SIDE SHOW Reviews- Page 5

[musicaltheatreman2]

Posted: 11/18/14 at 4:11pm

thank you dreaming

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/18/14 at 8:59pm

I think the use of the magnets makes the connection poignant, scary, real.

[bwayboy22]

Posted: 11/18/14 at 10:16pm

The energy of the audience on opening night was insane, it was a great experience, and you could tell that so many people there were so passionate about the show. I'm so glad it got the reviews it deserves and I really hope this revival runs for a really long time!

[broadwayworldreader]

Posted: 11/19/14 at 12:11am

This message that some previous posters felt (this "we-are-all-freaks thing"), I feel like that was more adeptly executed as a fleshed out concept in the original when none of the freaks costumes were literal. More similar to that of Bradley Cooper's in Elephant Man. In the 97 production the twins were never actually connected. Also, the show began with the bleachers at the back of the stage where ensemble portrayed an audience at a freak show, but were watching the actual audience.

Don't know if this made much sense, but for me the difference between the two was the first was much more conceptual. This is a little more straightforward and less challenging. I prefer the former.

[Up In One]

Posted: 11/19/14 at 3:38pm

Rex Reed is beyond a rave

Bill Condon’s Updated ‘Side Show’ Is Nothing Short of Electrifying

Double the dazzle, double the joy. Double the pleasure, double the fun. Side Show is the fabulous Broadway cult musical with two of everything, including twice the entertainment value of almost everything else in town. A show that throbs with so much vitality and imagination that you can’t absorb it all in one visit. There are tears and soaring flights of fancy and in the end, when the cast takes individual curtain calls, you can hear the screaming approval a block away.
Observer Side Show Review

[GilmoreGirlO2]

Posted: 11/19/14 at 4:28pm

Read a handful of the reviews and I was struck by something Chris Jones (Chicago Trib) said in his. He mentioned that he thinks the twins are too much alike – saying that for much of the show, the twins shouldn’t even like each other.

I don’t know the show outside of being familiar with a few of the songs, so reading these reviews has been the most exposure to the storyline and characters that I have had. I found this point Jones made interesting because in other reviews, it is mentioned how the twins are perfectly in sync when needed and perfectly their own people when needed.

Jones seems pretty wedded to the original production based off of his review and I was wondering if that informed his feelings on this matter. For those who know the show, do you agree with this point that the girls shouldn’t be so much alike – and, in turn, do you think Padgett and Davie are too much alike in this production?

Forgive me if this has been discussed already – not knowing the show at all, I have been having a hard time following the reviews posted on here in the preview thread as so much of the discussion is based off of comparing it to the original production.

[dreaming]

Posted: 11/19/14 at 4:34pm

The twins explicitly say they're nothing alike-and they show it. They do bicker. I'm not sure how psychologically possible it is for two people physically joined as they were to really hate one another. (And even non-conjoined twins have been shown to possess certain similarities.)

[SweetLips]

Posted: 11/20/14 at 5:54am

A slight side step but was just watching a wonderful film The Immigrant and there was a scene at a theatre with a poster showing Siamese Twins-The Hilton Sisters.
Would never have taken note if not for reading all about them here.

[Up In One]

Posted: 11/20/14 at 9:35am

The raves keep coming! Tiptop production (Director) Condon pulls off an interesting coup he fuses all this gruesome eccentricity with an alluring razzmatazz that connects "Side Show" to some of the best contemporary musicals. Right now it's the front runner to win the Tony for best musical revival.
L.A. Times

[ljay889]

Posted: 11/20/14 at 9:44am

Front runner in November? On The Town got big raves too. Unfortunately, both shows could be gone by the time The King and I starts.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/20/14 at 10:22am

Here we go again, Tony, Tony, Tony. It's November, and irrelevant. I felt a whiff of LA bias here, suggesting that Condon (a movie man) is single-handedly responsible for what now works. That's a little easy. This show has been worked and reworked by its creators, and anyone who knows anything about play development knows: the dark nights of the soul belong to the storytellers who have been there since day one. It's theirs. I accept Condon's exquisitely detailed direction and "additional story material" credit, but people forget: the stuff about Auntie and the use of "I Will Never Leave You" in act one go back to the earliest workshops. (Unreported.) And the new songs are from the stack of discarded material. I much admire Condon's achievement, but hate to see the tireless Bill Russell's efforts relegated to 2nd tier status.

