On A Clear Day First Preview

[jamiekennywicked]

Posted: 11/12/11 at 1:53pm

Is anyone going to the first preview for On A Clear Day You Can See Forever tonight? Interested to hear peoples thoughts

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 11/12/11 at 2:21pm

If anyone would be so kind as to post a curtain picture it would be very appreciated

[quizking101]

Posted: 11/12/11 at 2:42pm

I will only see this if the price is right. The story intrigues me but boy, do I hate Harry Connick Jr...

[nasty_khakis]

Posted: 11/12/11 at 2:45pm

I walked by the box office today around 10:30 and bought a $30 rush ticket. The man said he had "around 30 left for tonight." Side Orchestra partial view.

[AC126748]

Posted: 11/12/11 at 2:56pm

It's on TKTS for tonight, as well--at 50% off. Unless it opens to magnificent reviews, I can't see it being a terribly hard ticket to get.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 11/12/11 at 2:57pm

I had no idea this was selling so poorly...

[ljay889]

Posted: 11/12/11 at 2:58pm

The story intrigues me but boy, do I hate Harry Connick Jr...

He was pretty sensational in THE PAJAMA GAME. Give him a chance.
Updated On: 11/12/11 at 02:58 PM

[kyle4]

Posted: 11/12/11 at 3:24pm

guys...

i chose covering LYSTRIATA over this...

i hope nobody is mad...

sometimes we have to make important decisions like these...

as evolved people we understand thatbthisnis ALL part of life...

check here later...

http://thetheaterbuff.typepad.com/the-theater-buff/2011/10/godspell-first-preview-thoughts.html

ok... later people...

[ljay889]

Posted: 11/12/11 at 3:43pm

thatbthisnis

What the hell?

[tazber]

Posted: 11/12/11 at 4:46pm

I love HCJ and the score. And I really want this to be good, but I honestly believe the book is unfixable no matter how many revisions you make.

It's a truly bizarre and confusing story.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 11/12/11 at 5:19pm

I love the OBCR so much. Harris is so good it's scary. For awhile "Hurry! It's lovely up here" was the most played song on my iPod ha, and of course Cullum is in glorious voice too.

I'm going tonight, but with definite hesitations about the changes. The book is clearly a problem and would have to be altered for any production, but I'm not sure splitting the leading lady into a male and female role is the right decision, and I'm certainly not happy they've cut "On the SS Bernard Cohen."

The draw to doing this show is the score, so why put on a production if you're not going to leave it in tact?

[PalJoey]

Posted: 11/12/11 at 6:51pm

I was told "SS Bernard Cohen" was still in, but in a somewhat altered state.

[tazber]

Posted: 11/12/11 at 7:55pm

I look forward to your review Whizzer!

[mamaleh]

Posted: 11/12/11 at 11:05pm

Isn't it "SS Bernard Cohn" sans the "E"? Anyway, as long as they keep in "She Wasn't You" I'll be content. Lovely, lovely song.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 11/12/11 at 11:15pm

Both songs are in the show.

"She Wasn't You" is sung by Dr. Bruckner in the first act about his late wife. Later, it's reprised as a quartet called "He Wasn't You" with David and Warren joining in with Mark and Melinda.

Updated On: 11/12/11 at 11:15 PM

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 11/12/11 at 11:57pm

As I type this review I am simultaneously searching Craigslist for some sort of hypnotist who, in keeping with the spirit of the show, can help me forget the last three hours of my life.

I found the show to be a complete mess. Everything seemed to be wrong. It's really hard to say what, if anything, they used from the original book. The show has been reset in 1974 and as if now well-known the Harris character has been split into a gay man in the present and a jazz singer circa 1943. The score has been ripped to shreds (I think the sound bites of songs in Baby It's You were often more cohesive), and what does remain from the original has been shuffled and changed dramatically.

The biggest issue may be that it doesn't showcase the considerable talents of Harry Connick Jr. This may partly lie within the show. I've always felt it was Daisy/David's show (well I've actually never thought it was David's show- neither the character nor Mr. Turner, but since there is no Daisy here David will have to do!). It belonged to Harris and then Streisand in the movie. David is by far the more interesting character and there are long stretches with Harry off stage. They've moved the title song to the finale, so we don't even get to hear him sing that early on.

