Roadshow

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 11/7/08 at 6:48pm

Will it move to Broadway?

How much different is it from Bounce?

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 11/7/08 at 7:04pm

It's closer to Wise Guys than to Bounce, but not as good as either as far as I'm concerned. I'd be very surprised if this moves to Broadway, but perhaps I will be surprised. You never know with Brantley.

[ljay889]

Posted: 11/7/08 at 7:14pm

It will certainly depend on the reviews.

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 11/7/08 at 7:57pm

It does all depend on the reviews.

From what we've heard so far, they really picked the right director for this: the material, apparently, doesn't measure up to what Mr. Doyle does with it.

And if the reviewers like the production enough, who knows? We'll certainly have enough empty houses come this Spring.

And I love the score.

(PS. Of course, you can't always count on the board reviewers: last season, almost every one left CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF convinced that Anika Noni Rose [who they saw as the best part of the production] would at least be nominated for a Tony. She got pretty good reviews, but not great. And the production was shafted.)

Updated On: 11/7/08 at 07:57 PM

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 11/7/08 at 8:26pm

"From what we've heard so far, they really picked the right director for this: the material, apparently, doesn't measure up to what Mr. Doyle does with it."

Well, here's someone who doesn't agree with that. I think one of the problems is the production. So brown in every way. But I also think this is the weakest of the three versions of the text.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 11/7/08 at 9:52pm

I can't compare it to any of the previous incarnations, but I don't really think a small-ish production like this was what Sondheim and Weidman were going for.

Doyle directs in Doyle style - few applause breaks, very monochromatic, very small.

[ljay889]

Posted: 11/7/08 at 9:56pm

But they certainly weren't going for the large musical comedy production like BOUNCE was, thanks to Hal Prince.

[wonkit]

Posted: 11/7/08 at 10:34pm

Question:
I am totally unfamiliar with this show in its prior incarnations. Will it be beneficial to me to listen to a recording of BOUNCE before I see this in early December, or not really helpful/relevant?

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 11/7/08 at 10:56pm

It won't hurt. You'll hear familiar melodies, and a familiar song here and there if you listen to Bounce, and the story is somewhat the same. They cut out one of my favorite parts from the Bounce score though. The part where they say "Mr Meizner, Mr Addy...." and they're like repeating it quickly in the song "You" (I don't know if that's the real title or not).

And, if the show does move to Broadway, I'd hope they would fix it up a little. I mean, not the physical production, but maybe work on the text a bit more with the help of the reviews? I don't know how it would work on Broadway because it seems so fit for that space.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 11/7/08 at 11:02pm

I'm not sure why exactly, but the pictures make me think immediately of Doyle's staging (as filmed for PBS anyway) of Mahoganny with Patti LuPone. Which I found a bit "brown" too (but that suits the Weill piece).

"From what we've heard so far, they really picked the right director for this: the material, apparently, doesn't measure up to what Mr. Doyle does with it."

I dunno who we is, on the Sondheim forum the general consensus is the production works a bit better than Prince's and is probably the best we can hope for from the material--but the production is harly light ways away from the solid material. I admit, I'm very meh on Bounce (prob the *only* Sondheim show I'm meh on, the new Frogs aside), and I suspect i' dbe meh on this too, though I wish I could see it. It does sound smart to make the two brothers a bit more even (Addi is less of a complete angel this time--ie seen taking cocaine too, etc). But it doesn't feel liek a BIG show to me, and doing it in one act might be wise.

[wonkit]

Posted: 11/8/08 at 10:17am

Thanks, rentboy. It probably always pays to be a little familiar with Sondheim before the show.