On 20th Century last night 7/14- Page 2

[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.    

[Steve C.]

Posted: 7/18/15 at 12:36pm

""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. 

 I want to thank everyone for their replies. I know that screwball comedy is not for everybody, plays like Noises Off are tough enough and then with musicals like OTTC, the energy of acting and singing really ramps it up to triple time when done correctly.

I also want to thank OlBlueEyes and ComdenGreen for their, thoughtful and detailed replies. I guess this is a show that you love or hate. (Let's face it, The Phantom Of The Opera still has haters and lovers going on for over 20 years!) 

I love Kelli O'Hara but she did not deserve a Tony for KAI; I thought that production was a "paint by numbers" version of the show. Just because you add a 50+ cast, sounds nice but it was poorly staged. Lou Diamond Phillips was a wonderful King but I thought Ken W was less than average. And I know other people loved and raved.

So on to the next production theatregoers! Enjoy

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 7/18/15 at 1:18pm

To all the people dismissing this as a show that is just purely entertaining or fluff AND making judgments about how it's lesser intellectual fare, I remind you that this show is one huge spoof of operetta and requires some knowledge of that to fully appreciate the music. The score is pretty complex to sing, and the zany comedy is not easy to pull off. I love the homage to comedies of the Golden Era of Hollywood, and the show really has a true love of performers and the over-the-top creatives. Rather than think those who enjoy it aren't sophisticated or intellectual, I think it's the opposite. The show is easy to dismiss based on shallow reasons, but if you have a working knowledge of the references and what the show is paying homage to with the style of music, lyrics, characters, and physical comedy, then you really appreciate it.

Comedy certainly is under-appreciated. No wonder comedic roles lose awards to dramatic ones all the time. Despite people saying more comedic roles should be appreciated and win awards, they always think a dramatic role automatically is "deeper" and "richer". Kristin Chenoweth was a revelation when I saw her. I truly enjoyed Kelli O'Hara's Anna, and thought she gave an excellent performance (and I couldn't stop thinking about her "Shall I Tell You What I Think of You?") but her performance was given to her by the well-written and amazing character that is Anna. Everyone I saw it with said "no wonder whoever plays it wins the Tony, it's basically award fodder on a platter." Kristin went above and beyond and gave a masterful performance, and one that can't be replicated.

[Steve C.]

Posted: 7/18/15 at 1:31pm

Yeah, Yes! Scotty

Thank you for your post. I agree that some people don't know how or just can't appreciate all the tremendous hard work going on in OTTC. Too bad it closes tomorrow but I got to see it twice

Steve in MD

[Comden Green]

Posted: 7/18/15 at 3:20pm

Thanks, Scotty.  Very interesting, helpful post.  

[The Other One]

Posted: 7/19/15 at 9:41am

All sorts of things come into play during awards season, for better or worse.  THE KING AND I and FUN HOME are shows whose books have a great deal of depth.  ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY and ON THE TOWN are largely frivolous.  I think this helps explain how Kelli O'Hara and Michael Cerveris won this year's musical acting Tonys.  That, and the fact that O'Hara had been nominated so often in the past decade and not won.

Ironically, Kristin Chenoweth and Tony Yazbeck had far more technically challenging roles in their shows due to their musical demands, and would have had my votes even if I did prefer their rivals' shows overall.

No one undeserving actually won a Tony, obviously, but I do think the scales always tip in favor of more serious fare.

Updated On: 7/20/15 at 09:41 AM

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 7/19/15 at 9:58am

Tell that to Sutton Foster, Andrea Martin, Judy Kaye, Marissa Jaret Winokur, Billy Porter, and Norbert Leo Butz, to name a few Tony winners of the last 10-15 years.

[karen24]

Posted: 7/19/15 at 11:38am

I saw this last night, 7/18, and had a great time. I wasn't familiar with the show at all (except for what I saw on the Tonys). I agree with those who've said that it's not a "deep" show, but it was funny, moved along very quickly, and had a ton of energy. The audience was extremely engaged and enthusiastic, with lots of applause for everyone.

