Road Show reception?

[Overkill]

Posted: 12/1/10 at 10:54pm

So, as many of us do, I love Sondheim. I, for one, love BOUNCE. I listened to the cast recording for a long time, knew every word, and they announced back in...08, was it? They were doing a re-worked version, Road Show, at the public theatre.

I wasn't on the boards at the time, so I haven't heard ANYTHING about how good or bad it was. I just got the cast recording, and I find it uneasy to listen to. I became partial to Richard Kind and Howard McGillin listening to Bounce. Listening to Road Show, I feel like Alexander Gemignani and Michael Cerveris try too hard to be different, especially Michael. Maybe live, it was different...

I miss some of the old songs (for one, "Bounce" was changed to "Waste" and the whole time, I'm just singing the Bounce lyrics in my head) some were changed for the better though. Anyways, I'm just wondering what others on here thought of the show, and how was the critical reception?

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 12/1/10 at 10:58pm

I didnt see it, but, as I remember, the critics were not kind.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 12/1/10 at 10:59pm

I didn't know a lot of what to expect going in, but I enjoyed it immensely.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 12/1/10 at 11:00pm

I found the show to be a complete bore. To me it's Sondheims weakest score and I couldn't wait to get out of the theater the night I saw it. I tried listening to the recordings because it IS Sondheim but I could just never get into it.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 12/1/10 at 11:01pm

2 unlikable leading roles in an interesting, though not particularly outstanding, show.

It does, however, contain what I think is Sondheim's most beautiful love song, "The Best Thing That Ever Has Happened."

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/1/10 at 11:02pm

I like the score quite a bit. The critics were mixed. I liked the production, but I think some people were tired of Doyle.

[Overkill]

Posted: 12/2/10 at 12:15am

That's about the reaction I kind of expected. I would have loved to have seen the staging, though.

I just feel bad for Sondheim, because his two newer shows (this and the revised version of THE FROGS) didn't do well. And I don't see us getting one more huge Sondheim show before he goes. But one thing is for sure, he stuck with this one! He's been working on it since the 90's. It was originally WISE GUYS and starred Nathan Lane and Victor Garber. Then it was GOLD!, then BOUNCE, now ROAD SHOW. After four title changes and nearly twenty years, you'd think he would move on to something else.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 12/2/10 at 2:08am

Overall I like Road Show better, and I love the reassigned "Best Thing That Ever Has Happened". The only thing I miss from Bounce is Gavin Creel.

[mallardo]

Posted: 12/2/10 at 4:07am

The Chocolate Factory in London is staging it next year, possibly with Michael Cerveris. You'll get a chance to either see it or read all about it here.

[jv92]

Posted: 12/2/10 at 10:04am

I loved it. I thought the staging was apt and creative, the leads were outstanding and the material was great. I know I'm in the minority there, though.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 12/2/10 at 12:38pm

I saw BOUNCE in Chicago the summer of 2003. The first act was too long and seemed unfocused. Many people bailed at intermission missing a much tighter and more engrossing second act.

The best sequences were Sondheim and Prince at the peak of their game. Two almost back-to-back near end of Act One -Addison's Trip Around the World and The New York Sequence - and the Boca Raton sequence in Act Two were as good as anything the partners had done before. Afterward I felt (for the first time with any show Sondheim has done in the pat) that I didn't know why he wanted to share this story with us.

When ROAD SHOW opened I was in New York and got in to the show the night after opening. It was a tight, fast moving re-telling of essentially the same story with some improvements and some changes that I felt didn't work. The reviews that morning were all over the place: some were positive, many were mixed and few were very negative (from the usual suspects.) None were outright raves. The best anyone could say that the show was "interesting" and many felt it was a waste of time.

I'm still not sure of the why behind this show, but I'm glad I saw it. There are many songs that I really like and enjoy both cast albums. (I've actually done a composite taking the best of both.)

Did anyone here get into to the Sam Mendes workshop staging of WISE GUYS?