Posted: 12/1/15 at 9:45pm
82+ minute ALW TimesTalk... watch it soon, since the Times often reduces these to a clip a day later (but sometimes they leave the whole thing up, ya never know...)
Updated On: 12/1/15 at 09:45 PM
Posted: 12/1/15 at 11:08pm
Saw this tonight on a whim since I'm here for work and had time to hop over to TKTS in time for an 8 pm show but nothing earlier. So much fun! It greatly exceeded my expectations. Whether you like ALW or not, he knows how to write catchy songs. (Meaning like it or not I think they stick in your head!) I was worried about all the reprises after looking at the song list but it didn't bother me. It makes sense for the show. I liked Sierra Boggess much more than I expected to based on what I'd read here--I liked "where did the rock go". And Alex Brightman is really great. (He reminded me of Jack Black in the movie.) I couldn't believe his energy. Must be a tiring role to play 8 shows a week. The kids are clearly the stars though. The kids who played Zack, Tomika, and Summer were the stand outs. I thought it was kind of odd the kids took their bows before all the adults except the ensemble--it seemed like since they're the core of the show, they should take their bows before Dewey but after at least Ned and Patty. Not a lot of people stood for them because I think people seemed confused about whether it was really a curtain call. (And I know standing ovations are overdone but those kids deserved one.) They got lots of well-deserved cheers throughout the show, though. I couldn't believe they played those instruments live! What talent.
Posted: 12/2/15 at 2:19am
No one's spoken to the design? The theater itself is very odd. I remember sitting in the Mezz for Rocky and realizing the wrap around is pretty awkward.
Posted: 12/2/15 at 8:32am
Brief thread-jacking: Wow, what an awful "Gethsemane." Not meant to be heard with a lone piano, and the only good bits were the screams because he went full-throated instead of falsetto -- post-Balsamo, you don't hear that much anymore.
Posted: 12/2/15 at 3:29pm
Okay, this is a little ranty and a little spoiler-y. I'll preface by saying that I disliked this show intensely.The main character is an unforgivable, selfish man-child. The message appears to be that we should all listen to our children, which is something the lead never does. Instead he steamrolls them into doing what he wants to do instead of what they want to do. The principal is now a beautiful woman who has been turned ugly b...ambition? a job? She's a cold, shrill shrew who needs her passions awakened by a kiss from a man with literally no ambition. The gay kid is a stereotype played for laughs. He's also the only child on stage who is told that his ideas are too far out there (too much spandex and sequins because of course he's the costume designer). The little black girl who we think is shy is actually a sassy diva who just needs a spotlight and some gospel. And then the villain of the piece is a woman who wants the main character to...pay rent. And not steal her boyfriend's identity. This is clearly because she is a terrible harpy.
I can handle the fact that the script was clunky as all get out and that the score is sonic sludge (although they should remove the moment where "Edge of Seventeen" plays--when Stevie Nicks is doing the hardest rocking in your "rock" show, there is a problem). What I couldn't handle was how dated and misogynistic it was, not its really unfortunate handling of race or sexuality.
Someone asked about the design. The set is hideous. It looks like Louizos is doing a bad version of her own High Fidelity work. It would be less distracting to simply have LESS set rather than watch a dozen children push their desks on and off the stage every ten minutes.
Boggess is wildly miscast--it's the equivalent of Jennifer Lawrence being cast in a Rachel Dratch role. She is the wrong age, looks physically wrong in the part, and has the wrong temperament. None of which I blame her for. In fact, I don't blame any of the cast for this show's failings. I blame the writers and the director. This show doesn't deserve to be on stage. It's a tuneless, dated, offensive bore that wastes the potential of its largely very talented cast.
Posted: 12/2/15 at 3:35pm
I too would love to hear people's comments on the set.
Posted: 12/2/15 at 4:44pm
Sauja, how is the show dated and misogynistic? Or unfortunately handle race and sexuality? Explain.
I think the show is fantastic and progressive with a beautiful message about kids making their parent's listen to them, and not live their lives according to other people's plan, and finding themselves through music. There is even a line in Stick it to the Man where Dewy says something like "the man can also be a women," and Summer says something like "yes, but she's only get 70 cents to his dollar." This show is fabulous and hilarious and I highly recommend it.
Posted: 12/2/15 at 10:15pm
Aida, Summer does have those lines, so yes, the idea of women's equality is mentioned. But the adult female characters are essentially Shrew 1 and Shrew 2. Patty who (SPOILER) only wants to get the rent she is due and not have her boyfriend's identity stolen is presented as a villain when she is really the only person whose character makes sense. And the principal is a harridan who is cold and unfeeling and only finds her heart when a man shows her "how to live." In terms of homophobia, everything the little costume designer does is played for laughs--his love of Streisand, the fact that he's "swishy," his desire for sequins and spandex. He is literally the only child who Dewey says no to. His costumes are rejected for being too outrageous. In fact, he is the only child who has presented his own unique vision, and he is shut down for it. And as far as Tomika goes, we are presented with a possibly compelling, troubled child except that when she finally speaks, we learn that she has been sassy all along and just wants to be the star gospel singer. It's a storyline deeply rooted in troubling racial stereotypes.
