On 20th Century last night 7/14

[Steve C.]

Posted: 7/15/15 at 12:54pm

Did anyone see "20th" last night? It was the second time I saw it and it is such a great show and to be closing so soon makes me sad. Kristen Chenoweth's performance is one for the annals of Broadway history. Last night was especially riotous! The entire cast , Andy, Peter, Mary Louise, and of course Kristen, are playing their souls out. In the finale, Peter accidentally spit in Kristen's face, (a lot), and they could not keep from breaking character and the audience went wild laughing with them.

I sure hope it was filmed for PBS or the archives.  

[BroadwayKiwi]

Posted: 7/15/15 at 2:08pm

I was there and it was indeed quite a nice "going up" moment at a point in the night that it didn't damage the plot at all really. So quite nice that everyone, cast and audience alike, could go along with it.

It's probably just me... Forgive me... I had never seen/heard the show before... But the whole thing felt very Clutching At Straws to make a musical. Two and a quarter hours to say what could be said in one hour (or less?). Just a really strange show, I guess is what I'm trying to say. Maybe I'm not appreciating the style. Just thinking out loud!

[Scoobs2]

Posted: 7/15/15 at 2:11pm

I'm really sad I will never get to see Kristin's performance in this show. It sounds like she was stunning in every way.

[Braniff Forever]

Posted: 7/15/15 at 2:44pm

We are hopefully going to see it on this coming Saturday if the flights cooperate

[Steve C.]

Posted: 7/15/15 at 3:59pm

I hope you all have a wonderful time!

Just from my own knowledge, 20th Century is based on play by Hecht. The musical is by Comden and Green, from about 1977-78. It originally starred Madelyn Kahn, John Cullum, Imogene Coca, Kevin Kline. Kahn left pretty fast and the great Judy Kaye took over. Kline won a Tony. ...and that cast also? This 2015 one ain't chopped liver either!!

And Comden and Green did concerts in the 80's and Betty Comden sang, "Repent!" Can you imagine that? What a woman and wonderful team! 

See it if you can. I'm sure it won't be done for another 45 years or so...

 

[gypsy101]

Posted: 7/15/15 at 5:25pm

This show was so special to me when I saw it in May. Kristin is (very likely) giving the performance of her career. I wish I could have gotten back to see again it before it closed.

[morosco]

Posted: 7/15/15 at 9:24pm

 

Comden and Green did concerts in the 80's and Betty Comden sang, "Repent!"

 

If I recall correctly Betty Comden took over the role of Leticia Primrose during the original run during a time when Imogene Coca was either ill or on vacation.

[ebontoyan]

Posted: 7/15/15 at 10:02pm

I am so happy I saw this show 3x (in Feb and May) Great performances all around!!

[Jay94]

Posted: 7/16/15 at 12:00am

Kristen and Peter broke character and started laughing at the same time on the Wednesday matinee. I thought the show was okay; clearly the main issue is the thin and kinda unfunny book. Plenty of lame old-hat gags and tired slapstick. The audience ate it up but I found myself shrugging.

[BroadwayKiwi]

Posted: 7/16/15 at 12:57am

"Kristen and Peter broke character and started laughing at the same time on the Wednesday matinee. I thought the show was okay; clearly the main issue is the thin and kinda unfunny book. Plenty of lame old-hat gags and tired slapstick. The audience ate it up but I found myself shrugging."

 Jay you've nailed it there - I was shrugging the whole night while around me it was like a hyena party. Just like at Relatively Speaking a few years ago. 

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 7/16/15 at 1:31am

I saw an early preview and was a little disappointed as my expectations were so high. But in May they had gotten it all together and it was hard to tell whether the cast or the audience was having more fun. In the "I Have Written a Play" scenes, a lot of the audience joined in with Oscar and his "bootlickers" singing "I call it Life On the Hog Market Committee."

Too bad it was shut out at the Tony awards. It took a lot of attention away from the production. Over 100 seats still available for the final performance in three days?

I'll be there and it should be lots of fun.

"Madcap" comedies aren't trying to say anything. They give very talented cast members a chance to play over-the-top characters mugging shamelessly to the audience. All manner of gags are in play, from physical gags to sight gags, and the story unfolds at breakneck pace. A good predictor of your reaction to this comedy might be whether you thought it was a big laugh or a big yawn when Mrs. Primrose during "She's a Nut" cartwheels across the stage.

