Side Show

I've heard of Side Show, but I never got to see it and I don't really know whats it about. I was listening to one song, "I Will Never Leave You", and I really enjoyed the song. Does anyone have any comments on this show?

Is the Cast Soundtrack worth getting? Perhaps an X-Mas present..

I've found this to be a good reference site for the show...
http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/Balcony/2010/

I adore SIDE SHOW, and I am grateful that I was able to see it before it closed on Broadway. I also firmly believe that Emily and Alice should have won the TONY for their stunning performances.

I strongly recommend the cast recording.

Great show that failed because it was difficult to sell to tourists a musical about siamese twins

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Updated On: 11/15/03 at 06:56 PM

I was excited to see this topic pop up. It's one of my favorites of the past decade -- I saw it several times, and second-acted it when it was doing really badly (you could walk in and sit upstairs; the balcony was empty, and the ushers were kind...) I had an immediate strong, emotional attraction to the material, as musicalized by Krieger and Russel. I thought the streamlined story worked well (a potentially predictable show biz tale, it avoided much of the cornball tough road to the middle stuff that's weighing down BOY FROM OZ and TABOO, by the way. We really got to know the two women as different people.) But, I recently got into a bit of a debate at this very board about the show's/score's merits with one of the sharpest and most knowledgeable people who post regularly here... So it's not everyone's cup of tea. Many things that people balked at -- the twins' last number is the poignantly ironic yet NOT campy "I Will Never Leave You" -- were the very aspects of the show that spoke to me. Talk about taking the idea of "love the one you're with" to the max!

I still play the CD with some regularity, and enjoy the "minor" numbers, particularly the Norm Lewis ballads, and the twins' lighter fare. It's the kind of show you can't convince people to love. A guilty pleasure? The year it opened, I gave the CD to many (out of NY) for Christmas, and many friends couldn't figure out why I was so enamored with it. That's why we have boards like this, isn't it? To celebrate the different strokes of many different folks.

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Updated On: 11/15/03 at 07:21 PM

On the other hand ...

I don't like SIDE SHOW in the slightest. I think it's a mess of a show that white washes its bold (and potentially compelling) subject matter by turning everything into inappropriately-styled power ballads and reducing the true drama of the period and the characters into predictable mid-90's easy listening sentiment. (I will never leave you, I will never go away, we were meant to be together ...)

SIDE SHOW was material desperately needing tone and creative style, instead we got a popera score filled with forced recitative and embarrasing rhymes and motivations (not to mention forumalic song choices, 'I want songs' into oblivion for the two girls and their suitors.) The writers (and I think Henry Krieger is talented, but this isn't a patch on Dreamgirls) frequently found themselves without anything to do and added key changes and gratuitous production numbers to create the illusion of action, added layer after layer of sexual subtext that frequently abandoned the truly unique lives of the characters involved.

There are moments in the show, sure. And some of the tunes are decent enough, especially when ratcheted to the stratosphere and belted out by over-emotive actors (who, to be fair, had nothing else to do BUT emote.) The show does create a stir in the air in the theater, one that evaporates the moment the material is analyzed in even the most basic of ways.

See? I told you: not everyone's taste.

If I step back from it, I can be objective; I see the POVs of both Papa and MusicMan ... both posts are thoughtful and take the time to explain the critical whys, to dig into how the more maudelin elements do take over at times..

But the damned thing still gets to me in 2003.

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The only problem that I have with Side show is the lyrics... But I love the power ballads! And I want to be Jake, yes there can be a white Jake.

STEVOS

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Good grief.

I never saw SideShow but the cd is ok. It is fun and engaging, but certainly not one for the ages.

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The cast recording is definitely, definitely worth getting! Alice Ripley and Emily Skinner give superb performances, and let's not forget Norm Lewis' 11'oclock, "You should be loved"

'Hate to promo another site, but after the heated debate(s) here, there's a raging, contentious discourse over at All That Chat re the merits of SIDE SHOW. Anyone gaga over the show -- or wanting to bury it with a fresh shovel of dirt -- might want to check it out. I was espcially intrigued to read a couple of odd posts -- that it closed because Emily Skinner missed performances (as if she were Hugh Jackman) ...and that people reacted negatively to the "lack of production values..." Whatever. It's just FYI.

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Updated On: 12/3/03 at 09:04 AM

I agree Emily had nothing to do with SIDE SHOW's failure.

I mean, she didn't write it, did she?

Folks, what is the story about Skinner's absentee record? She and Audra McDonald have absolutely the worst reps. Emily even missed a couple of JC SUPERSTARS in Nyack, a show she hardly carried. Does she have vocal problems, or is she a diva who is co-dependent to the audience, you know, "if I can't give 'em my best, I can't go on!" I am a fan, so don't smack me. I always wondered why she was out so much. I remember walking pastFULLY MONTY, with a pal, and, a few drinks under my belt, and saying "I bet she's out tonight! Wanna bet?!" And damned if she wasn't posted as out.

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