Nice to see rob and Maggie getting to work together again, especially on a national tour! First thing I thought when I saw his name was that he'd be traveling without her. Saw her in avenue q many times, she's great!
So glad to hear this news. Already have tickets for the start of the tour @ Proctors. Rob was so great in Chaplin and have enjoyed Adam ever since rent.
I wouldn't see this show again, but nice casting here!
For me, it's one of the funniest and most joyful comedies to hit Broadway, and I'm so excited for people across the country to see these stars!
Glad to see a strong cast. Will be attending in Ft. Lauderdale. Should be a big crowd pleaser.
This is one of the most exciting tour casts in recent memory! At least for me.
If you have the chance to get out and see this show with this cast, DO IT!
Excellent news! Planning to catch it in Nashville. As someone who doesn't get to NYC often, I get my Broadway fix primarily through tours. It's been great to see touring casts include some established Broadway names as of late. In addition to this casting, the If/Then tour with Jackie Burns and Anthony Rapp and the Bridges tour with Elizabeth Stanley and Andrew Samonsky come to mind. Looking forward to it!
Understudy Joined: 8/27/14
Has anyone seen it in Boston yet?
I have tickets for this weekend. Looking forward to it!
Featured Actor Joined: 5/17/06
I'm going tomorrow. I think a lot of recent laugh-a-minute musicals have been misses for me, hopefully this will be the exception.
I saw it this past weekend in Schenectady NY at the beautiful Proctor's Theatre. I had seen it in NY with the original cast yet enjoyed the touring show just as much. Other than a few technical glitches, the cast and the show were excellent. It is definitely worth seeing!!
Featured Actor Joined: 5/17/06
Just saw this tonight and thought it was fun and cute. Nothing life changing, but definitely worth seeing. No complaints about the cast either and I thought Autumn Hurlbert was a standout.
Featured Actor Joined: 7/31/03
Who understudies who in the tour?
Glad to hear good things about Autumn, still remember her from The Search for Elle Woods. Happy she's gotten work.
LesWickedly said: "Glad to hear good things about Autumn, still remember her from The Search for Elle Woods. Happy she's gotten work"
Agreed. Loved her on that show.
Understudy Joined: 8/27/14
Saw it last night in Boston. We thought it was throughly entertaining and a lot of fun! The audience seemed to be in agreement. Haven't heard cheers & laughs that loud in a while at the Opera house. I thought the entire cast was terrific, totally isync and impressive this early in the run. The bigger fan you of broadway musicals, the more you will enjoy this show. So many references to shows of old and new, some subtle some obvious. Don't read to much into it, just go with an open mind & have fun! I actually would like to see it again, because there is a lot to take in regarding all the musical reference gags. Wish the creators would put out a complete list!
Stand-by Joined: 6/28/16
downhillskier said: "Saw it last night in Boston. We thought it was throughly entertaining and a lot of fun! The audience seemed to be in agreement. Haven't heard cheers & laughs that loud in a while at the Opera house. I thought the entire cast was terrific, totally isync and impressive this early in the run. The bigger fan you of broadway musicals, the more you will enjoy this show. So many references to shows of old and new, some subtle some obvious. Don't read to much into it, just go with an open mind & have fun! I actually would like to see it again, because there is a lot to take in regarding all the musical reference gags. Wish the creators would put out a complete list!"
Even though its not a complete list of all the references, there's a pretty good youtube video of the song "A Musical" and it notes each of the references to other musicals in the song. You can see it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fODTmgI0gno
Understudy Joined: 1/14/16
Seeing it in Boston this weekend w my 14 tear old daughter, this will be great for her to watch before we go! Thanks so much for linking it!
I've had a number of friends/colleagues that have seen this in Boston, all that have really liked (and some have even LOVED) it.
I saw it once in NY, had fun...but it was enough.
Broadway Star Joined: 1/19/08
I didn't see Borle in the role, but I know this. Pascal was perfection. Rest of the show is utterly forgettable.
Understudy Joined: 1/14/16
Saw the Sat matinee in Boston yesterday and was very impressed with the cast and the show itself. I have never heard the laughter and applause at such a level at the Opera House before! Going to be hard to beat here this season. What a fantastic show....
Leading Actor Joined: 8/9/14
Here's the cast and understudy list.
Leading Actor Joined: 8/9/14
I couldn't wait for the tour to come closer to home, so I traveled to Boston to see it last night. They've done a good job adapting it on a smaller scale for touring.
The biggest physical change is that the set pieces aren't automated and are manipulated by the actors, which affects the Bottom house the most. Rather than come out of the theater "shell" opening, the house now has three pieces - the upstage right wall, the stone hearth, and a separate door frame (like the one used for "It's Hard to be the Bard" that Nick ends up pushing upstage then rotating so it goes from being an exterior view to moving inside the house and seeing him enter. It's also noticeable in "I See the Light" since the Puritans start by walking onto the stage and then the men put the benches down for them to sit.
Most of the other scaling down involves painted backdrops such as in place of the town street but nothing appears diminished.
I'd have to compare cast lists but there's some doubling (Lord Clapham comes to mind) and occasionally I could see where having a smaller cast had an effect. The final three writers just before Shakespeare's first appearance are name checked but not seen, and the chorus line tap sequence was lighter on men.
I've got to check out of the hotel but will post more about the rewrites I noticed on the way home.
Leading Actor Joined: 8/9/14
A few more staging differences I remember - only one hand crank at the start of the show to "raise" the curtain, although it still uses two ensemble members; the ice sculpture is gone from Shakespeare's party, although there was a table in the tent opening - I couldn't see from my angle what was on it (and now that I think about it, I don't think the easel and portrait were there, or at least not in the same form). I'm not sure if it was a choice or change in direction, but Josh Grisetti also handled Nigel falling asleep differently than on Broadway.
As for the rewrites:
- the star maps line changed to a joke about tarot readings and palm readings, including an amputee discount
- Hair has now replaced Chess as a referenced musical
- there are minor rewrites when Shylock comes to talk about the sell out that make it a bit more obvious
- "To Thine Own Self" underwent quite a few rewrites and reminds me a little more of the conflict between Nick and Nigel in early previews when Nick was a bit more abrasive. At first, I wasn't sure if Nigel singing when he arrives at the writing desk was to cover a few seconds for scenery changes behind the curtain, but the scene is restructured. He gets several verses of the song to himself before the company comes out to perform the play, and the company's segment is now sung a cappella, with the end slightly rewritten.
LesWickedly said: "Glad to hear good things about Autumn, still remember her from The Search for Elle Woods. Happy she's gotten work"
THANK YOU LesWickedly! I saw it last Friday in Boston and Autumn seemed sooo familiar to me but I couldn't place her! (I kept thinking of it only when I wasn't near a computer to be able to google.)
I found the show funny and entertaining. Not a show I'd need to see a second time, but a good evening. I've wanted to see Rob McClure in anything live since I saw Chaplin clips online, and he didn't disappoint. He was outstanding.
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