Kristin sounded great to me and I thought she did a fantastic job. I was much more impressed seeing her in the context of the whole show than in what I saw on the Tonys.  I haven't seen Kelli in King and I yet, so obviously won't try to compare the two performances, but IMHO Kristin's performance was more than Tony worthy. I agree with the poster above who said that the role could have been a disaster in the wrong hands. 

I thought Andy Karl was hilarious with all of his physical comedy. On one of his last exits from the compartment, he stuck his foot through the door last and his shoe fell off. Kristin just lost it for a minute - she hid her face in the sofa and you could see she was laughing. It was really cute. She recovered quickly and said her next line, which she adapted slightly (I assume) so she said something like "I have to get my mind off  - and - and THAT SHOE." The audience loved it.

The one bit I really didn't like that much was the "Life is Like a Train" number - I thought the dancers were really talented  but I found the "song" too long, annoying and not very funny. 

I'm really glad I got to see Kristin in this role before the show closed. She's coming to my town (Rochester, NY) this fall and I was on the fence about seeing her, but now I'm definitely going to try to get a ticket.

[Comden Green]

Posted: 7/19/15 at 11:50am

The one bit I really didn't like that much was the "Life is Like a Train" number - I thought the dancers were really talented  but I found the "song" too long, annoying and not very funny. 

 

Thats interesting.  People are so different.  That was my favorite number of the whole show.   I almost went again just so I could see that one part again.  I didn't care what they were singing I just wanted to see them tap dance all night long.   I was thrilled that it just kept going on and on.     

[Soaring29]

Posted: 7/19/15 at 1:54pm

I saw it last night as well- the shoe bit was quite funny.  That said, I'm in the "show was dull" camp.  I was just not engaged in it, the first act dragged a lot and it was never the incredibly hysterical, wild ride of a show that it should have been. I thought Kristin was great,  although I do think her energy level was a little low at times, but she was overall very strong. Still, Kelli more then deserved that award over her, her performance was amazing.  I thought Kristin was dragged down by the material and I don't think it will be considered her career best work.  I personally was more impressed with the clips, but that's only because more of Kristin's expressions were captured there obviously.  I thought Peter Gallagher was even better then she was- How was he not nominated? 

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 7/19/15 at 2:19pm

The show was good, but not my favorite. What ruined it was the Primerose stuff. The "She's a Nut" number was very pointless. Like Soaring said, I remember Peter Gallagher (robbed of a nomination) and Andy Karl much more than Kristin, who was great, but not as good as everyone here made her out to be.

Updated On: 7/19/15 at 02:19 PM

[The Other One]

Posted: 7/19/15 at 2:45pm

"Tell that to Sutton Foster, Andrea Martin, Judy Kaye, Marissa Jaret Winokur, Billy Porter, and Norbert Leo Butz, to name a few Tony winners of the last 10-15 years."

 

OK, fair enough, but other things come into play here as well. Sutton won for ANYTHING GOES  over Patina Miller in SISTER ACT, so it was lighthearted fare vs. lighthearted fare.  Norbert won over Andrew Rannells and Josh Gad, so the same factor comes into play, and for DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS, when his chief competition was his co-star and two of the stars of SPAMALOT.  Billy Porter...well, a guy in a dress in a show about being a guy in a dress has the political and cultural zeitgeist on his side, as did KINKY BOOTS itself.  Plus, his competition was not especially dramatic, either.  Certainly not the way Michael Cerveris's and Kelli O'Hara's roles are.

Of course there are no real rules, I was generalizing, but if there are two major exceptions to the generalization I made I would say they involve SPAMALOT winning Best Musical over LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA and Harvey Fierstein in HAIRSPRAY winning Best Actor over Antonio Banderas in NINE.  As for Marissa, Bernadette's performance left audiences divided, she had won two Tonys already and, although this wouldn't last, perhaps people just didn't want to award another Mama Rose at the time.

