Moulin Rouge! Previews - Page 13

[bwayjoey]

Posted: 7/6/19 at 8:46pm

I have L16,18,20 later this month and was really worried. Thanks for the report!

[bwayjoey]

Posted: 7/6/19 at 8:46pm

I have L16,18,20 later this month and was really worried. Thanks for the report!

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/6/19 at 9:52pm

VintageSnarker said: "dramamama611 said: "But i dont think the argument people here are making - he's so good looking/sexy, Satine would choose him - has anything to do with the book."

Well, to me that implies that the villain isn't being written dastardly enough to override the appeal of his looks and/or the main couple isn't compelling enough. Like, can you imagine a version of Beauty and the Beast where it was unclear why she wouldn't just choose Gaston? Or a version of Little Shop where there's a question of Audrey choosing the dentist?"

Ahhh ..now I understand your point. Thanks for the  clarification.  To that...he is a villian, I think its quite clear. Reminder: I'm not a fan of the film - only watched it once and I've only seen the Boston run.(until the end of the month, anyway)

[Ladybug101]

Posted: 7/7/19 at 12:22am

Vintage Snarker said: "Well, to me that implies that the villain isn't being written dastardly enough to override the appeal of his looks and/or the main couple isn't compelling enough."

I have a couple of sort of quotes from the Boston version that the DSM-5 would diagnose the Duke as one very sick guy.

1. Top cited malevolent Duke action -- Nini to Satine: I knew a girl that shunned the Duke's advances and he had her boyfriend killed by his men and thrown in the Seine. He also had her face disfigured. He is very bad.

There could be more but I don't remember and the gist if not the exact verbiage is the true meaning.

2. Softer malignant touch -- Duke to Zidler: If Satine should fail me you will be out on the street like the wh*res you are.

I don't know how the Duke's character is portrayed in New York but one of the posters on this thread saw both Boston and NY versions and said the Duke was much meaner to Satine now. He saw good chemistry between S and C now. Timbers and Logan wanted to give Christian more of an romantic adversary than the silly film Duke but they put the relationships out of whack and had to recalibrate a bit.

Tam Mutu is an sexy, good looking guy but his real swoon making trait I think is is upper class British accent. It's all his and Americans often love it.

And now a brief turn to Aaron Tveit's attractiveness since he has gotten short shrift from several posters on this thread. There is a power player making his brand known very well on Broadway currently. Yes, Ryan Murphy basically said on video around 2008 that Tveit was too good looking and sexy for his new show Glee. This is how he approached it with what I considered a dismissive tone holding Tveit's head shot "We don't want models (and his colleague chimed in -- Abercrombie and Fitch-- which I take as sexy shirtless models allusion). Again Murphy: Yes, we don't want them. Midwestern kids don't look like this." Tveit was wearing a buttoned shirt and blazer with very kempt hair in the photo. There is also a 3 second clip of Tveit's audition where a small portion of his hair stuck up a bit.

The video has disappeared but there are screen shots to verify its past existence plus a large passel of internet comments of Murphy's actions which went viral.

Tveit auditioned for Finn, the football player, which was awarded to Corey Monteith and a very sad story eventually came to pass from that.
And now I must go to bed.
Note: At the time of Tveit's audition he had already been on the national tour of Rent understudying Roger and Mark, National tour of Hairspray as Link Larkin with Keala Settle as his Tracy and Broadway in the same role. He may have also been in his first gig as Fiyero in Wicked. Murphy treated his existence as that of a model -- not a professional actor with a great voice.

Updated On: 7/8/19 at 12:22 AM

[Fan123]

Posted: 7/7/19 at 1:47am

Thank you to everyone who provided advice on the 'Bad Romance' number, interesting to hear!

[Hellob]

Posted: 7/7/19 at 4:05am

I found it to be aggravating. The sets and costumes were awesome but they were doing TOO much with the songs. It was frustrating when they used 1-3 lines from random songs bc the audience reacts to every one and I couldn’t fully get into the story bc every 30-60 seconds, it’s disrupted by a unnecessary lyric.. I’d rather have seen Hadestown again.

[Dave13]

Posted: 7/7/19 at 10:48pm

Saw this on Saturday. I think I bought way too much into the hype. I actually came away disappointed. After reading this board and Show Score I was expecting so much more. The show is visually stunning. The staging and choreography is amazing. However, I think the show lacked substance. I personally got tired of singing lyrics to various popular songs. I wish the musical had its own original material. To me it seems to be laziness on the part of writer. Certainly it would be fine to sing lyrics from popular songs sporadically, but not the entire show.

Maybe my expectations were set too high, along with the ridiculous ticket prices, but I walked away disappointed.

[Dave13]

Posted: 7/7/19 at 10:49pm

Hellob said: "I found it to be aggravating. The sets and costumes were awesome but they were doing TOO much with the songs. It was frustrating when they used 1-3 lines from random songs bc the audience reacts to every one and I couldn’t fully get into the story bc every 30-60 seconds, it’s disrupted by a unnecessary lyric.. I’d rather have seen Hadestown again. "

 

Ditto  

 

[IHeartNY2]

Posted: 7/7/19 at 11:21pm

Anyone know if they've made any significant changes this past week?

[djoko84]

Posted: 7/8/19 at 1:34am

Basically, what I'm getting from most of the posters on here is that the show looks amazing, but the substance of it is not that great.

Updated On: 7/8/19 at 01:34 AM

[Wee Thomas2]

Posted: 7/8/19 at 3:22am

Not sure why anyone who has seen the films or read the reviews here or from Boston would be expecting "substance" in this show.

 

It is beautiful, spectacular piffle.  If you have hearing aids, turn them off and you will have an amazing time.

