SAVE Me From SAVED!: CapnHook Reviews the Off-Broadway Musical (5-23-2008)

[CapnHook]

Posted: 5/25/08 at 1:23pm

Show: SAVED!
Date: Friday May 23, 2008
Cast: Original Cast, no understudies.
Spotted in the Audience: Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Actor), Howard Sherman (Executive Director of the American Theatre Wing).

Review, in Brief (minimum spoilers):

This is a production where what the director, actors, and designers have done is make the most out of a cruddy script. The creative team has, in my opinion, ruined the story. The stage show fails to do what the movie very successfully did.

Before I go any further, I would like to state (SPOILER) that I *HATE* new shows with narrators. I understand that in the film version of SAVED! that the Mary character narrates, but it seems like every new stage show I see, there is a Narrator. And in musicals, the Narrator ALWAYS has an opening musical number to narrate what has been going on with the characters up til the point where the story in the musical really starts. It's a tired device. (END SPOILER)

The director knows what the material is and keeps to it. He doesn't try to make up for the god-awful script (thanksfully).

Technically, the book, music, and lyrics all WORK to make a show. And it's technically written well. However, it does nothing to serve the story. It's only minutely effective.

In the score, the only well-done song is the one in Act I (SPOILER) where Dean is playing basketball with the other guys and sings about how he is attracted to them. (END SPOILER)

There are other songs that serve the story nicely, but none as effective as the one noted above.

I left the show feeling nothing. I didn't care about any of the characters as much as I did when I first watched the film.

In my opinion, I did not care for the opposite take of Hilary Faye's character. She was more effective as a bitch.

I felt so sorry for the actors. They're trying to make the show work, but you can only do so much. And they (and the director and designers) have done A LOT to try to make the show watchable. Which it is. It's a mediocre show. And it's too late to fix anything. They don't open until June, I believe, the the major rewrites that are necessary will not happen.

What I hope the creative team will do is continue the run (extend if they wish), and after they close, do a MAJOR rewrite of the piece and open it at a regional theatre and try again.

I'm pressed for time in writing this review, there are a lot of specifics I did not go into. Any questions, just ask.

(And no, this show should definitely not go to Broadway.)

[uncageg]

Posted: 5/25/08 at 1:27pm

So what did they do with the Hillary Faye character?

[Bwayfan4]

Posted: 5/25/08 at 1:40pm

Hey Capn, I saw this yesterday too! I agree...it's a mediocre show. It was fun, but nothing to write home about, so to speak. Your review was interesting...I think the main problem is the book. It's not all that great. But then again, I didn't think the movie was all that great either. I did however, enjoy the cast (which is the main reason I went to see this production).

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/25/08 at 2:16pm

Very mediocre, indeed. The performances are generally fine, but the story is so unfocused and muddled. The sub-plot dealing with the two parents needs to be cut. The score is entirely forgettable, with the exception of "It Feels Like Heaven," which is great fun. It's a memorable tune with fantastic staging.

Capn, I'm surprised you liked that basketball number. I thought it was amateurishly terrible.

I do have to say, though, that despite incredibly weak material, Celia Keenan Bolger is brilliant. She's one of the most engaging and honest performers currently treading the boards.

[Backstage Star]

Posted: 5/25/08 at 3:55pm

Completely agree with Capn. FINALLY a poster who didn't think this was a great production. Mediocre, at BEST. The talent onstage, great. Celia and Julia esp. Everything else, ehhh. My favorite part was during intermission and some guy asked me what I thought while I smoked a cigarette. I said I hated it and wish I saw something else. I said that the book fell flat and it was awkward that jokes were constantly thrown at us and no one laughed (many times). Then he introduced himself as Sergio Trujillo. oops. then i tried to Save myself by saying the choreography was good...

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 5/25/08 at 5:04pm

This is a shame. The source material had great potential to turn into a great,fun, quirky musical a la AVENUE Q or SPELLING BEE.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 5/25/08 at 5:22pm

I never said it was great. I believe my word was "cute". And I also said I definitely didn't see much hope for it beyond this run ~ and I don't even really see it extending.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 5/25/08 at 5:57pm

Ouch...I love Celia. Thanks for the review Capn. Hope she comes back to Broadway soon, she's fantastically talented.

