On The Twentieth Century Previews- Page 14

[DramaTeach]

Posted: 3/8/15 at 9:46am

Saw it last night. Peter Gallagher was back, and you couldn't tell he was sick for the last few weeks. The good and bad:

Good:

1) Cast is top-notch. From the porters to the others on the train, everyone was in stellar voice and over-the-top dramatic. Andy Karl milks it.

2) The comedy was zany and fun.

3) The costumes. I mean, William Ivey Long is a legend for a reason.

4) The sets were gorgeous.

The not-so-good:

1) I'm just not a fan of those songs. They serve their purpose, but they don't leave me whistling their tune or wanting to go home and add them to my iTunes library.

2) Letitia Primrose seemed off her game. Don't know how she normally is, but she seemed to be struggling a bit with the speed of the show and her lines.

For me, the songs are the thing I focus most on, so I thought the show was good, but not great. The show is in the same vein as On the Town (bright, madcap, etc.), but I find On the Town to be much more enjoyable, and those songs have stuck with me. Just my two cents.

[Theatrical Landladies]

Posted: 3/9/15 at 2:25pm

Guys I'm just bumping this as I am keen to hear as many views as possible on the production and performances. Seeing it "on the 20th" (coincidentally)!

[newintown]

Posted: 3/9/15 at 3:06pm

"Letitia Primrose seemed off her game. Don't know how she normally is, but she seemed to be struggling a bit with the speed of the show and her lines."

Mary Louise Wilson, Lord love her, is 83 years old. Imogene Coca was, by comparison, 69 when the original production opened. At that time of life, 14 years makes an enormous difference in stamina, particularly in a role that requires a certain amount of running, one very big and wordy solo, and two group numbers. Reports from original cast members are that the much-younger Coca had great difficulty with memory and physicality back in 1978.

Bless Wilson for trying, but it's going to be brutal on the ol' gal.

[promisespromises2]

Posted: 3/9/15 at 3:22pm

I remember the stage door man saying something about someone getting hurt recently as well but still going on every night. Do you think it could be Wilson? Which, by the way, I absolutely LOVED during the show.

[Skimbleshanks2]

Posted: 3/9/15 at 3:30pm

Anyone going to the Drama League's Up Close with ANDY KARL on Monday??

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 3/10/15 at 10:13am

Has any one seen a discount code that goes into April?

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 3/10/15 at 10:49pm

Saw this for the second time in eight days on Sunday. (That was not the original plan.)

I've been looking forward to this new production since I first read about it. Give KC a return to theater in a role that fitted her great talents. Rediscover a big and original "madcap" musical that had been up in the attic for decades. And it looked like all this was coming to pass when I read the early reviews here and saw the show for the first time Saturday a week ago.

I went to see it again stone cold sober and free of the distraction of having a first row center seat that put you in such close proximity to the actors.

And I was disappointed. I couldn't even work up the enthusiasm of the sell out audience.

Why? Was I just having a bad day? Were my expectations too high to be met? I tentatively settled on the score as the primary reason.

The songs taken together are not that strong. I find myself agreeing with Kad pretty closely that I think the score itself is a lot of fun. That being said, I'm not sure it's a SUCCESSFUL score. The story is a fast-paced farce and the score doesn't further that idea very often.

This production is at its absolute best when it is moving at a fast pace with the book and the score working together. Scene where Lily is first approached about returning to Oscar with the song "Never." Scene where Oscar first accuses Lily of selling out to Hollywood with "I've Got It All." Letitia's coming out song "Repent." (I thought Mary Louise Wilson was really on her game on Sunday, delivering her lines with good comic timing and covering lot of ground on the stage. The audience was with her.) Letitia's downfall with "She's a Nut," a long but lively number. All good.

On the other hand, songs that I consider dullards that could never stand on their own, such as "Our Private World," "Because of Her," a bad eleven o'clock number with either set of lyrics, and a couple of others from the second act just stop the action dead in its tracks while you wait for the song to be over.

