Soul Doctor- Page 4

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 7/19/13 at 9:06am

qolbinau, I guess it depends on how you define "worst."

I mean Wonderland was "worse," but I had a much better time sitting through it because it was so ridiculous. I would argue something like Into the Light is better than this. At least that was often hysterical, if only because it was so ludicrous. The songs are pleasant and hummable (Trading Solos/Throwing the notes around/Trading solos/Our friend is sound!- The friendship is "sound" because he's friends with an IMAGINARY MIME and only the orchestra can speak for him!)

Being boring and amateurish can be a worse sin than the campy bad things listed above. It is all a matter of perspective of what you think is the worst thing to sit through.

After Eight, do you agree that a three hour run time could be taken as aggressively obnoxious? Especially when there is no cause of the length and they have had several try-outs in which they should have edited their work?

I'm sorry you didn't laugh more, A8. My friends and I found act one to often be funny bad, but by act two I agree that the boredom was too much to endure.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 7/19/13 at 9:15am

First in line for rush right now. I need to see this.

[Luv2goToShows]

Posted: 7/19/13 at 9:18am

WhizzerMarvin TrinaJasonMendel, love this line:

"I'm not a religious man, but prayed and prayed this evening for it to end, but the damn thing kept going and going and going"

With all he workshops it had you would think they would have trimmed and tightened it up a bit more.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 7/19/13 at 9:29am

They probably already did trim it down. Which makes it even funnier.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 7/19/13 at 9:42am

They didn't trim it. I saw it off-Broadway and it was three hours then.

Telecharge erroneously listed the run time as 2hr 30min, so I assumed they had cut half an hour and was curious to see how they had reworked the show to fix the problems in the off-Broadway run.

The shocking thing is that they basically did nothing. It felt like the exact same show, except for the new choreography which was the one genuinely hilarious addition.

It's interesting how perspective can change too. When something is amateurish off-Broadway it's easier to forgive; Broadway magnifies all the flaws.

There's also the issue of price. I believe I paid $20 at NYTW, and that seemed a fair price to witness what I took to be a workshop production. When almost nothing is altered or improved upon and all of a sudden they are charging $135 for every seat it becomes an insult to the audience.

Btw, Soul Doctor is not staged in the round. They have gone back to the Spelling Bee set-up. I think it was a mistake for this show about a rabbi calling the people to religion through his music. There's a scene where he learns to play guitar in Washington Square Park and all the students in the area come join him in song. The entire show should feel like it's set in WSP, with him at the center fountain putting on a show and the audience as the onlookers expecting to be entertained.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 7/19/13 at 9:45am

It sounds like HIT LIST!

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 7/19/13 at 10:12am

Whizzer,

Sorry we don't know each other or I would have come say hello to you. I was there last night with my husband. It was terrible and your review is absolutely spot on. I'll happily admit that we left at Intermission. Just couldn't do it. Glad I didn't stay...

LH

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 7/19/13 at 10:37am

LH, I can't fault you for leaving, but it's too bad you missed the line about the dope or the drug fueled orgy that took place in San Francisco! :)

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 7/19/13 at 10:42am

After sleeping on it, I am still in shock about how painfully bad the show was last night. Truly one of the worst shows to ever hit Broadway.

"When almost nothing is altered or improved upon and all of a sudden they are charging $135 for every seat it becomes an insult to the audience."

This is exactly how I feel. I would be much more lenient if this were still in a workshop phase, but last night's mess of a show was completely unforgivable.

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 7/19/13 at 10:43am

Oh That sounds just delicious! Sorry I left now. Honestly, though, the work day was a long one. The three-hour runtime would have probably put us to sleep. LOL

Are we placing bets on how long this will run? What do you predict, Whizzer?

[Mike Barrett]

Posted: 7/19/13 at 10:46am

This might be a dumb question but I have tickets for this so should I sell them or is this such a train wreck that I should see it like Wonderland?

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 7/19/13 at 10:50am

Sell them...or just burn them...this is not worth your time at all.

[Mike Barrett]

Posted: 7/19/13 at 10:55am

Alrighty then looks like I'll do my best to sell them. Also does anyone know if it's possible to close during previews?

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 7/19/13 at 11:01am

I don't think it will run very long, but I don't think it will close in a week or anything. I think they can do well enough with group sales to Jewish groups to survive for a month or so. I guess I'll bet that it will close on Labor Day.

