"You'll be fine. It's a big show, so you'll be able to take it all in from there."
Yeah, I like to sit upstairs for dance heavy shows... I just hope I can still see their faces! I think I'm most excited to hear the orchestra, though! This is one of my favorite scores in musical theatre.
We were at this past Saturday's matinee-- one of those 6-shows-in-4-days weekends, and ON THE TOWN was a spur of the moment choice.
All we can say is this was the supreme highpoint of the weekend. From the Star Spangled Banner opening onward, our mouths were open and our eyes were brimming with emotion. This show has every reason to be compared favorably to the brilliant '92 GUYS AND DOLLS revival. Posters above are right to rave about the orchestra and superb dancing throughout. But the emotions stirred by the quiet moments in LONELY TOWN and SOME OTHER TIME were perfectly done (I wouldn't have shortened a second of either piece) and the reason why this show is still so potent.
Even some of the hard-to-stage comedy numbers worked in ways we've never appreciated before. The number with fashion mannequins, each of Hildy's numbers, even that God-awful Natural History Museum number came to amazing life with huge doses of wit and creativity. (Loved the Warhorse technique applied to a dinosaur skeleton.)
I'm confused by those who found the set design too small-scale for Broadway. I found it pure and witty and period-appropriate (aside from some very questionable typefaces). And those empty-stage vistas for the fantasy ballets with gorgeous costumes and ravishing lighting were all the design anyone could want. It was sublime.
What didn't work? Well Jackie Hoffman is an acquired taste we just couldn't acquire. Aside from a hysterical beat referencing Lady Day down the street, her every moment was just too, too much for this tone-precise piece. In general the comedy dialogue from 1944 was a very hard thing for some in the cast to pull off. Jokes landed on the stage deck with a thud. Megan Fairchild brought Ivy to swell dancing life, but had a harder time convincing us the romance was worth rooting for whenever she opened her mouth. And the ramping up of sexy-sex onstage seemed like an unnecessary injection of 2014 sensibilities into the proceedings.
Those gripes aside, huge huzzahs and kudos to the full cast, musicians and creatives involved. I'm so glad to find Pal Joey's unmitigated raves for the show in Great Barrington easily matched with our own in Manhattan.
(No small measure of our enjoyment came from buying half-price tix at TKTS for orchestra row A, seats 105-107. Best seats we've EVER had from TKTS. It felt like the whole show was performed just for us.)
I'm so glad to find Pal Joey's unmitigated raves for the show in Great Barrington easily matched with our own in Manhattan.
So is PalJoey!
And lovebwy--what a memorable night you're going to have with your uncle. When you're sitting at dinner and he starts to reminisce about the original production, ask him if you can turn on the voice recorder on your cell phone and get it all down, like an oral history. Then record his reactions afterward!
Oh, lovebwy - what an amazing experience you're gonna have with your Uncs. I had a similiar experience with my Uncle and the 1990s "Hello, Dolly!" revival with Carol Channing.
Facebook status from Phyllis Newman, widow of Adolph Green:
Phyllis Newman
I saw ON THE TOWN last night for the first time last night...and right from the horses' mouth (and mine)...it is a genuine Broadway knockout. Everything about it is what a Bway. musical should be. I promise you.And it's not because it's the family store. IT ROCKS!
I really loved this production, and for me the biggest surprise was Elizabeth Stanley as Claire. It's usually not a standout role, but she finds every laugh, and the way they have made her up she is a dead ringer for Judy Holliday. I thought she was delightful.
Possible SPOILER question (I have to admit I have not read every post in this thread, so please forgive me if this has already been mentioned):
In the dream ballet, shirtless Tony Yazbeck (and no complaints on that front from me) imagines that he is fighting Ivy in a boxing ring. I guess he's feeling annoyed that he jilted her, but that seemed like a strange thing for him to be dreaming. Did anyone else find that a bit odd?
maybe PlaybillVault is wrong, but they don't list an understudy for Hoffman. Does she not have one??
A Chorus Line revival played its final Broadway performance on August 17, 2008. The tour played its final performance on August 21, 2011. A new non-equity tour started in October 2012 played its final performance on March 23, 2013. Another non-equity tour launched on January 20, 2018. The tour ended its US run in Kansas City and then toured throughout Japan August & September 2018.
Don't know, didn't see it there. This was just long and boring. Jackie Hoffman was the best thing in the show and she is only on stage about 20 minutes total. I predict this will close after the holidays (some time in Jan). YAWN!!! Off to bed.
The clips for Barrington show much more simple designs (no projections--that I can see, etc.)
As for the dream ballet--I believe that boxing scene is always there, though the original impact may have been different since the actor playing Gabey, John Battles, didn't play the dance role. He imagined himself as The Great Lover, danced by the great dancer Ray Harrison.
