Love's Labour's Lost Previews and Line Status Updates at the Delacorte- Page 2

[RippedMan]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 4:18pm

I'm guessing the writing team managed to not see Wonderland.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 4:26pm

Kad, Yes, but at least One Knight was an original song, even if it was a cheesy pastiche of boy band music. (I mean all of Altar Boyz is a pastiche of the genre.)

Maybe if they had written their own song it would have been different, but because they used an established pop song it didn't feel an homage, but rather a lazy insertion.

Edit: RippedMan, for the record I don't think the creators were actually trying to reference Wonderland, but it can't be helped that it's so fresh in our minds and that moment was so reminiscent of that flop that one couldn't help but connect the two.

Updated On: 7/24/13 at 04:26 PM

[RippedMan]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 4:46pm

Just goes to show that they aren't exactly tackling this with a fresh approach.

I'm still surprised they could take such a lengthy play and only walk away with 90mins of material.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 7:46pm

"This is anal of me, but I have to point out To Be With You was actually a huge North American hit in the 80s (or early 90s?) by one hit wonder, Mr Big."

I think it's a generational thing. I remember the Mr Big version. I had to look up who Westlife was.

[Kad]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 10:44pm

"We want it all!" the cast sings in one of the most bizarre moments I think I have ever seen. And that's really a good phrase to sum up this show. It has it all. Marching band? Sure. Jellicle Cat? Yes. Segway, a tap number, a song about cats, a boy band hit. "If you say so, Alex!" says Oskar Eustis with a nervous chuckle as he signs the budget.

But did I hate it? I don't know. There are some fantastic moments and great performances and Colin Donnell is in a wifebeater for most of it.

But then that stuff was undercut by the golf carts and the German performance art and flamenco dancers.

I'm on my phone. I need to process this.

Updated On: 7/24/13 at 10:44 PM

[RippedMan]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 11:47pm

I'd agree. I think the moments are hilarious and entertaining, but adding up to a whole evening? I don't think there is much there. Shakespeare is brilliant in his nuance and his writing, but his plots aren't all that intricate, and when you boil it down to a "he said she said" then it becomes particularly slight.

First, the set is beautiful and detailed, but I'm still not sure why this was set at a resort and why it was a class reunion? I've never seen the original play, but I found this confusing.

Also, I sort of hated that they'd go from verse to modern-day language. I kind of wish the whole thing was just updated. I think it would have been easier on the ear, and all.

I didn't mind the music. I think some of it is really beautiful, but after awhile the whole like "chord" and then another "chord" thing gets annoying, and putting in a catchy boy-band song is a horrible idea, and even worse to play it as the exit music. It's the only song you remember. I loved "Love's a Gun" but I couldn't sing any of it back to you after tonight.

I think the whole thing is a hot mess, but an entertaining one.

Sure, Colin Donnell is cute, but he doesn't have the body to rock a wife-beater all night, and I think the costumer should have known that. His muffin top was peaking out all night. He's an attractive guy and he's obviously suppose to be the "hot one," so why not put him in something that shows that off?

Daniel Breaker is awesome. I think he's hilarious and he had me cracking up.

Patti Murin is awesome. How have I just now discovered her? I thought her voice was beautiful and powerful. How has she not done more lead roles? Someone get her a show!

The show is just a mess of ideas. If there's a show or story or theme or idea or point they are trying to make, I'm at a loss as to what it is. I don't think anything will come of it after this, so might as well go see it now.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 11:53pm

RippedMan- Patti Murin had a show: Lysistrata Jones!

I agree with you that they should have updated the book scenes from verse to modern language. The whole thing so vaguely resembled LLL that they might as well have just made a new musical that spoofed the tropes of Shakespearean comedies. That would have placed they more firmly in Bloody, Bloody territory, and they wanted to write a satire anyway rather than actually adapt the play at hand.

Most disappointing is the way the two professors are handled. They have a MUCH larger role in the play and are actually quite hysterical. The actor who played the head professor in the Renee Elise Goldsberry production was so great. In this Dratch and Hiller are totally wasted. Their parts might as well be cut completely.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 7/25/13 at 12:05am

I forgot to mention them! They are such a great duo! The show was just so much better when they were on stage. I would have just watched them play off each other for 2 hrs rather than see the rest of it. They are brilliant performers, but just wasted here for sure. And then the whole "tuba song" was just totally worthless.

And I was out of town with a show for the 2 months that her show was on B'way! I mean a good show deserving of her talents. I thought her voice was just so beautiful. She was the real standout, to me. I don't think the guys were all that great, and vocally they just didn't do it for me. Donnell is too nasal for my taste and Breaker isn't the best vocalist, though he sold his song.