[jbird5]

Posted: 7/8/19 at 6:38am

I’m wondering if this show will have legs. I can see it selling really well for a few months and then petering out.

Also looking forward to the Tonys when this goes head to head with Girl From the North Country for best book.

[IHeartNY2]

Posted: 7/8/19 at 8:02am

Some days I just can't with these boards. And yet not surprised, because many on here have such a bias against anything that's too commercial, too flashy, or too touristy. If it's not high-brow, super deep material (with an original score), they write it off instantly. Jukebox musicals have to work that much harder to win over this crowd (unless SJB is playing Cher...then they'll try to rally around it as much as possible). 

Then again, these are the same boards that said Ain't Too Proud would be DOA before the first preview even started and had zero chance of being nominated for anything. And, well...

  

 

[Mike Barrett]

Posted: 7/8/19 at 8:08am

I know sometimes I imagine posters on here just downright miserable at these shows. If you don't like the show thats fine but sometimes the descriptions of the "aggravating" experience you had I just don't get it. You sound truly miserable. Spend your money on something else or use better adjectives to describe your displeasure. Just comes off as petty. 

[Ladybug101]

Posted: 7/8/19 at 8:09am

IHeartNY2 said -- Some days I just can't with these boards.

I second that. Updated On: 7/8/19 at 08:09 AM

[Lot666]

Posted: 7/8/19 at 8:44am

QueenAlice said: "I had a fabulous time watching the show, and much of my reservations - much like the experience of visiting a whorehouse - came the next morning, when I realized the extent of what I had subjected myself to."

Can we hear more about your visit to the whorehouse? 

 

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/8/19 at 11:27am

Just how is one supposed to know that they will hate a show until they go see it? Should they not talk about it?? So others should only see positive reviews?
 

I liked the show in Boston (and I usually hate spectacle) looking forward to seeing it again in a few weeks....but other's reactions (hatered or love) have no bearing on my enjoyment...or lack thereof.

Updated On: 7/8/19 at 11:27 AM

[Impossible2]

Posted: 7/8/19 at 11:29am

dramamama611 said: "Just how is one supposed to know that they will hate a show until they go see it? Should they not talk about it?? So others should only see positive reviews?

"

And why do people take it so personally when someone doesn't like something that they do.

It's baffling...

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/8/19 at 11:32am

Yup.

[LxGstv]

Posted: 7/8/19 at 11:52am

Impossible2 said: "dramamama611 said: "Just how is one supposed to know that they will hate a show until they go see it? Should they not talk about it?? So others should only see positive reviews?

"

And why do people take it so personally when someone doesn't like something that they do.

It's baffling..."

Yeah, some posters have already stated their opinion on the show, but they keep coming to this thread to criticize and even question anyone that didn’t like it...

It just comes across as “I spent so much money on these tickets and therefore everyone must like it to validate my opinion and my purchase”...

[Kad]

Posted: 7/8/19 at 11:52am

I'm just surprised by the criticisms of "lack of substance" and the pop music score. That is what Moulin Rouge! is: a by-the-numbers romantic melodrama spectacle with a pop music score. That is what the film is and was meant to be. It doesn't say anything particularly deep ("the greatest thing you will ever learn is to love and be loved in return" is the climactic thesis statement, for god's sake- it was arguably trite when Nat King Cole sang it and it was definitely trite in 2001) but it says it with a lot of panache and style. 

I think people take for granted what Moulin Rouge!, the film, did for musicals, both on screen and off. It took what was then seen as a moribund and stodgy genre and made it cool, with recognizable music and frenetic energy. 

[Mike Barrett]

Posted: 7/8/19 at 12:12pm

Oh I don't care if people like it or don't like it, I am just often shocked at the language used here to describe their experience fro posters who don't like it. Some posters make it sound like they truly hate theatre when they see something and they must tear it down, rather than sharing their opinion on it. Its just a flare for the dramatics mostly that is ridiculous. Hate a show all you want but it wasn't an "aggravating" experience for you. If it were that bad you would have left or never gone in the first place. There is a difference between not liking/critquing a show and tearing down a show you don't like, and I think people can agree with that. 

[barcelona20]

Posted: 7/8/19 at 12:12pm

The difference between the movie and the show is that the movie had heart, whereas the show is pure sugar.  Nothing wrong with the show being that, it's extremely entertaining, but like sugar, leaves you feeling kind of empty later.

[Kad]

Posted: 7/8/19 at 12:17pm

I disagree about the heart of the movie, with its wild MTV edits and gelatin boobs and boing-boing sound effects and throw-it-all-against-the-wall razzle dazzle, but that's neither here or there.

But if it's not trying to be anything but entertaining, criticizing it for that seems silly. There is an inclination on this board to ding things for being slight in order to look, I don't know, mature or intellectual or something, even when slightness is the point. 

Updated On: 7/8/19 at 12:17 PM

[Impossible2]

Posted: 7/8/19 at 12:43pm

Mike Barrett said: "Oh I don't care if people like it or don't like it, I am just often shocked at the language used here to describe their experience fro posters who don't like it. Some posters make it sound like they truly hate theatre when they see something and they must tear it down, rather than sharing their opinion on it. Its just a flare for the dramatics mostly that is ridiculous. Hate a show all you want but it wasn't an "aggravating" experience for you. If it were that bad you would have left or never gone in the first place.There is a difference between not liking/critquing a show and tearing down ashow you don't like,and I think people can agree with that."

If as the poster who used the word says, that it is full of instances of 2 or 3 lines from a song before it switches to another for no other reason than to cram as many songs in as possible, it would be pretty much a given that that would 'aggravate' me somewhat no matter how spectacular it was x