NEXT TO NORMAL Headed to Broadway's Longacre Theater, Previews Start March 27- Page 6

[mikkix]

Posted: 2/18/09 at 10:44am

Show times will be Tuesday-Saturday at 8 PM, Saturday at 2 PM and Sunday at 3 and 7:30 PM. --from Playbill

There's a show on Sunday evening but no show on Wednesday afternoon.
Would that be only during the preview or entire run?

Anyway, YAY for Next to Normal! I'm glad that they've still got life and can't wait to see this again. WOOOT!

[jordangirl]

Posted: 2/18/09 at 10:50am

I don't know for sure re: the schedule, but my guess is that may be what they choose to do since Wednesday matinees are usually pretty low, right?

[mikkix]

Posted: 2/18/09 at 11:05am

Um.. make sence.
And it's also good for me since I only can be there on the weekend. Hope they don't reschedule it.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 2/18/09 at 11:06am

'Yes, but Shrek, Billy and 9 to 5 are GOOD.'

Says who?
A lot of people hate Shrek!
I will agree that Billy is great and judging purely of a naughty DVD of 9 to 5 from out of town that is good to (though needs some work), but Shrek was not an all out success with critics or audiences.

[Kelly2]

Posted: 2/18/09 at 11:10am

I won't waste my breath debating the merits of this show. I think Spring Awakening is crap too but it won a bunch of Tony's, so...who the eff knows if this show will take awards home? It doesn't DESERVE to, but that doesn't really seem to matter anymore.

The good news is that this show won't run for longer than a year or two, and 9 to 5 won't be going anywhere anytime soon.

[burntplains]

Posted: 2/18/09 at 11:28am

It's really whatever is your cup of tea. I HATE spring awakening and love me some Next to Normal all day everyday. YES, Alice could roll around in mud singing the national anthem and I would still think she was brilliant.

Sure the show has some flaws but in the end it's a solid show with a Fantastic score and an even better cast. Enough said.

If Alice was not involved with the show would I love it as much? Probably not! I've heard Scott and Spangler sing the score and the only one that does it justice is Ripley
Updated On: 2/18/09 at 11:28 AM

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 2/18/09 at 12:05pm

I'll have to make it back to the city to see this. I saw it at 2nd Stage last March, but Alice Ripley was out. But her understudy, Jessica Phillips, was more than capable.

[UKtheatrekid]

Posted: 2/18/09 at 12:24pm

i'll agree with that,
i saw Jessica Phillips last year,
and was blown away!
thankfully i'll be back in NYC for the opening
so i hope to finally get to see Alice!
x

[nexttoelectric]

Posted: 2/18/09 at 1:11pm

I think Spring Awakening is crap


Well what do you know, we agree on something, spring awakening was absolutely terrible.



The good news is that this show won't run for longer than a year or two,

edit, actually, that's not really mean, it just shows that you are completely delusional because you think 9 to 5 will run for 2+ years. Updated On: 2/18/09 at 01:11 PM

[alliez92092]

Posted: 2/18/09 at 1:18pm

Everyone needs to chill out. I'm as excited as the next person for this show to open, but fighting isn't going to get anyone anywhere. The people who don't like the show don't have to see it, and the rest of us will see it. There's no point in trying to convince others to like or dislike something. You can convince people to give it a chance, but telling them their opinion is wrong and whatnot isn't worth it.

Also, neither this nor 9 to 5 has opened yet. Save the Tony arguments for after the reviews come out.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 2/18/09 at 1:29pm

Updated On: 2/18/09 at 01:29 PM

[MissAnneThrop]

Posted: 2/18/09 at 1:31pm

can someone post who were the understudies in the arena production other than the previously mentioned Jessica Phillips

thanks

[jordangirl]

Posted: 2/18/09 at 1:34pm

Jessica was not an understudy at Arena.

Arena understudies were:

Michael Berry ~ Dan and the Doctors
Meghann Fahy ~ Natalie
Mary Mossberg ~ Diana
Timothy Young ~ Gabe and Henry

[MissAnneThrop]

Posted: 2/18/09 at 1:49pm

thanks

[winter_sky]

Posted: 2/18/09 at 2:09pm

I wish/hope Morgan Weed returns to understudy Natalie. From what I've heard she was sensational. Whoever understudies Aaron will have quite a feat on their hands...

[jordangirl]

Posted: 2/18/09 at 2:11pm

No problem MissAnneThrop.