Back to ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, Gallagher was outstanding as well and would have been a worthy nominee.  I enjoyed the show, but would have liked it more if it were shorter.  It's fun, light stuff, it doesn't need to go on for as long as it does.  The Miss Primrose stuff is a bit much, and I agree that "She's A Nut" was pointless and much too long.  Ditto the "I Have Written A Play" scenes.  Once was enough.  But this fault is built into the show so I wouldn't blame it on this production.  

Updated On: 7/20/15 at 02:45 PM

[Braniff Forever]

Posted: 7/19/15 at 3:11pm

I saw it too last night, and really liked it. I thought the music, singing and dancing was great. No one has mentioned the first number when Kristen comes out as an accompanist and we here her voice for the first time. I liked that more quiet scene before Kristen becomes famous. I didn't realize the shoe dropping off of his foot wasn't planned (what do I know, lol! It looked like it fit into the scene. I did also find that Andy Karl to be very handsome and had quite a nice time watching him on stage! He seemed to have quite the body! 

My my favorite scenes were She's a Nut and Life is like a Train. I liked the way the set changed often in She's a nut and it was, I guess a very physical comedy at that point. The dancing in Life is like a Train was phenomenal. It made you want to get up and dance. 

I thight of a strange comparison here. Since the show was basically about a guy who wanted to put a show together, it reminded me of IT'S ONLY A PLAY... It's like the characters of It's Only a Play added music singing and dancing to their storyline. I wonder what Nathan Lane in the Peter Gallagher role would have been like? I guess the idea of Broadway itself as the subject of a Broadway show is a popular topic on Broadway? Sort of like moviemaking as the subject of a movie. 

I bought the the cast recording, so I'll see how it holds up against THE VISIT and FUN HOME, two recordings I love. I saw The Visit but have not seen Fun Home yet. 

 

[Steve C.]

Posted: 7/19/15 at 3:56pm

It is really quite interesting to look back at the original OTTC and see that so many of the same issues discussed here were also on everyone's mind back then. At the 1978 Tonys the original got a good amount of nominations. (The same as this year.) However, it WON for Book of a Musical for Comden and Green, Best Score for C,G, and Coleman, Best Actor/Musical John Cullum, Best Supporting Actor/Musical Kevin Kline, and several technical awards. From different/book sources I've read, the producers tried to get Madeline Kahn nominated but the Tony board said no; so Judy Kaye did get the nom, (as she should have.) But just like this year the competition was stiff. In '78 Liza Minelli was at the height of her career. Even though Kaye's roll was more technically challenging, being up against Liza was almost a no-brainer. Liza gave a great performance but was she better than Judy Kaye ?? There are clips I've seen on YouTube of the OBC, just type in OTTC or 1978 Tony Awards (Complete Awards Show) ..so Liza did win that year.

I still think this OTTC was terrific and Kristin Chenowith was spectacular into the stratosphere!  

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 7/19/15 at 4:39pm

"From different/book sources I've read, the producers tried to get Madeline Kahn nominated but the Tony board said no; so Judy Kaye did get the nom, (as she should have.) But just like this year the competition was stiff."

 Actually, Madeline Kahn was nominated for the Tony and Judy Kaye was nominated for the DD.

 

[VIETgrlTerifa]

Posted: 7/19/15 at 5:43pm

Maybe the producers tried to get Judy Kaye nominated, but the Tony committee stuck to their rules about only opening night cast members being eligible. Kahn probably did the role long enough to not invoke some sort of Dean Jones exception. Though I do wonder if it was awkward for Kahn to be there and see her replacement get applauded before the performance and then perform the number in the role Kahn was nominated for.

[Steve C.]

Posted: 7/19/15 at 10:30pm

Thanks and I hope you enjoyed the show today. I do have one question about the recent posts.

In the Tony Awards what is the "Dean Jones exception"? Did something happen during Company? 

