No happy Frogs...- Page 3

[SamIAm]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 2:05pm

Lane has to get ready for the Producers movie which starts pre production in January and filming in February. The guy could use a vacation. BUT, if it does get extended, the tourists coming in for the holidays would have a treat.

I am waiting patiently to go back and see the show in August and can't wait to see the changes and to see Roger Bart

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 2:59pm

"Forum" was a huge hit, running for two and half years on Broadway and then had a very profitable national tour. "Company," "Little Night Music" and "Into The Woods" also all recouped and made healthy profits. And I believe "Sweeny" eventually recouped on the road.

[MusicMan]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 4:46pm

True, Margo. I didn't mean to discount those. But I think the above poster was referring to 'hit' along the lines of a MY FAIR LADY or FIDDLER. And NIGHT MUSIC, with its romantic subject matter and popularity of Send in the Clowns, surely must be one of SS's greatest successes.

[DoReMi]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 5:16pm

and god knows that we need to determine artistic success by judging it against Fiddler!

[MusicMan]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 8:14pm

Of course we do. The standards set by the classics in ANY genre are the measure by which all subsequent efforts are assessed. Updated On: 7/18/04 at 08:14 PM

[MusicMan]

Posted: 7/22/04 at 10:41am

Back from THE FROGS.

Well...

It's an oddball piece, to be sure. It has been expanded (make that 'padded') from its original incarnation, which made its point far more succinctly. Also, the original premise had Dionysios bringing Shakespeare back from Hades to revivify a moribund theater scene. Now, it's to save the world, which just doesn't make sense, given that theater is hardly a political force in our culture. Be that as it may, the evening promises to take on some current sacred cows and so the audience, eagerly wanting to like the show, expects some sharp, sly satirical humor. Instead we get lame vaudeville humor and mostly unfunny gags lobbed at easy targets (the "bush frog"), as if Lane were determined to write A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM...AGAIN. He should stick to his day job. I mean, are we to fall into a paroxysm of hilarity at the mention of dated references to THE LION KING or buzzwords like Viagra? The whole enterprise feels tired and frankly could use a hit of Viagra itself.
The new Sondheim songs make little impression. In general, they service the plot but are overly wordy and often incomprehensible. Stylistically, they seem at odds with the original songs, favoring a Broadway show tune feel rather than the neo-classic style of the original. There is a great deal of dissonant, contrapuntal beauty to be found in those earlier songs but you'd never know it from Gemignani's cut-and-dried musical direction. Finally, FEAR NO MORE, like SOMETHING JUST BROKE in ASSASSINS, fails to provide the evening with its emotional climax, as surely intended.
Stroman's staging and choreography are her most undistinguished yet, with its usual overreliance on gimmickry and in-your-face-sexuality with not a trace of sensuality. The bungee ropes, a one-joke idea, should have been cut in rehearsal along with the three graces' mid-air gyrations which immediately brought to mind last season's NINE.
The supporting actors are fine, with particularly winning contributions from Burke Moses and Peter Bartlett. Lane himself seems curiously recessive. His costuming is certainly feminizing and unflattering, making him look less like a lusty Olympian deity than an overgrown baby in a sagging diaper.
The essential message Lane seems to have wanted to impart is "Get out and vote," which is fine. But someone should have told him bookending this message around two-and-a-half hours of sub-par shtick does not a convincing message make nor an evening's entertainment.


Updated On: 7/22/04 at 10:41 AM

[Ruffian]

Posted: 7/22/04 at 11:17am

I enjoyed THE FROGS" very very much

I dont think its "PERFECT PERFECT"....however, it has a lot going for it

Act One I laughed till I hurt, Act Two gives you great food for thought WITH some more laughs. Nathan was fine, Roger Bart priceless & the supporting players across the Board I enjoyed

AND....I went in VERY worried about it, so it won me over

I hope the people who got stuck seeing Kattan get a chance to see it again with Bart.