I couldn't even get excited about the "Babette" production number even though it seems to be colorful and well done. Perhaps I'm partial to big numbers based on good songs like Mame and Anything Goes. Yeah, that's weak reasoning.

I couldn't see much difference with Oscar played by Moye or Gallagher. Peter may have been more demonstrative. I'll leave that question for others.

So I'm still not happy that I found flaws seeing 20th Century for the second time. The audience seemed very pleased with it and gave it about a seven eighths standing ovation, although half of the people did not get on their feet until Kristin took her bow. I guess that this is a good thing for the show. Even if the reviews aren't great, good reviews plus Cheno should sell a lot of seats.

The post-show talkback with the cast wasn't as good as the first one either. Neither Kristin nor Peter showed. There was more discussion about how physically and vocally difficult the production was on the cast. The most interesting part of this exchange to me was the presence of KC's understudy Mamie Parris. Very attractive, very well-spoken, maybe ten years younger than Kristin, but seeming to lack any of the little zaniness that Madeline and Kristin carried around with them. To me she seemed more like a Human Resources Director of a small tech company. It would be interesting to see her play the role, and I'm sure that she'll have her chances.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 3/10/15 at 10:58pm

Thanks for the review OlBlueEyes. I think I need to temper my expectations when I see it March 26th. I feel bad if it is disappointing because I sort of dragged a few of my friends to see it with me after I couldn't stop talking about it. I fell in love with the score and Madeline Kahn years ago while I was still a young gay from the South and swore that Kristin Chenoweth would be perfect for the role and I'd have to see the show live one day. Now I'm living in the NYC area and this happens, so I got overly excited and wanted to share the show with my friends.

One thing I will have to disagree with you right away is about "Babette" not being a good song and using "Mame" as an example of a good song. I honestly think "Babette" is a better song than "Mame". I love Babette on the original cast recording, while I never liked the song "Mame" itself. Who knows? Maybe "Babette" worked for me because of Kahn's delivery rather than the song itself, and maybe I need to hear "Mame" performed live.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 3/10/15 at 11:54pm

The two songs couldn't be anymore different, not just in style but in substance, too. They serve completely different purposes and both accomplish what they set out to do.

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 3/11/15 at 1:48am

I agree that they are very different songs. "Mame," like "Hello Dolly," was written by Jerry Herman to support a big ensemble eleven o'clock feel good number, and only that. I don't think either song is reprised elsewhere on a small scale.

Babette is a very clever song when Lily is speed-reading the script and just stopping to pronounce her lines, which appear to be minimal and trite. But she still announces, "Max, I love your play and I'll do it."

But maybe, and I'm just saying maybe, it isn't the best choice for the full ensemble number that follows.

Scotty, don't be concerned about your friends not liking the show. On this very long topic there aren't five reviews saying to stay away from it, and mine certainly isn't one of them. Like I wrote, the theater was sold out and the audience was very enthusiastic.

I'll probably go back a third time in May when the production is fully developed and see how my third viewing impression fits in with my different reactions to the first and second time I saw it.

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 3/11/15 at 1:28pm

I haven't seen the production yet but I'm quite curious as to what Mamie Parris would do with Lily. She was an excellent Mother in Ragtime, and I heard very good things about her in Wicked as well when she did the tour. Obviously On the Twentieth Century is very different from both of those shows but she seems to be a very versatile actress and singer.

[Theatrical Landladies]

Posted: 3/12/15 at 4:37am

Has anyone noticed changes being made through previews?

[AntV]

Posted: 3/12/15 at 5:55am

Some minor comedic gesture additions, Mrs. Primrose gives a sticker to an audience member, and the curtain is now lit red instead of blue.

