#27
Posted: 1/18/09 at 6:28pm
weho Joe from bittersville mo
No offense Joe but if you're versed so well in theater (as we can see you see your fair share on youtube) you'd know not to go to a brand new concept show 1. During previews & 2. The first night of previews. I will gladly pay you $20 to go see it again once it opens and am certain you'll have a far different opinion. Although you did say that the signing distracted you which won't change since it is produced by DEAF West Productions. Can you hear me now? Good.
No offense Joe but if you're versed so well in theater (as we can see you see your fair share on youtube) you'd know not to go to a brand new concept show 1. During previews & 2. The first night of previews. I will gladly pay you $20 to go see it again once it opens and am certain you'll have a far different opinion. Although you did say that the signing distracted you which won't change since it is produced by DEAF West Productions. Can you hear me now? Good.
#28
Posted: 1/19/09 at 2:50am
so you didn't see the performance.
thought not.
don't bother.
and keep your money.
thought not.
don't bother.
and keep your money.
#29
Posted: 1/19/09 at 5:17am
I love how BroadwayBetty came on here and went after WehoJoe, but said NOTHING to the other reviewer on here that posted a positive review of a PREVIEW performance.
I don't get why when someone posts a positive review for a preview, that's fine, but when they post negative one their attacked. It's happened on here and at ATC.
I don't get why when someone posts a positive review for a preview, that's fine, but when they post negative one their attacked. It's happened on here and at ATC.
Updated On: 1/20/09 at 05:17 AM
#30
Posted: 1/20/09 at 2:07am
I saw it Sunday night...did anyone else who's seen it have as many microphone problems? More often that not, the mics didn't catch the first word of an actor's line.
"My understanding is that he is leaving show business to pursue a career as a thermometer." -- David Mamet on Jeremy Piven's early departure from the cast of Broadway's 'Speed-the-Plow'
#31
Posted: 1/20/09 at 6:18am
God knows this will wake-up the beast that is Broadway Betty by posting ANOTHER negative comment; however, the microphones failed during the 1st preview as well. It usually occurred right at the moment the song was about to soar.
What do you think Broadway Betty? Was it a conspiracy by the deaf actors? I know you know EVERYTHING there is to know about the theatre...
LOL
What do you think Broadway Betty? Was it a conspiracy by the deaf actors? I know you know EVERYTHING there is to know about the theatre...
LOL
#32
Posted: 1/20/09 at 10:10am
I would have to agree about the sound.
The Mark Taper just got a $30 Million Dollar renovation and their sound system is wacked. It wasn't just the mics for me. It didn't seem like the sound in the theater was balanced.
It was really odd.
The Mark Taper just got a $30 Million Dollar renovation and their sound system is wacked. It wasn't just the mics for me. It didn't seem like the sound in the theater was balanced.
It was really odd.
#34
Posted: 1/23/09 at 3:06pm
Broadway Betty making people mad...bad Betty bad. The mad only get madder when you challenge their integrity or the lack there of.
Drink your juice Shelby...and put some vodka in there while you're at it and just relax! (but keep posting, I think you're all hilariously ridiculous)
Drink your juice Shelby...and put some vodka in there while you're at it and just relax! (but keep posting, I think you're all hilariously ridiculous)
#35
Posted: 1/27/09 at 5:16pm
I saw the show this past Friday night. The good news is, by sharing notes with my bro who was at the first preview, a lot of kinks have been worked out, or at least worked on. So please don't not go to the show based on the accounts of a terrible first preview.
It's hard to imagine getting more bang for your $20 than at this staging of Pippin. That's not to say it's the best version I've ever seen-- for real heart and humanity, I'd point to the LA County High School of the Arts version from a few years ago that was so charming and earnest. I think this is definitely better than the 2007 Goodspeed Opera House version, which used a circus theme, and the East/West Players staging from last spring, that used an anime/hip hop theme. But the real heart and message of the story gets lost under all the splashy effects (yes, there really is Vegas-style magic) and time-traveling production design (each sequence is set in a different era).
I loved the pairing of Tyrone Giordano and Michael Arden as Pippin, and of Troy Kotsur and Dan Callaway as Charlemagne. My companion agreed with some posters here that it was distracting and confusing to have two actors playing the same part, but I thought it worked really well and wasn't a problem for me at all. I didn't really like Ty Taylor-- he lacked a connection with the audience. Sara Gettelfinger was totally wasted as Fastrada, since there is almost no traditional choreography in the whole show (Fosse?? Who's he?) I liked the Louis (sorry, forgot his name) and Harriet Harris was clearly an audience favorite (although she had help in making 'Just No Time at All' bawdier than I've ever seen it). Melissa van der Scyll was just ok as Catherine; because of the country/western setting of the Home sequence, she has to sing like a cowgirl, which is kinda weird.