[TheTruth2]

Posted: 7/22/04 at 11:31am

I have not seen this show yet. I am sure I will, though it is not on my list. I did have a friend that was there the night Mel Brooks was there with Ann Bancroft, Stro, and Sondheim, and he said Mel had his hands in his face most of the show. This was during Kattan's stint, but I don't know exactly what he meant by "hands in his face" anyway. But that's not what I want to post about. Someone brought up earlier how people seem to want shows to fail. Why are we doing this? Why, if two shows open at the same time (for example), must we love one, and trash the other? Why can't we HOPE that both shows will be great? We are so odd... haha...

[TheTruth2]

Posted: 7/22/04 at 11:31am

I have not seen this show yet. I am sure I will, though it is not on my list. I did have a friend that was there the night Mel Brooks was there with Ann Bancroft, Stro, and Sondheim, and he said Mel had his hands in his face most of the show. This was during Kattan's stint, but I don't know exactly what he meant by "hands in his face" anyway. But that's not what I want to post about. Someone brought up earlier how people seem to want shows to fail. Why are we doing this? Why, if two shows open at the same time (for example), must we love one, and trash the other? Why can't we HOPE that both shows will be great? We are so odd... haha...

[Zola Q. LaPlaya]

Posted: 7/22/04 at 11:35am

I saw one of the earliest previews and it was simply awful. In fact, no one I know liked it. But I surrender to the notion that there are people out there who think it's good work.

One way or the other, all this will be put to rest tonight when Mr. Brantley's pen is put to paper.

Read the Times tomorrow and we'll see where the chips fall...

[Plum]

Posted: 7/22/04 at 1:40pm

To answer your question, TheTruth, some people just aren't secure enough in their preferences to simply like something. They feel it has to be better than that other thing. Idina can't be good unless she's better than that one-dimensional diva Kristin. Avenue Q can't be good unless it's better than that pop schlock Wicked. And so on and so on. Gets kind of boring, really. Updated On: 7/22/04 at 01:40 PM

[midtowngym]

Posted: 7/22/04 at 1:46pm

After seeing the show three weeks ago, i promised friends a 'ribbeting' time on Tuesday when I saw it again (for free!) I was excited about Roger Bart and the changes I had heard about. Now, Roger was good, but the second act was still an endurance test. The songs are ok Sondheim, which is miles above most everyone else, i know. But is the genius going to go out with a whimper? First Bounce and then this?

[Plum]

Posted: 7/22/04 at 1:56pm

Lets hope not. I haven't seen The Frogs yet, so I'm going to withold judgement, but supposedly Sondheim unearthed that with some persuasion from Lane and Stroman. And Bounce was the fulfillment of an idea he didn't get to follow through on years ago. Between that and the triumphant revival of the once-maligned Assassins, it's like he's been taking care of all his unfinished business.

I'll wait until I see his next really new musical (or whatever) before I declare that the man's lost his touch completely.

[SamIAm]

Posted: 7/22/04 at 2:11pm

and it WAS early in previews, Zola...and dare I say it again on the even of opening -- THEY WERE PREVIEWS. If you are still willing to put a stake in the ground and say that the show sucked and STILL SUCKS in spite of the fact that you haven't seen it recently since they cut 30 min and dropped Kattan, well so be it. We can't convince you otherwise...and we too will be waiting for Brantley to declare. However, I might say that plenty of critics in the past have trashed shows I liked and many other liked and shows that went on to be rousing successes. So I will be looking for the reviews but not living or dying by them.

[Zola Q. LaPlaya]

Posted: 7/22/04 at 2:38pm

I know all that, Sam. Trust me, I know what a PREVIEW is. (Caps not really necessary for emphasis.) Nor do I live and die by the critics' pen. But you'd be silly not to realize that they do hold sway with the box office.

I didn't say anything about the show now -- only what I saw. Since I paid my money, I'm allowed my opinion. And I readily admit it's just my opinion. In fact, I acknowledge there are some people who apparently like the show.

In any case, as with every show, I wish everyone many broken legs tonight!

[Plum]

Posted: 7/22/04 at 3:25pm

Fair enough, Zola.

[Ruffian]

Posted: 7/22/04 at 3:34pm

I dont find Act Two an Endurance Test, but I did laugh at the description