[sondhead]

Posted: 5/25/08 at 7:13pm

"And in musicals, the Narrator ALWAYS has an opening musical number to narrate what has been going on with the characters up til the point where the story in the musical really starts. It's a tired device."

WORD

There are a lot of devices being way over used in musical theatre and its time someone started calling people on it.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 5/25/08 at 7:20pm

I pretty much agree. The cast is definitely doing their best with not so great material.

I find one of the show's main problems to be the fact that Celia just can't carry it. She pulls out her old bag of tricks, with the schlumpy look, and all (I felt like Olive was back again).

The highlights of the show were Van Hughes and Aaron Tveit, who is sadly underused.

I enjoyed Mary Faber a lot, but she looks far too old to be a high school. On the same token, Julia Murney, who is also dreadfully underused, looks far too young to be Celia's mother.

I doubt the show will play much beyond it's original run. It's certainly nowhere near ready for Broadway. Plus, don't a number of cast members have commitments lined up already for afterwards?

[Liverpool]

Posted: 5/25/08 at 7:46pm

I saw it this afternoon and while I didn't hate it, my boyfriends liked it a lot more than me. They were out of Playbills for some reason so we had photocopies of the important pages stapled together.


I agree with most of everything you said capn.

I kept thinking about how much fun the movie was and how much the musical wasn't. Plus there were a lot of scenese that were just overly dramatic. I had trouble watching Prom. John Dosset just seemed to get everything wrong (emotionally). Mary Faber while good was too old. Just because someone is pettite doesn't mean they can play young. For me, Morgan Weed and Aaron Tveit were the highlights of the show. Cassandra was the only character that interested me enough to want to get to know more about them. Curtis Holbrook was inconsistent for me going back and forth from playing the character believably to over the top. I agree that What's Wrong With Me? was the best song. I also found heaven pretty enjoyable.

I didn't despise Celia in the role nearly as much as I thought I would. I thought she was gonna be way too old, but it actually worked pretty well, and she is enjoyable to watch on stage.

for the most part i felt they butchered the movie pretty terribly.

[insertclevernamehere]

Posted: 5/25/08 at 7:51pm

I haven't seen the show yet but re: Julia Murney being too old to be Celia Keenan Bolger's mother, Mary Louise Parker played the mom in the movie and she looks much younger IMO.

[jeffrey1dog]

Posted: 5/25/08 at 9:11pm

I think Julia Murney fits into that age range ok. She could be 38-ish. IMO she was the best thing in the show. What an amazing voice.

Updated On: 5/25/08 at 09:11 PM

[adamgreer]

Posted: 5/25/08 at 11:23pm

I agree she has an incredible voice, but she never gets to use it in this show!

In act 1 she has that hideous song called "Orlando" that should be cut, and in act 2 she gets a nice little song, but it's more introspective and certainly doesn't show off her phenomenal range.

[nybearhugz]

Posted: 5/26/08 at 12:03am

Agreed..Murney is dreadfully under used in this show!!

[hubee]

Posted: 5/26/08 at 12:09am

I just saw it today and I thought it was cute but yeah, I wish the songs were better and the book was better. I loved the movie but it was a while ago so I dont remember much, but the musical felt choppy and the songs were not that memorable. Though the ensemble songs were the better of them.

But the cast was terrific. Love Celia. Julia didnt have much to work with.

I can see why Aaron Tveit it being talked about. Someone that hot shouldnt have a voice that good.Not fair! I think Im in love. haha...
Curtis was great, Van Hughes was great. I agree that Mary Faber seemed a bit too old but I liked her, but then after the show, thought she still wasn't as good as Mandy Moore from the movie who really took that role and ran with it.

It was a great cast in general and I LOVED the choreography from Sergio Trujillo but I wish there was more of it. It felt like it kept being cut off, since all the songs felt like they were being interrupted to keep the story moving.

There's potential but they still REALLY need to work on some stuff and completely replace a bunch of the songs. Like almost all of them save about 4-5 songs. (uh. no pun intended).

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 5/26/08 at 3:36am

Does anyone else think Julia Murney should be Dot in the Sunday tour? I mean c'mon! She's got the right voice (brassy vocals) and the right raw sexuality.