Updated On: 11/20/14 at 10:22 AM

[dreaming]

Posted: 11/20/14 at 10:57am

I dunno. As I said, Universal is backing this-they may hold out (there are a ton of shows closing-which means less competition for butts in seats for the slower months).

[haterobics]

Posted: 11/20/14 at 4:39pm

Saw this last night, been thinking about it throughout the day (in between thoughts of JCM returning as Hedwig), and I still can't quite figure out why this show didn't hook me. I found the concept compelling, liked the songs, thought the performances were great... but I just didn't really care about the story/characters? Didn't hook into the emotional side of the show, assuming there is one.

For background, I never saw or heard the original material, so I went in totally fresh, and was second row orchestra aisle, so had a perfect chance to enjoy it.

It is weird, as I usually can sort out what didn't work for me a lot quicker. Like for The Last Ship, the book was clearly the issue, even during the show I knew it. But Side Show... I just keep wondering why it didn't hook me, but can't ssort it out.

I can see me buying the cast recording, but not sure I'd go back to see the show again. And this was seeing it a day after Elephant Man, which I bundled together as "freak week" intentionally.

[morosco]

Posted: 11/20/14 at 10:16pm

The new Side Show cast recording is up for pre-order on Amazon but won't be released until February 17th? Why such a long wait? You'd think they'd want to get the recording out as fast as possible.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 11/20/14 at 10:26pm

I guess they are not as desperate as The Last Ship was

[Up In One]

Posted: 11/21/14 at 12:58am

Wall StreetJournal is mixed to positive with a rave pull quote


This production packs a thermonuclear wallop.
Wall Street Journal on Side Show

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/21/14 at 7:01am

Interesting, Teachout's disappointment in the second act. I still feel all of the work done there is expert, and what was emotionally powerful but rushed before now has enough time and breathing room around the revelations, declarations and shifts in loyalty amid the amended wedding plans. And then the final sequence is devastating. But this seems to be a show wherein audience members prefer one act over the other. In the current edition, the build in the second half pulls together all of the disparate elements, and feels far more satisfying. I'm not sure what kind of ending people want, but this 2.0 take feels full for me.

Updated On: 11/21/14 at 07:01 AM

[Brian07663NJ]

Posted: 11/21/14 at 8:50am

In previous discussions I've mentioned that I saw the original and also the show this past summer at the Kennedy Center. Last night I attended the revival at the St James.

I left loving it much more than I did this past summer in Washington DC. I've been trying to figure out why and can only think that at the Kennedy Center I was struggling to accept the changes from the original production. Now that I've seen the changes I might be more willing to go with them.

I did not notice many changes from Washington DC to New York productions. My 2 biggest were: 1. Thankful that Sir's voice is more crisp and clear. In Washington DC I was horribly disappointed that his words were garbled and I know the lyrics! Last night his enunciation was what I would expect from a carnival barker trying to lure me in to his show. 2. I loved the second act finale with the montage of freaks at the Kennedy Center. In NYC they are not sprawled out all over the stage. Now they are closer together in a tighter smaller group. I preferred them all over the opening act set so that in the limited moments before the curtain came down your eyes were roving all over trying to take them all in especially when you noticed that more freaks were added that you didn't see when the show started.

This past summer I left the theater not feeling an urge to go again. I was happy I went and couldn't imagine this transferring to Broadway anytime soon. Last night I left the half empty theater wondering if I should go again because I loved it so much.

