Shows you liked less the second time?

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Shows you liked less the second time?

Posted: 9/20/14 at 3:41am

Hello all,
So just to pair with the current increase in appreciation thread, are there any shows where you saw the same production twice and you didn't like it the second time as much? For me, the immediate show that comes to mind is FUN HOME, which I really liked the first time I saw, but when I went back everything irritated me about the show.

Anything regarding shows stated by this account is an attempt to convey opinion and not fact.

Shows you liked less the second time?

Posted: 9/20/14 at 4:56am

Interesting. I saw it once, had a very mixed reaction and am still almost shocked to learn how much people loved it.

Shows you liked less the second time?

Posted: 9/20/14 at 5:14am

Not Broadway but I saw the Trevor Nunn revival of Kiss Me, Kate in Chichester and it blew me away. Everything a musical should be. Saw it a few week after it transferred to London and I was seriously considering calling it a night at the interval. The energy had been sucked right out of it and the cast was phoning it in to the extreme.

Shows you liked less the second time?

Posted: 9/20/14 at 10:06am

I've written on here before but seeing BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY again, towards the end of their run with a friend who hadn't seen it yet, made me realize how paper-thin the characters were despite the beautiful music and stark stagecraft. The first time I was swept up in the music, the second time I saw everything I'd overlooked.

Words don't deserve that kind of malarkey. They're innocent, neutral, precise, standing for this, describing that, meaning the other, so if you look after them you can build bridges across incomprehension and chaos. But when they get their corners knocked off, they're no good anymore…I don't think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.

Shows you liked less the second time?

Posted: 9/20/14 at 11:08am

Wicked.

"You drank a charm to kill John Proctor's wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor!" - Betty Parris to Abigail Williams in Arthur Miller's The Crucible

Shows you liked less the second time?

Posted: 9/20/14 at 11:10am

The Phantom of the Opera.... Maybe because I've seen it six times

Shows you liked less the second time?

Posted: 9/20/14 at 11:28am

Spring Awakening
The Lion King
Memphis -- MAJOR disappointment the second time
Barnum

Shows you liked less the second time?

Posted: 9/20/14 at 12:20pm

Both of my examples are from the '80s. I saw Mystery of Edwin Drood at the Delacorte and loved it, just a great summer evening in the park. Then a few months later I saw it on Broadway, indoors, and it felt hollow. Plus, the "vote for the killer" business at the end, which was fun at the Delacorte, suddenly seemed tacky. (I didn't go to the recent revival.)

Saw the original Noises Off, an evening performance, and loved it. Went back with a friend later for a matinee, and they were just walking through it. My friend liked it anyway, but to me it looked robotic.

Shows you liked less the second time?

Posted: 9/20/14 at 12:39pm

Interesting topic.

I think it'd be fairer, however, to differentiate performance fluctuations in a single production versus show evaluation in things that aren't supposed to fluctuate (writing, music lyrics, or even a particular director's vision/interpretation in a different production).

If you saw a second performance that was poorer than the first great performance you saw, but you still enjoy the other elements of the show proper, would you still recommend it even with a caveat about seeing it on certain days or something?

Like jnb9872's experience is a nice mirror to the type of thing I'm fishing for in the "greater appreciation" thread, for example.

#BoycottTrumplikePattiMurin

#10

Shows you liked less the second time?

Posted: 9/20/14 at 3:44pm

The Lion King was my first show so naturally I thought it was the most amazing thing ever. I recently went back to see it and it was just not as impressive. The first and last scenes are still brilliant though. The show falls flat beginning of the second act.

#11

Shows you liked less the second time?

Posted: 9/20/14 at 7:41pm

Rent. I am an avowed RENTHEAD, I saw the show on Broadway countless times, I know every line and lyric in the show. However, the quality of the Broadway show was not always top-notch. In the 2006-2007 era, there were several times where I saw actors clearly out of character. Actors would get very sloppy with the blocking. It became evident that nobody was checking up on the show and keeping it tight (as is the case with Phantom).
I still loved the show, but it certainly was a disappointment to see actors disrespect a show I cherished so much.

#12

Shows you liked less the second time?

Posted: 9/20/14 at 9:41pm

Pippin unfortunately. Its probably because I knew all the tricks and stuff that were coming. it was still a great show, but the replacements weren't nearly as good as the original cast.

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#13

Shows you liked less the second time?

Posted: 9/20/14 at 10:06pm

Chaplin

#14

Shows you liked less the second time?

Posted: 9/20/14 at 11:10pm

In 1989 I saw the tour of Les Miserables on opening night in Boston. It was my first time seeing the show and I was absolutely dazzled. J. Mark McVey played Jean Valjean and he was brilliant. Never has my heart pounded so fast during a show as at the end of Act 1.

Several months later, I was in New York City and decided to check out it out on Broadway. It was like night and day. The cast seemed tired and sluggish. It had none of the energy it had when I saw it in Boston. I could not have been more disappointed. I saw the most recent revival too before this current one, and same thing. There was something magical they were missing.

Interestingly, I also liked the early 90s version of Phantom that toured into Boston better than the Broadway version too.

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