Light in the Piazza Reviews- Page 7

Posted: 4/20/05 at 9:39am

Munk - trying to sit through the first act alone of Streetcar was causing me physical pain. And even though I wasn't the only one who left the theatre that night at intermission, I know almost everyone here loved it to the point of singing hosannas, so I've just kept my mouth shut. Besides, having left in the middle, I can't comment on the whole piece - so I don't.

[Matt_G]

Posted: 4/20/05 at 9:40am

It didn't get much better in Act 2, unfortunately. It definately was one of the most dissapointing productions I've seen in years.

[Plum]

Posted: 4/20/05 at 9:44am

I'll go on record as saying I disliked Clive Barnes' reviewing well before he reviewed this show. I have my preferred critics, but I usually use them more to get an impression of the show- how it feels, what it's about- than to make a final judgement about seeing it. Universal pans are the exception.

And DG, I recently discovered (in spades) what it's like to be disappointed in a show that seemingly everyone else here champions. Eventually you'll find someone who agrees with you, and it might not be who you expect.

Posted: 4/20/05 at 9:54am

Plum - this whole season has been like that for me By the way, if youre talking about Dessa Rose, we had problems with the extreme exposition of the first act, as well.

[MusicMan]

Posted: 4/20/05 at 11:15am

"...It has received mostly positive reviews.."

They seem pretty mixed to me, with most of the heavy-hitters lauding the production and Victoria Clark and faulting the lbretto and/or score. Words like "unsatisfying" and "unfulfilled" and "problematic" appear with regularity. Personally, I liked TLITP enough (it's certainly superior in every way to the execrable CAROLINE, OR CHANGE) but, without a doubt, Clark and the design are the show's best elements and the score its greatest liability.

Just read TIME OUT's review--also mixed.
Updated On: 4/20/05 at 11:15 AM

[riv]

Posted: 4/20/05 at 2:32pm

The major reviews have been mixed with Guettel's score coming under proper scrutiny. I haven't seen Spelling Bee yet, but assuming it gets the third slot for Best Score (after Spamalot and Scoundrels), my support goes to The Frogs picking up the other score nod.

Clive Barnes in the Post was basically correct in his notice, as far as I'm concerned.

I'm shocked nobody has blasted Howard Kissel for the first paragraph in his review. He thinks THIS was the best Broadway score since Passion? But what can be expected from someone who pondered in his Scoundrels notice what might have been written for Joanna Gleason had the show been done in 1937. I find Kissel tends to make the most bizarre statements.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 4/20/05 at 2:44pm

Paradox - There is no such thing as "spot on" when it comes to reviewing theatre. It's a matter of opinion. Just because Margo's opinion this time was pretty much the same as a few critics, that doesn't make him right and the rest of us wrong.

I came to Clive Barnes defense because the same people that loved PIAZZA were saying he has no business reviewing. And I didn't come to his defense because I agree with his review - He didn't like the score, and I loved it. Clive has trashed many shows I have loved, but that doesn't discredit him as a critic.

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 4/20/05 at 2:55pm

Heh. I think many other things discredit Clive Barnes as a critic.
But, again, I'll need to do some digging around myself, but there is a very interesting book I read in grad school that spends some amount of time comparing the term critic to reviewer.
And that is really what these people are. They rarely come at the show with an actual critical eye (maybe a hyper bitchy one, but not a true critical eye) but rather review a show with as much emotion as actual support in an effort to sway readers to see or not see a show.

[paradox_error]

Posted: 4/20/05 at 3:02pm

Note that I said usually spot on.

I have no opinion on the show, as I have yet to see it, and don't see it happening in the future.

I just find it easy the way everyone gets angry at each other for doing the same thing that are doing themselves...

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 4/20/05 at 3:10pm

"I just find it easy the way everyone gets angry at each other for doing the same thing that are doing themselves... "


What are you talking about?

[paradox_error]

Posted: 4/20/05 at 3:17pm

Don't worry Munk.

It's not aimed at you, just in general...

[Mattio98]

Posted: 4/20/05 at 3:41pm

I expected mixed reviews about the score. Guettel's music is not for everyone. It is very unique and different. I personally find it beautiful and refreshing. I have yet to see TLITP but I am definitely planning on it.

[Feodor Sverdlov]

Posted: 4/20/05 at 3:41pm

Riv, Kissel wasn't worth blasting because comparing TLITP to PASSION'S exhaustingly prosiac and monotonous score is damning it with faint praise, IMO.

[MusicMan]

Posted: 4/20/05 at 3:48pm

This is very strange, I (MUSICMAN) just wrote the comment above and it posted with Feodor Sverdlov's handle. HOw could this happen?

Sorry, Feodor!!

