"On the Town" Preview Thread- Page 14

[hushpuppy]

Posted: 10/7/14 at 9:30am

I sat in row H (the one with all the extra leg room, but be careful, actors run in front of you throughout the show), and I had a great view. First row for any show, especially a musical, is too close for me. Just my opinion.

[brdway411]

Posted: 10/7/14 at 11:51am

PHillytheaterguy, the theater has elevators. Sit up high its better.

If you are worried about stairs, you have to go up a small flight to get in to the lobby from the entrance hallway.


Updated On: 10/7/14 at 11:51 AM

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 10/7/14 at 12:04pm

"Is the front row too close for this? "

We saw the show from the second row orchestra center-- believe it or not these were tickets we got at TKTS for a Saturday matinee! We can promise you you're not too close-- the orchestra pit is very deep front to back, and then there's a wide aisle for the action before the first row starts. If you avoid the far left or right seats you'll be fine. The whole show felt like it was performed personally for us. Which was bliss.

[lovebwy]

Posted: 10/7/14 at 12:10pm

Holy ****. This show.. this show. My God. Absolutely fantastic. Every moment on stage was a spectacle. The costumes are stunning and bright. The singing is exciting and heartbreaking at times. I cried during Lonely Town. And I laughed at what by all rights would be dated comedy. This ensemble hit just the right notes. And it was also sexy in a fun and playful way.

The dancing- Jerry Robbins would approve. This show hits the ground running and never ever lets up.

Start polishing Tony Yazbeck's Tony right now. The gracefulness, the voice, the hot, heaving sweaty chest. He did a lot of heavy lifting in the show, and it was excellent.

Jackie Hoffman is wonderful as Madam Dilly. She takes some corny material and makes it work.

Alysha Umphress was awesome and fun. A voice for days. I get what people are saying about Megan Fairchild as Ivy, but what deficiencies she has as an actress actually work in her favor for this role. And her and Tony were very graceful, and hot.

Lots of great moments that I loved I won't spoil here, but GO SEE THIS SHOW. I also cried at the tender "Some Other Time".

As far as the sex goes- there is nothing in the text to suggest that Chip and Ozzie get laid, it was a choice for this production, and it works. Seeing Jay Armstrong Johnson in his underwear was a treat, considering I was in the 5th row.

Also, the orchestra was a phenom. A full, luscious sound.

My 88 year old uncle loved it too. He said it was very different from the original production which he had seen- much more colorful and vibrant and each was wonderful in it's on right.

This will run way past January.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/7/14 at 12:58pm

I'm glad you loved it on Broadway as much as I loved it in the Berkshires.

But I'm especially glad your uncle liked it too.

[HorseTears]

Posted: 10/7/14 at 1:08pm

lovebwy - that's awesome. What a treat to see this production with your Uncle.

[Feste]

Posted: 10/7/14 at 1:11pm

"But I'm especially glad your uncle liked it too."


Ditto.

[lovebwy]

Posted: 10/7/14 at 1:14pm

Thanks guys. Once in a while I'd look over at him and he had a smile from ear to ear. He used to go to Broadway shows often until his wife died a few years ago. What an excellent show to return to.

[Feste]

Posted: 10/7/14 at 1:18pm

And that just made ME smile! I'd say the show is a success, just by that.

[midorigal]

Posted: 10/7/14 at 1:20pm

"Is the front row too close for this? "

When are you planning to go? We got front row tix for Saturday, the 18th, the night we come in and debated on where to sit. I know that you lose the whole stage visual in a big show but we love seeing the actors up close and the orchestra so I hope not!

[lovebwy]

Posted: 10/7/14 at 1:34pm

It is a BLAST being in the first few rows. You can smell the leads as they whizz by you.

And there is a harmony thing that happens which I won't spoil, but for this show the closer the better.

[brucebossa]

Posted: 10/7/14 at 1:49pm

Saw it last Saturday matinee. I had not been that excited about seeing it since it was announced. I wasn't crazy about the 1971 or 1998 versions.

however, I was very surprised at how I LOVED IT. Yes, there are some set complaints but I didn't let that stop me from enjoying the great music, cast and choreography. This is the best OTT I have seen. Loved Alyshia Umphress and Jay Armstrong Johnson the best! Real fun chemistry.

I was in Orch Center Row K - got a ticket one hour before using a half price code at the BO.

[lovebwy]

Posted: 10/7/14 at 2:05pm

Man, I hope the cast is getting B-12 shots or something. The show hits the ground running and never stops for hours. INCREDIBLE energy from every single person on that stage. Tony Yazbeck's performance is a feat of athleticism.

It's like the ensemble is sharing their youthful energy with us. It's like "lets all have fun together". I don't know, I can't say enough about it. And the audience ate it up.

See this while you can still get cheap tickets is my advice.

