Pirate Queen First and Second Act Comparison- Page 2

[B3TA07]

Posted: 3/29/07 at 10:56pm

...it appears the artichoke is steamed.

Updated On: 3/29/07 at 10:56 PM

[B3TA07]

Posted: 3/29/07 at 10:57pm

double post 8(

Updated On: 3/29/07 at 10:57 PM

[queenbee2]

Posted: 3/29/07 at 11:56pm

Interesting topic tonight. Thinking about which act I prefer, I came to a strange conclusion.

I think the show is strongest from the second half of the first act through the first half of the second act. Sorry if that's not clear. But since, as I've discussed, I am not in love with the scenes that take place in England and am most theatrically intrigued with the love story between Grace/Tiernan/Donal- I find that I am most invested in the show from The Choce Is Yours where the two Cheiftains give away their children, through the end of the Christening/Father Stand By His Son when a third of that love triangle is "permanently dismissed". I've always thought the show started a bit weak, and didn't end strong enough. But that middle section of the show (which I'd say makes up about 75-80% of the story) is so strong. I just wish the opening and closing were equally as strong.

-QB
Updated On: 3/30/07 at 11:56 PM

[Testing1232]

Posted: 3/30/07 at 12:26am

<< The show has some of the greatest potential I've ever seen, in my years and years of going to the theater. The fact that it's frozen 3-weeks into previews with 2 weeks of changes-for-the-better to go is a shame.
>>

Totally agree.... crowd tonight liked it, but heard so many people muttering on the way out that it could have been much better with some tweaking (and re-doing the opening number!)

And, I dont know... was I the only one waiting for Gaston to appear during "Boys will be Boys"??

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 3/30/07 at 6:43am

....I was waiting for Thenardier.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 3/30/07 at 8:20am

PS: Phantom, in fact, I just signed yesterday to direct the revival in 2020.

Prior to rehearsals, I plan on doing an overhaul on most of the book to fix the problems....bring out all the potential, rather than stifle it.

[TechEverlasting]

Posted: 3/30/07 at 8:22am

queenbee2, your comments on Pirate Queen being strongest from "The Choice" through the end of the "Christening" are almost exactly what I kept saying while the show was trying out in Chicago. At that time the rest of the show seemed so weak to me that it was as if one hour of a great musical had been inserted into the middle of a Saturday Night Live "Bad Theater" sketch. The rest of the show is much better now, but I agree that the middle part is still the best.

It's sort of like a musical theater version of an Oreo.

[queenbee2]

Posted: 3/30/07 at 10:41am

"A Musical Theater Oreo"!

Fantastic.

Tech- I agree with you that in Chicago this was a much bigger problem. When I saw it then, this "OREO ISSUE" was even more obvious. Now that they've tightened the opening and closing sections of the show, it is not as glaringly obvious. But I still think that middle 3/4 of the show is really the strongest in terms of book/story and music. I just wish that while they have made the opening and closing sections "better" than they were in Chicago, that they could have made them "as good" as the middle part of the show.

They've made some great additions/improvements to that middle section as well, so if it was an Oreo in Chicago, maybe we can call it Double Stuffed here in New York.

Hmm. That was dumb.

-QB

[WishingWells]

Posted: 3/30/07 at 10:58am

I think it is strange that PQ is this huge epic musical, yet the first seen is so simplistic, and not that memorable. I can only remember turning to my friend during the opening song and asking if we were at Les Mis, and wondering if Grace was going to fall from the rope ladder :) Maybe the directors wanted to open this show in a different way then most musicals..but it sounds like it hasn't worked out that well. As for the ending, I thought it was fine and the audience LOVED the bows with all the Irish dancing. Did they do that in Chicago?

[bardolator]

Posted: 4/5/07 at 1:00pm

Agreed that the middle bit is the best part. Yes, they did the bows like that in Chicago, but you couldn't really tell as well where the show ended and the bows began in previews; they appear to have fixed that by adding a definite ending moment now.

The descriptions I've heard of the new opening scene sound better, as well; looking forward to seeing for myself the changes that have been made since I saw it in Chicago.