Riedel/Raul--I guess I'll get over it- Page 4

[jenna2]

Posted: 6/17/07 at 4:17pm

Yeah, when "it's kind of like Sex & the City" is the best your marketing people can come up with, it's time to find some new marketing people. I'm sure that turned a lot of people off the show (at the same time, I'm sure it brought in a handful of tourists).

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 6/17/07 at 4:44pm

Seriously? Did you guys watch Sex and the City? I believe it was Isherwood who said it best when saying that, in this production, Bobby was sort of the elusive, not-to-be-tied-down "Mr. Big" bachelor archetype. Of course it's not the whole story, but the surface comparisons seem pretty apt to me. It's still partly about upper-class Manhattanites in the dating and marriage (and sex) scene. It would be kind of hard to advertise the deeper, "emotional journey" aspects of the piece. That part of the marketing probably wasn't that bad an idea, they just didn't go far enough in promoting ANY sort of advertising hook.

[broadwayjim42]

Posted: 6/17/07 at 4:55pm

The "Streisand Syndrome" name was supposed to be kinda jokey. It's just the look on his face made me think of Nolte and Bacall...the look of shock that it's not you and trying to maintain your composure without looking too pissed off.

[misschung]

Posted: 6/17/07 at 5:09pm

You're right, Siren. Part of my aversion to that comparison is that I absolutely despise Sex and The City - so I am biased to begin with, but yes, I have watched it. I don't disagree that there are distinct parallels between the two shows, and you're right - conveying what an emotionally moving piece Company is IS very difficult, especially in a one-sentence blurb.

I think I agree most with your last statement though - the show, like other Sondheim pieces, don't really fit into any particular niche, and they didnt go very far to get the word out on this one, in my opinion.

[B3TA07]

Posted: 6/17/07 at 5:12pm

Has a clip of Pierce winning showed up anywhere yet? I have scoured YouTube to no avail; I was so surprised myself that I didn't even look at Raul Esparza's face. I was glued to Pierce.

[jayfpinker]

Posted: 6/17/07 at 7:20pm

I've been checking myself for the Clip of Bernadette Peters and Harvey Fierstein announcing DHP as Leading Actor in a Musical.
There is a promise of the clip coming soon. (School intervening.)
I want to hear Bernadette's "Ay-yi-yi!" before the announcement!

[keen on kean]

Posted: 6/17/07 at 7:36pm

I guess I always saw Sex and the City as a friendship among women story (which is how it was marketed) rather than a man fighting commitment story which is why I never got the comparison. True, they both involve New York and sophistication but that is like comparing Alice in Wonderland and Journey's End because they both take place in a hole in the ground.

[B3TA07]

Posted: 6/17/07 at 7:38pm

That's different.

[misschung]

Posted: 6/17/07 at 7:42pm

Yeah, when I think of Sex and the City, I think of the four women - when sweetestsiren mentioned Mr. Big, I was like "oh yeah!" Since I'm not a huge fan of the show, I dont immediately associate him with it, you know?

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 6/17/07 at 7:44pm

keen, did you actually watch Sex and the City? I can't imagine you have a decent grasp of the show's themes if you thought it was about women's friendship and contained nothing at all about sex, relationships, commitment, love, and marriage. Hence the comparison to Company.

Updated On: 6/17/07 at 07:44 PM

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 6/17/07 at 8:44pm

From Isherwood's New York Times review:
And Mr. Esparza, giving what may well be the richest and strongest performance of his career, remakes the challenging character of Bobby as a seductive, moody figure who might easily be found coolly sizing up the offerings at one of the oversize, overcrowded pan-Asian eateries frequented by single women who continue to cavort like the gals from "Sex and the City." Bobby, eternally age 35, is, after all, a 35-year-old prototype of that show's ever-unavailable Mr. Big.

Just pointing out that long before the marketing even started, critics were noting the similarities. They're definitely not direct parallels, by any stretch, but I do think that they were notable because stylistically, Doyle presents the material with an emphasis on urban sophistication and it becomes very much an exploration of why that eternal bachelor can't commit. The material itself doesn't totally lend itself to the comparison, but the way it's presented and interpreted (I think) does. I guess I wasn't aware of the way Sex and the City is perceived, having been a big fan of the show. Yes, the friendship between the women was a huge part of the show, but so too were issues of dating, love and commitment. And the show's primary male figure is that enigma of a bachelor who's not so very unlike Raul and Doyle's Bobby.

Anyway, there are bound to be disagreements on this. I think that that angle was actually a promising one for the show, but that the marketing never delivered anything to back it up. There are definitely failings, but in my opinion taking the approach they did wasn't one of them. Company deals heavily with sex and the differences in expectations between the sexes, so I don't really see the comparison as being inappropriate or somehow debasing.

[misschung]

Posted: 6/17/07 at 9:10pm

For me its just a matter of opinion. I do remember that article, and I dont think the comparison is debasing by any means, especially given the popularity of Sex in the City. In fact I'm surprised that it didnt have a better effect on the marketing of the show. I guess since I'm not a big fan of the show, though, I forget that Mr. Big is such a central part of it, and don't immediately draw the comparison between his and Bobby's characters, which are actually very accurate. Does that make sense?

Not to say that the other common issues of the two shows - commitment, marriage, sex, etc - arent there either. But when someone mentions Sex and the City, I am so used to seeing the picture of those four women that that's the first comparison I make. This is totally a moot point now anyway, since I'm in love with Company, but that's just why I wasn't crazy about the comparison. I agree with you though, that it could have worked if they pushed that - or any angle - a bit more.

Anyway, are you still planning to go to the last show?

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 6/17/07 at 9:16pm

Definitely understandable. And I guess if people came into the show expecting Sex and the City, that's obviously not what they'd be getting (though I'd like to think they'd be getting something better).

If my bus gets there in time! I'll be cutting it pretty close. Thanks for asking.

[moljul]

Posted: 6/17/07 at 9:39pm

Okay, I'll apologize first for what I'm about to say if its something that everyone knows or it has been discussed to death already. But there was a thread a day after the Tonys that implied Bernadette's "oy, yi, yi" or whatever she said was her reaction to David Hyde Pierce being the winner instead of Raul. If someone already corrected this assumption already, forgive me but I never got a chance to respond and then lost track of the thread as there were so many those first days after the awards. But her reaction was not in reaction to his name, she was having a hard time getting the envelope open and was trying to cover the time. So she said that before she even broke the seal. I was at the Tonys (quite a ways down front) and was watching them the entire time. I realized later when I watched my tape of the broadcast that they didn't have the camera on her for the TV show at the time.
Updated On: 6/17/07 at 09:39 PM

[misschung]

Posted: 6/17/07 at 9:43pm

That makes sense. I didn't think she'd do that in response to the winner - it seems a little harsh, but you never know.

[jayfpinker]

Posted: 6/17/07 at 11:24pm

Delighted to hear that bernadttte Peters was reacting to an envelope situation!
I happily stand corrected from a non-visual presumption!

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 6/18/07 at 1:07am

So...anyone want to clue me in on the pastraul/ridel feuds of Cabaret and Taboo? Just PM me please.

[B3TA07]

Posted: 6/18/07 at 1:19am

Well, Queen Latifah burst out laughing at the Oscars when "It's Hard Out There For A Pimp" won Best Song.

[bially0822]

Posted: 6/18/07 at 3:39am

yeah what was the deal with taboo? i never heard anything about it....?