Little House on the Prairie- Page 2

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 8/17/08 at 5:46am

Rgay,

Thanks for the review, can i just say this made me laugh out loud

"It is almost too minimal and the set pieces move about so often that it becomes comical toward the end of the second act when the Oleson's store is flying in and out and the Ingall's home is sliding around at a frantic pace."

[Patash]

Posted: 8/17/08 at 11:50am

From the list of episodes of the TV series:

"148. Dark Sage 10/26/81
Doc Baker post an ad for another doctor. A black doctor answers the ad. Doc Baker decides to give the black doctor just a few minor cases. Doc Baker soon realizes that the black doctor is probably better than him after the black doctor saves a pregnant mother and her child. Doc Baker even asks the black doctor to stay."

[cfmiller]

Posted: 8/17/08 at 12:21pm

Not to defend the always lying TooDarnHot, but on NPR Friday, the producer was speaking of how she hoped to avoid a Broadway run in the near future. She instead was hoping for a national tour. The thought was that with the subject matter, they were hoping to draw in the type of crowd that doesn't normally go to the theatre or NYC. The producer also talked about her previous experience with "A Year Frog and Toad," which did wonderfully during a pre-broadway run and then ended up failing when it moved. She hoped to avoid this for Little House.

The short snippet of music they did play didn't appeal to me. Some crap about packing up a butter churn.

[Patash]

Posted: 8/17/08 at 12:56pm

That old excuse about playing a tour because it will find an audience is so lame and a lot of sour grapes. What it really means is "we aren't good enough for Broadway and they'd kill us there, so let's not get a bad reputation first, but go sucker the local yocals into thinking we have a good show." If it were a good show and played Broadway successfully, THEN it would be even easier to sell tickets in the "provinces".

[rgaywrites]

Posted: 8/17/08 at 1:59pm

exedore, Patash, I had no idea about the black doctor! That makes much more sense.

[kooky]

Posted: 8/17/08 at 4:27pm

There was also a black character named " Hester Sue " who had a restaurant that
Ma Ingall's worked at as a waitress ....... she had a family and they were friends.

So MUCH was going on - - - on the Prairie !

[cfmiller]

Posted: 8/17/08 at 6:51pm

Patash, you may very well be right for the most part. I can't imagine anyone who writes musicals not wanting to be on the biggest stage of them all. And I can't imagine Rachel Portman not wanting to go to Broadway.

But didn't I hear about the writers of Honk, who after having a big smash in London, chose to forego a Broadway run, fearing it would ruin their product?

However, given the crappy lyrics I heard on NPR, I can't imagine this would be a motive.

[rgaywrites]

Posted: 8/17/08 at 8:54pm

I remember Hester Sue very well. She was a great character.

[morningglory]

Posted: 8/18/08 at 6:47am

actually, if I remember correctly, Hester Sue worked at the blind school. The restaurant was the Oleson's, Caroline worked there. Then I know Hester Sue worked there - but, I don't remember how that all came about. Maybe HS bought is somehow? or she just worked there - that part is kinda fuzzy.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 8/18/08 at 11:21am

"That old excuse about playing a tour because it will find an audience is so lame and a lot of sour grapes. What it really means is "we aren't good enough for Broadway and they'd kill us there, so let's not get a bad reputation first, but go sucker the local yocals into thinking we have a good show." If it were a good show and played Broadway successfully, THEN it would be even easier to sell tickets in the "provinces".

---Historically, that's of course not a universal truth. Back in the day, producers like David Merrick knew how to create an out of town sensation with a show like OLIVER! delivering it to NYC after a full pre-Broadway tour as a sold out, already recouped hit.

I'm not saying thats the case with PRAIRIE, but the producers probably are taking a note from a show like LITTLE WOMEN which did much better on the road than in NYC.

In either case, the word *good* should never even be mentioned in the same sentence as *hit* when it comes to musical theatre. I don't even know what "good enough for Broadway" means. By that token there are probably about five shows on Broadway that deserve to be there.

[LouieLovesTheater]

Posted: 8/18/08 at 11:40am

The biggest problem with this show is that it is totally unmemorable in nearly every way. The music, the sets, the performances (save for Sara Jean Ford who was so good that she seemed to be in a different show)...nothing really clicked.