The film Bringing Up Baby, if not the best screwball comedy, ranks up very high. It features Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn playing very silly characters doing very silly things, culminating with the two of them singing a duet of "I Can't Give You Anything But Love" to a leopard that they believe is domesticated but in reality is an escaped killer from the circus. Not exactly The Philadelphia Story.

Not a comedy genre for everyone.

 

 

Updated On: 7/16/15 at 01:31 AM

[RippedMan]

Posted: 7/16/15 at 1:49am

I don't think Cheno's performance was all that great? Maybe I saw her on an off night, but she seemed to under play everything. Her energy was low and she just didn't seem to aline with the comedy. I thought Karl was the standout. She didn't really wow me in Promises, Promises either. So maybe I'm just not a fan? I don't know. 

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 7/16/15 at 2:45am

I saw On the 20th century tonight.  It was an excellent night.  The cast was hilarious and Kristen's voice was rich as full. I loved Gallgher's character mostly because thought how much fun it must be to play such a melodramatic part.  

Midway way through act I, tthere was a rather jarring mishap.  The couch piece on stage left that is on a track somehow came off the track.  So a stagehand was roughly putting it back on the track.  This was all while Kristen and Peter had lines a few feet away.  The lamp on top of the back of the couch crashed to the stage floor  and made Kristen laugh. She made an offhand comment about 10million dollars.  Peter said a line about the show (within a show) being a smash hit and he pointed at the broken lamp.  Stagehands appeared instantly with brooms to sweep up the mess    Then for some reason a stage hand put the remains of the broken lamp back on the couch set,which made Kristen laugh again 

[StageStar2468]

Posted: 7/16/15 at 7:35am

I too went in with relatively high expectations and left the theatre very underwhelmed. I thought the performers themselves did a fine job. I've seen Kristin in other things and usually enjoy her, and was really excited since so many had been saying how perfect she was in this role, and I had heard great things from friends about the rest of the cast as well. I dont 

 

know if I would go as far as saying Kristin's performance or the show itself was Tony worthy, but maybe that because this was, of course, a very noteworthy year for musicals as a whole.

As for the material and the show itself, I do agree with Broadway Kiwi. The show definitely felt very drawn out to me, and I felt like the story didn't really have enough to make a full length musical and some parts of the show really dragged on, in my opinion. I normally enjoy more classic shows, but this one just didn't do it for me. That being said, most of the audience seemed to love it. I was looking around at everyone else laughing and smiling, wondering what was wring with me! Guess, like all shows, its all about preference and why you find interesting/entertaining.

[ArtMan]

Posted: 7/16/15 at 8:32am

When I saw it, the guy sitting next to me, laughed, wooed and clapped during the majority of the show. And not just after the end of a song.  After dialogue .  (He got on my nerves prior to the show and during intermission, but that is  for the bad audience behavior thread).  I think he contributed to me not liking the show as much as I thought I would.  Maybe my expectations were too high. I just kept sitting there and wondering what are these people hysterically laughing at?  There were many amusing antics, especially with Andy Karl, but the way these people were reacting, I just didn't get it.

[ArtMan]

Posted: 7/16/15 at 8:33am

double post

Updated On: 7/16/15 at 08:33 AM

[Comden Green]

Posted: 7/16/15 at 5:38pm

Despite my name, I'm not always thrilled with Comden Green stuff.  I'm still learning about them and am certainly intrigued.  I didn't "get" Wonderful Town at the time but now I could appreciate it.  There's a lot that needs to be overlooked in "On the Town" but I had no problem doing that.  The music, the dancing, the lyrics, the singing, there was so much to love.  I was able to forgive a certain dated character and jokes that just aren't funny today.  And the show has, unbelievably, three, (three!) of my all time absolute favorite songs. 

On the Twentieth Century, I knew I had to see it.  I got the original cast recording and listened once.  I hated it.  again, I didn't "get" it.  I didn't know what the plot was and after the recording, I didn't care. 