Looking in my playbill I saw the show still started off with "Hurry! It's lovely up here," but alas the introduction, "Talk to flowers right here..." has been cut. The rest is so broken up with Connick narrating between each line it hardly felt a song. A huge mistake.

Connick then sang "She ISN'T you" to a pic of his dead wife, and though he sounded great the version was really just a snippet of the song. It could have been a great moment for him to shine, but was so brief you barely noticed it. As noted above the song is sung in full as a quartet in act 2.

"Open Your Eyes" is reprised a million times throughout. "SS Bernard Cohn" (corrected!) was different and not very effective in my opinion. What could be a knock-em-dead showstopper Turned into a weird trio like thing with Connick/David/Melinda and then the ensemble in the background. Personally I find the song to be better sung by a woman than a man.

All the 1942 scenes are pretty bland. Jessie Mueller, who plays Melinda, has a nice voice, but is boring and creates little chemistry with Connick. I just didn't think the role worked being split in two. I spent the whole evening rooting for Warrnen to find a better boyfriend who would appreciate him for the great guy he was!

"What Did I Have That I Don't Have" turned into "Don't Rain On My Parade" orchestrations for the second half and was a mess. David Turner was all over the place...I know it's the first preview, but I except people to know their notes to the songs. It was a bit rough.

"Come Back to Me" has become a duet with Connick and Warren that gets downright goofy. Again another moment where you just wanted Connick to take center stage and deliver and he was denied.

The set was pretty ugly despite often being bright. The whole production was like a cross between the Hair and Promises, Promises revivals. In fact "When I'm Being Born Again" sounded like it had "Hare Krishna" orchestrations. The choreography was amateurish and distracting. My friend thought it was like Raggedy Ann and I thought the Marshall Grease Revival.

If they had to go with this gay angle they should have gotten Sean Hayes (although way too old I think they could have made it work). Connick seemed stiff and uncomfortable, especially around the gay stuff. I'm trying to imply he's homophobic or anything like that AT ALL. I just thought he looked a bit uneasy.

You could feel the audience wanting to enjoy Connick, but the creative team rarely allowed him to let loose. The man can ooze charm- let him!!

Yes I'm frustrated and crabby, if you can't tell, but I truly adore this score so wanted to basically hear it done justice no matter what they did to the book, but I wasn't even given that. If Connick wasn't in the production I don't think it would survive the winter.

[nasty_khakis]

Posted: 11/13/11 at 12:00am

Wow. So many thoughts.

First off, the show is LONG. We got out around 10:55. I know things will be tighter by opening, parts definitely dragged a little.

All the performances are solid, if not all the way there yet. Harry's character is kind of underwritten and he never really gets a chance to shine until practically the last scene.

Jessie Mueller has a LOVELY and unique voice. She is very talented, but doesn't really DO much. Melinsa is referred to often as having a big outgoing personality and she just seems to stand and smile and sing beautifully. Hopefully she'll relax and have a bit more fun after a few shows.

David Turner is incredibly charming and perfectly cast. My only qualm with the changes to the story are Dr Bruckner seems to immediately be ok/not put off by David acting like a 40s cocktail waitress. They need to add a bit of "what are you doing?" to this first hypnosis scene to really pull off the new concept. The switch in itself ups the stakes in a major way and the last moment of act one is a bit shocking, but effective.

The supporting cast is very good and I walked away with a tiny crush on Drew Gehling (that voice!).

I personally found the set hideous and off-putting. Using Opt Art on EVERYTING makes it very headache-y to look at. The costumes were odd and a bit too color schemed and color blocked for my taste.

Overall the show is in solid shape. The plot is very fairly straight forward. I think the switching from man to woman makes it EASIER to follow as it's obvious "This is David/This is David hypnotized (Melinda)." The audience was very responsive and seemed to cheer every number.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 11/13/11 at 12:02am

Yikes... this does not sound good. What was the curtain? (Yes, I am obsessed with show curtains... I freely admit it)

[nasty_khakis]

Posted: 11/13/11 at 12:08am

It's a giant black and white Opt Art with a key hole in the middle. Behind the keyhole is another piece of black and white Opt Art. Aka a headache.

