Roman Holiday Previews — Page 5

I was at the matinee Wednesday, walked there from the gym near Market/New Montgomery. I'm very familiar with the problems on Market St, but if you walk with purpose and quickly it's fine. Many police on Market St, both before and after the show....there appeared to be a group of young women involved in an argument with (at least 6) police talking them down as I walked by.

In terms of the show: It's cute and entertaining, but hard to recommend with enthusiasm. Drew Gehling was terrific, but I wasn't really drawn in, didn't see much chemistry and other than Easy to Love I didn't walk out humming. That said the woman next to me cried at the end.

I'm hoping that the rumors of SF sit-down Hamilton production a year or two down the road, following a remodel of the GG Theatre is true. When Carole and the Nederlanders opened it, 25 years or so ago, it was appreciated, but it needs to be brought up to contemporary standards. First and foremost in the bathroom department. And the outer lobby has so much wasted space while the orchestra-level lobby is permanently congested.
That said, the loge/front mezz is excellent. And the leg room and sound is superior to the Orpheum (which, admittedly isn't saying much!).
Neither the Golden Gate nor the Orpheum will match the Curran or the Geary for atmosphere, but at least the GG can be brought into the 21st century amenity-wise.

MarkBearSF said: "I'm hoping that the rumors of SF sit-down Hamilton production a year or two down the road, following a remodel of the GG Theatre is true. When Carole and the Nederlanders opened it, 25 years or so ago, it was appreciated, but it needs to be brought up to contemporary standards. First and foremost in the bathroom department. And the outer lobby has so much wasted space while the orchestra-level lobby is permanently congested.
That said, the loge/front mezz is excellent. And the leg room and sound is superior to the Orpheum (which, admittedly isn't saying much!).
Neither the Golden Gate nor the Orpheum will match the Curran or the Geary for atmosphere, but at least the GG can be brought into the 21st century amenity-wise.



"

I didn't know about GG remodeling rumor. But since SHN no longer has access to Curran, if GG goes dark, will SHN only use Orphuem? The season usually has six shows so I guess it's doable as other touring cities only have one theatre to host. I'm curious if Carole will bring the Comet for a long run and creates a similar staging to Curran as she's one of the producers.

Updated On: 6/10/17 at 02:43 PM

rushed $40 and ended up fourth row center. crowd was very supportive and most seemed to enjoy the show a lot

stephanie made it through the entire show with a fairly consistent accent other than when she was doing the princess in front of a crowd.

no changes since the reviews came out so looks like their going with what they got until broadway

i had a good time

I'd love to see a redesign of the men's room to add more toilets/urinals. A little bit of thought could create more usable space. Though I know "wet" construction work can be super expensive. Re the neighborhood, I've had some fun chats with the SHNSF "Orange Coats." Many are retired SFPD and they always have fun stories to share when I'm waiting out front.

MarkBearSF said: "I was unaware of CSH's involvement with Comet. It's a tantalizing idea, but I don't know if she'd want to tear up the Curran after spending a year restoring it, but perhaps the tour will be staged for a traditional proscenium theatre (how was it done at ART?) - or she can do a tent. A long run? Hmmmm..."



I haven't seen Comet but have seen and read enough to get a sense for the staging, and yeah, a tent like Teatro Zinzanni might work and have an appropriate feel and experience for the audience. A less traditional house/space might help the designers eliminate the obstructed view issues caused by shoehorning it into a theater.

An overall very positive review for Roman Holiday from SFist,com

'Roman Holiday' Is A Cheery Throwback Musical Of Which Cole Porter Would Approve"

http://sfist.com/2017/06/08/roman_holiday_is_a_cheery_throwback.php



Roman Holiday wraps up it's fourth and final week in SF on sunday afternoon june 18

Broadwaysfguy: Are you hoping to make it back to ''Roman Holiday'' for Visit No. 6 before it closes this weekend? ... In this 4-week tryout, it doesn't sound as if they made any substantive changes - in terms of cutting, adding or replacing songs or scenes. Or did they? ... If you chat with the producers and director again, please ask what happens next. Is it still full steam ahead to Broadway this fall?

Updated On: 6/14/17 at 02:13 AM

It's not Cole Porter, but there's another musical trying out for Broadway across the bay: ''Monsoon Wedding'' at the Berkeley Rep, and it's a screen adaptation, too (based on Mira Nair's 2001 movie). They just announced their third extension (now thru July 16).

Plus, Berkeley Rep is hosting another Broadway tryout in August: ''Ain't Too Proud - The Temptations,'' a new musical from the ''Jersey Boys'' team of Des McAnuff and Sergio Trujillo.

Updated On: 6/14/17 at 12:34 PM

broadwaysfguy said: "ill probably check out aint to proud but not sure monsoon is worth seeing



"

Not when you can see Roman Holiday for the seventh time. I'm sorry, but for whatever reasons, you have made yourself a champion of this show. Which is fine if you just say that. To hit up the producers and creatives is so weird to me, but that's just me. And if you're saying the biggest "changes" to the show are accents and a couple of laugh lines (are they NEW "laugh" lines or just making old ones work better) - sorry, that's not changes at all. It sounds like they're just cocky like every other show that tries out these days - and will not make any substantive changes before and IF they get to NY. The point of doing a tryout is to see what works and doesn't - and clearly there is a LOT that isn't working (and oh so sorry, posting some "review" from something called SFist really doesn't do you any favors). So, why are you obsessed with this show? Because clearly you are.

LizzieCurry said: "SFist has been around for over a dozen years, and is part of the istaverse, which includes Gothamist. How have you never heard of this?



"

Istaverse? Gothamist? Speak English. There are a lot of things that have been around for over a dozen years (me included) - you think a dozen years is a long time? It isn't. We have a lot of "reviewers" here in LA that have been "reviewing" for over a dozen years - doesn't mean anything in the scheme of things because they review on sites of their own making. And rave about 99% of what they see.

Oh Bruce. Were you also crowing about the names of blasted, newfangled websites and words like Yahoo Netscape and Altavista and Dogpile back in the '90s too? New words and adaptations of words happen all the time! Sorry that adaptation causes grief for some.

In bk's defense (and not that he needs it), I'll add that I had never heard of SFist until yesterday, when I was Googling for some reviews. I'm not exactly a Luddite, but ''istaverse'' is new to me, too. When I Googled: ''istaverse definition,'' nothing immediately came up. Now, I find that ''istaverse'' is a coined word that defines the universe covered by Gothamist, SFist and any other ''ist''-like websites.