Sweet Smell Of Success- Page 2
Sweet Smell Of Success
#25Sweet Smell Of Success
Posted: 1/19/10 at 1:52pm
I saw both the incest and the possibility that Lithgow's character was her father, and not actually her brother. The mother died in childbirth and the father "disappeared" when the daughter was born.
If so, that makes the whole situation MUCH more disturbing and complicated.
#26Sweet Smell Of Success
Posted: 1/19/10 at 2:07pm
Seeing SSOS and not picking up on the incest would be like seeing TAF and not realizing that it was a terrible bomb.
P
#27Sweet Smell Of Success
Posted: 1/19/10 at 2:31pmIt's also like seeing an insanely popular sold out production and thinking it's a bomb.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
#28Sweet Smell Of Success
Posted: 1/19/10 at 2:40pm
^ Explain WICKED then. I saw it in previews on Broadway and you just described my experience.
P
#29Sweet Smell Of Success
Posted: 1/19/10 at 2:48pmWhen did Wicked bomb? Even in previews, there was nothing to suggest the show wouldn't be a hit despite personal feelings regarding the material. If you saw Wicked and thought it would bomb on Broadway, then chances are, The Addams Family will do rather well for itself even without changes from the Chicago tryout. It's probably a good thing you're not a producer unless you're fond of filing bankruptcy.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
#30Sweet Smell Of Success
Posted: 1/19/10 at 2:57pm
Did you even read what you originally wrote? Or what I wrote?
Just do that and it will become very clear what I said.
You replied to a question no one asked.
P
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#31Sweet Smell Of Success
Posted: 1/19/10 at 3:00pmI don't think anyoen really pays much attention to what you write P, not since we've all become aware you don't take the trouble to actually watch the shows you review. I guess that's not really a handicap unless you hope to be a professional critic, which I can't imagine you could hope for in even your wildest dreams.
morosco
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/10/04
#32Sweet Smell Of Success
Posted: 1/19/10 at 3:16pm
I thought it had the best choreography of the decade
Is this a typo or just posted to the wrong thread?
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#33Sweet Smell Of Success
Posted: 1/19/10 at 3:19pmIt's the kinda statement that makes you wonder "Did he even SEE this show"?
#34Sweet Smell Of Success
Posted: 1/19/10 at 3:29pm
Did you even read what you originally wrote? Or what I wrote?
Yes I did, and your statement inferred missing a point that you felt was obvious, which is how that sort of analogy is most often used, with no other point of reference on the statement other than your opinion on The Addams Family. If you felt otherwise, you certainly never expressed it. If I misunderstood your comment, then my bad. To me, it looked like it existed for no other reason than to find a way to bash The Addams Family yet again.
Just do that and it will become very clear what I said.
Um, not really.
You replied to a question no one asked.
Pot/kettle.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
#35Sweet Smell Of Success
Posted: 1/19/10 at 3:43pm
When I was at a preview of WICKED, the audience ate it up and whooped and hollered like it was a revival meeting. The reviews I had read here and on ATC were largely pans and after seeing the show I thought it was a generally a disaster barely kept afloat by Idina and Kristin. I thought it would be a huge bomb. It wasn't.
Oh, and morosco I wasn't the one that initially pointed out how brilliant the choreography in SSOS was, though I do think it was excellent ON BROADWAY. NOT in ca-ca-ca-cold Chicago, where the show sucked (as all seem to).
I do respect your opinion, Mister Matt, so I'm sorry if I came across catty.
On the other hand, I make no apologizes to trolls that follow me around from thread to thread to disparage/attack/insult me, particularly when it has been weeks since I have replied to any of their protestations, yet they persist (you know who you are). Stalkers are still fans, one way or another, though. Kisses to you both.
P
#36Sweet Smell Of Success
Posted: 1/19/10 at 6:00pmP, since you are the only other person who really knows the show, is there anything to my suspicion that the incestuous Hocksetter is father and not (much) older brother to Sarah? The script seemed to imply this repeatedly, but I wasn't sure.
