MEMPHIS Reviews- Page 5

[alex2155]

Posted: 10/20/09 at 11:41am

WOW. I came on here to read what people on here and critics had to say about this show because my friend told me about it yesterday. I hadn't heard about the show until yesterday, probably because I've been crazy busy with my own life and career to keep up with new stuff opening on bway within the past few months. My friend saw the show over the weekend and LOVED it!!! She said she saw tony awards written all over it. Thats how much she liked it. She said the dancing was amazing!! the singing was great and she loved the storyline.
After hearing her review I'm obviously not surprised about the many good critic reviews, but am surprised about people on here bashing it. Guess I'll have to check it out myself if I get a chance.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 10/20/09 at 12:21pm

Roscoe/landry - My observational skills are not what they used to be. I blame the anti-anxiety meds. And I'm turning forty tomorrow, so just agree with me if you know what's good for you. I don't have to be right. I just have to be placated.

Updated On: 10/20/09 at 12:21 PM

[singer73192]

Posted: 10/20/09 at 5:23pm

I'm glad that these reviews are exactly how I found the show to be. I really enjoyed MEMPHIs, and was shocked when I read the reviews on this board. I thought I had lost it! Sure it was very cliche, but it was fun and entertaining. Then again I'm a sucker for some good ole' belting!

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/20/09 at 6:08pm

It appears that those on this board who enjoyed it , including yours truly, will no longer be called shills

I am glad it got these very good reviews & I hope it has a long & healthy run .They are now up on the shows website.

Even the Post reviewer ended his review with "Huckadoo". I agree it is a stupid word & does not deserve a T Shirt of its own.

Updated On: 10/20/09 at 06:08 PM

[MusicSnob1]

Posted: 10/20/09 at 6:11pm

you'll always be a shill in my heart, Rox.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/20/09 at 6:14pm

Thanks

[MusicSnob1]

Posted: 10/20/09 at 6:17pm

I don't think MEMPHIS was that terrible - just kinda boring...

It's an original show, sure. But what's so original about its music and format and story??

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 10/20/09 at 6:32pm

I agree. I honestly found a show like JERSEY BOYS to be a more "original" show than MEMPHIS even though it's a jukebox musical.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 10/20/09 at 8:05pm

I dunno y'all (See how I got all Southern there?).

They lost me with "The white guy goes into the negro club and wows them with how soulful he is!"

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 10/21/09 at 12:02am

NY1 is Very Positive:

"'Memphis,' which has been kicking around for years, has its flaws but its strengths outweigh them. It’s a book musical with tremendous performances, an infectious score, excellent direction, wonderful choreography, an engaging story and a pretty good book.

It's all about a misfit named Huey Calhoun, a fictional character, who integrates so-called race music into white 1950's Memphis society. Illiterate and broke when we first meet him, he wanders into a black club where he is instantly smitten with both the music and a singer named Felicia. Determined to share the songs with a bigger audience, he manages to get a job on a radio station where he starts to introduce the so-called Negro sound.

Obstacles abound, chiefly racism from all sides, but Huey manages to overcome them through sheer force of personality and perseverance..."

http://ny1.com/7-brooklyn-news-content/ny1_living/107636/ny1-theater-review---memphis-

[BroadwayBound115]

Posted: 10/21/09 at 1:20am

Borstalboy, My dream is to walk into a negro club and wow them with my soulfulness, but it hasn't happened yet.....

[Roscoe]

Posted: 10/21/09 at 9:05am

Borstal: "They lost me with "The white guy goes into the negro club and wows them with how soulful he is!""

The review of the year.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 10/22/09 at 12:06am

It seems like this could be a sleeper hit. Possibly a popular tourist show. Best of Luck to the cast & crew of Memphis.

[blaxx]

Posted: 10/22/09 at 12:19am

I guess getting mixed reviews now means the show good very good reviews.

[fgreene1938]

Posted: 10/22/09 at 1:46am

I'd like to see the show be a success because I think actor Derrick Baskin is a real talent. He was great in "...Spelling Bee" a few years back and he has a wonderful singing voice. Still, the reviews tell the tale and it doesn't sound like success is in the cards for this one.

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 10/22/09 at 11:52am

'The reviews tell the tale ...'

The Times review was very negative, but the vast majority of 'Memphis' ' other reviews has been very positive (with raves from AP, the Hollywood Reporter, New York Post, Newsday, etc.); even the 'mixed' reviews have lots of good quotes. Ultimately, what will tell the tale is the audiences. Either the show will catch on, or it won't. I don't remember the Times review of 'Wicked' (except for Chenoweth) being very glowing, let alone the others, but it still sells out the Gershwin.
Updated On: 10/22/09 at 11:52 AM

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 10/22/09 at 11:57am

I have to say, this is going to be a big hit. The theater was sold-out, and everyone seemed to be having an amazing time. Audible gasps during some of the plot points, and huge applause after most of the big numbers.

As for me, I thought it was just so-so. I think Kimball and Glover are giving stellar performances though, and I really hope the show is a success to garner them some awards attention, especially Kimball. He is doing the work of a true actor up there. He doesn't drop his accent to "sing," and gives his character a nice arch and some heart. It's nice to see a musical that takes actually acting values as opposed to a show where they can plug in any actor.