I have not heard if the understudies are staying the same from Arena or not. I didn't see any of them (24 times seeing the show between Second Stage and Arena and never an understudy), but I heard Michael Berry was AMAZING in the Doctors' track. Also heard Timothy did a good job as Gabe...a different take than Aaron, but still good.

[Sondheim_Geek]

Posted: 2/18/09 at 3:55pm

I was able to see both Michael Berry covering Louis Hobson and Timothy Young covering Aaron Tveit. Saw the show 3 times at 2st and 2 times at Arena.

Michael was great in my opinion...I almost preferred him to Hobson, who just doesn't do it for me. It's not secret that I still wish Somers was in the role.

Timothy was a mess in regards to covering Gabe. Vocally he couldn't do it, utilizing ALOT of head voice. His movement around the stage was a little weird as well, trying to copy Tveit's but not succeeding. He didn't develop the character strong enough in my opinion and needed to work a bit on "manning up" to come across as stronger.

[April Saul]

Posted: 2/18/09 at 4:08pm

East Village--
I think this is the fan thread for the show, the more critical thread that discusses the content and message of the show is here:
https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?thread=991030&dt=158&boardid=1
Check it out, you may find it more interesting!

[snl89]

Posted: 2/18/09 at 4:09pm

I think NO ONE can really do what Aaron does in terms of movement around the stage haha. The guy is like a gazelle or something! He's SO smooth in everything he does! That's like.. a fairly large part of what makes him so unique and memorable (plus he's obviously just a great actor and has a great voice)

So yeah, I think the understudy for Gabe would definitely have to find his own way to do the role so that it doesn't just come off like "trying to be Aaron!Gabe and not succeeding" :)

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 2/18/09 at 4:11pm

LOL!

[Sondheim_Geek]

Posted: 2/18/09 at 4:26pm

For real, it was so bizarre. Aaron seemed to be out quite a bit at Arena (6 or 7 times at least, with three having to do with the final Hairspray performance) so others should be able to back this up.

Timothy was just like...not able to do it.

Did anyone ever see Meghann Fahy on as Natalie?

[TheCharleston]

Posted: 2/18/09 at 4:26pm

Song And Dance -

Aren't YOU the one who endlessly schilled both LEGALLY and FLASH DANCE, claiming they were "good" musicals?

What is "Good" in your dictionary..?

[Kicks8567]

Posted: 2/18/09 at 5:58pm

Meghann never went on for Natalie during the run at Arena

[changinandhow]

Posted: 2/18/09 at 6:10pm

I saw Timothy Young as Gabe as well twice during the Arena run. I wouldn't quite call his performance a "mess" - and this is coming from someone who finds Aaron irreplaceable in the role. Timothy is also the cover for Henry as well, so understandably the producers had the find the best fit for both roles.

That being said he did have some trouble with the vocals as his falsetto is definitely not as strong as Aaron's but I was pleasantly surprised at the way he moved. Again it wasn't on Aaron's level but better than I was expecting. The first time I saw him was his first time on, and the second was later on and he seemed much more comfortable in the role after a couple performances. He did have a more innocent take on Gabe which was different. The shallow thing that bothered me was that he did not pull off looking 18 as well as Aaron does... even though funnily enough he's younger than him.

And I don't think Aaron was out more than five times at Arena. Three times for Hairspray closing and then two other shows in January when he was apparently sick, but that's all I recall.

Updated On: 2/18/09 at 06:10 PM

[manic_magic_n2n2]

Posted: 2/18/09 at 7:48pm

Was Timothy's first time on on the 1/4/09 matinee? I was there for that performance and I'm pretty sure it was his first time. Personally, after seeing Aaron twice previously at Second Stage, I was thoroughly convinced that no one could match his unbelievable and almost inhuman performance. I was right, but not by far! I WAS STILL VERY VERY PLEASED with Timothy! (Especially if it was in fact his first performance that day!)

I thought he handled the stage very very well. His vocals were also very good, although that was one area Aaron clearly won out in comparison. I also felt that, an important aspect of that character is the "haunting" feel that he gives to Diana and the entire audience. Timothy could've used a little more work in that area-- he didn't quite put Diana (or me) into as much of a trance like Aaron did. But his acting was still quite good and he would definitely be able to improve his small quirks if he had more time with the role.

I hope Timothy continues as the understudy because he was truly great, and I'm sure he would also do justice to Henry's role if he were put in that position.