Shuffle Along previews — Page 5

Oh dear??

RippedMan said: "How are the production elements? "



Pretty good. Nothing to write home about, other than the choreography. The set, lights, and costumes are all good and service the storytelling well. The lighting in particular is effective.

Great review Whizzer. It sounds like they just wanted to tell "everything" and they are going to need to pick a more specific direction of story focus. The 3.5 hour running time is shocking and like I said earlier in the thread, they are going to need to make serious trims immediately or they will lose audiences.

Works for me. I'm curious to see it.



Seems like the season of the "understated" set design. Hamilton, Bright Star, Tuck, etc.

Updated On: 3/16/16 at 12:43 AM

A designer friend told me that Jules Fisher actually had some lighting instruments built that could recreate some of the lighting effects as they were truly done in the 1920s which I though sounded neat.

Well I hope they use that week off wisely.

I'm very interested to see how this show evolves over previews. Wolfe (along with LaChiusa) practically rewrote "Wild Party" during previews. This seems like a perfect example of a show that should have gone out-of-town (Merrily We Roll Along, Nick & Nora, Women On the Verge). I really hope that the show finds a clearer focus and is tightened. However, I look forward to a show that actually changes throughout previews. The last few seasons have given us shows that are basically cut and dry from the first preview with minor kinks and maybe a song rewritten before opening.



Whizzer - how was the score (what was presented of it)? And how large was the orchestra? I wonder how strong the original material is today, especially since the only show that survives from that relative time period is Anything Goes (and that was a decade later). I'm assuming little to none of the book is used.



Happy that the performances are all wonderful. I hope Wolfe can focus more on the actual show of "Shuffle Along" rather than the bios of the authors. If he discovers that in the next week, chances are he can rework the show into a hit. Here's hoping them nothing but the best!

uncageg said: "Also, is it true that there is no merchandise?



"

None.

BakerWilliams said: "I'm curious about what attracted such heavyweight musical theatre types to the show if it just appears to be a making-of type musical. Is there a race relations sub-plot or something in that vein? "

The original Shuffle Along was the first show created by a black team of writers on Broadway and premiered in 1921, so I would imagine the race aspect was a major attraction of the piece.

I'm not sure if the conductor was also playing the piano or not, but it looks like there are 12 musicians listed in the Playbill.

The score itself has some very catchy tunes, particularly the title song which you can't get out of your head. At least we do actually get to hear samplings from most of the score, unlike the original book which is represented by a mere handful of lines, even though the creators of said book are the main characters! They are too concerned with telling rather than showing. I wish they would have presented a few book scenes in blackface just to show us how controversial Shuffle Along would be to modern audiences instead of just telling us about it.

Updated On: 3/16/16 at 01:21 AM

Anyone know if Audra signed tonight?

I was in row G, sat next to a man who works with several of the producers, who was very knowledgeable about what we were about to see. He said, "This will be the longest musical performance of this show that you will ever see. They will be throwing absolutely EVERYTHING up on the stage, and immediately after this performance the cutting will begin. I estimate it will be 35-45 minutes shorter on opening night. This director is known for really using the preview process well -- cutting, cutting, cutting."



When I looked at my watch at the end, it WAS exactly 11:23, as someone else mentioned here -- but it didn't feel that long, though clearly it does need editing. There is something great in the midst of all of it, and hopefully pruning will reveal it.



The way it ended was a surprise -- I expected one more number and the orchestra playing us out -- but neither happened. Does anyone know if that is how they plan to end it, or is it that they haven't worked out the curtain call yet?



Re production values -- there was one very cool (though very brief) effect that stood out -- in a number about making records the tap dancers all had two giant vinyl albums -- one in each hand (well, each hand was inside the album -- think of each album as a big circular boxing glove) -- the 'album' side was black with a label in the middle -- but they flipped them over and they were plain white on the other side -- the dancers formed a circle with the white discs in the middle and on them was projected a short black & white vintage film of musicians playing. It really was brief, but I think worth the time it took to work out something that complicated -- it stood out to me as interesting to look at -- and also showed how 'talkies' were changing the film industry and that years were going by.



On the other side of me were two high school students (a girl and a boy) visiting from Oklahoma -- both rabid theater fans. We started talking at intermission, and at the end of the show I asked their opinion. They both liked it a lot, but felt it was a bit confusing since there are so many characters, and they felt they missed a good bit of dialogue due to some scenes have actors talking over each other, and sometimes they just weren't loud enough, or their accents were a bit hard to understand, or the music was too loud.



I felt that, too, but thought maybe it's just my hearing (I'm over 60) -- I was glad to know teenagers also had that problem, so it wasn't my hearing. Of course, all of that tech stuff will be improved as it goes on. The students were also surprised by the subdued ending. I was wondering if it was going to be a topic of conversation, like the 'framing' device used in "Fiddler." So I'm interested if it continues to end so quietly -- I hope those of you going to future performances will let us know.



Another thing the man said to me before the show that was absolutely true, "You are not going to believe the depth of talent in this cast. You probably haven't seen THIS many talented people all on the stage at the same time in YEARS."



Amen. What a cast. I think it's going to be great.

Agreed that the Florence Mills stuff should go on the chopping block. It's not nearly connected enough to the rest of what's happening onstage.



re: missing things, I thought the sound was TERRIBLE. Missed many, many lines. I'm sure that will improve?