NEW YORK, NEW YORK On Broadway - Reviews Thread — Page 15

bwaylvsong1 said: " Little Women and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang which were also very good IMO."

Yeah no.

Jordan Catalano said: "I was told as of tonight the finale will be different. If anyone goes, I’d be curious what it’s like.”

I was there last night. Without trying to spoil anything, they cut the final epilogue scene. I wish I had seen the alternative finale so I could compare!

Mark_E said: "Curious about in person rush reports for this? And seat locations."

This post suggests front orchestra R/L. When I saw it, I overheard some folks talking about how their lottery tix landed them front row (I assume to one side). Not sure how the line itself was.

Updated On: 3/29/23 at 03:12 PM

I saw this last night and definitely had a more tempered reaction than a lot of folks on here it seems… The show is not terrible by any means, but it’s far from great.

There are too many plot lines and characters, and none of them are fleshed out except for the two main characters. The book is pretty much surface level vignettes of people trying to make their dreams come true in New York. The music and songs are fine… the orchestra sounds amazing, so that was a treat.

The usual Stroman-esque direction choices are there - some big dance numbers and long and over-choreographed transitions. Unfortunately, this show definitely lacks the sharpness and flashiness I have previously come to associate and appreciate with Stroman’s work. The pacing needs serious work - that first act is too long, and the act one finale is extremely anti-climatic. Also, there is absolutely no reason on earth this show should be three hours. However, I’m sure they will tighten things up during previews.

Colton Ryan was fine… not a ton of charisma and he never really commanded the stage. Anna Uzele was lovely and has a terrific voice. She really nailed her two big second act songs. Also, the title number/finale is very well done and has a neat surprise! The rest of the cast all kind of just blended together with no standouts.

The set didn’t look very big budget and grand to me. Beyond the fire escapes and some painted drops, there’s not much to it. It didn’t look cheap by any means, but I was definitely expecting it to look a little grander in scope. There are some cool lighting moments. Costumes are nice.

The show is a nice homage and tribute to the Big Apple for sure, but it all just felt pretty flat all around to me. I hope they will use their preview period to improve and tighten things as much as they can!

My thoughts, with possible spoilers:



1. I agree with the above comment that the set is a bit over-rated, but it does do some cool tricks, and paired with the lighting, it all works together very well. After Jessica Chastain spinning around a bare stage in A DOLL'S HOUSE and other bare bones examples this season, it's actually pretty spectacular by comparison.

2. Way too many storylines and some of them are resolved in very odd ways. Mateo's resolution is that he bought his mother a gold dress??? Maybe I blinked and missed it because they were rushing everything together at the end, but did Jesse even get a resolution at all?

3. The cleaning lady thing needs a paragraph all on its own. What the actual hell was that? Spoiler, I guess - She comes on for a few minutes in one scene mopping a floor and singing opera to herself. Way later in the show, she makes a second appearance in which she is still mopping the floor and singing opera to herself, but in this instance, two guys in suits are walking by in the background. They stop when they hear her singing and they grab her and rush her off stage. Next, the lights come up on her in a fancy red dress and she is singing opera, presumably onstage at the Met, and then she is never heard from again. WTF?!?!?!?! Stro, seriously, that storyline (if it can be called a storyline) is totally unnecessary and does nothing but add time to an already overlong show. Cutting this entirely would be a very good idea, although I'm sure the actress would understandably be very unhappy about that.

4. There are some very cool dance numbers and sequences in this show. The highlight has to be the tap number up in the scaffolding in the clouds. That stopped the show dead with very long rapturous applause, very well deserved. Nothing else quite lives up to that except maybe the finale when the stage does a very cool trick, but there are some really lovely sequences - the one in the snow, the one in the rain, the Latin infused numbers that have Miranda's fingerprints all over them. All great.

5. They gave Colton two pre-existing Kander & Ebb songs - Marry Me from The Rink, and Quiet Thing from Flora. Marry Me was lovely, but I really hated his rendition of Quiet Thing, which is one of the most beautiful of all the K&E songs. Be sure to look up Marin Mazzie singing it on YouTube if you have not already done so.

6. My biggest problem with the show is that Francine Evans is supposed to be some sort of major, major talent, to the point that she basically (possible spoiler) rockets to fame by the end of the show, although it's not made entirely clear. If the character is supposed to be so incredibly talented, I'm sorry but I'm kind of not quite getting it from Anna's performance. I mean, she's fine - perfectly fine - but her voice didn't blow me away or even come close to blowing me away, so I was like, "how is this woman becoming so famous so easily"? I don't feel like the character would have even made the finals on American Idol if it had existed back then. Again, fine voice, but not spectacular, which I feel like is needed with this particular story arc. I did have the thought that maybe Anna is holding back, or was holding back the night I saw her, as not to do any damage to her voice during previews - because she does have quite a lot of songs, as well as the big finale that had the entire audience on their feet - but I think that had more to do with the great stage trick that was done as the number began.

Anyway, all in all, it's a worthy show and I hope it only tightens more during previews. It could end up being a major hit and even a must see tourist stop, as it truly is a love letter to NYC.

For rush tickets I was asked if I wanted them printed.

Matt Rogers said:

3. The cleaning lady thing needs a paragraph all on its own. What the actual hell was that? Spoiler, I guess - She comes on for a few minutes in one scene mopping a floor and singing opera to herself. Way later in the show, she makes a second appearance in which she is still mopping the floor and singing opera to herself, but in this instance, two guys in suits are walking by in the background. They stop when they hear her singing and they grab her and rush her off stage. Next, the lights come up on her in a fancy red dress and she is singing opera, presumably onstage at the Met, and then she is never heard from again. WTF?!?!?!?!Stro, seriously, that storyline (if it can be called a storyline) is totally unnecessary and does nothing but add time to an already overlong show.

The craziest thing about this “storyline” is that this is pretty close to being a rehashed bit from Pretty Woman a few seasons ago. As I recall, that show featured an opera-singing homeless woman in the first act who reappeared as Violetta in La Traviata in the second act. This role was played by Allison Blackwell, who now appears as the opera-singing cleaning woman in New York, New York. (I wonder if she gets deja vu!)

I enjoyed it but the edible could’ve made it seem better than it was lol

goldenboy said: "I was kind of surprised to hear that this show is still almost three hours long. It doesn't take a genius to know that "length and focus" were part of the movies problems."

It really has so incredibly little to do with the movie. "Girl singer Francine Evans falls in love with musician Jimmy Doyle and they have a somewhat rocky relationship." That loose concept plus maybe 5 lines and 3 songs are the only similarities to the movie. End of list. It is so fundamentally different that he only even takes out a saxophone in the finale.

I couldn't have loved this more. I was there at the beginning of the week. Yes there's too much and it needs to focus. Anna's book material also needs to be strengthened. Her character is underwritten. But all of the problems I had I can easily see getting fixed over the course of previews. I could not have loved this show more and it is the closest thing we've gotten to old fashioned musical theatre heaven since the pandemic.

Cut the sunset number. You can see sunsets anywhere. Nyc is not the only city you can see sun setting between buildings. And the song is a downer too blah

Can someone who saw the first couple previews share what the modern epilogue was?

bwayphreak234 said: "Can someone who saw the first couple previews share what the modern epilogue was?"

It was modern day NYC, starting with a kind of “Elle Woods” lookalike with a suitcase arriving in NYC with neon signs all around and then the cast in modern day clothes, came onstage, walking around in the hustle/bustle and then we see Anna and Colton enter in their modern clothes, moving with the crowds and then notice each other and start to walk towards one another and then blackout. It was very reminiscent of the end of “Aida”.