People seem very mixed on this, but I found it to be very powerful. Santino was excellent - connected, strong, charming and heartbreaking - and his fellow cast was really great too. Everyone is obsessed with Julia Lester, and yes, she was very good, but so was everyone else. I did not think that her performance was significantly better than anyone else’s. They’re all top notch! I enjoyed most songs and found them to be tuneful and effective. The intimacy of the theater also builds excitement as you feel like you’re part of their story.
There’s been talk of antisemitism in it, but I don’t think one character’s stereotypical actions represent a people and I think that’s why the ***SPOILER*** ending where everyone is sitting around the shabbos table and Harry is alone and isolated helped save it from feeling like a condemnation of an entire people. I found his mother’s moments to also be incredible effective her when she furiously tried to tell her child that because she made him, he is good. Like her blintzes. ***END SPOILER*** I would definitely recommend it.
Thanks for the videos Brody!
I actually processed the show a bit more and they missed a lot of chances to make the show much better with certain casting choices but don't want to get into it, but I'd still recommend it. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity to see this classic.
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/27/21
This is a fascinating production of a complicated show that has been somewhat revised.
I don't think you will ever see this show done with a cast of this quality again
I also think it is in someways a relic, it took about halfway through act one to really start to click for me.
Although I will say "shifty jew screws over everyone for his own gains" is certainly a vibe to produce in 2023, and I say that as someone who is Jewish
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/13/22
i thought the story/book were incredibly weak (just the reality of a creaky old product) but this team clearly and successfully updated it so it isnt as eyebrow raising as it once was. Not only do they place the lead character's entire trajectory in the context of his own antiSemitic abuse (a very modern way of discussing bad behavior), the revised ending makes very clear that this dude's behavior had made him a pariah and reject from a very loving jewish community. hard to be bothered by that.
as much as i didnt enjoy its structure and story, i do find myself wanting to hear this team sing this score again and keep flirting with a return visit. CSC released a small clip of this little yiddish-style ditty i had forgotten about, and those 45 seconds of Kuhn, Fontana and Jones are joyous.
Because there’s always someone, somewhere who could use this info, a Sunday, Dec. 10 performance was just added. I had mentioned previously that I was holding this Sunday spot waiting for them to extend, but they ended up not scheduling a Dec. 10 performance when they extended. But after a little wishful thinking and contacting the box office, they did add one and I will be able to see this before it closes!
Broadway Star Joined: 6/29/14
Wholesalethx still working for 25% off
Chorus Member Joined: 5/30/18
Apologies if this has been asked before but any insights on the best place to sit for this production? Thanks in advance!
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/12/14
I like sitting in the "corners" of the theater, usually in the side section closest to the center seating section. I think the third or fourth row back is good because I like getting a fuller view of the stage. But I really think there's no bad seat in the theater
Stand-by Joined: 12/11/22
I wish we get a cast album!
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/22/21
swright1031 said: "Apologies if this has been asked before but any insights on the best place to sit for this production? Thanks in advance!"
I was in the top row on one of the sides, smack in the middle, and I found it great. It is well-staged to play to all seats.
Steve: I have a feeling the show will have a new recording.
When it comes to seating, basically any OFF BROADWAY SHOW, will be a small theater, so any seat is good. Especially this house, that has a big stage, and the seating is on the edges, there are no bad seats in this house.
I had initially thought that there was no way this would go unrecorded... but now I'm worried. They HAVE to... right? RIGHT?!?!
Stand-by Joined: 4/25/17
It was recorded on Tuesday for the archives at Lincoln Center. They seem to be cautiously optimistic about a cast recording.
What a pleasant surprise. I saw it Thursday night and I’m still impressed with the whole production. Excellent. Not happy with the casting, but that’s how it is nowadays. Too bad. A big missed opportunity.
but so glad I got to see a top notch production of this show. Who needs Encores!??
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/13/22
Not happy with the casting? This is a fantasy cast of top Bway actors at the top of their game. Surprised by this complaint.
