Shrek Cancellation

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 3:06pm

The cancellation of the December 2nd performance sounds like an oops to me. If the creative team hasn't got it pretty much in shape by now, it seems to bode no good for the show. Just my thought, not my wish.

[jagfkb]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 3:10pm

Sounds more like technical work than material work to me...

Still, I'm hoping that they'll bring back the old Dragon puppet/ costumes/ song/ dancing and have Aymee Garcia as the new Dragon Soloist! Perhaps the Dreamworks Executives are watching us! BTW, has anyone seen the show lately?

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 3:11pm

Exactly. I imagine a new set piece or something of that nature is going in.

[Amalia Balash]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 3:24pm

I don't remember hearing about similar preview cancellations before other openings. Is this unique or just something I haven't paid attention to before? I wonder if they'd make the same choice if they were getting bigger audiences at the previews.

[jagfkb]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 4:07pm

Titanic was the last I heard of it, aside from technical difficulties causing cancellations

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 4:07pm

At least the creative team is attempting to make changes and improve the show. I'm very happy about that.

I wonder if they chose the 12/2 performance because it hadn't sold very well...

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 4:17pm

I have a feeling they would have done the changes as early as possible, but because this is a major holiday weekend, they didn't want to cancel.

[sondheimgeek]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 4:24pm

"If the creative team hasn't got it pretty much in shape by now, it seems to bode no good for the show. "

Well...we should hope that all technical changes would be done by now, but that doesn't mean it's hurting the show. Sometimes certain designs aren't working, choreogrpahy has been re-blocked and certain pieces no longer work, set pieces need techinical work, etc. It's not that they don't have it pretty much in shape by now, it just may be that many elements are no longer working. At least changes are being made.

Updated On: 11/26/08 at 04:24 PM

[Bobby Maler]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 4:31pm

That's what previews are for. Not enough shows do this and suffer the consequences. I applaud Shrek for taking the time to fix what they need to. Everyone who has seen it seems to be saying the same thing. "It's pretty good, not great, but has the potential to be great." I'm sure they're hearing the same thing.

[coolkid11776]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 5:02pm

Does this mean it's gonna be a flop?

[nexttoelectric]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 5:03pm

is that a serious ****ing question?????

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 5:06pm

coolkid just wants it to close soon so he can get closing tickets.

[jagfkb]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 5:17pm

I'll be anxious to see the show before it opens with whatever changes they may have. However, do you think they might cancel OTHER performances in order to do work they won't have time to do outside of this now cancelled performance?

[B3TA07]

Posted: 11/26/08 at 6:38pm

"I wonder if they chose the 12/2 performance because it hadn't sold very well..."

Probably? That's smart.


I hope this means "Donkey Pot Pie" was axed.

[MamasDoin'Fine]

Posted: 11/27/08 at 1:02am

Well its better to cancel in advance than go thru the fiasco that was 'Billy Elliot' in previews. Thats the way it goes until people start to realize that that is what previews are for, to be stopped, altered cancelled even in mid performance!
I wish Shrek' al the very best, its a great new show.
I've seen it once and will try again on my Dec visit.

Updated On: 11/27/08 at 01:02 AM

[evic]

Posted: 11/27/08 at 8:54am

The final nail in the coffin....aside from the awful scenery, mediocre choreography, and hideous costumes, this bomb needs new direction, score and book!..Please leave the Dragon number in- like watching the audience reaction in the movie The Producers- not to be believed.....if you think the reviews for White Christmas were humiliating- just you wait for these....I can't. Back to the swamp for Shrek....forever!!!!!!

[jagfkb]

Posted: 11/27/08 at 9:27am

Wow, that... was just... wow. Honestly, I no longer care what shows are opening, but that the DO and STAY open! Really, in this bad financial time, I'd rather have 39 okay shows then 5 great ones.

[FMills]

Posted: 11/27/08 at 10:20am

It is a well known fact that trolls and ogres are mortal enemies.

A troll craves attention and feasts on bile. Avert your gaze, ignore the beast, and the troll shall waddle off, defeated.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 11/27/08 at 5:29pm

Yeah, this show is going to climb and up hill battle.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 11/28/08 at 12:28am

Has anyone seen the show lately? I feel like it should be making some major changes by now. I think I'm going to go see it sometime after the opening before Christmas. I'm anxious to see how the show has gotten tighter.

[MiracleElixir]

Posted: 11/28/08 at 1:30am

I saw it this week... It was not terribly inspired -- the songs weren't very memorable and literally every joke was cribbed from the movie -- but it was consistently entertaining, enjoyable, and completely stolen by Tartaglia and Sieber. It was just 'good', but frankly, that was better than I expected, especially after how this season's gone. Not a great show, but I doubt a musical based on "Shrek" could have ever had potential to be "Great" ; what I saw didn't seem to be in need of a massive overhaul.

[broadwayguy4]

Posted: 11/28/08 at 9:56am

I saw it this week also and I agree with MiracleElixir. The show isn't bad. It just isn't good.

I've heard people say that the show is better than they expected, but I don't understand why expectations are so low on a show with such a great cast and creative team. Expectations should be high for this show and quite frankly it is a tepid, bland, and boring show that honestly would fair better at a theme park.

The cast is great and doing a great job with the material that they were given. But the songs just don't quite go anywhere, and the book scenes that weren't lifted straight from the movie are not funny. The only time I found myself smiling during the show was anytime Christopher Sieber was on the stage. The rest of the time I was bored, and looking around...the audience...and more important, the children in the audience...were bored.

The problem isn't just in the material. The direction is just as uninspired as the book and music. The two scenes with the fairy tale creatures just looks like a mess of people standing in clumps in uncomfortable outfits. The dragon section is a sloppy mess and that is the only moment of the show that has any action in it so it needs to be fixed.

It looks like too many people have been pulling the show into too many different directions... and that they just left it in a middle ground when it looked like they were running out of time. I say, take the time. Fix this show and lift it from the mediocre place it is at. This show is going to need to get rave reviews to survive.

And people. Stop lowering your expectations. This show has millions pumped into it. It has some of the best broadway talent money can buy. It has music written by a genius composer, and a book written by a brilliant man. It has Dreamworks money fueling its costs. Demand better than this middling work or demand that the movie studios leave broadway alone once and for all.

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 11/28/08 at 10:32am

BroadwayGuy, you've put into a nutshell what most people are saying. I haven't seen the show -- was reluctant from the get-go despite the array of talent involved, but these comments are cementing my original decision. I think they're going to have to pull some major rabbit out of the hat for me to want to see this show.

[Patash]

Posted: 11/28/08 at 11:00am

Not a new thing. I recall having tickets being held at the box office to about the second or third performance of WICKED. But a couple previews delayed the opening, so the night I had the tickets for became opening night. When I went to pick up my tickets at the box office, they said they were gone. Despite being paid for a couple months before that, they apparently sold my tickets because they needed them for the opening night and they had them in their possession -- and I was left out in the cold with a newly issued credit on my credit card. God I hate Ticketmaster -- but I digress. Yes, previews and openings have been canceled and delayed before.

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 11/28/08 at 3:06pm

I've spoken to a couple of people who have found the show to be unrecognizable compared to Seattle, and not in a good way. So I do worry that they've over-thought the show into something they've completely lost track of. Hopefully the cancelled show will lead to some clear-headed decisions about where they are now.