The show was like an alter-world Matilda. They had every trick in the book (audience participation, confetti guns, marching band), but none of it really worked.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 7/25/13 at 12:06am

German performance art?

Poor Stew.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 7/25/13 at 12:10am

It was funny, but like most of the bits funny for only a moment. A bunch of laughs don't make an evening of worthwhile theater. It's odd coming from the guy who wrote such great music for the Civilians.

[Kad]

Posted: 7/25/13 at 9:39am

The production's biggest stroke of genius was pairing Rachel Dratch and Jeff Hiller, two performers who are able to wring laughs out of thin air. After discussing it with my boyfriend and sleeping on it, THAT is the lasting impression I got from the show. But, as others have said, their parts are very small- esentially two short scenes (though the second offered the wittiest costume in the show: pajamas modeled off of academic robes).

The rest of the show is scattershot in focus: the first twenty minutes heavily focused on Don Armado, then the rest on Berowne, with a sidetrack to the working class side characters, then to the nobles but mostly Berowne- the play is like this, too, but if you're going to adapt at, you have the liberty to focus the text. As it stands, the women are shortchanged entirely, as are Lords Doumaine and Longueville. As great as "Love's a Gun" is, why does the unexplored side character of Jaquenetta sing it? The sentiments expressed aren't exclusive to her. The Princess could sing it, or Rosaline- actual main characters who need more depth.

The show's centerpiece are the songs for the King and his Lords to sing as they're composing love letters and realizing they're in love. This is when we get Lucas Near-Verbrugghe in Elizabethan garb, Bryce Pinkham in a sequined vest and matching short shorts leading a tap chorus line of cherubs, and Daniel Breaker in a mesh tank top dragging an audience member on stage and seranading her. None of it is earned. Near-Verbrugghe is, I guess the nerdy Lord and Pinkham the jocky one? That's all we get, really.

It all comes to a head in that climactic number in which a marching band comes on stage. A full marching band, several dozen strong. And then a poor grad student dressed like a cat from Cats comes on (because Moth sings a song about loving cats, or possibly loving to eat cats?).

The production reaches it strongest, most affecting point immediately after this high-water crazy point. Suddenly, all of that ironic excess is gone and we are left with a straightforward presentation of the last scene, in which all the romantic wooing is rendered useless as the Princess receives news of her father's death and leaves with her Ladies. No postmodern touches, no commentary, no one on a Segway. Just storytelling. And it works. It works better than nearly everything in the one hour and forty minutes before it. And I just wondered, "Why all the rest of the over-directed, over-indulged nonsense?"

That being said, the performers are all strong. All of them! I just wish they had more to do and better things to do.

The production also is oddly class-conscious, with a song delivered by Costard, Dull, and Jacquenetta about how the rich suck (with a very direct barb toward the fact that many buy their way into premium Delacorte seats). The song is actually a highlight, clever and catchy. There are also other lines that indicate the main plot (learned nobles sequestering themselves and the hijinks that ensue when lady nobles test them) is "rich people problems." An interesting commentary that also devalues the already emotionally tenuous plot and is a tad absurd coming from the Ivy League-educated Alex Timbers who is directing a show and saw fit to include a full marching band.

Overall, I am reminded of a high school teacher I had who wouldn't eat salad because the different textures of the ingredients bothered him. I thought that was overly neurotic until I saw this show, which is nothing but different textures that ultimately cannot cohere. Every passing fancy in the rehearsal room seems to be on that stage. Every request granted. Every stoppulled out. How could anyone have been in that rehearsal room and not said, "Um, no, you don't get a Segway and a golf cart and a Jellicle cat."

[RippedMan]

Posted: 7/25/13 at 10:26am

Agreed Kad. Too many ideas, and none of them served the story. Aren't we suppose to be telling a story? That's the whole point of this right? Cause about 20mins into it I leaned over to my friend and said "I've no clue what's going on, but it's fun to watch."

I thought the space could have been used more, and allowed for more moments. I was surprised the Latin Lover went away so quickly. I thought surely his long for Jaquetta would be the main focus, but nope. And it's odd she sings "Love's a Gun" when she practically does nothing else. I kind of wish Patti Murin could have sang it. Why not make it a trio for all three of the lead ladies to sing?

[Kad]

Posted: 7/25/13 at 11:30am

I can't say I hated it and had a bad time. There were some good laughs and ideas, and some of the excesses so... ridiculously excessive they have to be seen to be believed.

I was, however, sitting in what I guess was the Bryce Pinkham cheering section.

