Retire it, QUEEN!- Page 3

[Theatreboy33]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 1:50am

Judging by the reviews ive read of tonight's performance, it seems that very little has changed since the dreck that I was privvy to in Chicago. The bland ballads, the childish language, the song list. But tech, who has seen both versions claims that the show has improved. I may or may not see for myself. Maybe if i can score one of those $25 tickets Ill check it out.

Oh, and I must say it is a pet peeve of mine when people use audience applause as a meter of a show's quality. FOr god's sake, its opening preview night in NYC, a lot of these people are sitting in seats that have cost them $110 a pop, plus applause is a given at ANY theatrical event. I have never attended a show where a song ends triumphantly or the lights come up on a curtain call and no one applauds. That's just plain tasteless and rude. Also, in a house as big as the Hilton, if you've got everyone just applauding mildly, its still gonna sound pretty enormous.

[rockfenris2005]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 2:35am

If this show flops too, it's evident that musical theatre needs to move in a different direction. Something where it's not so risky!

[fengshuihellnyc]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 2:36am

Uhmmmm I saw the show tonight and its not as bad as foster is saying. I'm not saying it was amazing but it certainly is not the disaster that foster says. In fact I believe that much of the audience around me very much like it. In fact people were clapping to the music at the end of the show and I sincerely doubt that if people didn't like it they would not have clapped in time.
I hate when people BOMB a show and are all negative before they've even given a show a chance.
Foster is a Quack and should not be listened to!!!!
If you like les miz or any of boubil and Shoenberg (sorry spelling) musicals you will like this show also.
Don't rain on other peoples parade. Give it a chance to open for god sakes.
PS. i don't think that reviews should be posted by anyone be it audience member or critic until opening night. Thats really only what is fair, don't you really think. But heh its a free country. but if someone chooses to be a jerk let them be a jerk.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 2:41am

I hate when people BOMB a show and are all negative before they've even given a show a chance.

I gave it a chance. I spent money and bought a ticket to the show, sat in the theatre and watched it from beginning to end. I'm pretty sure I covered all the bases in the process of giving the show a chance.

Updated On: 3/7/07 at 02:41 AM

[fengshuihellnyc]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 2:46am

uhm yeah but its still in previews.

Which means TO YOU... U see Preview = U didn't really give it a true chance. U may think its a trainwreck but its in th preview period and until the opening night you really shouldn't open your mouth. I'm sure many shows that seemed like trainwrecks out of town and in previews have done well and become something of substance.

My suggestion to you. Go see it after it opens and then blab all you want.

But like I said its a free country and as you have your right to your opinion... SO DO I.

[fachedaluna]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 3:13am

I don't know...so many of you sound like your dream was to be on the stage. So instead, you have turned into critics. Yes, you are entitled to your opinions, but some of these commentaries sound like persausive convictions to turn people off to the Pirate Queen.

Yes, we all have our own opinions and taste in the entertainment we care about. Yet, how many of you truly enjoy epic shows? Shows that are mostly sung through? How many would rather see the light hearted "Legally Blonde"/Curtains/Drowsy Chaparone etc., type shows? Much of this mind set will determine the fall or success of the Pirate Queen.

This millennium is populated with people who just want to be entertained without having to think (sometimes I fall into that category and there's nothing wrong with that). However, with PQ and it’s historical background (just like in school) it takes single-minded focus on the story and it’s relationship to the characters.

I love the show. I loved it in Chicago and I am sure I will love it when I see it in April. This epic just may be the instrument for the baby-boomers, who loved theatre the way it was in the day. Perhaps the babyboomers will be the target audience. Besides, PQ does show the strong side of women, even when it was not popular to be a woman of strength.

One more thing. I seem to remember when Wicked first came out,reading those reviews is so much like what is being said on this board. The many negative comments regarding Wicked's music, lyrics, book, costumes etc,.etc didn't give it much promise. Just look how that’s gone. 9 companies now performing around the world. I can just see the producers boo-hooing these negative reviews all the way to the bank.

