Little Miss Sunshine musical at Second Stage

[bigbelterbaby]

Posted: 11/4/16 at 3:47pm

did anyone see this? Was it ever intended for Broadway?

The reviews I read seemed pretty good and it's based on the popular movie - I'm surprised a producer didn't do more with it. I think it's available for licensing now - anyone seen a local production ?

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/15/theater/reviews/little-miss-sunshine-opens-at-second-stage.html

[Cfried]

Posted: 11/4/16 at 3:49pm

I saw it at Second Stage. Interesting show with a phenomenal cast but definitely not fit for Broadway. 

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 11/4/16 at 3:50pm

That was pretty much how I felt (I saw it at Second Stage twice, and it improved, but still was a show that couldn't quite figure out what it was).

 

Previous thread:

https://www.broadwayworld.com/colombia/board/readmessage.php?thread=1065476

Updated On: 11/4/16 at 03:50 PM

[AC126748]

Posted: 11/4/16 at 3:53pm

In line with what's already been said, the musical, while occasionally charming, was no way ready for Broadway. At least not based on the 2ST production. It felt very slight, and the score was only intermittently memorable.

[newintown]

Posted: 11/4/16 at 3:53pm

Saw it at Second Stage; it had fun moments, but way too many serious yet meaningless ballads. I've always felt that both Swenson and Bloch are really limited actors; nothing in this production altered that feeling.

[Margo319]

Posted: 11/4/16 at 3:56pm

I enjoyed it, but did not love it.  I don't think it was ever considered for Broadway after Second Stage considering the reviews were pretty luck warm all around.  Great cast though.  

[pc1145N]

Posted: 11/4/16 at 3:59pm

I saw it at Second Stage and loved it.

[bct14972]

Posted: 11/4/16 at 4:33pm

I saw it at Second Stage and adored it. Thought it was pure Finn magic. The score, upon further listening, is really quite strong, with the opening number and "How Have I Been?" being major highlights, but truly, there isn't a weak song in the show.

Performances were very hit or miss, but the young girl who played Olive was sensational.

The set was also one of the best I've ever seen (and certainly the best ever at Second Stage). 

[gleek4114]

Posted: 11/4/16 at 4:38pm

Does anyone know why this was never recorded? It's hard to license a show with no reference material. I'm surprised it wasn't recorded just for the fact that it was a new William Finn score. 

[smidge]

Posted: 11/4/16 at 4:46pm

Saw it at Second Stage because of the wonderful cast and didn't like it at all. Found the music grating and the staging didn't retain any of the film's charms. Very disappointed. 

[AC126748]

Posted: 11/4/16 at 4:52pm

No official recording was made but, as for most shows, I'm sure there's some unofficial recordings floating around.

[bct14972]

Posted: 11/4/16 at 4:59pm

It also appears that a live recording of the score is being used for perusal on the MTI website.

[MadonnaMusical]

Posted: 11/5/16 at 7:14am

I thought the biggest problem was that none of the big memorable plot points from the show got translated into song. There were these really heavy scenes that were acted with no music, then they would sing a song about something random after the scene... that continued throughout the entire show... not sure why he choose to do that. 

[Boston Friend]

Posted: 11/5/16 at 7:38am

Something Better Better Happen is a great song. 

[lightguy06222]

Posted: 11/5/16 at 8:18am

the set was the best part.

[musicals1989]

Posted: 11/5/16 at 11:08am

There is a "reference recording" available for potential production companies. (It's a live soundboard recording from the Off Broadway run.)

[RippedMan]

Posted: 11/5/16 at 11:39am

Wasn't the set terrible? That's what I remember reading? No actual van - just some chairs? Are they still tooling it? Or is it all set and done? Seems like it was a big deal and then just kind of disappeared. 

[beaemma]

Posted: 11/5/16 at 4:00pm

I'm aware that many people who saw it didn't like it. I loved it, although I can't say that I remember many specifics. I thought the chairs were a clever and effective substitute for the van. There were quite a few scenes in the van, and a more realistic vehicle would have made it difficult to see everything. Maybe a simple van framework would have been okay, but then the chairs couldn't have been rearranged as easily for other locations. None of the settings were realistic. It might have been okay in a small Broadway house, but I think it was best suited to Off-Broadway. The wide range of reactions to the show suggest that it probably wouldn't have been a long running hit anywhere.

