Waiting for the show to start in Des Moines, IA. There are so many more people here compared to the audience for From Here to Eternity, Of Mice and Men and Hamlet presentations combined!!! Love it!
Intermission now and I think it's superbly filmed. They've done this so much like a film, any movie that eventually gets made is going to have a lot to live up to.
“I knew who I was this morning, but I've changed a few times since then.”
QueenAlice said: "Intermission now and I think it's superbly filmed. They've done this so much like a film, any movie that eventually gets made is going to have to live up to.
We left at intermission. The sound was so awful in our theater, I could literally hear people crunching their popcorn. I couldn't take it anymore.
The constant cutaways and tight shots also got on my nerves. I like to see the scene shifts and the action going on behind the leads who are singing. That was annoying, but tolerable. The sound was not. Hopefully it wasn't the same for everyone else.
jimmycurry01 said: "I'm sure it will get a commercial release. Universal is involved, and Cameron knows how to make a buck. He's not one to lose money to torrents."
A friend who saw it here in NYC posted a photo on FB of the screen saying "Coming Soon to Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital Download."
"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt
I have never seen the show until tonight. I had an old CD that's long gone, and on that recording the words his wife sings when she was alone after meeting Kim I remember as being different. Did anyone notice changes from the original?
No problem with the sound at my location. You should have asked for your money back. I think the whole thing was extremely well done. So glad I decided to go.
“I knew who I was this morning, but I've changed a few times since then.”
South Florida said: "I have never seen the show until tonight. I had an old CD that's long gone, and on that recording the words his wife sings when she was alone after meeting Kim I remember as being different. Did anyone notice changes from the original?"
There are three different versions of that song.
"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt
When I first saw the show in the West End in the 80s Ellen's song had a totally different lyric then is on the cast recording. They re-wrote it again for the Broadway production. All three of those versions had the same melody but different lyrics. This song for this production is totally new and I think does a much better job of making the character somewhat sympathetic. But on the page, I continue to think the character of Ellen is really problematic and watching the filming tonight reminded me that things like having her appear out of no where in the middle of Act 1 for "I Still Believe" makes no sense, and cuts into the dramatic tension of the story. It would be much better in my opinion to delay her appearance until the second act and leave us to continue to hope Kim has a chance of reuniting with Chris.
“I knew who I was this morning, but I've changed a few times since then.”
We are a few minutes from the 25th gala portion of the presentation now. This has been nothing short of amazing. If I had to pick one thing that disappointed me, it was the close-ups during Morning of the Dragon. I would have liked to have seen some wide shots so we could see the choreography, but that is a very minor complaint.
I absolutely loved this. A few too many close ups for my liking, and the sound could have been louder, but overall, this was VERY well done. Now I'm even more excited to see the show this Spring!
"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "
Our showing in CT started at 7:00PM but with no sound. They stopped it about 5-10 mins in and then restarted it. This time with sound.
I was in the minority of the people around me but I did not like how pretty much everything was filmed close up. I felt you miss the impact of any of the staging and the choreography. That being said I am glad it was filmed and glad I saw it.
The other odd thing is there was a 5 minute intermission and then after the show 10 minute wait till they showed the Gala Performance. Not sure why they needed the 10 minutes prior to showing the gala.
Oh one other thing I was disappointed in was that there was no curtain call shown. Thought that was very odd.
"I hope your Fanny is bigger than my Peter."
Mary Martin to Ezio Pinza opening night of Fanny.
On my way home from this tonight and I am on Cloud 9. It was spectacular. I loved the cinematic, dynamic way they chose to shoot it. Definitely took some adjusting, getting used to the close-ups, but they really tried something different and to make this feel like an event. It really just felt like a film.
The cast is largely fantastic and Jon Jon is really really wonderful. You can't take your eyes off of Eva, the camera really loves her and she sounded simply terrific. The gala at the end was a hoot!
I LOVED it. I can't wait to buy the release and it has me especially pumped to see it onstage. The music in this show is just plain gorgeous.
Valentina3 said: "The stupid thing says it has 30:00 mins to start. Why did they not advertise it as starting on 7:30 instead of 7:00? This is incredibly annoying.
"
Where was this? It started at 7:00 on the dot here.
This was my first exposure to Miss Saigon and I loved it. Can't wait to see the show live in a couple months.
the artist formerly known as dancingthrulife04
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Just got back from the show. I love Eva's performance, but Eva's Sun and Moon didn't hit me quite as much as Lea Salonga's. Her voice lacks a certain degree of purity that made Lea's rendition divine.
starcatchers said: "Valentina3 said: "The stupid thing says it has 30:00 mins to start. Why did they not advertise it as starting on 7:30 instead of 7:00? This is incredibly annoying."
Where was this? It started at 7:00 on the dot here. "
It ended up starting at 7:17 finally. I was trolling random Grindr guys on my friend's phone while we waited (we were on the last and empty row of the theater, so no one was disturbed by the cell light, chill). I don't know why it didn't start on dot here.
I LOVED this. This was so beautifully shot and produced, the movie really does have a lot to live up to. I wasn't familiar with the show, and agree with you people here. Some of the solos in the show really needed more room to breathe - and making them close ups on actors' faces made it very suffocating. Eva and Jon Jon are such great talents. There really wasn't one single weak link in the show, performance wise. I agree with possibly Tony nomination for both of them. I actually quite loved Ellen's moments too - at least with the songs she had in this production, and this actress who made her very relatable.
I'm quite sold on watching this on Broadway when it shows up.
Caption: Every so often there was a rare moment of perfect balance when I soared above him.
For my first time seeing any production of Miss Saigon, I loved it. I was a little annoyed at all the close-ups and didn't like that it was trying to feel more like a movie than a stage production - I did enjoy being able to really see and make out all the facial expressions, but at the same time I kind of felt like I was missing out on something by not getting to see the whole picture, as well as not really getting how certain things were staged or segue'd. I feel I may have missed on some of the choreography too. Also the helicopter scene was a little underwhelming compared to what it had been hyped up to me to be. The Engineer was by far the highlight of the show for me, especially his final song, though I was a litte confused about its placement and the mood whiplash that caused bothered me a bit. Still, it was great, and especially the Gala version where he performed the song again with the original actor. That was surprisingly the only instance of americlapping I got in my screening.
As for sound complaints, my brother works in the movie theater I saw it at, and he mentioned a few people complained about it being too quiet during certain parts, but he claimed that any sound stuff was an issue with the copy they had or the film itself, and not with the theater
Overall a great night and a great show. Even with my minor quibbles, it was still an entertaining night, and I really hope they continue to do this with future musicals. I am all for making musicals more accessible in a legal, profitable way!