[Phillypinto]

Posted: 7/19/15 at 10:50pm

wow i can't believe the huge differences of opinion on both On the Town and On the 20th Century this year. I personally LOVED 20th century, and though On the Town was soooo dull and not funny, and then a lot of people feel the exact opposite

[The Other One]

Posted: 7/19/15 at 11:08pm

"Thanks and I hope you enjoyed the show today. I do have one question about the recent posts.
In the Tony Awards what is the "Dean Jones exception"? Did something happen during Company? "

Dean Jones was going through personal problems while Company was previewing out of town and chose to quit the show. Hal Prince talked him into opening it in NY to both present the show as rehearsed and work someone else in. That someone turned out to be Larry Kert, who began playing Bobby a couple of weeks into the run. Very few people actually saw Jones, and Kert was deemed eligible for the nomination. 

[Phillypinto]

Posted: 7/19/15 at 11:23pm

wow this is so interesting. I went in with no expectations at all honestly. I knew almost nothing about the show, and just enjoyed it. I think going into a show having high or low expectations is a bad thing. 

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 7/19/15 at 11:37pm

Attended the last performance today and had an enjoyable time, but actually I had more fun when I saw it in May. I guess that seeing the show four times and listening to the cast recording, which is almost a recording of the whole show, about a dozen times was really pushing it. In May almost the whole audience lept to its feet cheering at the very start of curtain calls, here more gradual until the top two took their bows.

I was hoping, and in fact expecting, the cast to do some things to acknowledge the last performance. Maybe a little improv, or a few words to the audience, or at least a lot of hugs at curtain call. But there was nothing that I noticed.

The audience, on the other hand, was ready to fill its role as the final audience. There were loud ovations and cheering at a number of spots. But the biggest, longest, most enthusiastic and show stopping demonstration was for the tapping porters, after they finished "Life is Like a Train." Go figure.

I think that there may be a large, untapped audience for tap on Broadway (pun intended). Sutton Foster, I have always thought, won the Best Actress Tony with that long, exhausting tap and sing number that ended the first act.

And, yes, in the row in front of me there was this couple pretty much sitting on their hands and wondering what the hell was the deal with all these other crazy people in the audience. Sorry to report that they wimped out and got on their feet finally towards the end of the bows.

 

[aj88]

Posted: 7/20/15 at 10:39am

I was at the performance on the 15th, where the side sofa came off its track and had to be manually moved by a stagehand...which was definitely humorous.

My opinion of this show was that it was always underrated and overlooked, so I was extremely happy that this revival got the exposure it did due to Kristin Chenoweth.

However, I left the production feeling a tad underwhelmed. I still stand by the material but the energy felt a little off to me....perhaps it was just an off performance. I enjoyed most of the performances, but I actually left more impressed with Peter Gallagher (though he was no John Cullum) and Andy Karl. Kristin Chenoweth was very good but I didn't view her as a revelation by any means. It was kind of strange feeling because I wasn't overly impressed with her and yet she had this star quality where I couldn't take my eyes off of her most of the time. In the end, the vibrant jolt she gave me years ago in Charlie Brown still remains one of the most exciting moments I've had in a theatre.

I am very glad I still got to see this production before it closed because various setbacks kept me from getting to see it. I was able to score a $20 ticket through TodayTix thanks to a promo code.

And now next up is seeing FUN HOME this weekend.

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 7/20/15 at 6:17pm

I was at the last performance yesterday in the 4th row, center orchestra. I can't speak for the rest of the audience, but all of the people around me were on their feet when the first of the ensemble came out for their curtain call. Everyone around me LOVED it! The folks in front of me compared it favorably to the original. They actually said they preferred this revival (which they saw with Madeline Kahn.)  Did anyone mention Kristin's "extra slap" to which Peter Gallagher asked, "What was THAT for?" to which she replied, softly, with tears in her eyes, "That's so you won't forget me." It was a sweet moment. 

We adored this show! It deserves all the accolades it received. It's everything a romantic musical comedy should be. I certainly won't ever forget it!

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 7/20/15 at 6:18pm

BTW, We were sitting next to David Rockwell. And Phyllis Newman was there too.

Updated On: 7/20/15 at 06:18 PM

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 7/20/15 at 6:21pm

Saw it early on via Access 10

I saw the original & this was as good if not better. Much of the choreography seemed quite similar to the original.

It is a shame it was a limited run but we thoroughly enjoyed it. Wonder what happens to that great train car set.