Then I saw it.  They had me at tap-dancing Porters.  I just loved it, even the music and lyrics that I had hated before seeing it.  Now the new recording is one of my current favorites.  I wasn't laughing hysterically but I did realize, about midway through the first act that my face was practically frozen with a big smile.   it was just so darned enjoyable - the overacting, the broad songs, the supporting cast and of course the musical perfection of Kristin.  Then in Act II a big number with the tap-dancing porters and a well done scene with lots of slamming doors.  All my favorites.

There was still some to overlook - the "I've written a play" and the cartwheel didn't do it for me.  but, that's ok.  I'm sorry that not everybody got the show but I sure did.

I came very close to going to nyc this week to see it a second time but ultimately decided to forego that expense and just be satisfied with the memories of a very pleasant night.   that might be the thing I enjoy the most about Broadway - the memories. 

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 7/16/15 at 5:45pm

I saw a late preview back in March. I was pretty underwhelmed. I thought the production was fine, but the book and score just didn't do much for me. I thought Chenoweth was fine, but not extraordinary. 

[StageStar2468]

Posted: 7/16/15 at 8:34pm

." that might be the thing I enjoy the most about Broadway - the memories. "

 Very nicely put! One of my favorite things is putting on a cast recording a few days after seeing a show and picturing those moments and remembering when I saw them on stage. That being said I'm glad you enjoyed yourself so much. Even though it wasn't my favorite, I know a lot of people who have truly enjoyed themselves see in it.

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 7/16/15 at 11:37pm

I was miserably bored the whole time. I seriously considered leaving at intermission. There is no doubt that Chenoweth is very talented (I enjoyed the audition scene) but her performance didn't hold a candle to the deep and rich performances of Chita and Kelli. I guess it's not my kind of show. It wasn't funny and the story was too flimsy and fluffy for my taste. I guess some people just want to be entertained for a few hours.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 7/17/15 at 1:36am

"But the whole thing felt very Clutching At Straws to make a musical. Two and a quarter hours to say what could be said in one hour (or less?). Just a really strange show, I guess is what I'm trying to say. Maybe I'm not appreciating the style. Just thinking out loud!"

 

I totally agree...it had a few really cute numbers, but the show overall was very weak to me. She is giving a fine performance in a terrible show. I loathe the storyline of the crazy religious lady. Ugh.

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 7/17/15 at 2:26am

"I was miserably bored the whole time. I seriously considered leaving at intermission. There is no doubt that Chenoweth is very talented (I enjoyed the audition scene) but her performance didn't hold a candle to the deep and rich performances of Chita and Kelli. I guess it's not my kind of show. It wasn't funny and the story was too flimsy and fluffy for my taste. I guess some people just want to be entertained for a few hours."

Geez, it's looking like the people that really liked this production are extremely shallow and probably find The Three Stooges to be sophisticated. As the show is going away, I'll try to defend the dullards that really enjoyed it with a look back at the reviews.

Brantley:

In the theater, there is overacting, which is common and painful to watch. Then there’s over-the-moon acting, which is rare and occupies its own special cloud land in heaven. I am delighted to report that this latter art is being practiced in altitudinous-high style at the American Airlines Theater, where Kristin Chenoweth and Peter Gallagher are surfing the stratosphere in "On the Twentieth Century."

Scott Ellis’s ripping, lavishly appointed revival of this 1978 musical about dueling giant egos on a train between Chicago and New York — which opened on Sunday night in a Roundabout Theater Company production — knows that when it comes to being hyperbolic, there’s no people like show people. No, not even excitable reviewers like me on the morning after a show like this one. There are so many reasons to celebrate this "On the Twentieth Century," which features a score by Cy Coleman, with a book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green.

Brantley's brain has become addled, you say. He loved Honeymoon in Vegas - twice!

What comes after the New York Times? According to Billy Joel, The Daily News:

Next stop, Broadway musical bliss.

That’s where the Roundabout revival of "On the Twentieth Century," directed with verve by Scott Ellis, takes you.

The setting for this fast-paced, flab-free screwball operetta by Cy Coleman, Betty Comden and Adolph Green is a luxury coach en route from Chicago to New York in the 1930s. The stylish state-of-the-art locomotive by David Rockwell gleams in brilliant Art Deco glory.

But that’s nothing compared to the practically nuclear glow that comes off Kristin Chenoweth, whose singular talent and skills are tailor-made for a role originated on Broadway in 1978 by Madeline Kahn.

