Let's talk about some DIFFERENT shows!

[glitzguy3]

Posted: 5/25/04 at 9:57am

let's pick a show to discuss...not the normal ones that are talked about all the time...

how about......sideshow?!?!?!?!??!?!

we'll pick a different one each day!

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 5/25/04 at 10:23am

I like this idea. I missed SideShow, so I'll have to sit out today, but I'm eagerly awaiting tomorrow's show du jour.

[redhotinnyc2]

Posted: 5/25/04 at 10:31am

I never saw it, but my acting teacher was in it and always raves about the process of putting that show together - he loved everyoment of it and thought it was a wonderful experience. I had the misfortune of being out of town doing a regional theatre show when the cd of SideShow was released, and there were two queens in the cast who insisted on playing it 24/7 in the cast house - so I ended up hating it and never wanting to hear it again. It has been long enough in between, that I think I could be objective if I were able to see a performance of it now.

[glitzguy3]

Posted: 5/25/04 at 10:33am

i would have loved the opportunity to see it!

[twogaab2]

Posted: 5/25/04 at 10:33am

Yeah, wouldn't Kristin and Idina be awesome and amazing in "Sideshow"

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 5/25/04 at 10:34am

Did the two queens share the same T-shirt?

[redhotinnyc2]

Posted: 5/25/04 at 10:44am

I don't remember two teeshirts - but I do remember them pretending to be the two girls and doing all the numbers in the kitchen and blaring that OBC CD all day and night when we were in the house - it was revolting...to say the least...LOL.

[glitzguy3]

Posted: 5/25/04 at 10:50am

was anyone fortunate enough to see the show?

[secret-soul]

Posted: 5/25/04 at 11:15am

The only version of it that I saw was at the Florida State Thespian Competition. Their talent was amazing but the technical aspects were horrible. One interesting thing- Buddy was fat (unlike hugh panaro as Buddy) which brought an interesting twist to the story line.

[Eastwickian]

Posted: 5/25/04 at 11:20am

I had heard a rumour of a West End production last year, but it never appeared . . . I enjoy listening to the CD, but it's not something I'd rush to see. Can anyone convince me either way?

[Unknown User]

Posted: 5/25/04 at 11:23am

I saw the show because I became a fan of Alice Ripley's while she was in Sunset Blvd.
I didn't really know what to expect, but I ended up loving it!
The lyrics are a bit cheezy, but to have seen it live was something else.
I don't think the recording does it justice... the spectacle of the show was simple yet effective, and i think Alice and Emily very much deserved all the accolades they received.

[Qfan]

Posted: 5/25/04 at 11:48am

secret-soul, when you saw it i saw it i loved it i thought the music was ehh but everything else was really cool. I really liked the boss

[Sheri]

Posted: 5/25/04 at 12:27pm

I saw Side Show in LA with the cast in my icon photo. It was and always will be one of the most memorable shows that I've seen - not only because of the outstanding performances, but the undescribable heart that the show seemed to have. I adored it.

[secret-soul]

Posted: 5/25/04 at 12:47pm

Qfan- I LOVED the boss. He was GREAT. the girls were iffy and slightly annoying but the boss really had his moments of stealing the show.

[NativeNewYorker]

Posted: 5/25/04 at 1:15pm

I never saw it, but I enjoy the album...Hugh Panaro's great!

[BroadwayBaby3]

Posted: 5/25/04 at 1:51pm

i loved side show

[broadwaystar2b]

Posted: 5/25/04 at 1:54pm

secret-soul, what year did FSTC do Sideshow?

[secret-soul]

Posted: 5/25/04 at 1:57pm

well, it was done by Michael J. Higgins' group and it was in 2003

[akincrazee]

Posted: 5/25/04 at 2:09pm

This was a show about the wrong thing - ie., the least interesting thing. The world of the freak show and the subculture that was hinted upon was fascinating - the girls leaving the freak show to try for a "normal" or "more normal" existence should have ended it.

Ripley and Skinner were first rate. They were never actually physically joined. Their voices blended very well, and they did what they could with the book. This was another show the IDEA of which was more interesting than the final product.

I have to say the men were decent singers, though hardly interesting as actors (alot of that might have to do with the material).

Again, "Sideshow" was about the wrong thing - why focus on another doomed love story when it would have been far more interesting and actable to see the journey of these twins fighting to and and finally leaving the freak show and the safety thereof to go and find love and acceptance or fame on their own terms.

[secret-soul]

Posted: 5/25/04 at 2:14pm

why NOT? sure it would have a wider cult following if it was about their escape from their lives in the freak show. But I believe (had it been publicized more enthusiastically) people would have seen it FOR the doomed love story. Normal people get a kick outa that stuff.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/25/04 at 3:01pm

Way back in early Nineteen-Hundred and Ninety-Nine I had the great good fortune to see the New England Conservatory production of Side Show at the glorious Emerson Majestic Theater in Boston.

It remains one of my favorite shows I have ever seen. I loved it, was reduced to a sobbing heap by the end.

The student cast was very much up to the task of this show. I remember pointing out the guy playing Buddy to my friend. I said, "He's the showbizzy one, you can tell the way he does the hop-skip right before he dashes off the stage." And that young man was named Chad Kimball.

A few years later I would see none other than Alice Ripley on the same stage in a splendid revival of Kaufman and Hart's "The Fabulous Invalid."

[Broadway Matt]

Posted: 5/25/04 at 3:25pm

When I was 16 I was fortunate to play the Bearded Lady in California's first youth theatre production of Side Show. Believe it or not, it went pretty well but mainly I just fell in love with the music and the performers on the CD. Since then I've been baffled as to why it flopped so hard. True, it's a bit unconventional and almost disturbingly dark, but the music and talent alone should have bought it more than...what was it...90 performances? After finally watching the OBC video at the Theatre on Film library, I think akincrazee has it right. The show is fascinating in the first act when it focuses on the freak show and the character introductions. In the 2nd act, the "love quadrangle" plot becomes confusing and not nearly as gripping as the dynamic of the side show. The only reason Act 2 is even slightly entertaining is that it contains, IMHO, the best songs in the show, one after another. Or maybe the love plot would have worked better if the characters of Terry and Buddy didn't feel so underwritten compared to the twins. But the way I see it, anytime a few more Norm Lewis tracks are brought into the world, all the effort was worth it.

[broadwaystar2b]

Posted: 5/25/04 at 3:43pm

Omigosh I didn't know Norm Lewis was in Sideshow!!!!!!!!!!! I saw him in Dreamgirls with Jennifer Holliday in Atlanta a few years ago as Curtis and he was phenomenal!!!!!!!!!!!

[NuggetMonkeys]

Posted: 5/25/04 at 4:00pm

I LIKE THIS THREAD! heh heh
-d.b.j-

[Jimmcf]

Posted: 5/25/04 at 4:15pm

I saw the Broadway production twice and loved it both times - first in previews, then during the last week. The audience reactions were very different - during the last week, you could tell it was a lot of fans in the audenience, just lapping it all up. I waited by the stage door and have a poster autographed by most of the principals (Hugh Panaro did not want to sign for some reason). It is now framed in my living room.