Soul Doctor re-opening Off-Broadway Dec. 1 at Actors Temple Theatre

---

It reminds me of a 50's movie where the monster keeps on coming back in the next movie even after it was killed off in the previous one.

---

WHY???

No. Way.

---

Oy.

When I saw this at NYTW I thought it was in pretty rough shape, but he did lead an interesting life and his relationship with Nina Simone could be the basis for a good musical/play with music. The runtime of 3 hours was a killer, and with so much extraneous material I felt it was safe to assume the creators would refocus the show solely on Shlomo and Simone and the next incarnation would be much better.

The Broadway version was the exact same show that it was at NYTW. They didn't fix anything! What's the point of doing a try-out if you don't work on the piece? Clearly the creators couldn't see the problems with the piece and were unwilling (or unable) to make the necessary changes.

Truly, that night of the Broadway production was one of the most torturous I've spent watching a live musical. I've seen a few worse NYMF and Fringe shows, but you can't compare something at that level with a piece deemed fit for the Broadway stage. There was this sense of dread the night might never end and I would be forced to spend the rest of eternity in the Circle in the Square with Shlomo.

I wonder if this new production will be a remounting of the old one or if they FINALLY made the changes they should have made years ago. I have a relatively high threshold for pain, but I don't know if I'm enough of a masochist to find out.

---

If they were going to bring back a show from last season, how about Bridges.

Whizzer, I saw it on Broadway after it had opened, and the running time was about 2:30, so they apparently did make significant cuts to it since the preview that you saw. I didn't find it earth-shattering or one of my 30 favorites or anything like that, but i thought that it was cute and pleasant and I was glad that I had seen it once though i did not feel any impulse to see it again during its run.

Maybe Off Broadway isn't a bad home for it. It is certainly better than one of the other productions at that same theatre, Honestly Abe. Honestly Abe was one of the most boring, inane, poorly written, poorly performed, dragging pieces that i had ever seen, and the only thing that kept me from walking out mid-show was that there were only 6 audience members and the actors kept making eye contact so i would have felt bad for them. In comparison, Soul Doctor will be the masterpiece playing at that theatre.

All the other shows at the Actors' Temple are non-equity. I assume they're completely recasting it then? It's a total dump of a space.

Can't wait to turn down a comp offer for it!

---

Updated On: 6/10/14 at 12:10 PM

It's having the regional premiere in Montreal at the Segal Centre.
http://www.segalcentre.org/whats-on/upcoming-events/theatre-3/segal-theatre/soul-doctor/

I can imagine they will be trimming and fine tuning more after this production.

I'm looking at the performance schedule for this and it has a performance every single day. Not one day off. Though I see that Fridays are at 2 PM and no night show, Is this performance schedule allowed?

This is not correct. There are all sorts of rules about when shows can be scheduled on an Equity contract.

It depends on the contract, but the general rule is that there must be at least one day off per week. There also cannot be more than five performances in a three-day span. There are also rules about the length of time required between performances on two-show days. If it's a long show and it plays at 2 and 7, for example, the producers are required to feed the crew and sometimes even the actors.