[newintown]

Posted: 3/12/15 at 10:25am

The major (insurmountable) difference between a song like "Babette" and songs like "Mame" or "Anything Goes" is that nothing is happening in the latter examples - the show stops to pay tribute to Mame Dennis for staying on her horse, or to celebrate the fact that criminals are now celebrities. The two songs are really about nothing ore than singing and dancing.

"Babette" is a true part of the action - Lily has to decide between two plays, and (more deeply) between two men and two lives. And, if performed and staged well, she does it to great comic and exciting effect.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 3/12/15 at 10:38am

Babette was one of the highlights for me when I saw the show last weekend.

PerfectlyMarvelous, I thought the same thing about Mamie. When I watched the show, I couldn't help but think the role of Lily is not an easy one to cover. Kristen made the comedy look very easy.

[Patash]

Posted: 3/12/15 at 12:23pm

Saw the matinee yesterday, Peter Gallagher out and I felt James Moye lacked the "charisma" and energy I would have expected from Gallagher. Ben Crawford who played Moye's usual role of Max Jacobs was WONDERFUL in that small role.

The Porter Quartet was outstanding, and it was so refreshing to see "chorus" getting major ovations with each of their appearances.

Andy Karl amazed me -- who knew he had such comic genius and timing?

I loved Chenoweth. Funny thing, I know she's been compared to Madelaine Kahn and I think she herself even makes that comparison, but I never "got" that -- until yesterday when several of her line deliveries were Kahn perfect.

Regarding the wonderful Mary Louise Wilson, I have to agree with a couple others than something seemed lacking. She just seemed "old" but not "batty". I never saw the original, but still remember seeing Imogene Coca doing Repent on TV and it was just wonderful. I just found this:


Imogene Coca sings Repent

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 3/12/15 at 6:38pm

Is it still opening tonight? Because I saw on twitter that it still is and I thought it was postponed until Sunday.

[oncemorewithfeeling2]

Posted: 3/12/15 at 8:03pm

The party, red carpet, and all that is still tonight, but the official opening date is Sunday. I think it was probably too late to reschedule all the festivities associated with opening, so parties will happen, but official reviews won't come out until the weekend.

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 3/12/15 at 8:10pm

^Kind of like what happened with Bridges last year?

[oncemorewithfeeling2]

Posted: 3/12/15 at 8:11pm

That's exactly what I was thinking :)

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 3/12/15 at 8:20pm

Peter Gallagher was out again? When are they going to admit they made a mistake in casting and that he can't handle the part?

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 3/13/15 at 12:23am

I hope Gallagher is not feuding with anyone like he did with the Pone in NOISES OFF, but then a lot of Actors have feuded with the Pone.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 3/13/15 at 7:54am

Backing up a moment, I was fascinated to read the post that said Coca had trouble with the role at age 69. Memory problems, etc., that were presumably determined to be age related. That's two years older than Hillary Clinton. We hardly see 69-year-olds as out-to-pasture time geriatric now (for the record, verbal acuity is now believed to peak at 68.) But perception is everything, and admittedly, in the 1970s, 69 was a helluva lot older. Today, many first blush boomers are in their late 60s. Maybe that's why Letitia was cast with an 83-year-old, if the creative team feel the part is best served by someone who's dottiness is age-related. I would prefer a mere religious fanatic, age inconsequential.

[promisespromises2]

Posted: 3/13/15 at 4:48pm

https://www.broadwayworld.com/videoplay.php?colid=948728#.VQNI3UtCbwI

Just watched this little trailer thing. I'm actually glad I caught Moye in the part… Gallagher doesn't seem that "into it". I know it's just clips, etc… And I'm really excited to go back to see Peter in it. But, still glad I got to see Moye as well, whom I really enjoyed!

[brucebossa]

Posted: 3/13/15 at 4:58pm

Seeing it next week. I'm surprised by people who don't think it's a good score!!! I play it all the time. I think it's a great score but that's my humble opinion. It's also based on a sort of "operetta" style score and it's totally successful with that aspect.