State Fair

[brdwybound04]

Posted: 8/26/07 at 5:09pm

what was wrong wth this production? Personally, I think it opened in the wrong season which already had Rent and Lion King and Chicago, but had ut opened in another season may well have succeeded. Will there be a revival anytime soon?

[jbdc]

Posted: 8/26/07 at 6:12pm

A few key sections of the book are terrible. Act two needs major help. And many the cast members were too old for their roles. Also--wasn't it the year of Big, Noise/Funk and Rent? I know it was before 98.

[brdwybound04]

Posted: 8/27/07 at 12:59am

Correct, State Fair had the mifortune of opening in the 96-97 season which included Rent, Big, Bring in da noise Bring in da funk, as well as lion king opening during its run. I saw a tour of it though in the lte 90s and thought it was a charming production. It may never rival the other 5 R&H, but I thought it was a nice addition. I thought it especially played well here in the midwest. I loved it for its simplicity, and hope it gets a Broadway revival.

[My Sobriquet]

Posted: 8/27/07 at 1:40am

Wow... Your question brought back some memories. I saw State Fair on tour as part of a 4-show package, which also included Victor/Victoria (pre-Broadway), Stomp, and Damn Yankees (w/ Jerry Lewis) as part of the 1995-96 'Broadway in Chicago' season.

I remember the main problem with State Fair was that it was too syrupy sweet... kind of corny... for lack of a better term. I think that the leads, John Davidson and Kathryn Crosby, helped contribute to that feeling. It felt like a 90 minute segment from The Lawrence Welk Show.

Unfortunately, I don't think a change of season could have helped.

Updated On: 8/27/07 at 01:40 AM

[chinto1984]

Posted: 8/27/07 at 2:31am

Don't forget R&H originally wrote State Fair for film. Watch the anniversary edition of the film because the special features discussthe journey from screen to stage.

[WickedBoy2]

Posted: 8/27/07 at 2:38am

Listening to the CD is like eating 10 sticks of cotton candy. As was said it was a great film but didnt transfer well to the stage, at least not in this short lived production. Andrea Mcardle sounds sweet- see, theres that word again!

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 8/27/07 at 6:20am

Everything about this production was horrible. I went in wanting to see Andrea McArdle but she was out, and her understudy was extremely underwhelming (especially in the vocal department).

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 8/27/07 at 7:58am

I never saw the stage production, but the original musical film is one of my favorite movies.

[Lorelai]

Posted: 8/27/07 at 2:02pm

I must say....I love the version with Ann Margret. It was actually my avatar until about 10 mins ago. Maybe I should change it back.