[newintown]

Posted: 7/19/13 at 11:01am

"Also does anyone know if it's possible to close during previews?"

It happens, but hasn't recently much - Bobbi Boland is the last one I recall.

On another note - I knew many actors that went in for this show; they knew it was crap, but the current thinking is "even an awful Broadway credit is better than none." I'm not sure that was always the case.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 7/19/13 at 11:08am

At least tell me the Nazis sing...

I just can't resist seeing this. Seeing reviews like this only makes me want to experience it for myself more. I'll post my thoughts when I get home tonight. (If I'm alive.)

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 7/19/13 at 11:08am

The Nazis don't sing...

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 7/19/13 at 11:33am

"On another note - I knew many actors that went in for this show; they knew it was crap, but the current thinking is "even an awful Broadway credit is better than none." I'm not sure that was always the case."

In the fairness of full disclosure, I probably should have admitted earlier that we do know someone in the cast. We did not tell her that we were coming to the show, though. I know that makes us sound like terrible people but this friend did voice the exact sentiment nearly word-for-word to us a few weeks ago while out for drinks. She felt this was the best way of getting her foot in the Broadway door. I can't blame her. But I also haven't told her we were there, yet. I will eventually.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 7/19/13 at 12:40pm

They don't?! Boo.

[Kad]

Posted: 7/19/13 at 12:46pm

Wait, is Kristallnacht actually portrayed onstage? Is it a musical number?

[After Eight]

Posted: 7/19/13 at 1:20pm

"After Eight, do you agree that a three hour run time could be taken as aggressively obnoxious?"

No, I do not agree. Especially since when people complained vociferously about that critics' darling slog, The Flick, being three hours of boring twaddle, with the creators then refusing to cut a single second of it, the complainers were mocked, scorned, and excoriated as being hopelessly stupid and undiscerning.

Doubtless you felt similarly about that one, as well as Stoppard's marathon bores, etc.

[GilmoreGirlO2]

Posted: 7/19/13 at 1:24pm

Just need to say thank you to Whizzer for, once again, providing a review that is not only extremely informative and detailed (yet succinct), but entertaining as well.

Also, are the set pieces the ones in this photo shoot?:
https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Photo-Coverage-Inside-Broadway-Bound-SOUL-DOCTORs-Press-Performance-Preview-20130629

I assumed these were just rehearsal pieces (look similar to the pieces I used in college in my acting classes…in fact, they are even the same color blue), but it sounds like they may actually be the real thing. I am all about minimal sets, but, at least from the pictures, this set just looks cheap.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 7/19/13 at 1:44pm

Kad, Yes one of the scenes in Vienna takes place during Kristallnacht. (Note: there was neither a song list nor a scene list in last night's Playbill, but I pulled out my Playbill from the off-Broadway production and Scene 3 is "Streets of Vienna/Kristallnacht.")

What happens is this weird beggar, who sort of looks like the Mysterious Man, comes out and starts dancing around the street, handing out bread to the other Jews in the Ghetto. Shlomo joins in, but those pesky Nazis are always lurking right around the corner ready to break up a good time. (Last night the Nazi was wearing a shiny leather floor length coat that could be spotted more commonly at The Eagle than in the SS!)

Things don't go so well for the singing beggar and Shlomo's family must get out of there before they're swept up in Kristallnacht madness.

HA, A8! I guess you could find a way to bring The Flick into this; I was going to cite Arcadia as a good example of a play that needs it's length too!

The difference is those plays were crafted, on the page and directorial, to be that long. Each moment was infused with meaning and purpose. Soul Doctor wanders without purpose as the creators merely tried to cram every second of Carlebach's life into one evening.

GimoreGirl, Those are indeed the actual blue set pieces used. You're right- minimal can be good and effective, but only when planned. There's a difference between minimalistic and cheap, and this production falls on the wrong side of the line.

Updated On: 7/19/13 at 01:44 PM

[tazber]

Posted: 7/19/13 at 2:03pm

After Eight, do you agree that a three hour run time could be taken as aggressively obnoxious?

"aggressively obnoxious"

Love that.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 7/20/13 at 12:09am

I have a friend who took Eric's spot in Kinky Boots. Apparently Eric has it in his contract that he can return to Kinky Boots if the show fails, so whatever.