I overall enjoyed it. They just need to tighten the characters a bit more. That will probably develop in previews.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 11/13/11 at 12:13am

I don't think it should ever be confusing when one actor plays both Daisy/David and Melinda. The costume and time period switch should be enough. I actually think it completely erases the stakes. We are never wondering will David fall for Dr. Bruckner or end up with Warren. When the doctor sings "Come Back To Me" at the end you really wonder will she come back...will they fall in love in the present? Will Daisy take Warren's appealing offer to grow to be 65 together? There is no romantic conflict anymore. We don't think for a second that Connick is going to go gay so where's the suspense?

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 11/13/11 at 12:25am

Dear Harry Connick Jr.,

I am a huge fan of yours. I saw you in THE PAJAMA GAME five times. You sold all of those songs extremely well, deserved your Tony nomination for that role, your chemistry will Kelli O'Hara was electrifying, and you seemed extremely comfortable on that stage. Last summer, you really wowed me in your concert HARRY CONNICK JR IN CONCERT ON BROADWAY. For 15 sold out performances, you did exactly what audiences came to see you do...and you were brilliant. I own both the CD and the DVD of that concert and I enjoy them both. However, in my opinion, this evening's performance of ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER was a complete disaster.

First of all, I love the OBCR and I was very excited to hear you sing this score. Unfortunately, you don't sing much of it at all. Your co-stars (or should I say co-non-stars) get most of the score while you narrate and stand around watching them. When you started singing "Come Back to Me" late in Act 2, I was thinking "Yay, finally some Harry crooning," and then it turned into a duet with Drew Gehling, which fell flat. Not until the title song did the audience actually get what they paid for. A big solo number for you to show off what you can really do.

David Turner cannot carry a show and, at the first preview at least, could not find a note and was singing ahead of the orchestra quite a few times. Jessie Mueller is bland and bland can be. Most of her songs are extraneous and should be cut. Please take a tip from your inner diva and demand that these two actors be replaced.

While you're at it, please have the book rewritten (again) so that you are more in the foreground. You deserve to have more solos and you deserve to shine. This is your show. You are in all the ads, people are paying to see you, the website makes the show seem like it is all about you singing some songs (which sadly, it is not) and you deserve so much better than this.

If all else fails, go right ahead and break your own leg so that you have to withdraw from the show and then it will close. You are so much better than this show portrays and I don't want to see your career hurt with scathing reviews in the papers.

Thanks for listening,
Without A Trace

PS: If your show does close in the next couple of months, call Kelli and conspire with her to have Broderick fired from NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT so you can replace him. You and Kelli back together again on stage would be musical theater perfection.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 11/13/11 at 12:31am

I have not read about any of the book changes prior to this thread... so Daisy's character is now a gay man, but Melinda still remains in the story? Sorry I am out of the loop here as you can tell!

[nasty_khakis]

Posted: 11/13/11 at 12:32am

To be fair, Connick did, in fact, go gay for a second.

The stakes are raised in the fact the "case/subject" is heightened. It's more interesting for a man to completely change gender in a dissociative identity than just a woman perhaps just becoming bolder under psychohypnosis.

I didn't believe Connick would end up with David, but I did believe he was in love with Melinda and cared about David as a case. It's a very very different animal plot wise, I'll give you. Originally we may believe he'll end up with Daisy as a fall back or what have you, but now his character has a larger internal conflict. It's not perfect my any means, but then again, the original book is far from perfect itself.

I'm not a huge fan of the original so I can't speak to a "compare/contrast" or truly argue improvement versus impediment.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 11/13/11 at 12:49am

I agree that the original book is very flawed and just meanders all over the place in act 2. Still, I think it much better serves the score and the interests of a romantic comedy than the current revision.

I actually would be all for a heavily revised book, especially in anything beyond an Encores presentation. It needs repair, but this gay tactic just didn't work for me. I think it removed Connick further from the central love conflict. I guess during the original you're rooting for them to fall in love. I wasn't rooting for anyone to fall in love here. Warren was the only character I liked and felt bad for him that we would end up with David.

Also what was with all the Pippin mentions! There was a plot point that Warren got tickets for David to see Pippin and they keep bringing it up throughout. I wanted to play a drinking game for each time they brought up the show.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 11/13/11 at 12:56am

I loved the movie with Barbra Streisand, I didn't think the book was flawed, it's an old style musical comedy. It worked just fine, but it needs a fabulous singer like Barbra...why so many changes?