Updated On: 11/5/16 at 04:00 PM

[bigbelterbaby]

Posted: 11/5/16 at 4:26pm

Thanks for your opinions everyone! I've heard some people say it was a lesser version of "Fun Home".

Just yesterday MTI announced that Little Miss Sunshine is open to amateur licensing - http://www.playbill.com/article/little-miss-sunshine-released-for-live-performance-licensing

This concert recording of "Something Better Better Happen" is lovely !!

https://youtu.be/KGBrq1O689w

..

[LightsOut90]

Posted: 11/6/16 at 1:07am

all i remember from this was how misdirected dwights breakdown scene was in the show and that the ending compared to the move was SUCH A SANITIZED COP OUT 

[gleek4114]

Posted: 11/6/16 at 1:35am

Does anyone have the reference recording that they would be willing to share? I'd love to listen to it. 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 11/6/16 at 1:36am

Sad they aren't still working on it. Did Finn acquire the rights, or was he approached? And Priscella used a bus and made it work. I don't think 2nd Stage is built for musicals. I remember Dog Fight feeling crazy cramped, and most of the musicals I've seen there didn't seem to quite fit. Maybe their new home at the Helen Hayes will help them with that. 

[StageDoor3]

Posted: 11/6/16 at 2:09am

I saw LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE twice at La Jolla Playhouse - once early in the run and then at the second to last performance - and then the fairly much revised version at Second Stage.  I love William Finn and highly respect James Lapine's work.  The cast in both productions was excellent, and I think William Finn wrote good music and lyrics for the most part.  Far be it from me to presume how they made their choices in the evolution of the work, but here's my 2 cents.   All three times I saw it, the story just didn't come to full life for me like the story did in the movie.  I can't quite put my finger on why because the whole project sounded Ike a perfect William Finn vehicle.  Perhaps it's because the story is episodic and the focus on multiple characters - the parents, the uncle, the grandfather, the son and and Olive herself - limited the overall effect of the piece..  Perhaps it's because we all know the plot and how it turns out going in.  So aside from the music and the friction between the parents there wasn't much new to the stories or characters for me.  Perhaps it's because the characters were not always that likeable.  And what works in a road movie in film is harder to translate to a stage bound work.   What seemed cute and quirky in the film - the "dirty" grandfather, stealing his corpse and whole beauty pageant with the kids - to me played slightly creepier when you see it in person in front of you on stage.  But maybe that's just me.

Re the staging - In the La Jolla production there was a stylized VW bus set piece.  As mentioned chairs on wheels were used at Second Stage.  I think that the use of the chairs on wheels in the Second Stage production actually worked better than the VW bus set piece and gave the staging more fluidity.  And I liked that Lapine incorporated the other young beauty pageant contestants as a chorus at Second Stage which they did not do in the La Jolla production.  .

There were many changes in the book and the music between La Jolla and New York, but I don't remember the details that exactly.   All in all, I did enjoy LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE and Finn's music in each version, and I would have loved to have seen a cast album released.  

By coincidence I am writing this just after having seen MISS YOU LIKE HELL, the new musical by Pulitzer Prize winning author Quiara Alegría Hudes with music by Erin McKeown at La Jolla Playhouse where LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE first premiered.  MISS YOU is a road trip musical also, but it has a very strong central plot with a struggling Latina mom wanting to reconnect with her estranged daughter whom she hasn't seen for many years.  While not perfect, this episodic road musical works because it has a very strong and focused through-line. 
 

Updated On: 11/6/16 at 02:09 AM

[playbill-love]

Posted: 11/6/16 at 4:23pm

I saw this for the cast. I didn't HATE it but it wasn't great. It failed to capture the heart and charm of the movie, but it was very funny at times. My biggest complaint was that it seemed like they would start to sing a song and right as it got going the song would abruptly end; many of them seemed to really only be like 1:30 long. I couldn't see this moving to Broadway then or now.

[FireFingers]

Posted: 11/6/16 at 6:35pm

Currently be considered for a run in London next summer I hear.