PORGY AND BESS = AMAZING!!!!!!- Page 3

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 12/19/11 at 1:54pm

If these shills could just move into promoting the candidates for President, then we could be rid of all of them, too.

[Kalimba]

Posted: 12/19/11 at 2:01pm

"I'm really disappointed by the behavior on this board. One person wants to share his impartial opinion of a show and you all attack him? For shame."

Surely you jest.

[ChenoKahn]

Posted: 12/19/11 at 2:06pm

They are not even trying. The only person who defends him joined today and their name is porgyandbess2011.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 12/19/11 at 2:07pm

The freshness date for that name is going to expire pretty quickly.

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 12/19/11 at 2:13pm

>> "I'm really disappointed by the behavior on this board. One person wants to share his impartial opinion of a show and you all attack him? For shame.

On a side note, I was also at hte first preview and it was on of the most breathtaking experiences of my life. True art the truest sense. Everyone there was crying and applauding by the end."

OMG -- you just dont know when to quit, do you.....

[My Oh My]

Posted: 12/19/11 at 2:15pm

I immediately think less favorably of a director who claims their version of a play is somehow revelatory and the pinnacle of art compared to the showy, flippant, spectacle, mindlessness of a musical.

They did it with a regional production of Show Boat--its director patted himself in the back after referring to his version as "NO Boat." Apparently, this director's tiny theatre would showcase a hidden gem long lost to the gaudy spectacle of the original productions and all those that followed. My blood boiled when he called those "other" versions mere "pageantry."

What a way to honor a work's integrity and show respect for its creators. For shame.

[porgyandbess2011]

Posted: 12/19/11 at 3:20pm

First of all let me just say that this is going to be one of my last couple of posts because I’m so saddened by your behavior here. I don’t understand why people have such a problem with Porgy and Bess. All I can think of is that that they’re jealous they can’t write music like Diane Paulus did.

Look, this prodution means a lot to me. It has for a while and I honestly don’t know where I would be without it. Isn’t that what theater is about? Why it’s so special to all of us? All I know is Porgy and Bess speaks to me, I just wish you would all give it a chance, especially for group sales.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 12/19/11 at 3:21pm

Bless your heart.

[Goremsa2]

Posted: 12/19/11 at 3:26pm

Went to the 1st preview. If all the early word swirling around (plus BB’s sour NYT review of the Boston production) keeps people away, it’ll be a shame. On the other hand, if you go as sceptical as I was because of all that, you may just be bowled over. I sure was.

This is to P&B The Opera as Peter Brook’s Tragédie de Carmen was to its original – stripped down, orchestrally thinned out, musically meaningful theatre, not theatrically meaningful music. It’s not an easy task: any production has to clear away the “Darkey” dross and reach for what is truly and powerfully African-American in the book and the score, and on this I give the team full marks. (Some of it goes overboard. Having a father’s voice pick up the second verse of “Summertime” , for example, seems a little politically too correct for what is otherwise depicted as a pretty sexist society, and musically it is wrong, “Summertime” being one of the greatest soprano arias of all time, as McDonald reminds us in her reprise. Along the same lines, some of the interpolated dialogue is kind of silly.)

But the entire cast is committed and true, and the production gives off the kind of kinetic intensity you get only in the best opera. The stripped-down numbers and pared-down book also give it a great intimacy and naturalness similar to what you get in only the greatest of opera productions. (Met goers, think last year’s “From the House of the Dead”. ) The voices don’t always mix that well, some (including McDonald’s) being true and operatic (and thus hard to bear in an amplified production – but the Richard Rogers is intimate enough that it shouldn’t be amplified at all, or much less intrusively than is now unavoidable on Broadway), others are less focused or able to carry a lyrical line (Lewis’s has a serious spread that can come across at times as bleating, but the intimacy, intensity and sincerity of what amounts to a great performance, make up for this in a way that audiences at a proper opera house would, rightly, not stand for, the point being that “P&B” can work both ways.)

There’ll never be a perfect, definitive P&B – the book, if not the music, is too problematic for that. But if the cast can keep up the sincerity and focus they had the other night through a whole Broadway run (and that’ll be a challenge), this will give us one to remember and treasure for a long time to come, and that will be hard to better. Maybe the highest compliment I could pay would be to say that if you offered to send me off next week to a full-barrel operatic production with great singers, full orchestra, and opened cuts, I think I’d probably say no, thanks, and go back to the Richard Rogers. In fact, I know I will even without that, probably next week. This may be only one way to present this masterpiece, but it is a powerful and compelling one and makes for as rich and moving an evening of musical theatre as one can imagine in these debased times.

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 12/19/11 at 3:27pm

Did I miss something? I actually was THINKING about going to see Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess." Are Audra and Norm performing a new work called Paulus' "Porgy and Bess"? WOW . . . I need to keep up a little better.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 12/19/11 at 3:28pm

Oh man they're not even trying anymore, are they?

[porgyandbess2011]

Posted: 12/19/11 at 3:29pm

Thank you for defending me, Goremsa2. It's nice to know there are true appreciators of real art starting to come out of the woodwork on broadwayworld.

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 12/19/11 at 3:34pm

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 12/19/11 at 3:37pm

If they only knew how sad and funny it all is.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 12/19/11 at 3:40pm

Goresma, I'm quite surprised after crying and yelling through the standing ovation the night you went you didn't run right back to the box office and get in the long line of fellow audience members buying more tickets to future performances.

