"On the Town" Preview Thread- Page 12

[brdway411]

Posted: 10/2/14 at 10:57am

Nope, no potty break needed, and it's not polite to ask a ladies age. LOL

[eperkins]

Posted: 10/2/14 at 12:11pm

I saw the show last night, and I liked the sets - they served the piece beautifully, IMHO. Also, some of those pictures that PalJoey posted have a rather stunning effect, simple as they are, when you see them in person.

I did not find the show "dated," and as for length, it was at most 2:35 last night. That sounds about right to me as average for a musical. I certainly was not bored.

The guys in their underwear? Tempest in a teapot. It's funny and felt appropriate to me.

I was seated toward the back of the orchestra, in the center. The orchestra appeared completely full. I couldn't see the Mezzanine, so I can't say how full that was.

The opening was rather amazing - to see the entire audience spontaneously rise to their feet at the sound of the National Anthem. The lady next to me was heartily singing along.

Do you like music? Do you like dancing? You won't hear or see better.

[eperkins]

Posted: 10/2/14 at 1:38pm

For those interested, Fancy Free - the ballet on which OTT was based - will be preformed by ABT this fall:

Beginning with the Fall season at the David H. Koch Theater, October 22-November 2, 2014, works such as Antony Tudor’s Jardin aux Lilas and Jerome Robbins’ Fancy Free will share the program with ballets by Liam Scarlett, Christopher Wheeldon and Alexei Ratmansky.

[BroadwayBryce]

Posted: 10/2/14 at 1:57pm

PalJoey- Where did you find those pictures?? They look stunning!

[Feste]

Posted: 10/2/14 at 2:10pm

The NYC Marathon is one month from today. I've got my tickets for the matinee performance the day before. More than 50 thousand runners and their friends and families from all over the world will be here to see all they can of New York in just one day! I can almost guarantee this will be the show they flock to.

[ddenoff2]

Posted: 10/2/14 at 2:14pm

to Brdwy411 in response to your "I HAVE TO LAUGH at the above comment. There is no way this will ever be harder to get than BOM tickets. Maybe if they had waited for a smaller theater. There were maybe 50 people sitting in the cheap seats last night. This show had better hope for good word of mouth and reviews and that people show up in droves. Also, based on last night's attendance and last weeks grosses, I doubt there were ever 1900 people in the theater for this show at the same time. "

First of all, IMHO, the advantage of such a large theatre is that you CAN afford to discount several hundred more seats than in a smaller house to make the show more accessible, and still keep your gross revenue higher.

As I'm certain you know, GROSSES and ATTENDANCE are different. Last week, OTT had attendance of 70% - 10,494 seats occupied out of 14,992. But 70% capacity at the Lyric is over 100% at most every other large house on Broadway. Their GROSSES were just under 30% of total possible revenue - certainly not stellar but for a first full week of previews it's not unusual given that a large number of the occupied seats were probably comps for company and potential investors, as well as highly discounted seats for the public to build word of mouth. Certainly the average ticket price needs to climb but on Tuesday night the show stopped several times for cheers and applause and I haven't heard THAT much at all in the past year.

SO, as each of those cheering people spreads the word, the attendance AND the average ticket price should climb. And while I don't believe in rolling the dice JUST on the hope of a rave review from the Times, I DO think that, based on the reviews from Barrington Stages, the reviews should be great. But Wicked didn't get a rave either, and it's doing just fine.

As for the BOM comment…it's called 'hyperbole' and it was definitely tongue in cheek (although I'd much rather see On The Town every night of the week. But that's just a personal opinion. )



Updated On: 10/2/14 at 02:14 PM

[brdway411]

Posted: 10/2/14 at 2:19pm

LOL, I didn't like Wicked either, Slept through that turkey twice.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/2/14 at 2:20pm

You must be awful fun at a party.

[dreaming]

Posted: 10/2/14 at 2:27pm

Hey, PalJoey, I'm glad you love it. The fact is I didn't love it either. I wish I could but I didn't.

It really hasn't aged very well. They also really should have waited for If/Then to close and taken the Rodgers.

The reviews from Barrington got it here, but Broadway is a whole other ballgame. Opening in the fall is a dicey proposition at best-and even shows with excellent reviews can have a very difficult time. Gentleman's Guide is the exception rather than the rule-and even that HAD to win the Tony. Had it lost, I suspect it would have shuttered the next day. The fact of the matter is that this is in a gigantic house and that its best asset is the orchestra-which I can hear once the OBCR comes out. There have been others besides me and Brdwy411 who've had negative opinions. I don't think we're wrong or you're right. But, you seem to think your opinion (blind love) is the only right one.

[newintown]

Posted: 10/2/14 at 2:27pm

You may be an "elder statesman" here, Joey, but it would be really nice to see you try to rise above and refrain from casting childish aspersions at posters who didn't like a show you liked (and for which you appear to be on the social media budget).

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/2/14 at 2:35pm

I didn't say he was wrong. I merely said he must be fun at a party.

I'm not sure how anyone could actually sleep through Wicked. It's a very noisy show.

[brdway411]

Posted: 10/2/14 at 2:36pm

"The NYC Marathon is one month from today. I've got my tickets for the matinee performance the day before. More than 50 thousand runners and their friends and families from all over the world will be here to see all they can of New York in just one day! I can almost guarantee this will be the show they flock to."

Because runners and their "fans" are theater lovers?

