**MARY POPPINS SET BREAKS....SHOW CANCELLED 10 min. INTO ACT 2**- Page 3

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 3:28pm

ouch. hmm... considering how comp seats seem to operate, i think they would still be trying to help replace those... for obvious reasons.....

[Unknown User]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 3:31pm

With sets breaking down and stuff, does anyone have pictures of the pyramid from Elaborate Lives/Aida?

[nycdncr]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 3:45pm

and...to add insult to injury, the guy at the box office told me the comp ticket stub was 'worth nothing to me'. there's nothing he could do about it. he was such and a$$hole.

maybe i'll just have to second act the show. lol. not that i would ever do such a thing.

[carymetorent2]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 5:02pm

For the record, second acting at that theatre is impossible. They scan your tickets every time you leave or enter the theatre for any reason.

[TechEverlasting]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 5:41pm

Broadwayguy2, I love a good argument, but I'm puzzled as to what it is I said that provoked such a heated response from you, with all those capitalized letters.

"'previews' is never an 'excuse'. You pay to see live theatre.. Thinsg go wrong. Something went wrong."

Others earlier in the thread had implied that this sort of thing should be expected in previews. If this is the case, then I think preview tickets should be cheaper. This issue has been discussed repeatedly here. Yes, things go wrong in live theater. If an audience wants a guaranteed perfect performance they should go a see a movie. By the same token there is a lot to be said for the old adage "the show must go on". I think it's unfortunate that set automation has become so dominant in live theater that a malfuntioning set can send everyone home.

"If YOU can do better, than YOU do it, Mr Tech"

Oh grow up, Mr. Broadwayguy2. What am I supposed to do, praise the guys at Hudson for at least getting through Act I without breaking down? It may be a very controversial thing to say, but I'm going to stand by my earlier contention that having a set fail and stop a show is not a good thing. Go ahead and flame me.

"There was NO room to do a concert style staging of anything on thats tage when the malfunctioned happened. Really.. there wasn't."

I wasn't there. Are we only supposed to comment on specific performances that we've attended? That would cut down the traffic on this board pretty quickly. If you say that a concert performance would have been impossible how can I dispute that? Perhaps the malfunctioning set made the stage unsafe. Fine. If it had been possible, I still think it would have been the appropriate thing to do.

I also question your earlier use of the phrase "idiot tourists". Anyone who works in theater in New York is primarily in the business of entertaining tourists, whether they want to admit it or not. If it wasn't for all of those idiots there would be far fewer people making a living on Broadway.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 5:54pm

Feel free to comment, I was only stating that it would have been physically impossible to have 35 cast members onstage singing.... so a concert was in NO way a viable option.

I don't give Hudson any credit and never have. They do good work. But they have never struck me as 'great'. When I saw the Hudson credit, after seeing the artistry in the production, I was shocked. MUCH higher than usual "Hudson" quality....

Yes, I applaud the cast and crew of Mary Poppins for what I *did* last night. My jaw was constantly hitting the floor' with that physical production. I think you can say "it's early in previews and they only have a few show under their belts", but the issue last night really has nothing to do with previews or not. It was a mechanical failure.. the show has been running across the pond for quite a while now, so these methods are tried and true. Things go wrong.. it is live theatre.. it happens. This is something that could concievably happen at ANY point in the run. You know?

The crew at the New Amsterdam, I am sure, hasn't had to deal with THIS problem before and it is hard to plan ahead for EVERY possible type of thing that can go wrong in this production. Something happens, you wing and try to make it go. They weren't able to do that last night. Am I disapointed, yes? Will I be back? Several times I am sure. I am only bothered by people complaining about it.. things happen. The work on display in that theatre is STUNNING in my opinion.

I am refraining from a FULL review of things until I view the entire piece, so I kept my comments about the show brief.

Though I will say that i can see why some people are bothered at the tone of the show, though I don't understand why. It is darker than the film that the songs were taken from. It isn't the movie. It isn't the books. It took both properties and tried to meld them..

[Phantom2]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 10:17pm

I thought you quit the boards? And, what have you done with Mistress?

[jess20882]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 11:26pm

did anyone go to the show tonight? everything went smoothly, i'm assuming? were henry and katherine on tonight?

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 11:28pm

last night, the insert billed gumley as going on, but the pre show announcement started and we were told that henry hodges would be on. he was great..

[jess20882]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 11:47pm

you mean last night when the set broke? i'm going tomorrow night (friday)...wondering which kids i'll see

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 11:51pm

yes, when the set bwoke. *weeps* soooo impressive.. so dissapointed. I KNEW something was up when all the set pieces and changes had not made a SINGLE sou8nd during any change but I heard loud things from behind that drop.. and i was in row V

[Unknown User]

Posted: 10/27/06 at 12:15am

Thanks for the concern P2, Im alive and well... and busy sewing my halloween costume.

[tnm]

Posted: 10/27/06 at 5:40am

Well It happened to me in london just after lets go fly a kite, and for those who have seen it, we went from the massive 3 story beautiful house, to a coffee table with a birdcage on it. It was really funny to loook at and david haig really played the line where he says, "the house will be repossesed". And then every one started laughing because the house was no longer there. However we wernt offered refunds or money back.