THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY to Close May 18 — Page 7

^ We should all put this one on ignore, as it only tries to stir up trouble.

"I now await someone proclaiming the score to Fun Home superior to Bach, Beethoven and Brahms combined."

Now that you mention it.....exactly. God, Fun Home was brilliant.

I was only talking about their chemistry, as in sexual chemistry, like it was convincing that they wanted to bone. That's all.

[hundredsofhats, thank you. I love those ads and wish they could have continued playing them with it got to Broadway. The current ad really sucks.]

Thank you Sutton Ross, for checking them out. I wish they could have continued playing too--or at least making equivalent ads when they got to Broadway.

[I was only talking about their chemistry, as in sexual chemistry, like it was convincing that they wanted to bone. That's all.]

I only saw the trailer and some of the songs but Francesca and Robert seemed to really want each other, it did seem like an exciting romance instead of more tame affair. And also how the affair is so brief, it makes it urgent somehow.

^

Ooh wow, so it was expertly-done romance, showing a build in anticipation and it's slow, so the audience can feel their passion, that's pretty awesome. : D

My pleasure! : D I love the 1 second of Jafar in the 30 second spot.

Has everyone seen this? So many beautiful instruments involved. Goddamnit, I'm sad about this ending.


http://www.broadway.com/videos/155476/exclusive-steven-pasquale-sings-it-all-fades-away-from-the-bridges-of-madison-county/

After seeing this achingly gorgeous show four times, "It All Fades Away" has come to be my favorite song from the score. Pasquale sings it so beautifully that I don't think I could ever tire of hearing it. (Of course, "One Second and a Million Miles" and "Another Life" are way up there, too.)

Updated On: 5/9/14 at 09:29 PM

Good for them.

I knew their would be life after Broadway. It is an easy show to tour.

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**** Spoiler *****

I believe he does die. Do not know the details though ****

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I saw it last night. The problem is CLEARLY the book.

The score is gorgeous, no question. It's beautifully sung by an excellent cast. The production itself is solid, if not super-impressive. The direction was good with the small exception that, from where I was sitting in the fourth row on the side I couldn't see several scenes. For example (and I forget which song it was) the kitchen set was on, and stuff was happening behind it that no one on my side of the theater in at least the first seven or eight rows could see.

SPOILERS

The book is clearly the problem. My wife claims it's because I'm male, but I just didn't buy that a four day romance would have effects on this guy who's made a life of running around the world basically at will. The end felt so fake to me. I feel extending the time of their romance - make it two weeks or something - would have led to the ending being much more believable. Other problems - there is LITERALLY nothing wrong with Robert. He's a perfect guy. Yeah, he has an ex-wife, but we never really find out why they split (unless I missed that). But there's nothing WRONG with him. I also think having the characters as young as O'Hara and Pasquale are detracts from the story. Yes, the score is incredible (and I want it to win the Tony) and you need people like this to sing it, but again the end of the story doesn't work for me because it's hard to believe that someone as young as Robert, going back out into the world, simply never found ANY other loves -- after all of four days with Francesca. I don't know, it just didn't ring true for me, which kind of ruined the ending for me.

When I was in college studying drama, one of the key things my musical theater professor said repeatedly was a bad book can kill an otherwise great show. I think this is clearly evidence of that.

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What he says in the song is that he went all around the world, and the memory of Francesca is the only thing that won't fade away from his memory. He doesn't ACTUALLY say he never found another love, but I think it's implied from the lyrics about the things he's done. I have never had a four day fling with someone. I have no doubt it can be intense. I just find it hard to believe that ten/fifteen years later it would be such a powerful memory as to basically let everything else be erased in his mind.

Maybe it's because I've never experienced anything like that myself, but I just had a really hard time buying it. Again, I think more time - both between them during their affair and again more time spent showing the transition through time, might have made it more believable to me.

THank you for the explanation from Another Life - I had forgotten about that bit. :)

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I just want to make it clear also - the ONLY thing I had a problem with was the book. The score is GORGEOUS and the performances are fantastic. I have no problems with either of those!

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I agree with you, jasonf, that the book was the biggest problem. I didn't necessarily have an issue with the duration of the romance, but rather, that there was no conflict whatsoever... There is no conflict between Robert and Francesca, there is never a confrontation between Francesca and her husband. I know it's relatively believable that a short affair doesn't necessarily need a conflict between the lovers, but even Francesca's internal conflict about whether to sleep with Robert or not is so unexplored. The book needed something to raise the stakes.

Interesting. I felt that she had a huge internal conflict when she had to choose between SPOILER

Running into Roberts arms or staying with her family at the ice cream parlor. I found it quite moving.