[broadwaybaby086]

Posted: 5/26/08 at 10:25am

When I saw it I had a good time ( I think my exact words from my post were "I really enjoyed it!") but I completely agree that it didn' t live up to the film and that the material is somewhat misguided, though the stage is filled with talent. I didn't have a problem with Mary Faber, she was a favorite of mine despite the character change. I felt that while the song in act one was a way to showcase Tveit, it was entirely unnecessary and nonsequitur to the surrounding plot. I was surprised that *SPOILER* they made it largely sung-through *END* and didn't feel luke that was the best choice. The score? Eh. But "Something's Wrong" was stuck in my head afterward for several days. I did enjoy myself and chalked it up to it being a third preview, I looked forward to seeing it later in the run. However, it sounds like few of the problems I had have changed since then, and I am less inclined to make a return visit.

[hermionejuliet]

Posted: 5/26/08 at 12:23pm

I'm just excited you spotted Jesse Tyler! That man is so talented!

[uncageg]

Posted: 5/26/08 at 12:32pm

Just an aside: I met Jesse at Sweeney Todd and chatted with him and then stood next to him at a bar 6 months later. He is so cute in person!!

So People are saying the show is different from the movie. I love the movie so what did they change? And it sounds like they "softened" up Hillary Faye. How?

[sweeneynut]

Posted: 5/26/08 at 12:53pm

uncageg, I'll try to do this without spoilers, since I assume you haven't seen the show. This may help-it's a quote from the lyricist, John Dempsey:

"...Hilary Faye, the righteous leader of a teen-pop gospel group played by Mandy Moore in the movie, gets a sympathetic number in act two. "She makes more sense as a real person, not as a caricature," says Dempsey."

They seem to have gone for a more "human" character, instead of the bitch Hilary Faye was in the movie. Which works, I guess, but it would be a lot more fun to see her played the way Mandy Moore did it. She even (slight spoiler) kind of redeems herself at the end, but her emotions are toned down a lot from the movie, and her anger is more of a slow breakdown than a total snap. In truth, they've tried to make the whole show softer than the movie, which is why the marketers and creative team are making such a big deal over the dropped exclamation point from the title. Here's an article from Variety that explains it a lot better than I can:


'Saved' takes wing with prayer

Updated On: 5/26/08 at 12:53 PM

[CapnHook]

Posted: 5/26/08 at 1:15pm

While a "softer" Hilary Faye could work, it didn't in this production. I think the film version of Hilary Faye is a better choice. You can have the character be more human and still exaggerate her.

Also - (SPOILER) the Prom moment was VERY anti-climatic. The slap moment was OK, but there was ZERO urgenccy when Mary knew the baby was coming. The focus should have turned onto the fact that she needs to go to a hospital, but everyone, including Mary, thought the argument was more of a priority. This RUINS the point of Mary's water breaking at this moment! IT SHOULD be a moment that signifies the fact that there are more important things happening in the world than to concentrate your life on "rules" and rejecting people. (END SPOILER)

I'm surprised others think that "What's Wrong With Me?" (Dean's song about having feelings for men in Act I) doesn't work. I thought it was the ONLY song that works perfectly! It's a classic musical theatre "question song." It informs us about Dean's natural feelings and that while he is supposed to not have them, he likes them and doesn't understand why he has them if they are wrong. Plus there is nice choreography/staging in there.

[rewritemystory]

Posted: 5/26/08 at 1:18pm

I hated the movie (thought it was unfunny and cliche), and I am not surprised at the mediocrity of the show.
Glad to know the cast is good, as predicted.

[uncageg]

Posted: 5/26/08 at 1:20pm

Thank you Sweeney. So I hear Hillary Faye still has the "Filled with Christ's Love" line in the show. Does she not throw the Bible?

[sondhead]

Posted: 5/26/08 at 1:23pm

"They seem to have gone for a more "human" character, instead of the bitch Hilary Faye was in the movie. Which works, I guess, but it would be a lot more fun to see her played the way Mandy Moore did it. She even (slight spoiler) kind of redeems herself at the end, but her emotions are toned down a lot from the movie, and her anger is more of a slow breakdown than a total snap. In truth, they've tried to make the whole show softer than the movie"

Sounds like they just made it less interesting. Satire is all about charicature, so I fail to see how that would ever be a good idea.