SIDE SHOW Reviews- Page 3

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 11/17/14 at 10:52pm

Wow! So happy for this production for these reviews!

[GoSmileLaughCryClap]

Posted: 11/17/14 at 11:06pm

If this doesn't get a healthy run, there's something irreparably broken in the business/artistic/entertainment model on Broadway.

This is a provocative, compelling and moving work that most critics are advocating to a degree that would have had day after review ticket buyers down the block a couple of decades ago.

It also already has a fantastic collection of images, video and PR that should only multiply in the coming days.

If this and On the Town don't develop into successes, Broadway finally becomes the new business it's been inching toward for years.

Given the rise and fall of vaudeville, Broadway's had an amazing run. It just might be the time that "alternative" entertainment fills most Broadway houses, and any new works of real musical theater are developed and housed in the non-profit arena. And I mean actual non profits who don't transfer works to Broadway houses or extend limited engagements to open runs.

In this current environment, if the equivalent of a Cabaret or Company were to open on Broadway today I bet they wouldn't run for more than three months.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 11/17/14 at 11:12pm

I would really like to see a solid run out of this show. But even with great reviews, I don't see it lasting long. There simply isn't an large enough audience for it.

[haterobics]

Posted: 11/17/14 at 11:15pm

Just bought a ticket for Wednesday night, curious to see how I react to it. Seeing Elephant Man tomorrow, so figure I should have a freaks/side show theme.

[gleek4114]

Posted: 11/17/14 at 11:16pm

I really hope it lasts. It just kills me, that if they would have waited a bit longer they possibly could have gotten The Music Box. Which I personally think would have been an amazing home for this production.

[GoSmileLaughCryClap]

Posted: 11/17/14 at 11:20pm

My point. That audience used to exist. For many reasons it has disappeared.

Every really good new musical or revival that fails to find an audience continues the deconstruction of Broadway as it has existed for the better part of a century.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 11/17/14 at 11:23pm

Great post. Totally agree.

[HighFlyingAdored97]

Posted: 11/17/14 at 11:25pm

I don't know if this sounds dumb or if this has been discussed, but wouldn't it be smart to team up with American Horror Story somehow? Maybe run some commercials during an episode?

[haterobics]

Posted: 11/17/14 at 11:26pm

Is this one of those age-old things, though? Like how every generation always thinks the next generation is lazy and has it too easy, but you can find things from the turn of the 20th century that say the same things... did theater say film was going to kill it 100 years ago, and TV 70 years ago, and the argument just keeps getting updated, but it never truly changes?

[GoSmileLaughCryClap]

Posted: 11/17/14 at 11:30pm

No.

[NewYorkTheater]

Posted: 11/18/14 at 12:32am

Review + 10 pics plus audio of "I Will Never Leave You"
Side Show Review

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 11/18/14 at 1:52am

I'd love to see the good notices push this little-show-that-could up the hill but I just don't see that happening. Good reviews and good word of mouth have never helped it before, even in DC. The general public just doesn't respond to the subject matter, which is a shame but that's what history has shown.

[AndrewAndrew]

Posted: 11/18/14 at 1:59am

Review of Side Show


Click here For Full Review Of SIDE SHOW Updated On: 11/18/14 at 01:59 AM

[teresa2]

Posted: 11/18/14 at 2:47am

I saw Sideshow last Tuesday and i really enjoyed it!! I had never seen the original, nor even heard of it till the revival was coming in. From what I knew of the show, from the title alone, I didn't think I would like it, but I loved it! I thought the cast was amazing, especially Emily Padgett and Erin Davie. The sang beautifully!! I am definitely planning a return engagement!!

[helvizz]

Posted: 11/18/14 at 7:11am

I agree with Wilmington, I don't think this will do well in spite of the good reviews.
When people decide to see a show, they either usually pick a show based on its plot and then check the the reviews or they take a quick read at reviews to see what shows have been raved and then, based on the plot, pick something.

