I see we have now reached the point where even *mocking the moderators here* is grounds for being quietly deleted. i bet they think they're liberal and committed to free speech and exchange of ideas, but newsflash. how embarrassing for them.
People clearly didn’t read the article. It is t Sayer’s role (or any of the other main Mischief people), and it’s clearly not a case of the other actor needing to step away for a bit, as they said other guests will be stepping in throughout the run. I haven’t seen it yet, have plans to see it this weekend, but it’s clearly not a big/complex role if they are able to rotate people in like that for brief stints. Yes, I’m sure the regular actor is disappointed, but as an actor I’d like to think I wouldn’t take it too personally and know that I wasn’t the reason the show isn’t selling well enough and I’d still feel pretty good about having booked a Broadway role (and one that they can replace me with a name like NPH in).
willep said: "People clearly didn’t read the article. It is t Sayer’s role (or any of the other main Mischief people), and it’s clearly not a case of the other actor needing to step away for a bit, as they said other guests will be stepping in throughout the run. I haven’t seen it yet, have plans to see it this weekend, but it’s clearly not a big/complex role if they are able to rotate people in like that for brief stints. Yes, I’m sure the regular actor is disappointed, but as an actor I’d like to think I wouldn’t take it too personally and know that I wasn’t the reason the show isn’t selling well enough and I’d still feel pretty good about having booked a Broadway role (and one that they can replace me with a name like NPH in)."
Yeah, NPH is stepping into the role of the narrator (who does somewhat get roped into the events of the show but not to the extent of anyone else). They celebrity cast it (with David Suchet) for the filmed adaptation for BBC too.
Has anyone seen NPH yet? Just wondering how he’s doing. I can’t see him fail at anything he does. I’m seeing him on Friday night. How I wish he would break out into Midnight Radio!
I saw the show over the weekend (pre-NPH) and can only imagine the meal he will make out of it. I’m not even a fan of his as an actor overall, but this seems like just the thing he’d be fun in.
Looking at seeing this at a Sunday evening show in May, how has rush been? Has anyone gotten Audience Rewards tickets by chance? I can use points to get a $90 seat, curious about seat locations to determine which may be a better deal.
The original actor was…fine? Honestly I was kinda surprised to read that he is one of the founding members of Mischief, as I kinda felt like he was just someone who had maybe done The Play that Goes Wrong off Broadway and got involved that way. His physical comedy wasn’t as sharp as the Henrys, Charlie, Nancy et al. Part of me wishes that they’d just rename the character “Neil” while he is there to make all the “breaking character” moments that much more real.
gleek4114 said: "Looking at seeing this at a Sunday evening show in May, how has rush been? Has anyone gotten Audience Rewards tickets by chance? I can use points to get a $90 seat, curious about seat locations to determine which may be a better deal."
Oh Jesus, I saw this tonight and came straight home to take some ibuprofen. I laughed so hard for so long, my head is killing me. It’s really easy to say these shows are just a lot of fun and while they are, they’re also an absolute marvel of direction and choreography.
As for NPH - he’s perfect in the role. I hadn’t seen it before he took over so I don’t know if the bits of magic he brings to it were there before (I’d guess not) but he really is game for all of it and is a joy to watch getting totally into the physicality of the role.
I had been talking to a friend about Panto recently and this tonight really is the closest thing to a British Panto I’ve seen here in the states, with the audience getting fully involved and part of the action. I 100% will be going back a few more times before Neil leaves. Just an insane delight.
Ended up springing for the Audience Rewards ticket (no need to worry about rushing so I can sleep in a bit, plus a full view ticket guaranteed) and was assigned J7 in the orchestra. Very happy with that seat!
Whats the chance NPH extends? I got two comp tickets for the first show after he is leaving and am hoping they pull a "WhOOps wE MisPriNteD hIs EnD DaTE HahHAa HAha" kind of thing.
I caught it this afternoon and ended up totally loving it. The beginning was only a little funny to me, but once the mom’s lullaby happens, I was sold. A hilarious, heart warming afternoon in the theatre. NPH was very, very funny, and I liked how he did his thing for scenes when he was the focus but was also an incredible group scene player.
Hunter: Your teeth need whitening./ Heidi: You sound weird./ Jeff: You taste funny.
-Jeff Bowen's worst onstage line flub.
Agreed! I saw it on Friday night and NPH was enjoying himself as the narrator and when he was the pirate he was able to fit right into the ensemble. I will say he was quite funny as a pirate too, especially his giving Hook the things bit.
Curious to see who the other guests will be. Starting off strong with NPH. As for the show, it was quite funny in act 1. Act 2 was good but got great when the revolve started.
Don’t forget to get there early for the pre show. The guy to my right sat down one minute to showtime and missed the whole quite funny (pre show setup).
There was real talent on that stage but the standouts were Henry and NPH. Overall, an enjoyable night at the theater. Oh, and I did appreciate the Sweeney references.
One last thing, it’s another theater with metal detectors, so travel light or be prepared to be wanded down like the guy in front of me.
what a great time and how nice to have something so silly on Broadway
That said WHAT A PHENOMENALLY ANNOYING AUDIENCE. Just endless yelling at the actors and applauding EVERY LITTLE THING, it was so bad during act one the ushers went around at intermission telling people to not be excessive with their yelling, I am sure NPH is drawing a certain audience, would like to go back and see it when the original actor is in.
Also avoid the far seats on the left orchestra, you will end up missing chunks of stuff, especially towards the start due to a large toy chest obstructing the view of one of the doors
I went into this expecting not to like it (I've never seen the Play That Goes Wrong, don't @ me), but I actually quite liked it. NPH is terrific, but doesn't turn this into the NPH-show, which is harder to pull off than it sounds. He does get involved in the "story" and does some of the physical bits as well, so it's not like he's just sitting there as the narrator the entire time. There is a bit of NPH audience interaction that was cheesy but fun.
The breaking-the-fourth-wall moments with references to other Broadway shows were quite funny ( "I bet you this never happens to Josh Groban!" ). Perfect amount of audience interaction. Henry Shields (who, in character, yelled at me pre-show for "getting in the way" of some electrical wiring), has a difficult task that he does really well -- balancing acting, improvising, and, well, standup-like crowd work.
A really enjoyable night at the theatre. As someone who was a little disappointed by the comedic offerings this season (looking at you, Shucked and Thanksgiving Play), this one hit the spot.