Others that received failing commentaries... Mama Mia, Beauty and the Beast, Les Mes (in the beginning) and they are still going strong. I also remember another show that was thought to be frivolous, Cats and is it one of the longest running shows around?

I guess what I am trying to say is that all of us have different tastes in shows and opinions on what they like/dislike (I for one hated Avenue Q!~!) . Yes, it is each ones right to express this opinion. Yet, tasteful and less pessimistic and harmful comments are duely suited for the intelligence of this board.



Updated On: 3/8/07 at 03:13 AM

[LittleFish8386]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 7:27am

A critic is someone who knows the way, but can't drive the car, or in this case, the pirate ship.


fachedaluna I couldn't agree more with you.

[TechEverlasting]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 7:32am

"PS. i don't think that reviews should be posted by anyone be it audience member or critic until opening night."

Yeah, I really got annoyed by some of the posts earlier saying what a brilliant show Pirate Queen is. It hasn't opened yet, so how dare people post reviews!

The reason shows have preview periods is to guage audience reaction and make adjustments. If the creative team didn't care what the audience thought they'd just run the thing over and over again in a rehearsal hall and then open it. We're supposed to give our opinions. It's part of the process!

[ahmelie]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 7:42am

Fach, but Wicked also had an audience. From the sounds of it, Pirate Queen doesn't. I think Foster's review was valid, he hated it, everyone else around him seemed to hate it. And yeah, he did turn me off from this show because I'm only going to be seeing 5 shows on Broadway this year, and I want to be sure that I like them. And from his and other's reviews, I'm not going to.

[tazber]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 7:47am

Come on people, this a theatre board where we discuss. Foster's original was his opinnion. He is 100% entitled. If you dis-agree, please learn to do so without taking it personally. Did the producers hire you to be their defnadant on this board.

I think those of you who have reacted with such unwarranted vitrol to Foster are aware that this show is not gonna sail for long and are overly sensitive about it as a result.

I haven't seen the show, but I respect a review like Foster's much more than yours. Your lack of tolerance for anyone's negative assessment bespeaks a deep insecurity about the quality of PQ.

[WordedGrace]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 8:24am

Wow...so many people jumping down someone's throat for posting his OPINION.. Get over it! The point of this message board is to say what we feel or think. If the rest of you cannot respect that then you have no business being here.

P.S. I came down from Toronto to see this show because I didn't want to let the negative comments from Chicago cloud me but I'll just say I wanted those hours back.. If you don't like my opinion or Foster's.. Don't read it! Just a thought

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 9:05am

I had read SO many negative opinions on this show that when I went last night I expected it to make CARRIE seem like WEST SIDE STORY but what I got was in my opinion, a really great show. It does still need a little work but aside from some minor retooling I thought it to be in wonderful shape. The dancing was spectacular, the voices were perfect, not to mention the sets and costumes. This is a story I knew nothing about and it really grabbed me and pulled me in from the beginning.

Imagine! Going to a Broadway show and not knowing the entire plot from having just seen the movie on TNT a few hours before!!!

[SorryGrateful]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 9:55am

'Yet, how many of you truly enjoy epic shows? Shows that are mostly sung through? How many would rather see the light hearted "Legally Blonde"/Curtains/Drowsy Chaparone etc., type shows? Much of this mind set will determine the fall or success of the Pirate Queen.'

fachedeluna-- I would really try to steer away from the generalizations you are making here. I think most theatre-goers can handle more than just one type of theatre. Some may prefer one over the other, but I think there are a lot of us who can see the good in a show, if there is good there, even if we didn't particularly care for the style. But a statement like the one I quoted above makes it sound like you're saying, "Well, if you didn't like The Pirate Queen, you obviously have no attention span." That's just insulting and completely untrue.

It's no secret that I didn't care for The Pirate Queen at all, but I certainly didn't go into that show after having spent $70 of my money, of which I don't have a lot, on a show that I purposely intended to hate.

