On A Clear Day You Can See Forever at Irish Rep — Page 2

WhizzerMarvin said: "About 2:15 with intermission"



Great, thanks!! :) Got tickets for later in the week, very curious to see it!

Saw it last night and it looks like they are still making changes. Act 2 opens with a song that I wasn't familiar with: "Who is There Among Us Who Knows." It was performed by Mark's students reading about his notorious unnamed patient. I thought it added nothing to the plot and was a strange act opener.

The main reasons to see this production are the lovely (unamplified, I think) singing and Josh Clayton's nice reduced orchestrations for five players, including a harpist. John Cudia does an especially nice job singing "She Wasn't You." Stephen Bogardus flung himself around onstage a bit more than I thought was necessary during "Come Back To Me," but he and Melissa Errico sounded great.

The book has been "adapted" by director Charlotte Moore, and it's still a mess. I think that eliminating Warren's role as Daisy's boyfriend was a mistake, and it really lessens the impact of "Wait Till We're Sixty-Five." Why are Daisy's three friends suddenly extolling the virtues of financial prudence? Got me.

Mark now only makes a few dismissive comments about what a loser Daisy is, which seem to come out of nowhere because Melissa Errico is not playing her that way. I never really felt that Errico found a way to connect with the role of Daisy (her accent seems to wander in and out throughout the evening), but I thought she did a nice job as Melinda.

And no flower growing in the pot that Daisy holds during "Hurry, It's Lovely Up Here"? That seems like a simple bit of stagecraft that Irish Rep could have handled.

Updated On: 6/21/18 at 09:58 AM

Back in 1993, under our Opening Doors Productions banner, we did a 3-week revival of ON A CLEAR DAY with the brilliant Jennifer Prescott as Daisy/Melinda and Jim Madden as Mark, at the Clurman on Theatre Row, as a benefit for BroadwayCares/EquityFightsAIDS. After I received the material, it became clear to me that there were more than one version of the show floating around. Composer Burton Lane reached out to me, knowing we were producing the show, invited the creative team to his home, and offered us any and all of the trunk songs he had written. He also said we could make any changes to the libretto that we wanted, as Lerner had passed and he was now in charge of the show.

We sold out every performance of the three-week run, Burton was there for the opening and closing nights, and at the closing he came up on stage to the roaring approval of the audience. He was thrilled and happy with the response, and very grateful to us for doing the show.Yes, the book is something of a mess, but that score is one of the best scores of the latter part of 20th century musical theatre.

Left at intermission. Had liked the Encores production a lot, even the silly "When I'm Being Born Again." Skipped the Connick revisal because it sounded so wrongheaded: this show was always meant as a star vehicle for a singing actress with great comic timing. And what great songs, even the minor ones.

While I've enjoyed the leads in the Irish Rep production in other shows, they are simply too old for their roles here. And were it not for the hat, I would have had a hard time figuring out when Melissa Errico was playing Daisy and when she was playing Melinda.

Didn't care for the re-writing and dropping of songs. If anything, the re-writing accentuated problems with the show, particularly the icky #metoo factor. Dr. Bruckner's using Daisy to get to Melinda would cost him his professional license, if not time in the slammer.

Updated On: 6/21/18 at 02:53 PM

Selling: 1 ticket for Friday 7/6 - 8pm Orchestra, D3

I now have to go out of town earlier that day and did want to catch this show as I love the score.

I paid $70 plus service charge but asking $60 as they now have a discount out.

If interested, message me.

We saw this last night and enjoyed it. Beautiful score stripped down made me appreciate it far more than the Harry Connick revival.

It's a cute show with a dumb story and great music, like so many other musicals I've seen. Audience seemed to like it. I've noticed that some comments criticized this production on what it isn't, not what it is (ie. what songs were cut etc.). My only exposure to this was the Connick revival, so I don't know it very well.

Would I see this again? No. Would I pay full price? No. On the cheap, though, I can think of far worse ways to spend an evening.

I was there tonight and totally agree! The band sounded fantastic and the sound design overall was fantastic.

Florrie Bagel sings the Act 2 opener and she BROUGHT it. Just gorgeous, gorgeous vocals. I wish she was more of a name because I think she'd kick ass at a Funny Girl. I saw her in Jerry Springer and thought she was incredible in that too. For me, though that song was the highlight of the show. It showcased the talented ensemble and was fun to watch.

Also thought Ben Davis was worth the price of my ticket. Just gorgeous, and a terrific actor, and gorgeous voice. His "Come Back To Me" was a highlight as well.

Errico, I don't know. I haven't seen her live before and I'm not sure I quite understand the hype? She just didn't feel like she was playing a real person. Ben Davis felt so grounded and everyone else around him felt so over-the-top and cartoony. I'd much prefer a more grounded, honest version of the show instead of playing everything very zainy and crazy. Errico's acting just left a lot to be desire. It seemed she was playing to a roadhouse and not the intimate Irish Rep. She was in great voice, but not sure what that hairstyle was suppose to be.

I've only ever seen the Conneck version of the show, and throughout the evening was trying to piece together parts of that story, and now I wish I could go back and see it again knowing what it was suppose to be. It's def a weird story, but also kind of interesting and romantic and something we'd never see today.

I'd recommend it.