Shuffle Along previews — Page 8

dramamama611 said: "3/26 for me!"

Me too! Will you be at the matinee or the evening performance? My mom and I have tickets to the matinee.

"It's extremely unfair to judge a show during the preview period. The preview period is generally used to gauge what works, what doesn't and make the appropriate changes before the show officially opens.



It's a test run."

It is a test run. And we are giving our test run feedback. With the hope of helping the work be gauged, and suggesting changes. No one here seems to be judging the show in preview form unfairly, least of all for sport.

Updated On: 3/16/16 at 12:21 PM

BroadwayNYC2 said: "This show needed an out of town tryout. The creators got cocky with this one."



@henerikegerman: ^ ^ ^ Like I said....



Carry on. I've got tickets for next week. I will refrain from reading anymore of these "reviews" lest they ruin my enjoyment of the show.

Updated On: 3/16/16 at 12:41 PM

This seemed fairly definitive to me: "It seems far too ambitious that Wolfe could now rework the libretto for it to begin to meet the worthy ambitions hinted at in the final scenes."



It's that tone that I sort of think is weird... that... like... "oh this is impossible, they should have gone out of town" tone that seems to pop up in these sorts of threads. For the most part, your criticisms seem fair and sound valid.

KJisgroovy said: "It's that tone that I sort of think is weird... that... like... "oh this is impossible, they should have gone out of town" tone that seems to pop up in these sorts of threads. For the most part, your criticisms seem fair and sound valid."



Yes. KJisgroovy that's what I was thinking as well.



But it is what it is.



Carry on.

I don't think anyone is saying you can't post what you want. I think people are just posting their opinions about your opinions. YOU DON'T GET TO DECIDE WHAT WE CAN POST.



Like. Don't be defensive about being defensive. It's fine. Post whatever you want. A lot of folks' negative criticisms here seem really valid and and thoughtful and I appreciate that they've shared them. I also have thoughts. And I shared them.

Carlos, I don't think BroadwayNYC2 was saying it should have been totally done and set and perfect by last night. He/she is simply saying that the show has a ways to go before it freezes.

I know you weren't asking me, but I think there is a difference between working out the kinks (what I agree previews on Broadway in this day and age are for) and having to do major overhauls of the structure, tone, focus, character development, etc. (I think the tone of Shuffle Along was consistent and fine- I was just giving examples of when I personally think a show is ready for previews in New York.)



I agree that this would have benefited from an out of town. I don't know the creators personally and wouldn't assume to call them "cocky." In fact, I don't think they were full of themselves and skipped an out of town out of hubris. I think they were very ambitious- always a good thing- and when you are developing a project as ambitious as Shuffle Along sometimes it's good to have a month run in Boston and then 4-5 months to really take time to work on changes and hone focus.



Just my opinion.

Updated On: 3/16/16 at 01:28 PM

I realize also that a try-out can be very expensive and difficult schedule when you have such busy people as McDonald and Brian Stokes Mitchell involved. Still, when a work is aiming as high as Shuffle Along is I think the time and money spent would seem to be well worth it.

Seeing it tonight, don't know if i should have waited after hearing about it so far.

It's worth noting that another George C. Wolfe production, The Wild Party, took advantage of its preview period to greatly reduce running time.



That being said, shows do not generally differentiate previews vs. post-opening performances. Most people who buy tickets would probably be unaware they are seeing a "preview." An out-of-town tryout makes it clear they are, well, trying it out. A preview period on Broadway is treated, for all intents and purposes, the same as regular performance.

Updated On: 3/16/16 at 02:32 PM

KJisgroovy said: "This seemed fairly definitive to me: "It seems far too ambitious that Wolfe could now rework the libretto for it to begin to meet the worthy ambitions hinted at in the final scenes."



It's that tone that I sort of think is weird... that... like... "oh this is impossible, they should have gone out of town" tone that seems to pop up in these sorts of threads. For the most part, your criticisms seem fair and sound valid.

Fair enough, KJ. Perhaps Wolfe can still work real magic here. I was merely pointing out that it strikes me as a tall order (and I suggested lesser ways in which the show might be improved).



"

Sally, with all due respect that is not what I'm debating. What I am debating is Kad saying "A preview period on Broadway is treated, for all intents and purposes, the same as regular performance"



To which I replied that if the audience doesn't know that the show is in previews then they aren't being attentive, because as you can see in the examples I clearly posted it is being advertised as such.



I never mentioned anything about them thinking twice about buying tickets or even knowing that the preview version might differ from the final product.



None of that came into play in my post.

Updated On: 3/16/16 at 02:51 PM