Skip23 said: "What a pleasant surprise. I saw it Thursday night and I’m still impressed with the whole production. Excellent. Not happy with the casting, but that’s how it is nowadays. Too bad. A big missed opportunity.
but so glad I got to see a top notch production of this show. Who needs Encores!??"
I totally agree!
About fifteen minutes before the end of the show last night, the stage manager announced they had to stop. A minute or so later we were told an actor couldn't continue and they were dressing the understudy who would finish the show. It turns out it was Santino and Billy Cohen took over. Billy was fantastic, bringing an edge to the role that was very welcome. It was a bizarre night at the theatre but quite an exciting one.
TotallyEffed said: "About fifteen minutes before the end of the show last night, the stage manager announced they had to stop. A minute or so later we were told an actor couldn't continue and they were dressing the understudy who would finish the show. It turns out it was Santino and Billy Cohen took over. Billy was fantastic, bringing an edge to the role that was very welcome. It was a bizarre night at the theatre but quite an exciting one."
But was the Hirst there?
Broadway Star Joined: 4/30/22
PipingHotPiccolo said: "Not happy with the casting? This is a fantasy cast of top Bway actors at the top of their game. Surprised by this complaint."
Santino was pretty wrong in this part for me. He does a lot of hand-acting/finger-pointing which I’ve now seen across several different productions and it makes me think he has no authority over his characters and has to resort to habit to get by. Apparently no director has ever said “Try quitting that hand stuff.”
Yes the vocal notes are there but there’s never anything behind them, no interesting or unique spirit, just a recording artist’s delivery.
Jones was also all wrong, sadly couldn’t sing the score and it’s hard to connect to a character when sympathy for the actor themselves is what you’re mostly feeling while midway through a number.
I thought the rest of the cast were great, especially Julia, Joy, and Adam, but there was a note in the handbill from the Artistic Director saying “ask yourself if you would have done what Harry did under the same circumstances”. I’m sorry but Harry is a classic case psychopath. Why ask us if we’d have done the same thing as him if most of us don’t share his personality disorder? Her note made me realize that there are a few things out of place with this production overall, not just the casting but who the characters are.
Kad said: "TotallyEffed said: "About fifteen minutes before the end of the show last night, the stage manager announced they had to stop. A minute or so later we were told an actor couldn't continue and they were dressing the understudy who would finish the show. It turns out it was Santino and Billy Cohen took over. Billy was fantastic, bringing an edge to the role that was very welcome. It was a bizarre night at the theatre but quite an exciting one."
But was the Hirst there?"
It was replaced last minute with a Koons!
(you are a shady witch lol)
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/13/22
BorisTomashevsky said: "
Santino was pretty wrong in this part for me. He does a lot of hand-acting/finger-pointing which I’ve now seen across several different productions and it makes me think he has no authority over his characters and has to resort to habit to get by. Apparently no director has ever said “Try quitting that hand stuff.”
Yes the vocal notes are there but there’s never anything behind them, no interesting or unique spirit, just a recording artist’s delivery.
Jones was also all wrong, sadly couldn’t sing the score and it’s hard to connect to a character when sympathy for the actor themselves is what you’re mostly feeling while midway through a number."
So, again, your comment seems off, because youre saying you LIKED the cast but didnt care for two of the actors? Say what you want about Fontana (who I didnt love here) or Jones (who was great) but you will never see this show with this high caliber cast (of Broadway leads and award winners), ever again, so I just find that comment somewhat deranged. Then again, you're saying Jones "couldnt sing" a score she was expressly praised for singing by critics so maybe were just on different planets here. To each their own.
Broadway Star Joined: 4/30/22
I think you think I’m a different poster. But the one thing I can address is that, yes, I felt Jones struggled with the score. I’ll have to find the reviews that felt differently because maybe I was there on a very off-night.
Jones:: The Weakest Link
CSC just posted on IG confirming a cast album is in the works through Concord Theatricals.
Videos