I think the message of children demanding to be heard IS a beautiful one. But these children are never actually heard. They go from their parents forcing them to go to this school and learn certain lessons right to Dewey exploiting them to get back at his former band. He tells them they don't like Taylor Swift and they don't like Kanye. They like the music HE likes. And they will play the music he likes. He doesn't listen to the kids. He uses them.
I found the the whole thing really tone deaf, nodding at progress
Posted: 12/2/15 at 10:26pm
Sauja said: Boggess is wildly miscast--it's the equivalent of Jennifer Lawrence being cast in a Rachel Dratch role.
HOLY sh it I have no idea what you're actually referring to but I'm laughing so hard because that was such an incredible analogy. Thank you for that
Posted: 12/2/15 at 10:46pm
Sauja, Dewey does grow and change in the end --he also learns to listen to the kids he had selfishly been trying to mold into mini-Dewey's. When Zack plays his song he realizes the kids are more talented than he'll ever be and he goes with Zach's song for the Battle of the Bands. I agree Patty is the right for not wanting her boyfriend's identity stolen and for wanting the rent, but there are people who go about their daily interactions in a shrewish manner--that's the character. 'Patty's' --male and female--exist in the world. Why pretend they don't? As far as the principal--there are also plenty of people who age and stop the wild and crazy stuff they did before. That said, I can see your point of view, it's not a perfect or ground breaking show. My family had a really good time seeing it though.
Posted: 12/2/15 at 10:48pm
I definitely think you're reading into things that aren't important in the show, or meant to make any kind of statement. I never saw Patty as the villain, and I don't think Dewy is a homophobe. And how many singers, specifically black ones, started singing in church? You are in the minority with your opinion of the show, and I guess you just see things differently than most!
Posted: 12/2/15 at 11:17pm
Aida, I know I'm in the minority, but...I guess I'll just be okay with that. I don't think I'm digging particularly deep here for the readings, though.
And I see your points, Gink, but I'm not convinced that Dewey really heard the kids or was transformed or made better. I think that happened in the movie, but I didn't see it in the stage version.
Also, I don't mean to say that the show is overtly homophobic or racist. My point is that it only engages those identities through very tired tropes and stereotypes and doesn't do anything interesting with them. Or show depth beyond them. And I find that really troubling.
but again, I know I'm in the minority on this one! I still think I'm right, though. :)
Posted: 12/2/15 at 11:31pm
I actually thought it was adorable and relatable that the little boy loved Streisand, and sequins and spandex. I really didn't see it as making fun of him. I get where you're coming from though.
Posted: 12/2/15 at 11:34pm
You're not crazy Sauja, you're seeing things that should be apparent to anyone who thinks critically when they watch art. This show is full of ancient stereotypes and hugely questionable messages. Not out of malice; just out of creative laziness or lack of awareness. Of course it is nearly impossible to write from such a perspective on this site recently without someone telling you that it's JUST SUPPOSED TO BE FUN.
Updated On: 12/2/15 at 11:34 PM
Posted: 12/2/15 at 11:44pm
I'm not saying that it's just supposed to be fun, and I like people questioning things. I do think there is a difference though between a stereotype vs. characters doing things that actually happen in real life (black girl singing gospel, gay boy loving Streisand).
I wonder how you guys feel about Book of Mormon.
Posted: 12/3/15 at 1:22am
I haven't seen this show, but Book of Mormon is IN on the joke. It knows it's making fun of those people. So that's different.
Anyway: How's the lotto been? I'm going to try tomorrow, but I'll be by myself, so I'm not sure what my luck will be.
Posted: 12/3/15 at 2:48am
I did lotto for the matinee. I'm pretty sure just about everyone won tickets and those who didn't, lotto losers were offered.
I'm on the bus, so I need to keep this brief but I really enjoyed the show. Thought it was high energy fun. Alex was out but his understudy was excellent. I also quite enjoyed Sierra, shockingly enough.
Posted: 12/3/15 at 8:00am
Thanks, Scary. It's nice to be agreed with. :)
And Aida, I love The Book of Mormon. I actually think that being in on the joke does make a huge difference. What Mormon does is use stereotypes in order to subvert them. It plays with ideas of race, sexuality, and faith, exploiting stereotypes in order to drive home their fundamental absurdity.
All else aside, I just wanted to say a genuine thank you to the folks who jumped into this discussion. Everyone has been very polite in their disagreements, and I find that a really refreshing thing to find on the Internet!
Posted: 12/3/15 at 10:24am
"I never saw Patty as the villain"
That's how she's portrayed throughout the show. And especially at the end, when she is chastised by the policeman after having exposed the fraud that Dewey perpetrated.
I agree wholeheartedly with Sauja's assessment of the show.
Posted: 12/3/15 at 10:27am
You didn't see it.
Posted: 12/3/15 at 12:46pm
Andrew on Theatre Talk
Posted: 12/3/15 at 3:21pm
First look! It looks awesome!!
Posted: 12/3/15 at 6:09pm
and here's a direct link to the new promo on YouTube (including Sierra in her ankle brace). I saw the preview during the show's first week and this video does a nice job capturing the tone and the show's fun spirit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4VASf8yeIU
Updated On: 12/3/15 at 06:09 PM
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