On the Town Encores Thoughts- Page 2

[ACTlete676]

Posted: 11/20/08 at 9:46am

If I go to the box office on Sunday when the box office opens I will I be able to get $50 or $25 dollar tickets?

[Cape Twirl of Doom]

Posted: 11/20/08 at 10:23am

Can someone tell me what the running time for the show was?

[cat4]

Posted: 11/20/08 at 10:33am

I left the theater at 10:30pm last night but the show didn't start till almost 8:15pm. They opened the doors quite late as there was some dinner thing going on on the 2nd floor. The intermission started at around 9:30pm. I'd say the whole thing is probably about 2hr 20min.

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 11/20/08 at 10:44am

My experience has been that Encores! tickets are usually on the TKS board. However, they're always in the nosebleed section, so, if you don't have a problem with that, I think your chances will be good.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 11/20/08 at 10:55am

I don't really mind nosebleed. I just want a relatively cheap ticket where I can see everything. But proximity doesn't matter too much.

[winter_sky]

Posted: 11/20/08 at 12:51pm

EugLoven, does that code still work? i tried to plug it in and apply it but it was still 50 dollars as the cheapest ticket for sunday.

[EugLoven]

Posted: 11/20/08 at 1:00pm

Totes must be sold-out!

[winter_sky]

Posted: 11/20/08 at 1:03pm

Aw, shucks.

[jewishboy]

Posted: 11/23/08 at 1:52am

On of the Best! Honestly, this show just brings such joy that when done right, it can be euphoric. I know I had a smile on my face throughout most of the show and I even got a little teary-eyed during the most perfect sentimental, but not overly sentimental, musical comedy song "Some Other Time." the Encores! mission for this production was too highlight the Bernstein music (and I guess along with that came the Robbins' choreography) and my gosh did they do the excellently. Staging, props, sets and even some of the comedy took a backseat to the music (orchestra being placed front and center) and the dancing (a raised platform in the back), in which guest musical director, Todd Ellison, and choreographer, Warren Carlyle, did not hold back one bit.

The cast was perfect all around, with Tony Yazbeck anchoring the show as leading man and Jessica Lee Goldyn right there with him as the leading dancer (not really, but whatever. Her dancing was phenomenal). While she might not have developed quite the sharpness in her comedy that Nancy Walker had (then again how many young actrresses have?), Leslie Kritzer did get most of the laughs for her 2008 characterization of the sexual taxi driver. She even channeled some Nancy Walker in her "I Can Cook Too." Jennifer Laura Thompson and Michael Cumpsty also stood out form the rest of the main players. But, the whole night belonged to Andrea Martin as the drunk opera teacher, who brought down the house with every syllable uttered, every movement for her bottle and every lookto anyone!

Thanks so much Encores!

[hubee]

Posted: 11/23/08 at 4:31am

OKay, other than the fact that I hate the City Centre cheap seats, this was a practically perfect night at the theatre.

On the Town was AMAZING even in its current form and if it were up to me, I would transfer it in a heartbeat (even though the previous incarnation probably will taint this one and they wont transfer it so soon after the last revival).

As everyone before has mentioned, the cast is PERFECT. I dont know if I can already be more in love with Tony Yazbeck and Jessica Lee Goldyn but now Im SURE I'm also in love with Leslie Kritzer (who is just so different here than in A Catered Affair which was so different than her in Legally Blonde).

Ive only seen Borle in LB and he was likable there but he's a breath of fresh air here and earns my full respect!

Martin, Thomson, Bohon etc are marvelous and the dancing was top notch. (I didn't expect that much dancing from the Encore concert series).

My only wish now was that I had better seats (and that they had organized the Gallery switch better since I had just asked the box office if they were going to issue us new tickets after closing the gallery and they said NO, and then I get to the door and they just hand me the next available ticket in the pile on a first come first served basis).

[TimesSquareRegular]

Posted: 11/23/08 at 9:18am

Anyone else there on Saturday afternoon? That's when ENCORES always has a post-performance discussion, and in addition to several people from this production, Phyllis Newman and the original Ivy Smith, Sono Osato, were there to share stories about the 1944 production. It was a perfect coda to a terrific afternoon!

