OCTET at Signature Theatre- Page 4

[Ledaero]

Posted: 5/17/19 at 11:12am

If it's as wonderful as you say, what "risk" would there be in checking it out?"

It becomes a risk when others on this chat forum, like yourself, have expressed distaste in the piece. If you look back at the beginning of the thread, a lot of people were thinking about skipping it because it's "a cappella," or that they have mixed feelings about Dave's work because it's very atypical. All I mean is I hope people overcome any hesitations they may have to give the piece a chance.

[Ledaero]

Posted: 5/17/19 at 11:15am

VanillaIceCream2 said: "Anyone try the standby line lately?"

I did standby on Wednesday afternoon and got in. I arrived at 12:30 and there was actually a ticket available when I walked up to box office (it was sold out the night before). There were probably 10 empty seats in the theater during the show, so I assume they would've filled those with people on standby, though I don't know. Likely you have a better shot of getting in during previews because they'll set aside seats everyday for the creative team, but they don't all attend every performance and the seats get opened up.

[VanillaIceCream2]

Posted: 5/17/19 at 12:53pm

Thanks for the info!

[cjmclaughlin10]

Posted: 5/19/19 at 6:49pm

I’m eagerly awaiting reviews!!!!! Can’t wait to see the show in just two weeks!!!!!

[cjmclaughlin10]

Posted: 5/19/19 at 7:32pm

Highlights from Talking Broadways review
“Malloy's songs ingeniously merge classical-sounding choral hymns about monsters and forests that simultaneously and anachronistically reference technology and addiction”

“Audience members addicted to musical theatre can rejoice in knowing they have a new place to get their fix.”

https://www.talkinbroadway.com/page/ob/05_19_19.html

[DuoSonic]

Posted: 5/19/19 at 7:43pm

I saw it on Wed afternoon and REALLY enjoyed it. Glad to see that first review is positive, and I’m hoping it gets a lot of love from the critics. It’ll be fine without it, but I’d like to see some praise for something so good and different.

Updated On: 5/19/19 at 07:43 PM

[cjmclaughlin10]

Posted: 5/19/19 at 10:09pm

Critics Pick from Brantley https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/19/theater/octet-review.html

“Mr. Malloy isn’t about to offer easy closure when a Pandora’s box has been opened to such infinite possibilities and repercussions. Nonetheless, I’m going to chalk up this beautiful, absorbing, disturbing work as a win for art.“

[noschultz]

Posted: 5/24/19 at 11:09am

from looking at lyrics and hearing (unofficial) recordings, i have to admit i’m underwhelmed. while the music is absolutely fantastic, at times even better than comet, and i loved pretty much everything about “little god,” the message of the show ultimately feels dismissive and arrogant instead of analytical and probing. rather than ponder the implications of the internet, dave seems a lot more content to poke fun at people half his age with cloying references and to characterize the whole internet as “a monster” based on a few case studies of particularly damaged users. as a previous poster noted, the ending numbers of hope can’t make up for an otherwise disappointingly one-sided and simplistic view of the medium that’s made dave as respected as he is (and this is coming from someone who respects him a LOT as an artist and a person. he can do better than this).

however, i haven’t actually seen the show live. does the staging and visual acting dampen this message?

[Ledaero]

Posted: 5/24/19 at 5:13pm

noschultz said: "from looking at lyrics and hearing (unofficial) recordings, i have to admit i’m underwhelmed. while the music is absolutely fantastic, at times even better than comet, and i loved pretty much everything about “little god,” the message of the show ultimately feels dismissive and arrogant instead of analytical and probing. rather than ponder the implications of the internet, dave seems a lot more content to poke fun at people half his age with cloying references and to characterize the whole internet as “a monster” based on a few case studies of particularly damaged users. as a previous poster noted, the ending numbers of hope can’t make up for an otherwise disappointingly one-sided and simplistic view of the medium that’s made dave as respected as he is (and this is coming from someone who respects him a LOT as an artist and a person. he can do better than this).

however, i haven’t actually seen the show live. does the staging and visual acting dampen this message?"

Sorry to hear that you interpreted the show in such a negative manner. I’ve seen it twice now, and it has never come across to me as a shallow condescension of the Internet and its users. And maybe this is just because I know Dave, but he himself is extremely prone to internet/media addiction. I mean, he dropped out of college to play Ocarina of Time for god’s sake. So to me it feels like it’s coming from a place of “I’m addicted to the internet and I don’t want to be, so let’s talk about its issues and figure out how to get away from it.” He’s definitely not just poking at Gen Z; he’s talking about himself, his peers, and really society as a whole as we immerse ourselves into media all of the time.

The show isn’t negative the entire way through. Even near the beginning, songs like “Candy” really explore the joys and possibilities that the internet gives, even as it is specifically imbedded in eliminating addiction. 

I never felt that the message of the show was dismissive, mostly because it didn’t really feel like there is a resounding opinion or answer to the issues of internet addiction. As I said before, I felt that the show was simply an exploration of different areas of internet addiction, and while the show obviously sides on getting off the internet, the ending felt as if he were saying “this is where we’re at, this is what we’ve talked about, take it as you will and let’s find our way out of this mess somehow.”

The show felt summated in the lyric of “Beautiful” when she sings “This ugly thing lets me sing so beautiful.” While the internet is dangerous and brutal, it also has wonderful possibilities that allows people unparalleled communication and exploration. And the entire show felt like an exploration of that paradox.

I hope you go see it and give it another chance. I think there’s much more love and optimism in the piece than what you’ve interpreted from it thus far. 