Still I am greatly concerned that this just doesn't have an audience. Both left and right Mezzanine were pretty much empty however when the applause took place the eruption of cheers was so that I looked around to reconfirm that it wasn't a full house.

As I was approaching the front of the St James I saw two young guys each holding 3 inch wads of small white envelopes. As people approached, names were exchanged, checked off and tickets distributed. Didn't leave me with the impression that tickets are selling.

The advertising is truly off. Yes someone posted that the commercial has a Dreamgirls type feel and it does. If I were King...I might recommend that Sir command the attention of the TV viewers as he does to open the show, flashes of the freaks ultimately ending on the twins.

BTW still not a fan of the new songs that were added but I tried to go with it hahah

Updated On: 11/21/14 at 08:50 AM

[Smaxie]

Posted: 11/21/14 at 9:33am

The gentlemen in front of the theatre were giving out press tickets for the post-opening press list.

[Robbie2]

Posted: 11/22/14 at 11:42pm

Well I hope the producers and their marketing team use these mostly positive reviews and find an audience and target the tourists the next 7 weeks or this show may not see past 91 performances that is of the original production.
A friend saw it tonight 11/22 and said the orch was pretty much sold out but the mezz. where he was sitting was pretty much empty as only around 40 people where sitting upstairs. He asked an usher how the houses have been and she said since opening around at approx. 50% capacity with orch pretty filled but the mezz being pretty much empty....not sounding good unfortunately. They need to run that commercial during the American Horror Story~Freak Show episodes and target those viewers. I do hope it runs after the new year as it should because it is musically entertaining. Thoughts?

[haterobics]

Posted: 11/22/14 at 11:56pm

"A friend saw it tonight 11/22 and said the orch was pretty much sold out."

The real issue is what all these orchestra people paid. How many full price vs discounted vs rush vs papered, etc.

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 11/23/14 at 12:06am

For a while there, the orchestra section (via Telecharge) was pretty much ALL Premium prices... So, I'm hoping, for the show's sake, that people are paying top dollar to see the girls. )

[haterobics]

Posted: 11/23/14 at 12:11am

I haven't been tracking this thoroughly, but I paid like $70something to sit in the second row orchestra aisle on Wednesday, and I booked this after the show opened.

Oh, and everyone seated around me also came because of the good reviews. So, all of those seats were sold at a discount, post-opening. Updated On: 11/23/14 at 12:11 AM

Posted: 11/23/14 at 12:43am

I was there tonight! Disappointing to hear the mezzanine was pretty much empty ... I was in the near sold-out orchestra and saw people in the first few rows of the mezz., but guess I wasn't able to see all the way back.

Really hope this picks up! I was also one of those that saw it purely based on the reviews, having not heard or seen anything else from the show before rushing it this morning (arrived around 8:30 and got a near-perfect view from Row G, side orch., just FYI ... was maybe the 8th or 9th person in line). Just moved back to NYC this fall after nearly a five-year absence from the city, so granted, I've missed out on a lot of great theater, but it was honestly the best musical I've seen since 'Grey Gardens' (and certainly better than any musical I've caught up with this fall, including 'Gentleman's Guide'). Absolutely gorgeous songs, wonderful performances, and I'm not sure how extensive the changes were to the book/score, but for the most part, there was rarely a dull moment.

Overall, it was a very satisfying night of theater, and I hope to bring family back to see it over the holidays (will aim for full price next time, if funds allow). Really unfortunate this has to battle another four, five months until awards season, but hopefully the reviews can drum up some business until then.





Updated On: 11/23/14 at 12:43 AM

[Robbie2]

Posted: 11/23/14 at 3:44pm

Overall, it was a very satisfying night of theater, and I hope to bring family back to see it over the holidays (will aim for full price next time, if funds allow). Really unfortunate this has to battle another four, five months until awards season, but hopefully the reviews can drum up some business until then.

AMD I agree but here's a discount code for great seats till 12/21/14
$89 Orchestra / $59 Mezzanine
http://www.telechargeoffers.com
Code: SSDMX827