The show def. has it's faults. The book is terrible and the story isn't all that interesting. The lyrics are mostly awful, and the music is pretty unmemorable, but the way it's presented makes it worth it. The set is great and the way it's used is pretty great. The dancing is serviceable - nothing groundbreaking - but it's performed with such energy and pizzaz that you can't help but smile. It kind of amazed me though that there weren't any real "character" songs. There was one for Glover - "Colored Woman" - that was kind of a let down. It didn't have that "umph" it needed. I really think they should reprised "Someday" again in ACT 2. It's the best song in the show with a nice hummable melody.

Anyways, I think it'll do well. I kept hearing "This show is just incredible." And yada yada yada. This lady next to me was like "I saw the Neil Simon show last night, and it was...sweet. But this. Wow."

[Flaunt It]

Posted: 10/22/09 at 7:52pm

Someday used to have an act 2 reprise.. but sung abstractly by another character. This was when when the story in act 2 was driven by Huey's decent into drug addiction due to his injuries from the street attack. The song was sung during a disturbing dream sequence fueled by booze and pills. I sort of miss the drug addiction causing his personal destruction contrasted against Felicia's rise to fame after she leaves him.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 10/22/09 at 10:37pm

Oh, I just really enjoyed that song, and it's the only one I really remember. The song about "She's My Sister" was just plan awful, and most of the lyrics or "song titles" were just so awkward. Like, really? The main character needs a solo called "Colored Woman?" We couldn't have thought of a more compelling and interesting way to tell that same idea? Maybe a nice metaphor? But I really do enjoy the music. It sounds so alive, much like The Toxic Avenger.

The ending I'm still a little iffy on. Like, I understand why they did it, but I wish they would have just left it at her doing her concert and Huey not being there. At least it would have ended with an upbeat song, but maybe with a more realistic ending. But as it stands, the ending is just sort of like "what?" Like, did Huey come to the concert and perform with her on stage? Or what was going on? ha.

[blaxx]

Posted: 10/23/09 at 2:36am

I have to say, this is going to be a big hit. The theater was sold-out, and everyone seemed to be having an amazing time. Audible gasps during some of the plot points, and huge applause after most of the big numbers.

Yeah, maybe you're right. I've never heard of a flop having a sold out performance where the audience "seemed" to have a good time and with big applause after big numbers. Ever.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 10/24/09 at 11:57pm

They ran their first big ad in the Times yesterday.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 10/25/09 at 11:58am

I was there last night. It was my third time seeing the show.

I still don't think the acting is that great. Chad's performance is so strange to me, and while Montego has a wonderful voice, her acting could be better. I truly love Cass Morgan and just wish she had better material. Vivian Nixon's leg extensions are breathtaking.

The book is so predictable. You know that Gator is going to talk evnetually, you know that Felicia's first record that she spent her life savings on is going to be broken, you know that she is going to get beat up for being with a white man, and you know that Mama is going to have a revelatory breakthrough. The songs aren't great, with the exception of "Memphis Lives in Me," which is the score's highlight, in my opinion (and Chad sells it well). The choreography is pretty good, especially with Vivian in the ensemble.

Regardless of what I personally think of the show, I will say this: the audience LOVED it. These idiotic tourists behind me (white midwestern family) were commenting at intermission that this was the best show they have ever seen. They really need to get out more!

It will be very interesting to see what happens with this show in the next few months...

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 10/25/09 at 2:38pm

I agree "Memphis Lives In Me" is by far the best song in the show. It's still nothing spectacular; but it's a nice song. I'll probably buy the song from iTunes when/if the cast recording comes out.

[WickedlyEdna1962]

Posted: 10/25/09 at 3:01pm

I saw the show last night and was completely confused by the end of it. Not so much by the show itself (though the ending still doesn't make sense to me) but rather by the audiences reaction. They absolutely loved it. One lady said "That was the best ever! Best show ever!"

The show to me is the cross-eyed threesome love child of HAIRSPRAY, Dreamgirls, and West Side Story. This show has been done before, except much better. And yet during the "fun, energetic "You Cant Stop the Beat"-esque finale the audience lept to their feet for a standing ovation.

Which convinces me: They could literally fill a theater full of tourists and drop a blank sheet of paper on the stage and it would get a standing ovation as long as they were told "OH! But that's not just any paper! It's Broadway paper!"

[singtopher]

Posted: 1/24/10 at 9:54am

I decided to bump this old thread rather than start my own. Got a free rush ticket from a friend on Friday who has now seen it 5 times. After reading the reviews here back in the fall, I figured it was going to be terrible, but I had so many friends who LOVED it that I gave it a shot.

Overall, I thought the show stunk big time. Bryan and DiPietro should stick to writing campy 'Toxic Avenger' type stuff. DiPietro doesn't have a knack for writing three dimensional characters. I say this as a fan of his other work. Bryan's music and lyrics lack any sophistication. C'mon "Play that music that makes me feel like a Black."? Nearly every lyric was cringe worthy. As most here agree, every plot point was cliched or predictable. Kimball's performance was way over the top, and Glover was serviceable. What was good was the cast over all. The ensemble had enough energy to launch themselves through the roof, and the dancing is brilliantly executed. The audience loved it and I enjoyed watching everyone boogie their way out of the theatre. The finale, while a catchy tune, sounds exactly like "You Can't Stop the Beat" Technically I loved the set. While it was complicated, it didn't overwhelm the show (read: 9 to 5) and effectively and creatively told a story. The costumes and wigs were gorgeous, though I have a soft spot for anything of that time period)

I'd give it a solid C. The cast makes up for the show's flaws. If and when this gets done in community theatres, folks will see how laughably bad the material itself is.