Also...the only thing that related to Little House on the Prairie were the names/places. It just didn't have that Little House vibe to it.

Ditto what was said about Melissa Gilbert. She must be drinking some Republican Rejuvnating Juice between shows. Her singing was pretty poor but I just wanted to root for her because you can tell she's trying. It's too bad that so many people are focused on her because her part is a glorified cameo.

Jenn Gambatese is wasted in the production, talks like a simpleton, and often times sings straight out to the audience cross-eyed...no joke.

The music is so desperate to be a presence in the show that no more than 3 minutes lapse between songs (or endless reprises). The fact that there are at least 2 dozen songs that pretty much say the same things doesn't help.

I mean, is it terrible theater? No...not at all. But for a world premiere musical I expected much more.

[barcelona20]

Posted: 8/18/08 at 12:11pm

You're 100% right. Sara Jean Ford is definitely a star.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 8/18/08 at 12:17pm

So does this make 0-2 for TDH?

[kooky]

Posted: 8/18/08 at 7:48pm

By the way, a wonderful singer by the name of KETTY LESTER played the role of
" Hester Sue "

[Patash]

Posted: 8/18/08 at 8:43pm

"I mean, is it terrible theater? No...not at all. But for a world premiere musical I expected much more."

Sorry, but I've read that statement over and over again and I still don't get it. Doesn't every single musical including every bad or horrible one still have a world premiere? Why would the expectations for a world premiere necessarily be good?

[smokeline]

Posted: 8/21/08 at 4:54am

I saw the show tonight and I agree with pretty much everything Rgay said, though there were a few bits I disagreed about.

Spoilers, obviously.

I actually thought the book was pretty good, definitely the best part of the show. Maybe because I'm not familiar with the books at all, I didn't feel like anything was rushed (except for maybe the part where Laura and Almanzo get engaged; I thought they could have used one more scene together first). It just...felt like the story of Laura's life, and there are going to be a lot of events in someone's life. I definitely agree that they smacked the audience on the head with some of the themes, but I liked the parallel of Laura's relationship with Mary in the first act and Almanzo in the secon.

The score, like you said, was pretty unmemorable. The only songs whose melodies left any sort of impact on me were Faster and I'll Be Your Eyes.

Which, as you mentioned, had awful lyrics. And so did pretty much all the rest of the songs. I don't tend to care about lyrics as much as melody in general, but I was sitting in my seat cringing half of the show because of them.

I actually really liked the minimalistic set design and the way they did the reins with the rings at the front of the stage. I thought it was really clever. The lighting and sound design were also good like you said.

The cast was what saved it, though. Okay, not saved it, it was still a pretty mediocre show, but they carried it as best they could.

I found myself impressed by all of the main characters, though I was glad Melissa Gilbert didn't sing more.

Jenn Gambatese was great, down to the old-fashioned tone of her voice. And she played blind very convincingly, which is really hard to do.

Sara Jean Ford was absolutely hilarious and I love every second she was on stage.

Kara Lindsay was also great. Her voice and demeanor and everything completely changed between acts to reflect her emotional journey (and age change). She also had a pretty good voice.

All in all, I thought it was a good production of a show that's...not so good. They DEFINITELY shouldn't try to transfer to Broadway. That would be suicide. Touring would even be iffy, I think. This run was sold out before the show even started previews; people clearly bought out of curiosity, not because they knew it would be a quality show. I think the audience was pretty underwhelmed and word of mouth would prevent high ticket sales in other cities.

[uncageg]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 12:02pm

Denver Center's 2009 season was just announced and the show will be our "Holiday" show. It will play the Buell from Dec. 22nd, 2009 - Jan. 3rd, 2010.

[TooDarnHot]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 12:05pm

Chalk one up for me.

This show isn't coming to Broadway, folks.

If Francesa insists it's not then I have to believe she knows what she's talking about...

thanks for that confrimation, regarding the radio interview cfmiller.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 12:51pm

My dad said that at the usher training for Tennessee Performing Arts center last week, they not only went over what's coming this season but next, and he said this was on the list of next season (09-10), so it does look like it's going the tour route.

[uncageg]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 1:45pm

And it looks like Melissa Gilbert will still be with it. In the season listing it says "Starring Melissa Gilbert".