[Sauja]

Posted: 11/23/08 at 9:29am

What a show! I was so primed to have a terrible time just because of subway trouble, friends not making it, the horrendous seating in the rear mezz, the really loud bickering around me because of said seating... But what a wonderful time. Jessica Lee Goldyn and Tony Yazbeck are such thrilling dancers. The whole thing was just fabulously cast. Except...okay, for me Leslie Kritzer was a mess--vocally uneasy and a bit off in her timing. But the crowd ate her up, so what do I know?

Still, though, recent (failed) revival and current market woes aside, I would love to see this get a transfer. All in all, what a stunner.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 11/23/08 at 11:08am

I saw the show at yesterday's matinee and loved it. Yes, Tony Yazbeck is giving a break-out performance. I loved every minute of ON THE TOWN!!

The talk-back after the performance was a bit of a letdown. Sono Osato had some good tales to tell about how she was cast in the original production, but the lovely lady is well on in her years and rambled quite a bit. It took forever for her to make her point. Lots of people walked out of the talk-back.

[Noel&Cole]

Posted: 11/23/08 at 1:47pm

I thought this was one of the weaker Encores productions. Most people seem to enjoy it. I have see about 12 encores and this was the weakest one I have seen. I thought the men were exceptionally weak. Tony Yazbeck should not be the star of a show. He does not have the strength to carry an evening. He is great dancer but he is not someone is meant to be the focal point of a show.

Putting the dancing on the platform behind the orchestra made the action so distances from the audience and really kept you from being engaged in the proceedings.
And the way the book was trimmed was not the benefit of the piece. Nothing flowed.

HOWEVER....There is that beautiful Bernstein score and it was a pleasure to hear it live with a full orchestra and the supreme comic gifts of Andrea Martin.

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 11/23/08 at 2:29pm

I saw it last night; so glad I did, it was fantastic!

There's nothing like watching a Bernstein show live, especially with a full 30-piece orchestra. Great work from the musicians in what is a very, very difficult score (some of those crazy fast notes the woodwinds had to play...damn).

I, of course, agree that Martin stole the show, and Yazbeck gave a great turn as the lead, but I am so glad that almost everyone is giving the real star of the show its due -- Leonard Bernstein's music.

I've often lamented that, while everyone acknowledges Bernstein's gift, his name is often left out of discussions of the greatest Broadway composers ever -- because he didn't do as many shows as Rodgers or Sondheim, or because he was known for other things -- I don't know, but Carnegie Hall's festival honoring his 90th birthday has been fantastic, and On The Town is just icing on the cake.

I saw Mass for the first time at Carnegie Hall (and of course loved it), went to an informative Bernstein discussion/panel at the Paley Center, and now saw On The Town.

With the upcoming Broadway revival of West Side Story, dare I hope that this is a year where Bernstein truly gets his due?

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 11/23/08 at 2:36pm

I was there on Saturday night. The orchestra was great. I'm not so sure this should attempt a tranfer, though.

None of the leads really knocked me out -- all serviceable, but nothing much more, IMO. Andrea Martin was playing so broad that it stopped being funny for me. Michael Cumpsty was wasted on probably the least satisfying number in the score. Tony Yazbek is an okay dancer and vocalist, but I wouldn't go so far as to say he's a major triple threat star in the making. And even though I've never seen a live performance of OTT, I HEAR Nancy Walker in both of her big numbers -- IMO, Leslie Kritzer wasn't bad, but the inherent laughs in the role didn't seem to be there.

I'm sure this sounds like a lot of kvetchng about a show that I basically enjoyed. I would have loved to seen these dancers do it in a full-staged version with plenty of room to execute their moves, but the space was limited and perforce put a halter on some of the possibilities. And, of course, it was a joy to hear the score again. It would be nice if this got recorded in its entirety (meaning, including all the dance music).

