Lights Out: Nat "King" Cole (Previews)
#2
Posted: 5/1/25 at 7:58am
For those curious ones, here’s the info. This originated at the Geffen Playhouse in 2019.
https://www.nytw.org/show/lights-out-nat-king-cole/
#3
Posted: 5/1/25 at 10:59am
Actually, it originated at People's Light in Malvern, Pennsylvania, in 2017, with Hill and Watts. I saw it there and found it well acted, but with little more depth than your usual biographical play. Hopefully it's been revised and focused since then.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
Updated On: 5/1/25 at 10:59 AM
#4
Posted: 5/1/25 at 9:46pm
Somehow, this show has escaped the York Theatre and taken up residence at NYTW. At the York it would be bad but at least the expectations would have been rock-bottom; here you go in expecting something resembling art and get nothing in return.
It's such a puzzling waste of time by everyone involved.
The cast is mostly good, but in this telling NKC is a completely inert leading character. It doesn't seem that the team cares at all about Nat King Cole. I’d prefer a Daniel J. Watts vehicle as Sammy Davis (I don’t understand the point of the Davis character, but those are the only sequences where the show comes to life).
I didn’t like the design but that’s like saying someone sneezed on me in a Titanic lifeboat. Some odd orchestration choices (French Horn as the only brass?) but again, not the biggest problem.
At least it’s only 90 minutes?
#5
Posted: 5/1/25 at 10:04pm
YES. We thought thought the same tonight. Really wanted to like this 85 min one act. The cast is giving their all!, in this ultra thin play with music, but this is lackluster, sadly. The direction is not much better. The song lyrics are often awkwardly spoken into a snippet of song. The cohesion, or lack thereof, of book and song is wonky, jarring. The best moment is a middle of the show number between Nat King Cole and Sammy Davis - very similar to the same in A Wonderful World. Agree a Sammy Davis vehicle for Watts would be great! - and better than his xmas ghost engaging Cole's memories. Reminded us of NWS's Rock 'N Roll Man's Little Richard as host...
The music, of course, is nice because it's songs people know. The book is awkward. The text creates important moments on race etc. all of which touched on better, smoother and less jarring in other shows. This one is muddy and, even with their longer preview period, maybe unfixable? It does not appear they have made strong adjustments from the Geffen.
Abrupt end. We had high hopes but left a little deflated. Hoping the previews can provide help.
Updated On: 5/1/25 at 10:04 PM
#6
Posted: 5/9/25 at 1:56pm
Something I just remembered noticing while my mind was wandering during this boring show:
Is it a deliberate choice to segregate the orchestra?
The night I saw it, the 3 Black players were on one side of the stage, and the 4 white players were on the other side of the stage.
#7
Posted: 5/16/25 at 9:35pm
I saw this tonight and unfortunately, I really didn’t like it and I’m a huge fan of Nat King Cole. I spent 90 minutes watching this thing and with a gun to my head, I couldn’t tell you what it was about or the point of any of it. Performances were fine (I guess) but at some point, we just started laughing at stuff I know wasn’t written to be funny but a lot of it got just ridiculous and almost veered into parody territory - although a parody of WHAT, I couldn’t tell you.
Rarely has 90 minutes felt so long.
#8
Posted: 5/18/25 at 6:25pm
And now they're going to adapt it into a film...go figure...
#9
Posted: 5/18/25 at 6:31pm
CarlosAlberto said: "And now they're going to adapt it into a film...go figure..."
Assuming reviews this week are bad, the response to the NYTW production may well scuttle plans for the film if contracts and money weren't already in place...the film was announced a year and a half ago with no updates since. I love Colman Domingo as an actor and as a public figure, but the Nat King Cole and Sammy Davis estates shouldn't let him anywhere near these men after this awful musical.
#10
Posted: 5/18/25 at 10:47pm
I saw this tonight and it is one of the worst things I have ever seen in NYC. The frame work doesn’t land. The performers are all giving it their all, but damn it’s not good. Save your money.
#11
Posted: 5/19/25 at 6:58am
I have seen this twice now, one week apart.
First time around, I was absolutely confounded by what was happening until the twist ending, which didn’t make everything before it more sensible, but tied up a few things. Tonight, the show definitely felt tighter, but the script itself still seems off-kilter. I think the best frame of mind to go in with is two fold.
1) The story feels very much like Jelly’s Last Jam - and Sammy Davis Jr. is definitely a “Chimney Man”-like character.
2) Based on previous reviews, this is a much different production than what ran elsewhere in the past and the creative team is still very actively involved in the process - so it is evolving. But, fundamentally, this isn’t a cozy, comfy jukebox musical and I think that’s where people’s expectations are subverted, but also feel let down.
(Personal aside: I think Domingo’s strengths as a playwright lie with him writing what he knows from his own life, as opposed to those of public figures - see the awful Wikipedia-esque approach for the Donna Summer musical)
The tap battle between Cole and Davis is absolutely THRILLING and, for my money, worth the price of admission and the supporting players are unilaterally excellent. Honestly, I would say give it a chance - TodayTix has some good discount seats and there isn’t a bad seat in the house.
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#12
Posted: 5/19/25 at 10:46am
If you can see it for free or under $30 maybe go. If not, skip it.
#13
Posted: 5/21/25 at 7:18pm
‘Lights Out: Nat “King” Cole’ Review: Dimming a Great Talent
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/21/theater/lights-out-nat-king-cole-review.html?unlocked_article_code=1.I08.0lT0.-abZ_SAvqJqs&smid=nytcore-android-share
#14
Posted: 5/27/25 at 6:13am
What Made Nat King Cole, and These 5 Songs, Unforgettable
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/27/theater/nat-king-cole-lights-out.html?unlocked_article_code=1.KU8.cfwu.6jSXto4JV4JV&smid=nytcore-android-share
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