Overall, I thought it was a great effort- certainly you can see where the money went-- but it's just nowhere close to the magic and emotion of a traditional version of this magnificent show.
It's hard to imagine getting more bang for your $20 than at this staging of Pippin. That's not to say it's the best version I've ever seen-- for real heart and humanity, I'd point to the LA County High School of the Arts version from a few years ago that was so charming and earnest. I think this is definitely better than the 2007 Goodspeed Opera House version, which used a circus theme, and the East/West Players staging from last spring, that used an anime/hip hop theme. But the real heart and message of the story gets lost under all the splashy effects (yes, there really is Vegas-style magic) and time-traveling production design (each sequence is set in a different era).
I loved the pairing of Tyrone Giordano and Michael Arden as Pippin, and of Troy Kotsur and Dan Callaway as Charlemagne. My companion agreed with some posters here that it was distracting and confusing to have two actors playing the same part, but I thought it worked really well and wasn't a problem for me at all. I didn't really like Ty Taylor-- he lacked a connection with the audience. Sara Gettelfinger was totally wasted as Fastrada, since there is almost no traditional choreography in the whole show (Fosse?? Who's he?) I liked the Louis (sorry, forgot his name) and Harriet Harris was clearly an audience favorite (although she had help in making 'Just No Time at All' bawdier than I've ever seen it). Melissa van der Scyll was just ok as Catherine; because of the country/western setting of the Home sequence, she has to sing like a cowgirl, which is kinda weird.
Overall, I thought it was a great effort- certainly you can see where the money went-- but it's just nowhere close to the magic and emotion of a traditional version of this magnificent show.
#36
Posted: 2/8/09 at 12:04pm
I saw the show yesterday and had never seen Pippin before in any incarnation. (I did, though, see Deaf West's Big River 5 times.) So I can't comment on how it compares in any way to other productions of Pippin. I didn't think this production was fantastic but I did enjoy it.
Somehow the ASL seemed to work so much better in Big River. I didn't think it felt distracting here, as many complain about, but it was just kind of "there," and I don't know if Deaf West is trying to make a point that ANY MUSICAL can be done with ASL. If that's the case, I don't think they're right, but that wasn't really a huge problem, IMO. Just a problem.
Splitting the two Pippins and then having them conflict at the end was a nice touch, in an angel-and-devil-on-your-shoulder way. Tyrone Giordano has such a presence on stage, and Michael Arden's voice is both cute and powerful -- he didn't steal focus at all and was really only physically prominent when he had to be. And I'll always enjoy Troy Kotsur. :) He worked with Dan Callaway seamlessly.
Somehow the ASL seemed to work so much better in Big River. I didn't think it felt distracting here, as many complain about, but it was just kind of "there," and I don't know if Deaf West is trying to make a point that ANY MUSICAL can be done with ASL. If that's the case, I don't think they're right, but that wasn't really a huge problem, IMO. Just a problem.
Splitting the two Pippins and then having them conflict at the end was a nice touch, in an angel-and-devil-on-your-shoulder way. Tyrone Giordano has such a presence on stage, and Michael Arden's voice is both cute and powerful -- he didn't steal focus at all and was really only physically prominent when he had to be. And I'll always enjoy Troy Kotsur. :) He worked with Dan Callaway seamlessly.
"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt
Updated On: 2/8/09 at 12:04 PM
#37
Posted: 2/12/09 at 2:50pm
Charles Isherwood in today's New York Times really liked it!
#38
Posted: 2/12/09 at 4:45pm
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/theater/reviews/12pipp.html?8dpc
"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt
#39
Posted: 2/12/09 at 5:19pm
I don't think the NY Times reviews every show in LA. Does this mean Pippin may go to Broadway?
#40
Posted: 2/12/09 at 5:26pm
Since the review was favorable, that certainly increases the odds, doesn't it? And the trail was obviously paved by "Big River." So, I have to say that you took the words right out of my mouth!
#41
Posted: 2/12/09 at 5:33pm
The reviews after opening night were mixed, but everything since then has been pretty good.
#42
Posted: 2/14/09 at 2:02am
The show definitely has its eye on Broadway. If they can raise all the money in this difficult economic environment, it will definitely be a GO.
"It does what a musical is supposed to do; it takes you to another world. And it gives you a little tune to carry in your head. Something to take you away from the dreary horrors of the real world. A little something for when you're feeling blue. You know?"
#43
Posted: 2/14/09 at 7:44am
BroadwayBaby6, where do you get your information? As I said on the other thread you said matter of factly in december that it would go to Broadway.
I'm just wondering your source.
I'm just wondering your source.
.jpg?format=auto&width=300)
Tickets From $59
Tickets From $70
Tickets From $59
Tickets From $101