[stevenycguy]

Posted: 7/26/13 at 2:02am

This will be a big hit and it received a standing ovation from almost the entire house tonight. They turned Shakespeare into a fun pop/rock musical set in the year 2008. The set is absolutely stunning, with a fancy house, a full bar, and a fountain that spews water. There is even a guy rowing a gondola in a pond at the rear of the stage (near the bar) toward the end of the show. Very talented group of twenty-something and thirty-something actors.

They made the storyline easy to follow for the most part. They alternate between the Shakespeare language and then they start talking in modern day language. There are many modern references like ordering Papa John's pizza.

And the pop/rock songs are really great. I hope they sell a CD with a soundtrack since I would totally buy it. (Sorta like a mix between Rent and The Wedding Singer, both of which I loved.) One scene has a song that's performed by the guys similar to the way the Backstreet Boys would do it. The voices are fantastic and the songs really add a great time to the show. There's even a full marching band of at least 30 people at the very end. They totally succeeded in making this a fun, highly entertaining pop/rock version of Shakespeare. You're unlikely to find a better version of this play. And I think a transfer to Broadway is highly likely. I'd be very surprised if it does not transfer.

[broadfan327]

Posted: 7/26/13 at 11:17pm

I saw t tonight, and it was a hot mess. I felt like I was watching a not funny episode of SNL. It seemed each scene had little to do with each other. The score is not good. The Westlife song felt very out of place with the rest of the score. The ending scenes looked like they are throwing stuff on the wall to see what sticks. The direction is all over the place. I was very bored.

[macnyc]

Posted: 7/28/13 at 11:56am

I saw Love's Labour's Lost last night and thought it was one of the funniest things I have ever seen on the stage, both intentionally so and unintentionally. The production was so over the top, as others have said, I expected to see the installation of a kitchen sink any moment. That would have made the show complete!

Like a previous poster, I kept thinking, "I have no idea what's going on, but this is so much fun!"

The performances were great, the singing marvelous, the costumes witty and imaginative. And that set is gorgeous. The show is highly enjoyable if you kind of shut off your brain and don't think about it too much. It's a summer night, you're in Central Park, and it's free. I would say, don't miss this!









Updated On: 7/28/13 at 11:56 AM

[After Eight]

Posted: 7/29/13 at 7:07am

The infantilization of our musical theatre continues apace: Andrew Jackson, Book of Mormon, Lysistrata Jones, Nobody Loves You, and now this jejune, witless, clunker. A couple of passable melodies are thrown in with the kitchen sink, but along with the clown wigs, marching bands, and childish pranks and pouts, they really should hand out lollipops to the audience: suckers for the suckered.

And to all creators of future musicals, one small plea on bended knee: Please spare us the sight of yet another dodo with a baseball cap on backwards. It's bad enough having to see that in real life.

Updated On: 7/29/13 at 07:07 AM

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 7/29/13 at 11:46am

While there have been a plethora of reviews, there haven't been many line updates. Do those who have waited in line think that getting there by 9:30-10 is sufficient?

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 7/29/13 at 12:08pm

The fact that it's jejune makes me *really* want to see it.

[After Eight]

Posted: 7/29/13 at 12:35pm

^

The fact that it is witless as well should make you want to see it even more.

It really is tailor-made for you.

And a note to the writers: We already know that you're cooler than cool, the hippest guys on earth. So you don't have to impress us all with references to Foucault, Derrida, et al. in every show you write.

[newintown]

Posted: 7/29/13 at 1:01pm

Sad to hear that this one isn't working. I think that Michael Friedman is a really good songwriter who, unfortunately, keeps getting attached to projects that inhibit his abilities, rather than showcasing and encouraging them. His songs for The Civilians were always wonderful, but that company seemed afraid to actually commit to allowing the songs to get the attention they deserved. And Bloody Bloody... I just found that one to be of the same quality as an amateur college sketch show.

I wish that Friedman will get the chance to work with some talented adults who love musical theatre, and are less concerned with being hip. I don't think he's had that opportunity yet.

I also wish The Public would stop being so concerned about appearing young and "cutting-edge." Sometimes it works well, but often it's just blind striving for "relevance."

[TalkinLoud]

Posted: 7/29/13 at 1:03pm

I consider Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson to be brilliant and one of the best new musicals of the last decade, maybe longer. But this was painfully awful.

[gchris11]

Posted: 7/29/13 at 1:18pm

Going tomorrow night. Looking forward to it.

[macnyc]

Posted: 7/29/13 at 1:33pm

Clyde, as far as line updates, I can't help you. I waited on line in Brooklyn on Saturday. Perhaps someone else will weigh in about the Central Park line.

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 7/29/13 at 1:35pm

Thanks for reminding me about that, macnyc. How was that line?

I just saw that there is a distribution tomorrow at The Public so maybe I'll try that. I won't have to put up with the unbearable sax man/flautist.