NEW YORK, NEW YORK On Broadway - Reviews Thread — Page 17

DCDrama2 said: "This was, sadly but unquestionably, the worst thing I've ever seen on Broadway. It is dull, long, pointless, and celebratory of toxic relationships. It's over-choreographed in the transitions with no added value and yet the actual dance numbers are basic and underwhelming. A LOT of people were on their phones during the show, not just checking the time, but actively texting or just scrolling. The 11-year-old kid in front of me was so bored he crawled under his seat for a nap. People gave polite applause, sometimes, for the songs. Lots of people left at intermission (including some notable celebs) and during the finale number people began filing out QUICKLY.

The performers were all good. They gave it everything they had and are not what brings this show down. The writing, music, choreography, pacing, storytelling, and direction are criminally poor. This show is a mess with almost no redeemable value. I know they will cut a lot to tighten it up, but for me, they need to cut all but three songs and do a TOTAL rewrite of the rest.

I didn't just dislike this show, I hated it. The wasted potential had me angry leaving the theater tonight. The idea of this show could be really great, but instead, it meanders with disparate characters who range from forgettable to detestable. There is nothing to grab onto and root for or celebrate. It was painful to endure. I wanted to leave at (well, before) intermission but couldn't pull myself away from the trainwreck. I wish I had, as the second act takes the listless first act and drives it slowly into a vile romance story with more dreary music and pointless vignettes.

Run, don't walk, away from this show and do anything else. I'd rather spend my evening at the Times Square Olive Garden."

This “review” seems highly suspect to me.
And who are all these multiple celebrities who fled during intermission? Please be specific.

Haha that’s such a great take. Totally fair to judge a show - but I think we can all agree no one is walking out of NYNY critiquing the sets or staging. Competing shows must be angry if they are sending people to message boards. Is that a thing?

DCDrama2 said: "Not sure what you find suspect about it. As for notable people who left, I don't want to list names. But, as it was a Monday evening performance there were a lot of recognizable people currently on Broadway, and the conversations around me were largely between people in shows now or in the industry. One notable exchange between someone leaving at intermission while his companion stayed:

"Come back once they've worked it all out."

"No, no I don't think I will.""

As others have noted, this is completely ridiculous. If you would like to mention the supposed celebrities who walked out, that would be fun, but I am not holding my breath. .

EDSOSLO858 said: "Jordan Catalano said: "I saw the show again tonight and Liza Minnelli was in the audience and stood up halfway through act one and said she could do it better and started to sing as she walked out and the entire audience got up and followed her out and down 8th Ave like she was leading a parade and then the cast of Parade actually stopped their show and came outside to join us on our March down to the Statue of Liberty where Susan Stroman was waiting for us and apologized for her show and asked what she could do to make things better and we all sat down in the glow of Lady Liberty and rewrote the show together but then realized we just had the script to “Ragtime” so we swam home."

You win the best post of the night, Jakey."

Thank you George Santos! lol

Said it before, I'll say it again: Mike Faist would have been perfect for the De Niro role. Go watch West Side Story.

me too! NYNY was a fantastic feel good musical. I had seen slih on my last trip here and was soooo disappointed. I did also love Shucked and Doll House too.

Oh wow. That was…tragic.

TL;DR - With a shifty story all the narrative thrust of stop/go traffic at rush hour, you do NOT want to be a part of it. I’d go see Bad Cinderella again before you could convince me to return.

I am actually at a loss for words at how insipidly bad this show is. It seems to want to expand the world of the movie (of which there is very little referenced) by adding characters for side plots. However, nearly all of them come out horrifically underbaked and left me and the ladies around me at intermission questioning why do we not care about any of these characters.

The show did not need a Latino character added for what is tantamount to a “My parents misunderstand me because I want to be artistic.” storyline With some HEAVY queer coding I might add - the scarf dance and the use of the words “feminino” and “Maricon” - both homophobic insults. On top of that, adding the Latin flavored music to the score makes it pretty obvious where LMM inserted himself and didn’t mesh with everything else.

Some of the other subplots could be fantastic musicals in themselves, but all seem like they just distract from the fact that this stage version has defanged the main plot into a toothless mess. The direction and choreography are also ridiculously overindulgent, even by Stroman standards - a lot of random dancing vignettes as scene transitions further grind pacing to a halt.

Anna Uzele sings fines and knocks her big numbers out of the park, but I wish there was more depth to her dealing with racism rather than a few casual references to “what I live with everyday”. Colton Ryan was ABSOLUTELY WRONG for this role. I agree with the poster who said this needed a Mike Faist. Colton played this sleazy lost soul with all the charm of a high schooler in their first “serious” role. I felt no chemistry, no real love, nothing.

People were eating most of it up, but there seemed to be just as many people who were wholly dissatisfied and/or confused. There is no fixing this to any meaningful extent.

I saw this last night.



Agree with quizking. And I really didn't feel anything for anyone. And the lead woman was charmless.



And any show that wastes Emily Skinner and Ben Davis is just criminal.



Colton is soo wrong. And where's the big splashy New York number that Stroman should have created?



Just reminded me so much of THOU SHALT NOT. Spinning around and around and not signifying much.

I thoroughly agree with Quizking's assesment. The whole thing feels and looks cheap from top to bottom in every area. It's just a REALLY weak show/production.

pablitonizer said: "

The show did not need a Latino character added for what is tantamount to a “My parents misunderstand me because I want to be artistic.” storyline With some HEAVY queer coding I might add - the scarf dance and the use of the words “feminino” and “Maricon” - both homophobic insults. On top of that, adding the Latin flavored music to the score makes it pretty obvious where LMM inserted himself and didn’t mesh with everything else.


Wait what? I have not seen NEW YORK, NEW YORK yet, but do they really use the word 'maricón' on stage? Like WTH? It's one of the most homophobic expressions ever in Spanish. How can they use that? That's just a big NO!!!



"

Oh, but they did and I think that might have been a way to express the father’s alleged homophobic attitude (through Mateo’s perspective) without explicitly using the English equivalent that would certainly sting the audience.

I’m white with Hispanic background (Puerto Rico) and I picked up on that word immediately since I had a visceral reaction to its use - having heard relatives use it quite a few times in my life

I'm on the fence about seeing this and sort of weirded out by the hot and cold reactions. Haha. That said... what was that performance on GMA? I normally think Colton Ryan is a sight to behold... with lots of talent and charisma... but that performance was completely dead eyed? Sounded good to me... but completely devoid of... anything worth watching? Bizarre.