Updated On: 10/2/14 at 02:36 PM

[brdway411]

Posted: 10/2/14 at 2:46pm

Also, those pics of the set do look impressive online, not so much in the theater. They look very cheesy, Little Mermaid, plastic. very 2D. I did like the projections, and orchestra is top notch. I was just expecting a little more WOW factor. OTT is in a house that they could have done some amazing stuff with the show.

[jetcap]

Posted: 10/2/14 at 2:51pm

"The NYC Marathon is one month from today. I've got my tickets for the matinee performance the day before. More than 50 thousand runners and their friends and families from all over the world will be here to see all they can of New York in just one day! I can almost guarantee this will be the show they flock to."

--So we're expecting a run on tickets?

[eperkins]

Posted: 10/2/14 at 3:01pm

Also, those pics of the set do look impressive online, not so much in the theater.

I had the exact opposite experience. I thought they were exceedingly effective in person, and did not look the least bit cheesy.

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 10/2/14 at 4:37pm

^ Me too. The sets had smart style, restraint, a sense of period without being slavish, and great wit. That lovely shot of the Battery looking out to the Statue of Liberty (for "Lonely Town") is actually missing the genius element you get in the theater of seeing a Staten Island Ferry very slowly pulling out from shore. Plus you're missing a stageful of perfectly costumed ensemble members cross lit in the most beautiful tones. Any good set SHOULD feel incomplete until you add the cast.

I had only 2 gripes set-wise: A.) the fonts used in the graphics-- wildly and consistently incorrect for the 40's. And B.) the repetition of Nightclub elements that starts Act II. The 15 or 20 minutes of progressively sadder nightclubs was so visually uninventive and under-nourished that for a while they wiped away all the good feeling I had been enjoying at the Act I curtain. If there's anywhere in the show that needs a fresh injection of visuals, it's that sorry parade of clubs that starts Act II.

Otherwise a fine classy job by Beowulf Boritt. (If we're discussing his work we should at least mention him by name.)

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 10/2/14 at 4:41pm

- Gentleman's Guide started selling out the week the Tony nominees were announced, not after the win.
- The sets look great in the photograph and are fine in the theatre... Were the theatre much smaller.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/2/14 at 5:01pm

sorry parade of clubs

The execution might have been better but the script calls for a "sorry parade" of clubs until they reach the one that is so awful that Hildy and the other have to interrupt the blues singer and cheer Gabey up with "Ya Got Me."

But first the blues singer sings these deliberate--and delightfully!--awful lyrics:

I'm blue!
My life is through.
I thought I had a date with you.
I guess I just don't rate with you.
I wish I was dead--
And buried!

I'm blue--

Updated On: 10/2/14 at 05:01 PM

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 10/2/14 at 5:44pm

Actually due to Jackie Hoffman's shenanigans I had no idea how witty those lyrics are.

Nonetheless, designing progressively SEEDIER clubs could be a fabulous opportunity for a show that had any money left in the till. (Think subterranean with trash cans full of fish carcases on the street above.)

It just looked like budget woes left us with nothing fun visually for those 20 minutes.

[brdway411]

Posted: 10/2/14 at 6:41pm

PJ I fall a sleep on the subway, at The Met, and just about anywhere I get bored. Noise doesn't really have an effect on me. Husband and I live over a noisy bar, so if it's quiet I tend to wake up. The noisier the better for me to sleep.

[Feste]

Posted: 10/2/14 at 8:57pm

"Because runners and their "fans" are theater lovers?"

Well, I'm a runner and I am... as are a majority of those I run with. Also, they'll be visiting NYC and playing tourist while they're here... you know, doing things that people do when they visit New York.

But I do love some snark, so thanks for that!



Updated On: 10/2/14 at 08:57 PM

[Feste]

Posted: 10/2/14 at 9:12pm

"--So we're expecting a run on tickets?"

LOL! A very probable higher demand... for any show, but I'd say especially this one. =)

Updated On: 10/2/14 at 09:12 PM

[broadfan327]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 12:06am

I saw it Thursday night, the music was glorious, as well as the cast. The crowd seemed to love the piece all throughout the show. I do agree that the size of the theater swallows up the show somewhat. There were more scenes than I am used to seeing of the cast going out into the audience, a sign that the director feels the cast have to get closer to the audience in order to connect with them to compensate for the huge space?

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 12:19am

PJ I fall asleep on the subway


DON'T SLEEP ON THE SUBWAY!




Well, that's the song that was NOT written by Comden and Green, but here's Carol Lawrence and Grover Dale reminiscing about the Comden/Green/Jule Styne show called SUBWAYS ARE FOR SLEEPING.

[jetcap]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 8:56am

QUESTION: POSSIBLE SPOILER?!

In the preview I attended Hilde in attempt to keep her job as a taxi driver gave her boss a spread-eagle, Brittney Spears type look of her goods.
Coming so early in play, I thought, 'Wow, this is not my Grand-dads On the Town'. I'm certainly not offended but it did seem out of place and stole some innocence of what is a charming production.
I just wondered if this is the way that scene is played out everytime?

Overall, I really enjoyed the production. It's not dated, the theme of doing it all in New York in one day is every bit as relevent today as in the 40's. I think the play wins thru in quality; the music is large, the dance numbers well done. It's a fine line trying to be relevent and not dated and staying true to the original, but I feel they have done a very good job.
It's definitely the kind of production you root for and while Foxwoods or Lyric may be large; the show plays large in my mind. Fill that place and with that orchestra, the joint will be jumpin'.