#37Sweet Smell Of Success
Posted: 1/19/10 at 6:24pm
Surprisingly, I actually thought something similar, darquegk. The whole incest concept was very tangible so it surprises me that some here did not recognize it, so I question if they even saw the show in NY. The concept of JJ actually being Susan's father, or even the result of incest herself (JJ and his mother) makes a very strong case why JJ wants to keep her under his thumb so much (to protect the secret). Well, that and being a f*cg ego-maniacal monster. The whole reason "For Susan" is such an at-first sweet, then slinky, then skeevy sounding song is because of the subtext with JJ/Susan (he made her his sister, then his daughter... now his wife?), made very clear in the increasingly discordant and skittish orchestration of the song/scene.
As Ethan Mordden points out in his book, this show was just too rich a meal for many. I'm so glad I saw it twice and have my memories because shows like this are very, very rare these days. Particularly shows this audacious with scores this good. 
P
#38Sweet Smell Of Success
Posted: 1/19/10 at 6:25pmJohn Lithgow (JJ Hunsecker) is about 30 years older than Kelli O'Hara (Susan). I'd say that would be a MUCH older brother.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
#39Sweet Smell Of Success
Posted: 1/19/10 at 6:32pm
Yes, Mister Matt, that's why the point darque pointed out is so interesting. The truth is supposed to be that JJ and Susan are brother and sister, but it would actually make much more sense if they were father and daughter. It would be particularly dramatically compelling therefore if Susan is actually the result of incest between JJ and their mother. I think had this been explored in the show it would have been one hell of an ending and surely a better justification for the big ending song Susan sang in the Chicago version. Yes, I suppose JJ killing her boyfriend is reason enough to cut him off and never speak to him again, but this concept is even more interesting now that we are discussing it. At least to me.
I seem to remember there was a song on the demo that went into their backstories a tiny bit more, I'll have to dig it out and see.
P
#40Sweet Smell Of Success
Posted: 1/19/10 at 9:09pm
Has this show been produced since its Broadway run, or has it been shelved?
I don't recall seeing the rights on any of the main licensing group websites.
#41Sweet Smell Of Success
Posted: 1/19/10 at 9:24pmI'm pretty sure it has been produced regionally at least once as I remember reading about a regional production at some point and being curious about it. Samuel French has the rights. Updated On: 1/19/10 at 09:24 PM
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#42Sweet Smell Of Success
Posted: 1/19/10 at 10:08pmThere have been local productions- I saw it a college a couple years back. I can't imagine it ever returning to Broadway.
#43Sweet Smell Of Success
Posted: 8/30/12 at 2:11pm
I feel compelled to dig up this thread after seeing the original film version for the first time.
My thoughts on the sister/daughter/lover incest subtext are only strengthened by having seen the film. In the movie, JJ is played as a man in middle age, and is at least a little bit believable as a much older brother. Lithgow appears a good bit older as JJ, making it much more plausible that Susan is not his sister at all.
Another thing I noticed in the film is the frequent homoerotic subtext between JJ and Sidney, which, as a few people on TVTropes pointed out, strongly implies that Sidney has had dalliances with JJ in exchange for his position of minor power. I'm surprised that the musical doesn't even reference this, especially since one would expect that in a less morally-restricted age of uncensored entertainment, such implications would be referenced, if not expanded upon.
Or is this all other people's subtext, and not in the script?
#44Sweet Smell Of Success
Posted: 8/31/12 at 3:40amFunny this thread came up--as I was just thinking of the show. I've only seen 20 minutes of musical numbers, and only tracked them down because Christopher Wheeldon is *hands down* my current favorite ballet choreographer, and I wanted to see what he did with his one Broadway show (especially after his hit ballet of Alice in Wonderland done as a co production between the Royal ballet and Canada's National Ballet includes a lot of non ballet dancing--effectively). I thought some of the dancing was great--and I like, not love, what I've heard of the score.
#45Sweet Smell Of Success
Posted: 8/31/12 at 3:50amDid Wheeldon do the choreography out of town as well? I know Hytner has worked with him slightly on non musical plays, but it seems an odd combination.
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