official opening night of LYSISTRATA JONES -- when basketball, cheerleaders. sex, and show tunes take center court -- at the Walter Kerr Theatre.
Written by Douglas Carter Beane and Lewis Flinn, and directed and choreographed by Dan Knechtges, Lysistrata Jones is the pop reimagining of the 411 B.C. Greek play Lysistrata, by Aristophanes, about a sex strike in wartime. The story is now placed in the realm of college basketball, with cheerleaders trying to inspire their team to victory.
Here's how the producers characterize the show: "The Athens University basketball team hasn't won a game in 30 years. But when spunky transfer student Lysistrata Jones (Patti Murin) dares the squad’s fed-up girlfriends to stop 'giving it up' to their boyfriends until they win a game, their legendary losing streak could be coming to an end. In this boisterous new musical comedy, Lyssie J. and her girl-power posse give Aristophanes' classic comedy a sexy, modern twist and take student activism to a whole new level."
Joined: 12/31/69
LYSISTRATA JONES Reviews #2
Posted: 12/14/11 at 11:59am
Not exactly a review -- more of a feature article that one could read while waiting for the reviews to appear tonight:
Lysistrata Jones: Broadway’s Naughty New Musical
The musical Lysistrata Jones is a delightful cross between Mean Girls and High School Musical featuring contemporary barbs aimed at everything from the iPhone’s Siri to Newt Gingrich. The director and stars dish to Marlow Stern about the best show not named Book of Mormon.
The Daily Beast, Dec 14, 2011 6:50 AM EST
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/13/06
LYSISTRATA JONES Reviews #2
Posted: 12/14/11 at 12:19pmAfter reading everyone's thoughts... I am very curious to see what the critics have to say...
LYSISTRATA JONES Reviews #3
Posted: 12/14/11 at 12:25pmHow bad could the reviews be? It was received pretty well previously and it's not as if it was written by Wildhorn.
LYSISTRATA JONES Reviews #4
Posted: 12/14/11 at 12:47pm
If this horrid piece of garbage gets good reviews from critics who trashed a good show like BONNIE & CLYDE, it'll be proof that they're being paid off.
LYSISTRATA JONES Reviews #5
Posted: 12/14/11 at 12:54pmThe reviews I have read both on here and on ATC have been all over the place. It will be interesting to see what the critics think. Looking forward to reading these reviews tonight.
LYSISTRATA JONES Reviews #6
Posted: 12/14/11 at 1:07pm
I so agree with Jordan Catalano. I saw Lysistrata off broadway back in may/june? and thought it was super boring/unfunny.
Updated On: 12/14/11 at 01:07 PM
LYSISTRATA JONES Reviews #7
Posted: 12/14/11 at 1:52pmUnless the change of space to a Broadway house drastically changes opinions of the show (which has certainly happened before), I'd imagine most critics who liked the show off-Broadway will remain positive. But perhaps it's just wishful thinking on my part.
LYSISTRATA JONES Reviews #8
Posted: 12/14/11 at 2:44pm
I absolutely agree with Jordan.
This show may have exceeded expectations for an Off-Broadway musical, warranting (some) good reviews. But it simply not good enough for Broadway.
LYSISTRATA JONES Reviews #10
Posted: 12/14/11 at 3:09pmI never quite understand the whole "not good enough for Broadway" thing. What qualifies a show for Broadway anymore. I'm simply satisfied enough that it's not a show that is based on something out of my Netflix queue.
"Hey little girls, look at all the men in shiny shirts and no wives!" - Jackie Hoffman, Xanadu, 19 Feb 2008
LYSISTRATA JONES Reviews #11
Posted: 12/14/11 at 3:14pm
I've heard great things from people outside of this thread...
Let's see where the critics stand. Can't wait!!
LYSISTRATA JONES Reviews #12
Posted: 12/14/11 at 3:18pm
It is not good enough for Broadway because it is:
a) Off-Broadway talent
b) Amateurish music
c) Not funny, amateurish jokes
d) Silly in an unimportant way.
To verify that it is not good enough for Broadway, one can simply look at the ticket sales that clearly show no one deems it worthy of paying Broadway prices.
LYSISTRATA JONES Reviews #13
Posted: 12/14/11 at 3:23pmGodspell has a Broadway callibur cast. If only Lysistrata Jones had their ensemble it would be a different situation entirely. But then Godspell would be in the position LJ is in.
Broadway Star Joined: 3/19/09
LYSISTRATA JONES Reviews #14
Posted: 12/14/11 at 3:46pmahahahahaha you're funny
LYSISTRATA JONES Reviews #15
Posted: 12/14/11 at 4:08pmI don't fault the cast of LJ at all. It's the material that's lacking in every conceivable way. an amateurish and forgettable score coupled with a book Beane must have written while he was drunk or high or both and you've got one of the stupidest nights ever wasted at the theater.
LYSISTRATA JONES Reviews #16
Posted: 12/14/11 at 4:19pm
The Financial Times is up early and is mixed (3 out of 5 stars):
"Beane’s book is the standout creative element, allowing the cast, especially a big-mama Greek chorus figure called Hetaira, given good growl by Liz Mikel, to deliver laughs you don’t hate yourself for the next morning. Unfortunately, Beane’s book also tends to lose the basic plot thread, which unravels from helping the team win a game to a fairly generic message of uplift. Musically, the show keeps an audience percolating – vanilla rap, mild funk and power balladry are the presiding genres – but the audio design sounds tinny."
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/00fa0a4a-2643-11e1-9ed3-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1gXuhiP1K
LYSISTRATA JONES Reviews #17
Posted: 12/14/11 at 4:49pmWhat was that comment about off-Broadway talent? There are plenty of Broadway performers, or performers that have been on broadway before, in off-Broadway shows, and in the Lysistrata cast. Point not valid.
Broadway Star Joined: 3/19/09
LYSISTRATA JONES Reviews #18
Posted: 12/14/11 at 4:57pmtix still available to buy for opening tonight! that's good for me and bad for the show :-/
LYSISTRATA JONES Reviews #19
Posted: 12/14/11 at 5:08pmThe point is valid because Off-Broadway calibur performers appear on Broadway all the time, hence look at Lysistrata Jones, they are technically on Broadway.
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/26/05
LYSISTRATA JONES Reviews #20
Posted: 12/14/11 at 5:54pmIt's caliber or calibre, depending upon your preference. But definitely not calibur.
LYSISTRATA JONES Reviews #21
Posted: 12/14/11 at 5:56pm
What qualifies a show for Broadway anymore.
The same thing as always: money. You raise the money, you can get a show on Broadway. That is the only requisite.
If the performers are Broadway performers because they are currently performing on Broadway, but used to perform Off-Broadway, would that make them ex-calibur?
LYSISTRATA JONES Reviews #22
Posted: 12/14/11 at 6:03pm
StageZine.com (for what it is worth) is a rave...
LJ - StageZine Review
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/4/04
LYSISTRATA JONES Reviews #23
Posted: 12/14/11 at 7:44pm
The Bonnie and Hyde fanatics should probably stop reading these reviews right now.
Why didn't that damn Bernadette Peters stay Off-Broadway where she belonged?
Updated On: 12/14/11 at 07:44 PM
LYSISTRATA JONES Reviews #24
Posted: 12/14/11 at 8:06pmWhen I saw the show in Dallas last year, it was in good shape. It wasn't Broadway ready, per se, but it wasn't anywhere near awful. But the changes made really sound like they hurt the show a LOT...so I wonder what happened.
Videos