Updated On: 5/24/19 at 05:13 PM

[annang]

Posted: 5/25/19 at 10:36am

Ticket prices just went up again. Two weeks ago, they were $35. Two days ago, they were $65. Now they’re $95, and as far as I can tell, that price is for all seats, both orchestra and mezzanine, for all remaining shows. 

[LxGstv]

Posted: 5/25/19 at 10:59am

annang said: "Ticket prices just went up again. Two weeks ago, they were $35. Two days ago, they were $65. Now they’re $95, and as far as I can tell, that price is for all seats, both orchestra and mezzanine, for all remaining shows."

All of the shows at Signature Theater are $35 for their initial run. When they announced the first extension they still had some of the initial dates for $35. This isn’t a Hadestown price bump situation.

[annang]

Posted: 5/25/19 at 11:03am

LxGstv said: "annang said: "Ticket prices just went up again. Two weeks ago, they were $35. Two days ago, they were $65. Now they’re $95, and as far as I can tell, that price is for all seats, both orchestra and mezzanine, for all remaining shows."

All of the shows at Signature Theater are $35 for their initial run. When they announced the first extension they still had some of the initialdates for $35. This isn’t a Hadestown price bump situation."

I’m not sure what you’re getting at. I was informing folks about the current pricing. It wasn’t an accusation. 

[LxGstv]

Posted: 5/25/19 at 11:24am

Not getting at anything, just providing a piece of information as well. You mentioned that two weeks ago they were $35, but if it was part of the initial run, it will have always been $35... they raise their prices for the extension period... I (stupidly) brought up Hadestown because they did it after reviews came out, just pointing out that it wasn’t the same situation for Octet...

[Julie Yard]

Posted: 5/31/19 at 11:19pm

Home from tonight's show and this was as lovely a show as I could want. I would love a Broadway transfer, but understand from previous posts it may not make it. Will it get a cast recording? I would be very sad never to hear those songs again. Just beautiful.

[bandit964]

Posted: 5/31/19 at 11:46pm

I, too, hope we get a cast recording. I did not think I was going to enjoy this, but I was hooked from the very beginning. Someone mentioned the show being hypnotizing and I couldn't agree more. What a rich sound in that theater. What a strong ensemble. Each character I found so unique and interesting. Highly recommend.

[rg7759]

Posted: 6/1/19 at 3:16pm

i havent seen it yet (i have such high respect for dave that im seeing it on my coveted matinee slot on tony sunday). but i went to his talkback recently where about all of the malloy library came up except for beardo, which i loved pretty much as much as great comet. and i can't believe i was smart enough to give it a chance. dont miss beardo if it ever gets another production

[Roscoe]

Posted: 6/5/19 at 8:45am

Saw it last night, loved every minute.  Far from the easy "Technology Bad, People Good" message, Malloy seems to be pointing out that the fault is not in our phones, but in ourselves.

[Kad]

Posted: 6/5/19 at 10:19am

I saw this last week and loved it, as well. I didn't find it judgmental of those who rely on or engage with technology, or it being anti-technological; there's a great deal here that's that's ironic or satirical (I mean, this "internet addiction" group relies on a psychedelic drug to return their minds to a pre-internet state).  The "Little God" story features the divine reaching out through technology, only to have people attempt to explain it away- and this is paired with the conspiracy sequence, in which a person refuses to accept the facts that are being presented to him on the internet. And these both precede what is the climax song of the show, a song- the only solo in the show- about finding genuine connection. 

The oft-referenced "Monster" isn't the Internet, like the characters think it is. 

 

[haterobics]

Posted: 6/5/19 at 10:41am

bandit964 said: "I, too, hope we get a cast recording."

https://twitter.com/dave_malloy/status/1130115876425015296

"yes by hook or crook we will of course make a record some way some how."

[macnyc]

Posted: 6/5/19 at 10:45am

I didn't get as much out of Octet as Kad did, but his interpretation makes a lot of sense to me. 

Also, I wanted to point out that even though there's no cast album yet, Dave Malloy has put the lyrics to all the songs on Genius.com and has started annotating them. I've been browsing through that to help with my understanding of the show. The lyrics are very dense and the concepts pretty high-end, so my feeble brain couldn't take it all in at once!

[haterobics]

Posted: 6/5/19 at 10:47am

macnyc said: "I've been browsing through that to help with my understanding of the show. The lyrics are very dense and the concepts pretty high-end, so my feeble brain couldn't take it all in at once! "

AKA every Dave Malloy show...

[Jish]

Posted: 6/5/19 at 12:03pm

haterobics said: "bandit964 said: "I, too, hope we get a cast recording."

https://twitter.com/dave_malloy/status/1130115876425015296

"yes by hook or crook we will of course make a record some way some how.""

I saw this too and somehow it isn't as encouraging as I wanted it to be. I would think with the critical acclaim that Signature should be all over this so I am nervous they haven't announced anything yet.

[Fanboy99]

Posted: 6/5/19 at 1:44pm

Has anyone tried rush for this show?

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 6/5/19 at 1:51pm

There's no rush because the show is sold out during its original run. I believe there's going to be student rush during the extension if tickets are available.

Going for my third time tomorrow and need to really dig into Malloy's annotations to the lyrics to see what I'm missing.

[Kitsune]

Posted: 6/5/19 at 1:56pm

ClydeBarrow said: "There's no rush because the show is sold out during its original run. I believe there's going to be student rush during the extension if tickets are available.

Going for my third time tomorrow and need to really dig into Malloy's annotations to the lyrics to see what I'm missing."

I don't want to spoil it (and encourage others to do the same), but Malloy points out an easter egg in his annotations for Fugue State. 

It's a little groan-inducing, but very appropriate for the material!!