This show won't be around long enough to receive any "summer traffic". Second-lowest gross this week (~$200,000) with an average paid ticket of $34 is not a great place to be. The reviews will sink this show and it'll be gone by Mother's Day. The writing is on the wall.
Living on Life Support........if Chita can't sell tickets to her incredible show, how the hell is Renee gonna sell tickets to her lame attempt at comedy?
"I am still amazed that someone invested in this one...what were they thinking?"
That Renee Fleming would sell tickets.
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
Saw this show the other night and have pretty much nothing good to say. People have commented about the plot being thin and needing cuts. I wholly agree with that since everything felt like the same thing being repeated endlessly. I only needed to hear the same lines two or three times - not twenty. The jokes are unfunny. All of the "industry" jokes are there to make the audience seem intelligent by laughing at jokes about opera. The only thing they made me do was roll my eyes.
In terms of the actors, I thought Jerry O'Connell came off the best. Douglas Sills was way too over the top and seemed like a bad Steve Martin impersonation. Anna Chlumsky who I LOVE in Veep was just dreadful. She has this 50's secretary affectation that she's putting on that was terribly annoying. The wig is also pretty bad. The butlers were completely superfluous and seemed to only be there as stagehands. The "twist" at the end was nauseating. To hear an entire audience "AWWW" when two men kiss is offensive to me.
The set and lighting was laughable. For some reason there are painting on the wall that are placed entirely too high. A chandelier that is too high. Too many sconces. The lights would raise and dim for no apparent reason which become very jarring as the play progressed. There were six sconces, two lamps and a chandelier on stage but never turned on until the final scene but to no effect.
I don't see how this is going to limp its way through the limited run. Opening night is even being papered. I'd suggest going ASAP if you must torture yourself.
"Pardon my prior Mcfee slip. I know how to spell her name. I just don't know how to type it." -Talulah
It's actually little more than a vanity production on several levels. Renee Fleming and Kathleen Marshall are close friends; Marshall's husband is the lead producer.
when I saw the show the first act ran about 55 min and the second act was 45 min.
I just talked to a friend who is working on Living On Love and they said that they are expecting their closing notice soon. Apparently the New York Times was there last night and there was some sort of on stage mess up that was handled very badly by the cast and they are sure that may have sealed their doom.
I still can't get over they can't fill the house on OPENING NIGHT. It's rare to find comps online for a Broadway show (at least from what I've seen) but good lord.
Yikes, that's unfortunate, especially on a night when the press is there.
I am a firm believer in serendipity- all the random pieces coming together in one wonderful moment, when suddenly you see what their purpose was all along.
Press see shows 4-5 days prior to the actual opening night as the show is frozen.
The First Night Press List That era has now passed, and these days a far more sane approach is taken to dealing with Broadway critics. Rather than having them review the opening night show on opening night, critics are invited on a few designated Broadway press nights held right before the official opening night. Although these are technically preview performances, the show is almost always considered "frozen" (i.e. no further changes will be made to the production) by the time the press performances are held. This ensures that what the critic is reviewing is what subsequent audiences will also see. Some are also invited on opening night itself, but most critics prefer to go early to give themselves a little extra time to write their reviews. The people invited to these pre-opening and opening night Broadway performances are on what is known as the First Night List. They are the most important and influential critics on Broadway, most notably Ben Brantley of the New York Times.
"Anything you do, let it it come from you--then it will be new."
Sunday in the Park with George