[NoName3]

Posted: 10/7/14 at 3:09pm

HorseTears, thanks for the kind words on the previous page. Below are links to Robbins' bio page on Wikipedia that goes into more detail on The Fleet's In! inspiring the ballet and a page on the painting's history from an official US Navy website that confirms it was the inspiration for Fancy Free. The picture I posted was the best overall I could find but the less detailed copy below shows the sides of the painting that are cropped off in the other picture.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerome_Robbins#1930s_and_40s

http://www.history.navy.mil/ac/cadmus/cadmus.htm

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 10/7/14 at 3:17pm

NoName, thanks for those fascinating links. It's interesting that the Navy chronology doesn't mention what Cadmus thought about all the drama around his painting--he didn't die until the mid or late 90s, I believe. All I really knew about Cadmus (aside from how lovely he painted men's behinds,) I knew through a biography of Lincoln Kirstein, the co-founder of NYCBallet and general arts patron who supported Cadmus a lot, probably had a relationship with him, and married Cadmus' sister.

I always thought designer/producer Oliver Smith was the instigator for Fancy Free. But maybe I was thinking that it was his suggestion to turn it into a musical?

Updated On: 10/7/14 at 03:17 PM

[NoName3]

Posted: 10/7/14 at 3:41pm

Eric, I too have always heard that it was Oliver Smith who suggested turning Fancy Free into a musical. Wikipedia says that it was Broadway producer/director Mary Hunter Wolf who suggested the painting to Robbins as a ballet. The controversy over the painting was widespread and helped establish Cadmus' reputation. It's often cited as one of the most famous examples of the censoring of an American work of art when the Navy had it pulled from the Corcoran show and withheld from public view for many years. There was a rumor that at one point the Secretary of the Navy or his second in command displayed the painting on the wall of his bathroom in his private residence.

Updated On: 10/7/14 at 03:41 PM

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 10/7/14 at 3:59pm

Thumbing through a Robbins biography I have here, they do say Oliver Smith had the idea to turn it into a musical, but I can't find anything about Fancy Free's suggestion, so I'll go with Wiki here (I know, a dangerous move.)

It seems kinda... surprising that the Navy commissioned the painting in the first place, since from what I gather, Cadmus' previous most well known work was YMCA Locker Room https://www.google.ca/search?q=paul+cadmus+ymca&safe=off&client=firefox-a&hs=NNx&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=sb&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=hEU0VNz7EcHaoASyqYDoAg&ved=0CB4QsAQ&biw=1366&bih=634

[NoName3]

Posted: 10/7/14 at 4:10pm

The Navy didn't commission it. But Cadmus painted it while working for the Public Works of Art Project, which was part of the WPA, so it was owned the government. The Navy's seizing it wasn't technically legal but they didn't care. Eventually it was handed over to a private club, where it hung for years. It took a lawsuit to get the club to relinquish it so it could be displayed publicly, at which point the Navy did gain proper title to it and it now hangs in the Navy museum at the Washington Navy Yard.

I love the locker room painting. Cadmus was often a very naughty boy which is probably one reason I love his work.

Updated On: 10/7/14 at 04:10 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/7/14 at 4:22pm

Cadmus was a WPA artist, so apart from the homoerotic paintings he did for himself, he was responsible for dozens (hundreds?) of murals for buildings all across the country. The Navy would have commissioned him based on his government work.

Martin Duberman's biography "The Worlds of Lincoln Kirstein" is an amazing portrait of the gay world of the early twentieth century.


AMAZON: The Worlds of Lincoln Kirstein

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 10/7/14 at 4:45pm

Thanks PJ--that's the book I have, actually. Great read.

NoName--you're right, of course, thanks for clearing up the details.

[HBBrock]

Posted: 10/7/14 at 5:22pm

Midorigal - the front row is absolutely perfect as it feels you are about 4 or 5 rows back.....the stage is low and the orchestra pit is between the stage and front row.

The only seat in the front row that isn't ideal is dead center....the conductor is there.

[Tigger]

Posted: 10/8/14 at 12:29am

I saw the show this last monday night and loved every fantastic dated minute of it. I laughed, I cried,I was slack jawed at the stunning dancing and lighting and costumes. In fact I can't wait to see it again.
This is the penultimate Broadway show.Add the fact that there is no overblown star in sight hogging the spotlight made it all the more joyous for me.
I howled with delight at Carried Away, got a lump in my throat at the poignantly and beautifully sung Lonely Town and was bedazzled by the Pas de Deux. And believe me the rest is is of an extraordinary high standard and hugely enjoyable as well. The audience leapt to their feet and remained cheering from the beginning of the curtain call to the very end. This is a lovingly produced and directed revival and should have a long and healthy run and if it doesn't there ain't no justice!

Updated On: 10/8/14 at 12:29 AM

[lynnetoomey]

Posted: 10/8/14 at 12:48am

Monday was my second viewing. This is a revival in the ranks of the Jerry Zaks "Guys And Dolls" and Michael Blakemore's "Kiss Me. Kate". Respectful without being reverential. A COMPLETE triumph.

Updated On: 10/8/14 at 12:48 AM

[Tigger]

Posted: 10/8/14 at 12:52am

You have articulated it perfectly. I completely agree with you.

[midorigal]

Posted: 10/8/14 at 6:05am

HBBrock-whoops! Front row dead center is what the husband got. If it's only one seat the conductor is blocking I think it will be ok. I'll put him there since he is tall. We are so excited to be seeing this the first night we get into town!