[mybigsplash]

Posted: 12/19/11 at 3:42pm

This is the Shilliest Shill that ever Shilled. I'm going to put on a jacket because it's shilly in here.
Let's just say the wind-shill factor in here is very high.
Sue Shills pre-shills by the P&B store.
Twelve pence buys a shilling.
Isn't this thread just shilly?

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 12/19/11 at 3:44pm

Yes, the entire cast of The Big Shill is posting here and I am squatting down and sobbing in the shower because of it.

[porgyandbess2011]

Posted: 12/19/11 at 3:45pm

First of all I’m only going to post three or four more times because the negativity of this “website” really upsets me.

From what I’ve inferred from your comments, you think I’m paid by the show to give my honest opinion of it? Break out your tin foil hats, you conspiracy nuts. It’s just as likely (if not more) that YOU were all paid by rival musicals to trash the show online. I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt because I love theater so much, but come on guys.

This is only addressed to fans of art: Porgy and Bess has its flaws, sure, but for my money, it was a perfect night of art.

[Kalimba]

Posted: 12/19/11 at 3:48pm

Must be a slow day at the office for the intern(s).

[mybigsplash]

Posted: 12/19/11 at 3:48pm

It's about time someone throw the shill-switch on this thread entirely.

[HistoryBoy2]

Posted: 12/19/11 at 3:50pm

I saw Goremsa2's first post here on the boards. If all the early rumours of shilling swirling around (plus Jordan Catalano's sour attitude about other posters) keeps people away, it’ll be a shame. On the other hand, if you go as sceptical as I was because of all that, you may just be bowled over. I sure was.

This is to theatre review as Peter Brook’s Tragédie de Carmen was to its original – stripped down, brutally honest, heartbreakingly sincere. It’s not an easy task: any post has to clear away the “bitchy” dross and reach for what is truly and powerfully meaingful in the world of online criticism, and on this I give Goremsa2 full marks. (Some of it goes overboard. Being thanked by another user for coming to his 'defence' is unnecessary when G2's post was simply an expression of his feelings and opinions. )

But the entire post is committed and true, and it gives off the kind of intellectual intensity you get only in the best fora. The easy-to-understand words and low syllable count also give it a great intimacy and naturalness similar to what you get in only the greatest of children's books. (Readers, think Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree. ) The opinions don’t always mix that well, some being effusive and gushing (and thus hard to bear in a largely cynical forum), others are less focused or able to convey how fantastic the production was (calling certain cast members 'bleating' when he surely means 'a blessing'.)

There’ll never be a perfect, definitive BWW post – the users, if not the thread subjects themselves, are too problematic for that. But if Goremsa2 can keep up the sincerity and focus they had in that post through a whole week on the forum (and that’ll be a challenge), this will give us one to remember and treasure for a long time to come, and that will be hard to better. Maybe the highest compliment I could pay would be to say that if you offered to send me off next week to a full-barrel, no-holds-barred thread with Jordan, DollyPop and all the other hits, I think I’d probably say no, thanks, and go back to this thread. In fact, I know I will even without that, probably next time I come online. This may be only one way to present this masterpiece of a post, but it is a powerful and compelling one and makes for as rich and moving an evening of musical theatre criticism as one can imagine on this debased board.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 12/19/11 at 3:51pm

"First of all I’m only going to post three or four more times because the negativity of this “website” really upsets me."

Really? That's the reason why you're going to stop posting?

"It’s just as likely (if not more) that YOU were all paid by rival musicals to trash the show online."

Yeeeeeeesssss.........

Ok and here's the thing in all seriousness. These producers and publicists really need to understand how this type of marketing works and how it DOESN'T work. I was employed for a certain notorious producer for a while and he (OR SHE) wanted some of us to go online and hype up a show. I told him (OR HER) that doesn't work. You can't just sign up for a place like this or Talkin' Broadway and be taken seriously with overly praising something. No matter to her (OR HIM) it had to be done. Luckily I wasn't the person asked to do it that time. But within an hour this very thing happened and they were shocked. Just SHOCKED. I said I told them it would happen but they didn't listen to me. I really thought they would take it seriously after that, but a few months later we were told to do the same thing for the next show. One person, multiple screen names having a conversation with herself on here. And I called her out on it (she had no idea who I was) and had a grand old time.

So, Porgy2011 fan and all your other screen names - I know what you're going through. I know you probably don't want to be doing this. But arguing with people on here is the quickest way to not be taken seriously and have your show seen as a joke by this board. Yes it's a job and it's part of the business as it is today but this is the wrong way to do it. Tell your boss I said so.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 12/19/11 at 3:52pm

I hate to run down your count of how many more posts you're going to make, pb2011, but I notice you didn't DENY being paid to post your shilling here. You just shifted the focus on us, being paid by rival musicals (?). Well, you got me. I joined these boards eight years ago so I could sit and wait for Diane Paulus to mount a half-baked production of Porgy & Bess and to tell the world that she did us all a big favor because we were too stupid to understand the original plot. That's right, we've all been on a payroll for years, just waiting for this show to finally arrive.

[porgyandbess2011]

Posted: 12/19/11 at 4:03pm

I apologize if I have made any of you angry. It was never my intention to do so. My opinions are my own. I have not been instructed or paid by anyone affiliated with Porgy and Bess to write them. They do not reflect the opinions or wishes of its producers, Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel and Rebecca Gold.

To everyone who's like, "blah you made your account today!", I had no idea you can see when people join broadway world. Had I known, I would have joined weeks ago. I love Porgy and Bess. It is true art in these dark times.

[kdogg36]

Posted: 12/19/11 at 4:13pm

Guys, don't let these haters get to you. Diane Paulus is my favorite composer, too!