Throw in a short one from the Post:

“They don’t write dialogue like this anymore,” a producer says, leafing through the Bible in “On the Twentieth Century.” And they don’t write musical comedies like this anymore, either. Gloriously revived by the Roundabout Theatre Company, this 1978 musical — now with sparkling turns by Kristin Chenoweth and Peter Gallagher — is a fast-paced romp.

Set entirely on the 20th Century Limited train from Chicago to New York, the show — music by Cy Coleman, book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green — barrels down the tracks to theatrical bliss.

And the not-easy-to-please Linda Winer, theater critic at Newsday for around thirty years. Her favorite musical, or at least one of her very favorite musicals, is Sunday in the Park with George.

Where has "On the Twentieth Century" been for the last 37 years? If, indeed, the 1978 musical-comedy has been saving itself for just the right mad screwball alchemy, then, all right, this was worth the wait.

Ego, love and the lovingly egomaniacal theatricality of theater people are the subjects of the Roundabout Theatre Company's breathlessly charming revival of a show about which, I admit, I never before have felt the slightest bit bonkers.

But the real subject of director Scott Ellis' production is expertise. From the virtuosic, wildly endearing Peter Gallagher as fading Broadway director Oscar Jaffe and the equally dazzling Kristin Chenoweth as movie queen Lily Garland through every supporting cast member, the show builds respect -- showstopper by showstopper -- for Cy Coleman's terrifically demanding operetta-and-jazz-inspired music and for some of the most clever lyrics ever written by that cleverness machine, Betty Comden and Adolph Green.

That's the four local newspapers. I'll give you a break and stop here.

 

 

[PianoMann]

Posted: 7/17/15 at 9:44am

It's coincidental that most of the comments on this thread are lukewarm, because I saw the show about two weeks ago and was completely underwhelmed, too.

I certainly don't regret seeing the show, and thought it was enjoyable to a degree (the audition scene including "Indian Maiden's Lament" and "Veronique" was a highlight, as was "She's a Nut"), but I wouldn't recommend it.

During Tony season, I thought Chenoweth would easily win Actress in a Musical for giving "the performance of her career," but after seeing the show with my own eyes, I would easily put her behind O'Hara and Rivera.  She was good, and I particularly liked her "Never", but certainly not career-best work.

Mary Louise Wilson and Peter Gallagher were highlights.  I don't get the praise for Karl.

[theatreguy12]

Posted: 7/18/15 at 3:49am

After having seen both shows, I still believe a great performance of Lily Garland should overshadow a great performance of Anna. To me the latter is a textbook role that any Broadway caliber actress should be able to sing and perform with a nuance that makes it special.

But when it's up against a great performance like Kristin's, I would have to give the nod to Chenoweth. That role could really be flubbed if it had the wrong person cast. And Kristin nailed it. It's too bad that a few others on here saw her on what must have been an off night. Because underwhelming is the last word I would have used to describe her performance. And the audience was with the show every step of the way.

I thought KC's performance seemed more complex, and I walked out of the theater thinking that if she doesn't get the Tony I'll be shocked. After having seen the King and I, as great as the performances were, it was still yet another resurrection of the The King and I for me, and while I thought she was great, I still felt the role played by KC was more complex. And since both got rave reviews, I would have given it to KC.

I think sentiment was on the side of The King and I, and on the lead role that was played by a multi-nominated but never won actress. And I think Kristin has become so well known now that that may have worked against her. Maybe a bit like the feelings for Matthew Morrison who replaced a lesser known (outside of theater circles) Jeremy Jordan.

[Comden Green]

Posted: 7/18/15 at 5:32am

"After having seen both shows, I still believe a great performance of Lily Garland should overshadow a great performance of Anna. To me the latter is a textbook role that any Broadway caliber actress should be able to sing and perform with a nuance that makes it special.

But when it's up against a great performance like Kristin's, I would have to give the nod to Chenoweth. That role could really be flubbed if it had the wrong person cast. And Kristin nailed it. It's too bad that a few others on here saw her on what must have been an off night. Because underwhelming is the last word I would have used to describe her performance. And the audience was with the show every step of the way.

I thought KC's performance seemed more complex, and I walked out of the theater thinking that if she doesn't get the Tony I'll be shocked. 

Yep. Those were pretty much my thoughts as well.  Kelli deserved the Tony last year. KC this year.