[defyingravity11]

Posted: 11/23/08 at 2:44pm

I was there on Friday and I was disappointed by how they handled the gallery seating. I had a pair of seats in the first row of the front gallery and I was moved to the second to last row of the rear mezz. I could see the dancing, but not much of anything else. I went up to the gallery at intermission and the front gallery was full (I assume from people originally in the rear gallery). City Center always constructs their shows with little to no regard for those in the rear mezz or gallery, but this was crazy. The show was great! I just wish I could have seen all of it. I guess you get what you pay for.

[#1Elphie]

Posted: 11/23/08 at 3:18pm

I agree, the seating was ridiculous. My friend and I had seats in the second-to-last row of the front gallery but our seats were switched to the rear mezz. We went and sat there, realized that we wouldn't be able to see much at all before the show started, so we immediately moved up to the gallery and sat in the seats we had originally purchased. The usher up there told us we would be better off in the mezz, but we couldn't see how that was true. Our view was obstructed from our gallery seats (we had a perfect view of the orchestra but not much else), and it was disappointing. I still think it was better than the rear mezz would have been, though. They really should take the seating into account while planning. Why even sell those seats if the audience won't be able to see??

[kissynose]

Posted: 11/23/08 at 8:38pm

I saw the show saturday night and was not impressed. Tony Yazbeck doesn't have a bit of charisma( he can dance) Leslie didn't have the vocal strength for the part, Andrea Martin was great, and the rest of the show was just ok.

[TimesSquareRegular]

Posted: 11/23/08 at 10:10pm

I think "kissynose" is in the running for resident contrarian. If enough people like it, there's sure to be a put-down.

[bschneid76]

Posted: 11/23/08 at 10:31pm

I saw it this evening, and enjoyed it tremendously. Leonard Bernstein's music filled the house and it was lovely to heard. I loved Leslie Kritzer and her song "I Can Cook Too".

However, the Gallery seats were very partial view. Whenever the ballet moments took place beyond the orchestra their heads were chopped off and you couldn't see any of the projections on the back screen. That was a major let down. They shouldn't place the orchestra on the main part of the stage again. I've always sat in the Gallery for the Encores productions and have never had this much partial view before.

Well, at least everything else was very good.

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 11/23/08 at 11:27pm

Leslie Kritzer, no matter what you feel about this performance, certainly has the vocal strength for the part.

[jewishboy]

Posted: 11/24/08 at 12:19am

To be fair, Mildred Plotka, after some dancing following the first two verses of "I Can Cook Too," Kritzer was out of breath for the final verse. She still hit the notes, but there was some strain.

[kissynose]

Posted: 11/24/08 at 9:08am

In my own defense I don't like to be the odd man out, but when I feel strongly about the quality of a show I have to express it. I'm always interested in why people like some things I don't. I try to listen to all opinions and sometimes I will even revisit a show after I hear other views on it.

Again these are my opinions. If I lased out on every opinion I heard on this board I would never stop typing.

Also I want to say that at intermission I heard there were many people saying how boring the show was. Updated On: 11/24/08 at 09:08 AM

[Gene Kelly Jr.]

Posted: 11/25/08 at 2:11am

I saw the show on Saturday night and I thought it was absolutely phenomenal. I sat in the back row of the orchestra and could see everything just fine. I don't care what other people say, Leslie Kritzer was perfection. Critics that said her performance was overtly sexual seem to have forgotten the character. The song is "Come up to my place" She wasn't planning on playing Scrabble. Andrea Martin stole the show with her outrageous antics. I honestly think that she added an extra ten minutes to the show with all the laughs following her every word. Jessica Lee Goldyn's lack of composure during their scene was absolutely priceless. Goldyn's dancing skills are also really intense as are Tony Yazbeck's. They are the cutest couple ever and she was really sweet at the stage door. Jennifer Laura Thompson and Christian Borle were hilarious together. They just had really great chemistry and timing. Justin Bohon also did a great job complementing Kritzer's Hildy. The greatness of the orchestra can't even be put into words so I'm not even going to try. The sets and the rest of the cast were just as thrilling as the leads. I love the movie and the score and the whole production far exceeded my expectations. I can only pray for a transfer.
Updated On: 11/25/08 at 02:11 AM