Question: Were There Major Changes Made to IN MY LIFE (2005) During Previews?- Page 2

[musikman]

Posted: 7/5/21 at 6:13pm

blaxx said: "musikman said: "I saw the show after it had opened. I think some of the more utterly ridiculous campy moments had been scrubbed (based off of earlier preview reports) to the point that it was mostly just boringly absurd treacle. Sure it had its campy moments of “omg wtf am I witnessing?!?” But it was also a slog to sit through.

Will never forget the kick line of dancing skeletons, the massive lemon that came down at the end, the random Italian aria that came out of nowhere, and the scooter. "

That's too bad. Yes it was bizarre, but I never found it boring."


When it came to the extraordinarily generic and cheesy score, it was a chore to sit through each of those songs (minus the dancing skeleton number and Italian aria, where I had uncontrollable fits of laughter).  Anything that wasn’t campy was just look-at-my-watch-to-see-the-time-again worthy. I saw it over thanksgiving weekend and the audience was maybe 1/3 full. Some of them genuinely seemed to enjoy it (?!?!?). I was sitting in the front row and it was hard not to show the actors how I was feeling about the whole ordeal. 
 

Anyway, here’s that absurd Italian aria. https://youtu.be/iZbWOGNONKA

[tourboi]

Posted: 7/5/21 at 6:34pm

I worked on the show during it's run and WOW was it weird... never boring, that's for sure. I vaguely remember (though I could be wrong - it was so long ago now) that it, at one point, had an intermission but that was cut very, very early in previews. Audience reaction was, honestly, all over the map... some haaaated it, some were just bored, some were dumbstruck, and some actually loved it.... I've never seen reactions that mixed in a Broadway house.

[blaxx]

Posted: 7/5/21 at 8:54pm

musikman said: "blaxx said: "musikman said: "I saw the show after it had opened. I think some of the more utterly ridiculous campy moments had been scrubbed (based off of earlier preview reports) to the point that it was mostly just boringly absurd treacle. Sure it had its campy moments of “omg wtf am I witnessing?!?” But it was also a slog to sit through.

Will never forget the kick line of dancing skeletons, the massive lemon that came down at the end, the random Italian aria that came out of nowhere, and the scooter. "

That's too bad. Yes it was bizarre, but I never found it boring."


When it came to the extraordinarily generic and cheesy score, it was achore to sit through each of those songs(minus the dancingskeleton number and Italian aria, where I had uncontrollable fitsof laughter). Anything that wasn’t campy was just look-at-my-watch-to-see-the-time-again worthy.I saw it over thanksgiving weekend andtheaudience was maybe 1/3 full. Someof them genuinely seemed to enjoy it (?!?!?). I was sitting in the front row and it was hard not to show the actors how I was feeling about the whole ordeal.


Anyway, here’s that absurd Italian aria.https://youtu.be/iZbWOGNONKA"

I suppose that what I loved about it is that he gave us the show he wanted to see, and it was personal and vulnerable. No, I don't think it was good but I found the intention endearing. Much better than shows that are staged with what creatives think audiences will like, which I usually find awfully condescending, generic and purposely dumbed-down.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 7/6/21 at 10:04am

Also of note, IN MY LIFE was the Broadway debut of Jonathan Groff, who understudied the roles of J.T. and Nick and was also the show’s dance captain. He definitely must have delicious stories.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 7/6/21 at 10:08am

THIS is the way you pull quotes, folks!  
 

 

[missthemountains]

Posted: 2/10/22 at 3:50am

Does anyone know of a way one could see this? I have the audio but it's hard to figure out much of whats going on -- not that i'm sure the visuals help much. It's just out of pure curiousity.

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 2/10/22 at 10:30am

I remember going to one of the group sales presentations and heard a few numbers from the show and Brooks performing at the piano, and thinking, huh...okay... Then they invited to the show and I was like, "Woah, not okay. What am I watching? And why are there so many good people in this?"