[nmartin]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 9:59am

There is no way this show will run. It is a throwback to pop operas. That genre is dead. Thank God!

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 10:04am

If you like les miz or any of boubil and Shoenberg (sorry spelling) musicals you will like this show also.

That is quite a statement considering everyone I know who did not care for this show went on the basis of how much they enjoyed LM and MS.

And the success of Cats and Phantom had as much to do with the fact that you didn't really have to understand the English language to have a good time than it did no the quality of the show. I don't think that the non-English speaking tourists will enjoy what little spectacle the Pirate Queen has to offer enough to keep it in the Cats/Phantom league.

[StephsFingersOwn]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 10:10am

To answer everyone on the accent question, since no one else has figured it out...

They started out with an Irish dialect coach.

Or maybe you'd just like an exact quote from Stephanie?

"We started to rehearse with Irish dialects, and it just wasn't setting right. And historically, we wouldn't be speaking Irish anyway--we would be speaking Gaelic. So truth of the matter is, to go in there with a Dubliner accent is as foreign as if we were to use a French accent, or an English accent!"

Make sense now?

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 10:14am

You people have an excuse for everything! Its not like Foster is alone in his opinion. This is the first thing I've ever seen him out and out trash, and I tend to respect his opinions on here. He knows his stuff.

This will all be moot in a few months when this little story plays out the way we predicted. If it makes it that long. I imagine they'll try to hold on, but I cannot see the grosses being stellar.

Updated On: 3/7/07 at 10:14 AM

[Kringas]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 10:24am

I know this is a threadjack, but I'm curious to know what it is that Steph's fingers own.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 10:26am

Wow . . . . just . . . wow! Some of you people crack me up because of the two faced persona you are using. Yes, this is a theatre message board and everyone is "entitled to their opinion and should not be attacked because they do not agree with you", but SOME of the same people saying this, is tearing someone else down for liking a show or performance on another thread.

**steps off soapbox**

I have not seen the show or heard any songs from it, so I can not comment on the show at this moment.

Updated On: 3/7/07 at 10:26 AM

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 10:29am

Why do the Thernadiers speak in British accents, but noone else in Les Miz does?

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 10:30am

Because bad guys always have British accents.

Duh.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 10:32am

Oh, they arent so bad...maybe they were mean to Cosette because they couldnt understand her American accent!

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 10:34am

Why do the Thernadiers speak in British accents, but noone else in Les Miz does?

Because someone's gotta match Jenny Galloway!

[Calvin]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 10:35am

I don't think I hated it as much as Foster did, but it is a VERY broad show with an utterly banal book -- I could finish about half of the lyrics before the character had. I had to check my Playbill at intermission to remind myself that this wasn't a Disney show, because this seemed to me like Michael Eisner had gotten his hands on Grace O'Malley instead of Mulan or Belle or whatever other princess du jour.

All the trite elements are there: the plucky tomboy, the preening wuss, the wise father and the scheming villains. Oh, the villains. I had no idea that Cruella de Vil and Snidely Whiplash were the queen of England and governor of Ireland during that period. The Elizabeth characterization did improve by the second act (and none of the characerization problems seemed to be the actors' fault).

The music did borrow quite a bit from previous B&S works. I mean, the opening number, a recurring motif, takes the rhythm almost beat for beat from "Do You Hear The People Sing?". And that "Boys Will Be Boys" song has got to go. There are some nice numbers in it, although I kept waiting for Miss America to show up during "I'll Be There" (it has the same three notes as the "There she is..." song.

The critics are going to ravage this show. I also always try to eavesdrop on everybody around me on my way out the door, and admittably, everyone around me (mostly tourists) really liked it. If they can market this show right, it might fly, but the odds aren't in their favor. It wasn't bad for $25 orchestra seats, but I can't imagine dropping much more for this. But if it succeeds, more power to it.
Updated On: 3/7/07 at 10:35 AM

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 3/7/07 at 10:39am

Calvin, have you had the princess du jour at Cafe des Artists?

Delish!