Margo on Drowsy Chaperone & Tarzan- Page 2

[CharlieBrown]

Posted: 4/20/06 at 4:04pm

Well, I'm eager to see TARZAN. I enjoyed the movie, and like the score.

But I'm truly perplexed. I'm hearing a lot of the same comments about the show, here and elsewhere. After all these months (years?) of development, workshops, research, whatever, and millions of dollars invested in just getting it off the ground, it sounds like Disney's creative minds still haven't gotten a firm grip on the material. Maybe they should have gone out of town first? Or was it just a bad idea from the start?

At any rate: I'll see it for myself next month...

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 4/20/06 at 4:12pm

It's just a puzzling lack of imagination. The opening sequence is breathtaking, cleverly creating the illusion of a shipwreck and people swimming to the surface and then landing on a beach. It's very inventive and highly theatrical and nothing that follows is a tenth as creative or dazzling. It makes no sense. Why didn't they spend those years of pre-production coming up with a few more moments like that? Did they think that the flying effects would be enough? For the whole show? Forget the shortcomings of the book and score, if the show had 3 or 4 more moments like the opening, it would be a surefire megahit that would run a decade. Instead, it's just a disappointment.

Updated On: 4/20/06 at 04:12 PM

[liotte]

Posted: 4/20/06 at 4:16pm

Jenn Gamby was scheduled to be out Tues and Wed so her understudy could go on. She should be back tonight.

Thanks for the reviews, Margo.

[Charmed I'm Sure]

Posted: 4/20/06 at 4:36pm

margo. please. tarzan..is going to use its marketing tool as a hot guy on stage..yes soft porn..regardless what you say. you may think you are very smart but your not not.
and drowsy is lousy. i think you have friends in shows and this is the only reason you say nice things.
find a new subway stop margo and try some real theatre.

[Ourtime992]

Posted: 4/20/06 at 4:38pm

Margo said: "Forget the shortcomings of the book and score, if the show had 3 or 4 more moments like the opening, it would be a surefire megahit that would run a decade."

You'd think that Disney, of all producing groups, would have understood that. The Lion King is a perfect example. The book is weak and the score is uneven, but between the Circle of Life, Mufasa's face in the stars, the wildebeest stampede, and the spiraling ascent of Pride Rock, it emerged as an eye-popping theatrical event. I'm surprised Disney didn't treat that as a formula and attempt to recreate it.

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 4/20/06 at 4:48pm

Thanks Margo.

[bwayondabrain]

Posted: 4/20/06 at 4:53pm

great reviews, Margo!
glad that DROWSY is good, and I am dissappointed in Disney about TARZAN

ill need to read your WEDDING SINGER review- I'm trying to decide if I wanna see it or not....

but i always love your reviews!

:)

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 4/20/06 at 4:55pm

"you may think you are very smart but your not not."

If it weren't an insult to Margo, I would consider making this my sig line. The irony is priceless.

Thanks for posting these, Margo. It's nice to see an appropriately critical review of Tarzan instead of taking a position of extreme love or hate as many others have in their reactions.

Updated On: 4/20/06 at 04:55 PM

[EugLoven]

Posted: 4/20/06 at 4:56pm

Charmed I'm Sure:

I'm coming to Margo's rescue here.

Your comment is completely rude, selfish, distasteful, and belittling. If you have any respect for theatre or theatre fans, then you could use a BIG spoonful of reality, or a slap to the face, and realize your opinion stands for nothing in the theatre community...

Where did you learn manners? Is this how you talk to everyone you meet, or just people who do not share your opinion?

Find something better to do with your time than insulting members on this board.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/20/06 at 5:17pm

"margo. please. tarzan..is going to use its marketing tool as a hot guy on stage..yes soft porn..regardless what you say. you may think you are very smart but your not not.
and drowsy is lousy. i think you have friends in shows and this is the only reason you say nice things.
find a new subway stop margo and try some real theatre."

Hilarious! Every word. And you only joined today?

Yeah, Margo! Which stop were you taking, b*tch? The F-line to Suck Village? And why don't you ever attend real theatre? And pick up a book now and then and larn you sump'n, why don't you? It's too bad you don't have any friends in Wedding Singer, or you would have LOVED it. But your to stoopid to like the shows I like. What you say! I'm callin' robbiej to get all Nedra on yo ass.

Seriously Charmed...keep posting. It's priceless. This link is my gift to you...
For Charmed I'm Sure with all my love

[Roninjoey]

Posted: 4/20/06 at 5:28pm

I don't know why you guys are all being so mean to poor Charmed I'm Sure. He's only saying what we're all thinking. Margo is CLEARLY not not.

[ljay889]

Posted: 4/20/06 at 5:36pm

LMAO @ Margo is "not not."

That poster needs serious help with grammar and spelling. He is the not not one!

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/20/06 at 5:38pm

Roninjoey - You can say that again!

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 4/20/06 at 5:52pm

Bwayondabrain, go see Wedding Singer. I assure you'll have a great time. I guess its not for everyone, but you're sure to laugh at least once and I promise you you'll find one song you truly like.

[Greekmusicalfan]

Posted: 4/20/06 at 8:46pm

The best way for a newbie to become an enemy of 99% of the people on this board : Attack and insult one of the most beloved, objective, cultured and helpful people here...Margo !
Charmed, either you apologise or get the hell out of here, because noone messes with our Margo, get it ?

[beacon1]

Posted: 4/20/06 at 8:48pm

Margo,

I'm so glad to read good things about Drowsy. I think I'll be seeing that in mid-May or late June.

Yes, NYC...I'm coming BAAAA-AAACK!

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 4/20/06 at 8:58pm

Beacon, perhaps we have a puppet dressed in a sock in our midst?

[beacon1]

Posted: 4/20/06 at 9:19pm

On THIS thread?

[Broadwaylady]

Posted: 4/20/06 at 10:17pm

Definitely want to get tixs for Drowsy when I go to the city on April 30th to see Sweeney Todd.

[Runner1B]

Posted: 4/20/06 at 11:43pm

I liked these reviews. Just one request for clarification: Casey Nicholaw is female, isn't she?

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 4/20/06 at 11:47pm

Nope. This is Casey Nicholaw.

Updated On: 4/20/06 at 11:47 PM

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 4/21/06 at 12:12am

Casey, for me, is THE choreographer/director to watch out for. I can't wait to see him do something with a little more bite than Drowsy or Spamalot.

He knows humor. And if he can do funny, he can probably rock our lives with some drama.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 4/21/06 at 12:26am

Yes, he's clearly very talented. While I quibble with the paper thin nature of the material in Drowsy, the staging can't be faulted. I don't think people understand how hard it is to make a 90 minute piece flow so seemlessly and seemingly effortlessly as this show does. And to be able to have a narrator character constantly breaking the fourth wall and interrupting the proceedings and be able to transition back and forth between fantasy and reality without a hitch is something that very few directors could pull off. He makes it look easy and it's anything but. Not to mention that this is a NEW show, so he had no blueprint to follow but his own. It'll be very interesting to watch what he comes up with next.

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 4/21/06 at 12:28am

Margo, I am just glad you enjoyed it for what it was.

Even fluff, it is hard to do it right.

[junglered]

Posted: 4/21/06 at 9:56am

Margo - As always, thanks for sharing your reviews with us!