Considering that this On the Town produciton is a critically-acclaimed show with a plot more ... appealing -for lack of better word- to the audiences and that there are many other greatly-praised shows still running (A Gentleman's guide, Pippin, even Once, to name a few), I don't think this one will survive.

But do I hope I'm wrong.

Updated On: 11/18/14 at 07:11 AM

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/18/14 at 7:15am

In my count, admittedly quick, I only found one truly negative, the All That Chat pan. Which has zero weight. The rest have pull quotes, and at least three are near raves, especially the Times, almost an unqualified one. ("Imperfect, but what show isn't?" is a shrug, rare for the paper of record.) The show was never for everyone, and the deck was stacked: either people revere the old one and didn't want it amended, or didn't feel anything could be done to salvage the treatment of the subject. This has to be close to what the producers hoped for, though the other daily papers, except for Winer, are not in keeping with Isherwood's rapture. What wins big, mostly: the production's various elements. Look for these producers to advertise the hell out of the many wonderful quotes to be pulled. The big question now, as for many other shows: January.

Updated On: 11/18/14 at 07:15 AM

[dreaming]

Posted: 11/18/14 at 8:23am

Universal is an investor and I can't help but wonder if they'll lay out the money to keep it going. This show deserves to hang on through the Tony nods. (I think it will indeed be ruled a revival and nominated there, the costumes and lighting probably will and the girls of course, and Bill Condon for direction.)

[Roscoe]

Posted: 11/18/14 at 8:50am

The producers must have pulled some kind of William Castle stunt and wired Isherwood's chair -- there's just no other way I can understand describing that "Come Look At The Freaks" number as being "electrifying."

[Kad]

Posted: 11/18/14 at 9:33am

"Every really good new musical or revival that fails to find an audience continues the deconstruction of Broadway as it has existed for the better part of a century."

Except really good productions have not found audiences for decades. Side Show is NOT the litmus test for the death of Broadway.

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 11/18/14 at 9:38am

Happy these folks got such great reviews, but genuinely surprised.

[dreaming]

Posted: 11/18/14 at 10:04am

@Roscoe-I would choose "Come Look at the Freaks" for the Tony number, to be honest. It's a great song and it is electrifying. It's a great opening. I'd love for them to go rogue and do a medley of "Come Look at the Freaks" (if only because I predict those glorious costumes may snag the Tony-but also because the freak chorus is amazing), and one of the girls' numbers (I say do part of "Who Will Love Me As I Am?" and have the freak chorus back them the way they do at the end of act 1.)

[Roscoe]

Posted: 11/18/14 at 10:28am

Glad you found it so electrifying -- it felt like a warmed over retread of "Wilkommen" to me, without the wit, intelligence, great lyrics or melody. It had all the electric charge of Pope Benedict.

Updated On: 11/18/14 at 10:28 AM

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 11/18/14 at 10:45am

Wow, I was not aware that this show had such an intense fanbase. I wish the production all the best, but to say the success or failure of this particular production (or any show, really) will determine the artistic future of Broadway theatre is absurd.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 11/18/14 at 10:50am

I would choose "Come Look at the Freaks" for the Tony number, to be honest. It's a great song and it is electrifying. It's a great opening.

I completely agree. I love this song. It shows off nearly every character, and it sets the tone so nicely.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 11/18/14 at 10:58am

Is this one of those age-old things, though? Like how every generation always thinks the next generation is lazy and has it too easy, but you can find things from the turn of the 20th century that say the same things... did theater say film was going to kill it 100 years ago, and TV 70 years ago, and the argument just keeps getting updated, but it never truly changes?

Yes. We get it every time a cult favorite fails to find an audience on Broadway. It's indicative of nothing other than the timeless appeal of kvetching and moaning when someone believes their personal opinion defines not only an entire art form, but the history of its venue (which is not defined by a singular art form). Thus, every season will always have at least two or three pronouncements of the death of Broadway.