Perhaps, I sounded harsh, but after watching that mini-press reel two more times, I stand by my opinion. The producers and press people sent out clips of SEVEN different scenes from the show -- presumably the best representation of it that they have to offer -- in hopes of enticing me to spend $111.50 to see the show. I didn't hear one decent melody out of the six presented. The lyrics are pedestrian at best, mediocre at worst, devoid of any cleverness or wit (this is a comedy, right?). Perhaps the squeakly, squeely voices are appropriate to the characters, but after nearly four minutes of hearing them, I already had the beginnings of a headache (and couldn't imagine enduring two and a half hours of that chirpy sound). The ensemble numbers all looked like high school cheerleading routines, not Broadway level professional dance numbers. If this is indicative of the show as a whole (and this is the best of it that they have to offer) then, no thanks.
To those who say it's unfair to judge a show based on a press reel, I don't know, I've seen dozens, if not hundreds of press reels over the years and you what? After watching six or seven scenes, you could almost always predict which shows were going to be good and which shows were going to be bad. Because of the miracles of editing, occasionally shows would end up being a little better or a little worse in full performance than their reel would indicate, but more often than not, seven scenes were enough to tell you whether you would like the finished product or not.
To those who say, I'm not giving it a chance, well, I see over 100 different shows every year (115 last year), so I give more shows a chance than 99% of this board ever will and 99.9% of the rest of the world would ever have the desire to. I've plunked down money for tons of shows that didn't look remotely promising at all, just on the off chance that it might surprise me -- and it's almost never happened that something that looked as bereft of invention and originality as this show has turned out to be anything more than so-so (if not truly awful).
Mind you, I'm not telling anyone else not to go see this show. If you watched the clips and loved them, well, good for you. I hope you have a great time. But, personally, I want and expect more than this for my hard earned dollar. I don't expect every new musical to be stamped with the genius of a Robbins or a Bennett or a Fosse, but I do expect ambition and drive and professionalism. What ever happened to true inventiveness? Or originality? Or passion? Or wit? Or just plain talent? Theatre has the power to engage and uplift the heart and soul and mind -- is there ANYTHING in this show that even TRIES to do that?
Sorry, but for me -- and I know LOTS of people don't agree -- for $111.50, I want more than mindless, forgettable, poorly executed fluff. I don't mind "silly" or "fun," as long as it's put together with precision and intelligence and skill with Broadway caliber dancing and singing and music and design and a book that has a bit of substance beneath all the flash and dazzle (HAIRSPRAY is a good example of a show that's silly and campy, but nevertheless has a solid book and score and clever staging and design with a story that deals with race and class and being an "outsider" while still being entertaining -- and you could tell all of that just from seeing a handful of clips on its press reel before the show even opened).
Bottom line, if I want mindless fluffy entertainment, I can watch a sitcom or reality show or some similarly forgettable piece of junk 24/7 on any one 500 channels in the comfort of my home. Or I can go to the local multiplex and pay $11 and see the latest comedy spoof or action/adventure flick. For $111.50, I expect more -- MUCH MORE and I think we all deserve and should expect a higher level of creativity and artistry and originality than the kind of overpriced theatrical junk food we too often get served these days in the name of "entertainment."
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
[http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/]
"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
