Murder Ballad returns, first new preview

[dave1606]

Posted: 5/7/13 at 10:47pm

Caught the show tonight and thought it was in great shape. After previously seeing the show at MTC and having seen shows in the new theater's space I wasn't sure it would work here. However, they have done a great job adapting the show to the new space. I missed the booths along the back wall, but overall it works well.

Cassie Levy adapts to the role well, though she isn't quite there yet, but I am sure she will be after a few more performances. The sound was also pretty bad so hopefully that will improve too.

I would watch Rebecca Naomi Jones do anything. She is a wonder with a killer voice, and I love her in this role.

If you missed this last fall don't miss this here!

Cast recording is also in the theater.

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 5/7/13 at 10:59pm

What's the Playbill look like?

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 5/7/13 at 11:11pm

Were any songs cut/new songs added? Changes to the text that you noticed?

[dave1606]

Posted: 5/7/13 at 11:18pm

The playbill is the black and white security camera footage. Whizzer, I didn't notice any new songs added/cut. The show seems basically the same. The staging seems to have been altered a little. The cabaret tables are tigheter in the center and I didn't think there was as much interaction on them as I remember.

[dtzumbrunnen]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 8:19am

Does anyone know what role Jim Newman will be playing? At Backstage @ 54 Below last night he performed along with some of the other Hands on a Hardbody cast, and at the end he specifically plugged coming in to Murder Ballad (I think he said June 9th through the 28th, but could have those dates slightly off).

I hadn't seen anything about Will Swenson or John Ellison Conlee leaving this new run early...

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 9:59am

I don't really see him fitting into either role.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 10:18am

Maybe he's just a vacation swing or something

[broadfan327]

Posted: 5/12/13 at 10:23am

I went last night and the sound is still pretty bad. The band is making the lyrics intelligible. Glad to hear it wasn't just me.

[mschwager]

Posted: 5/12/13 at 10:42am

I actually was surprisingly impressed with the sound. While it was hard to understand at times, overall it wasn't nearly as bad as I'd expect it to be, based on the setup and style

[TalkinLoud]

Posted: 5/12/13 at 11:23am

I didn't have any issues understanding the actors at all. Loved the show.

[basketcase]

Posted: 5/12/13 at 12:19pm

Jim Newman mentioned on Twitter that he'll be in Murder Ballad from July 7th-18th. Will is doing the Broadway Cruise around that time, so Jim will presumably be covering him.

Does anyone know anything about who will be covering Rebecca while she's doing Love's Labour's Lost in the park now that Murder Ballad will be running simultaneously? Are they just using the understudy (understudies?) or bringing in someone just for that time?

[RippedMan]

Posted: 5/12/13 at 1:59pm

I would think they'd have to bring in someone new per Equity rules.

[TheGingerBreadMan]

Posted: 5/12/13 at 3:04pm

What's the Playbill look like?

[TalkinLoud]

Posted: 5/12/13 at 3:14pm

That is NOT what the Playbill looks like at all.

[winston89]

Posted: 5/12/13 at 3:26pm

That picture may be what the playbill looked like when the show was uptown. But, the artwork has changed now that it is at the Union Square theatre, and the playbill reflects that change.

[TheGingerBreadMan]

Posted: 5/12/13 at 3:47pm

I apologize if that playbill picture is inaccurate, I found it online.

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 5/12/13 at 3:59pm

I doubt the Playbill has all those signatures on it.

[Rainbowhigh23]

Posted: 5/12/13 at 5:28pm

Just saw the show today and it was interesting to see it in a bigger space. I enjoyed the intimacy of MTC and think the show worked better in a smaller space. Perhaps the size of the theater affected the sound? I thought the actors were harder to hear compared to MTC.

[broadfan327]

Posted: 5/12/13 at 6:50pm

I was sitting at a table near the band, so the band may have been louder than at other places in the venue. I admit I find it hard to make out lyrics in general.

[gchris11]

Posted: 5/15/13 at 6:46pm

Saw it on 5/14/13 and had a hard time hearing when they were on the head set mikes. We could hear when she was on stage singing. Will be going back again. I <3 this show!!!

[fallingawake]

Posted: 5/16/13 at 8:59pm

What is the run time for this show? I'm debating going to a 5pm Saturday show, but unsure how to plan for after the show. Is there an intermission?

[emilyfaye48]

Posted: 5/16/13 at 9:05pm

No intermission and the show runs about 80 minutes

[macnyc]

Posted: 5/19/13 at 7:17pm

I saw the show today and sadly, I didn't like it as much as I hoped I would.

The good: All the performers were professional. The staging was inventive and used the space well.

The bad: My main problem is that I had a hard time making out the lyrics, with the exception of John Ellison Conlee. I understood 100% of what he was singing. The others, maybe 50%. So I don't think it's the sound design or that the band is too loud.

With a sung-through show, of course, if you don't get the lyrics, you don't know what's going on, and that was the state in which I frequently found myself.


*****************************SPOILER ALERT*************************************



For instance, after the narrator killed Tom with the baseball bat, I though, huh? What did she do that for? And my friend said that they had had a relationship. I missed that completely. Maybe I'm just dumb, I don't know. I remember that the narrator looked jealous at one point before that, I was puzzled by that too.


***********************END SPOILER ALERT*******************************

Another weak spot for me was the score. I thought it was just okay. Nothing really stood out as distinctive, and the songs were all scored the same. Nothing left a lasting impression, or even a fleeting impression.






Updated On: 5/19/13 at 07:17 PM

[Taryn]

Posted: 5/21/13 at 12:21am

SPOILERS AHOY













She's Tom's girlfriend that is referenced throughout the show (he had someone to home to, etc.). It was definitely meant to be a potential twist that you had to be observant to get early on. I definitely did it the first time I saw it at MTC, although I went tonight with some friends who thought it was obvious and kept wondering why she was being discounted as a potential murder suspect.

[TalkinLoud]

Posted: 5/21/13 at 7:36am

I thought it was pretty obvious early on that... she was who she was.