Broadwaygirl, I don't know what show some of these folks saw, but I saw the same show you did yesterday. I too was completely blown away. I've seen almost all the shows this season, and Never Gonna Dance was absolutely the best. I was in the center of the first row, and the dancing, acting, and most of the singing was as good or better than any show I've EVER seen.
A lot of people seem to think that an old-fashioned, 'sweet' musical has no place on today's Broadway. What about 'Millie', a show so sweet it made my teeth hurt? Now that's a show with a terrible book (not to mention racist overtones). Are people that easily swayed by the critics and the opinions of a couple of 'regulars' on the message boards? I spent the whole train ride home trying to figure it out. The biggest complaint I've heard from people is that Nancy Lemenager is not up to snuff vocally. First of all, I didn't think her voice was bad- Ginger Rogers couldn't sing, did anyone care? Of course not. Half the people on Broadway can't sing worth a d*mn. But... the dancing... oh my God- does no one care about seeing truly great dancing any more? Because I haven't seen dancing on that level since 'Chorus Line'. Lemenager is a very gifted dancer, as is Racey... and whoever said that she lacked chemistry with Noah Racey was seeing a different show from me too. I was close enough to have Noah's sweat dripping on me, and there was chemistry oozing from that stage. The opening number with Noah and ensemble in Grand Central was spectacular. The book was fine for something like this- yes, it's fluff, but it was funny and light-hearted and the audience laughed at all the right places.
I've been watching Fred & Ginger movies as well as all the MGM musicals for over 30 years... seen the original 'Swing Time' a million times... and I never thought anyone could do justice to it. I loved all the little 'homages' to those movies in this show... and BTW nothing had a sillier book than 'Swing Time' or any of the other F & G movies. Jerome Kern was an incredibly gifted and often overlooked songwriter- how wonderful to hear those tunes so beautifully brought to life again.
It seemed to me that Noah & Nancy were channeling Fred & Ginger- their dances together were absolutely magical. And yes, Karen Ziemba was great... but I really feel that no one has given this show and especially its stars their due. Why is this? Are there people who are bitter because they or a friend of theirs didn't get cast in the show? Do people have a grudge against someone associated with the show? How can something as mediocre as 'Anna in the Tropics' get better reviews than this? Does having a 'name' like Jimmy Smits make it a better show?
It's not just the weather that's killing Broadway this season, or a lack of good shows. It's critics who are out of control, and people listening to them. Shows don't even get a chance to open without negative publicity prejudicing people against them. Any show without a Hollywood star to prop it up doesn't have a chance. I've disagreed with the critics and most of the people on this board over every show I've seen this year, with the exception of Avenue Q- yet some people don't even like that show (and amazingly it doesn't have any big stars in it).
I think it's incredibly sad that 'Never Gonna Dance' is closing before anyone even had a chance to see it. The person sitting next to me asked the conductor after the show how something so good could be closing (this was all I heard from the crowd leaving the theater too)- he just chuckled and asked her if she knew anyone with $2 million to keep it going. I'm afraid 'Wonderful Town' will be next since that's another 'old-fashioned' musical that isn't making tons of money. People complain about the lack of new musicals and the constant revivals of shows we've all seen a million times before, but it's only going to get worse if new shows aren't given a chance to find their audience.
Updated On: 2/15/04 at 08:55 PM