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 4/20/05 at 3:50pm

MM, it's been happening alot with a lot of people. If you're worried, just ask Rob or Craig. I don't doubt they're already aware of it, however.

[Mattio98]

Posted: 4/20/05 at 3:58pm

Kissel was also drawing parallels between the plot and the fact that both shows are about a love triangle in Italy. But I found the score of Passion beautiful. True, it wasn't tradtionally "exciting" but it served the show so well by keeping it flowing.

[MusicMan]

Posted: 4/20/05 at 3:59pm

Whew! I thought I had hacked into somebody's account by accident!

[paradox_error]

Posted: 4/20/05 at 4:12pm

PASSION is one of Sondheim's best scores...

It's absolutely stunning.

[Jazzysuite82]

Posted: 4/20/05 at 4:14pm

I'm just going on the record by saying as an actor, musician and composer myself I found Passion, Caroline or Change, and Light in the Piazza refreshing, beautifully melodic, and incredibly daring. I personally feel that Piazza's score is better than Frogs (and this is from a self-proclaimed Sondheim whore). As I said before, I think Piazza would have been better if it were fully sung through but it's not and I can only evaluate what is there. I think it's a great score (with a problem here and there). Every score has it's problems but this is certainly one of the best scores in the last 10 years. I wouldn't say THE best. It's so refreshingly...acoustic LOL.
Updated On: 4/20/05 at 04:14 PM

[riv]

Posted: 4/20/05 at 5:14pm

Well, if Howard Kissel was going to be comparing Piazza to anything simply because it takes place in Italy, he could have been a lot more accurate.

He should have brought up Do I Hear A Waltz?, since the time frame is almost exact and Waltz also concerns a confused American in love. It also has the Rodgers/Sondheim connection. The score had humor (This Week Americans, Bargaining), joy (The title song), a fine number for the secondary plot (You're Gonna Love Tomorrow) and strong ballads (Someone Like You, Take The Moment).

Waltz may have been written in acrimony, but at least its authors weren't so pretentious as to have songs done in Italian.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 4/20/05 at 6:00pm

Perhaps I should clarify. I have gone on record several times that I think that ALL of the major critics should retire or be replaced, not just the ones I tend to disagree with. This is not based on any one or five or twenty reviews I've read from them, but from their continual mediocrity and substandard analytical skills. There's not a single critic working today who has a tenth of the knowledge, expertise and writing ability of Frank Rich, Walter Kerr, Elliott Norton, Robert Brustein, GB Shaw, Atkinson, Taubman or any of the great critics of the past.

That a hack like Kissel or Barnes or Brantley occasionally gets it right is of no consequence. Even a broken clock has the right time twice a day -- that doesn't mean it shouldn't be replaced and tossed into the rubbish bin.

Updated On: 4/20/05 at 06:00 PM

[Ourtime992]

Posted: 4/22/05 at 5:19pm

Unfortunately, I think some of the best, most knowledgeable reviewers are people that do it for smaller publications or on the side (Peter Filichia, Ken Mandelbaum, etc.).

In regard to Kissel's comments: I really didn't care for Passion's score when I heard it in the theatre. After the CD came out I gave it a few listens, and then a few more listens, and then I listened to it a lot. Now I love it. I had a similar experience with Piazza's score after seeing it a year or two ago in Seattle, except that the time between seeing it and getting to listen to pieces repeatedly was longer, but the more I listen to anything by Adam Guettel the more I am struck by the exquisite loveliness of his music. No, it won't sell tickets, and it won't go down smoothly on the first listen. But mark my words, the appreciation will come.

[Mattio98]

Posted: 4/22/05 at 6:04pm

Agreed OurTime. His songs have a very special kind of beauty. I personally haven't been able to get "Hero and Leander" out of my head for weeks-and I don't even mind.

[Ourtime992]

Posted: 4/23/05 at 10:22am

For just a little more Guettel love, I offer the following anecdote. I'm a psychologist (still in training) and a lot of my colleagues talk about the Mozart effect, the idea that exposing children to complex music aids in their cognitive development. When my wife was pregnant with our first son a few years ago we were really into Floyd Collins. He always responded to The Riddle Song, even in the womb, and would kick and jump excitedly. We even joked that it was already his favorite song. He's now two and a half, and while we certainly haven't made any attempt to raise a musical snob, he really hates most of the children's stuff out there (Barney, etc.). He says, "this song is too boring." I don't mind!

My 11-month-old daughter is more of a Jason Robert Brown kind of girl, and The Next Ten Minutes, which I sang to her the first time I held her, is our song. OK, now I'm just getting sentimental...sorry to threadjack.

[redhotinnyc2]

Posted: 4/23/05 at 10:39am

I hate to be a pain in the ass - but not having enough time to read this entire thread, perhaps this has been asked already - but are there any discounts available for this show? I am so broke right now - but would love to see it.