STAGE TUBE: 'THE FIRST WIVES CLUB' Video Preview! — Page 4

I personally cannot WAIT to see this. It looks horrendous.

Saw the show last night. In my opionion, I just doesn't quite have it. It is unfair to judge the show from a video but there are a number of weaknesses.

Sara Chase and Sam Harris were very good because they had the best material. The leads were OK but not good enough to overcome the somewhat stiff material. There were some very cute lines but they seemed to be interjected into a story that seemed too heavy handed and slow. Also, this very much a musical version of a chick flick. I could actually see the men around me feeling and looking dismayed. I don't know if that is good or bad but it is real.

The music was pretty forgettable. Sheryl Lee Ralph does a nice job belting out That Was Me Then This Is Me Now but the song is just OK.

The choreography is very ordinary, however, the very simple ballroom scenes were done with wonderful grace. I thought the choreography flowed better than the story which I guess I can lay on the direction.

It needs work. The first act especially needs to move faster and grab the audience better. And at 2 and a half hours, it is too long.

That's a good question ljay. Musicals can change so much. I'm sure they can take it to Broadway but making it good enough to succeed is another matter. When I walked out I overheard a couple of women remark about how much they enjoyed it so I'm just one opinion.

I'm sure the reviews and the economy will play the biggest part.

Not all the songs are terrible. But are they good enough to advance the musical to a high enough level for success? Are they cute enough like Wicked or beautiful like Phantom or cool like In The Heights. No, or at least not yet.

But it always bothers me at this stage of developement to be too negative because starting a new musical is so complex and the people on stage and behind the scenes have worked incredibly hard. I choose to be patient and hopeful.

I honestly think that all negative comments must stop.

We've said enough, and we must allow the creative team to have a chance before continuing this trend of bad vibes and unfair criticism.












Who am I kidding?! IT'S SO FREAKIN' BAD IT'S FUNNY, AND I CAN'T STOP WATCHING IT!

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The "Ready For a Change" clip is actually addicting to me. I wouldn't mind if the rest of the show was campy fun like that. But that second number....yikes.

What I find the funniest is how the dancers look ("Why am I humiliating myself doing this in public?") and Sam Harris acting like he wanted to play one of the wives.

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True! Though I think Hamlisch's Jump for Joy was a lot better than this.

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Unlike another recent show about women's empowerment based on a movie -- that would be "9 to 5: The Musical," which premiered at the Ahmanson last year -- "First Wives Club" is not a period piece. While the musical "9 to 5" is set in the 1980 movie's pre-Internet era, "First Wives Club" is updated from the mid-'90s to 2009.

The novel's author, Goldsmith, died in 2004 at age 54 -- ironically, of complications from cosmetic surgery. And Holmes says he never considered contacting the movie's screenwriter for input. "I knew from the beginning we were going to make huge, fundamental changes in the story, including having Elyse be a black vocalist," he says.

"Huge fundamental changes"? Making a character a black vocalist? Not a period piece? So glad they are reinventing it.

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I also find it odd that Gasteyer dropped out "due to injury" but managed to heal herself to do the very physically demanding Royal Family in September. I can't imagine the character dances much with what we've seen of the "choreography" and with Walsh now in the part.

You forgot about Adrienne Lenox who dropped out for "health reasons"...

You forgot about Adrienne Lenox who dropped out for "health reasons"...


If I were involved in this musical, I think my health would be destroyed.

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Does Karen Ziemba only have that ulgy blue dress? It was in two of those...songs? If you want to call them that.

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