Posted: 6/19/25 at 9:52pm
I liked this more than Mincemeat, which isn't saying much because I loathed Mincemeat. I found Button tolerable, but the book/adaptation is not great -- or at least not entirely thought through. I went in expecting "Cornish folk" (or so the marketing suggested), and I came out wondering if "Cornish folk" is code for "generic Celtic."
Posted: 6/20/25 at 6:09am
The other board says Walter Kerr.
Posted: 6/20/25 at 6:54am
I'm very interested to see if this will be as beloved on Broadway as it is in London. I went with a group of friends and those who see little theater absolutely loved it and found it charming and heartwarming. Those who see a lot of theater appreciated the talented cast and staging, but found it musically one-note, at times somewhat cloying, and overall a bit underwhelming.
Updated On: 6/20/25 at 06:54 AM
Posted: 6/20/25 at 7:37am
When I saw this originally at Southwark Playhouse with Jamie Parker, I adored it. I went in not knowing it was a completely new adaptation of the story and it took me a bit to get into it, because honestly I was so confused. But it really won me over in no small part because Jamie Parker is constantly so wonderful. But oddly when I saw this at the Ambassadors, while I still enjoyed it, I just felt like it was missing "something" and I was never able to put my finger on what it was. Obviously Parker wasn't involved in that move but I don't think it was entirely his absence that shifted my thoughts on it. It's still a VERY good show but I'm happy to have my memories of the original production.
Could this work in New York? Who knows. I wasn't sure "Mincemeat" would be successful on Broadway and it's doing great so it just goes to show you never know.
Posted: 6/20/25 at 8:14am
I wish I had seen Parker as I have wondered if he lent some sort of gravity or unstated anchoring to the production compared to what we saw at the Ambassadors.
Posted: 6/20/25 at 8:21am
Parker was wonderful but so was Molly Osborne. I'm sure the other two are good...but Parker and Osborne seem hard to equal.
Posted: 6/20/25 at 12:49pm
I had the chance to see Parker at Southwark, and I definitely agree the show felt very special in part because of Parker and Osborne’s chemistry.
I am not going to have the chance to see the West End production, but I have listened to recording and I did notice a change in some songs (imo mostly the wrong cuts)
All I can say is at Southwark, I felt like it was the best new musical I had seen in years. My friend and I walked out of the theatre in silence which is very uncommon for us. I’m very interested to see what the new version is like and if iindeed it will be a full cast transfer and how that impacts my opinion of the show.
Posted: 6/20/25 at 2:34pm
I saw this show on my recent trip to London and I really just fell in love with it.
I found it incredibly charming, endearing, and clever, with a lot of heart. I don't know if it's a perfect show or if it will be a commercial hit on Broadway, but I fell for it. And especially Clare Foster's performance. She felt earthy and grounded in a very Jessie Mueller way that I just adored.
Posted: 8/7/25 at 6:57pm
It’s coming in the spring
Updated On: 8/7/25 at 06:57 PM
Posted: 8/8/25 at 8:02pm
For those who have seen this show in the UK, I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts on something rather specific. I've listened to the cast recording, and there are a lot of incidental mentions of members of the community (Mrs Bennett, Mr Gladstone, etc) throughout; but it seems that the plot itself is very tightly focused on Benjamin and Elowen. Does the show do much plot-wise or thematically with the presence of the community (for example, are they there to show that Benjamin is unable to have that kind of long-term community experience), or are those minor characters mostly just there for vibes and additional voices/instrumentation?
Posted: 8/8/25 at 9:01pm
Fan123 said: "For those who have seen this show in the UK, I'd appreciate hearingyour thoughts on something rather specific. I've listened to the cast recording, andthere are a lot of incidental mentions of members of the community(Mrs Bennett, Mr Gladstone, etc) throughout; butit seems that the plot itselfis very tightly focused on Benjamin and Elowen. Does the show do muchplot-wise or thematically with the presence of the community (for example, are they there to show that Benjamin is unable to have that kind of long-term community experience), or are those minor characters mostly just there for vibes and additional voices/instrumentation?"
The only other character that I remember making a long-term impact on Benjamin is a character that he used to work with. I can’t recall the name. The others are just there for vibes from what I remember.
Posted: 8/9/25 at 10:12am
Fan123 said: "For those who have seen this show in the UK, I'd appreciate hearingyour thoughts on something rather specific. I've listened to the cast recording, andthere are a lot of incidental mentions of members of the community(Mrs Bennett, Mr Gladstone, etc) throughout; butit seems that the plot itselfis very tightly focused on Benjamin and Elowen. Does the show do muchplot-wise or thematically with the presence of the community (for example, are they there to show that Benjamin is unable to have that kind of long-term community experience), or are those minor characters mostly just there for vibes and additional voices/instrumentation?"
Agreed with the previous poster. It’s very much an ensemble piece (I can’t recall if they’re ever offstage, honestly) and I became confused as they seemed to introduce characters by name, but I think they only flavor the scene here and there. I don’t recall much character development, but I also found the entire piece kind of confusing and difficult to appreciate.
Posted: 8/9/25 at 10:38am
The repeated mention of the Rube Goldberg-like events and the people they happen to in the town was one of the most confounding elements of the show for me, and I agree that they make the plot harder to sink into. Instinctively, you want to remember who these people are in case they become important, but they really are just texture to underline how this community functions. You don’t really have to remember anyone’s names, other than to recall “Oh right, that’s the town drunk. Ah yes, that’s the guy with the unrequited crush.” It wants to be Our Town-esque, but they feel shoehorned in to justify the musician ensemble more than anything.
Posted: 8/9/25 at 12:57pm
I feel the whole thing serves to set up the ensemble-like nature of the show. That said, maybe due to my seat or the sound design of the show, I could barely understand a word during those numbers. Unfortunately the sequence took me out of the world rather than brought me closer to it.
Posted: 8/9/25 at 1:08pm
My only real problem with the show is that, despite the magic realism of the premise, everything is treated as if this is the real world..How the world works, world history, the mechanizations of the 20th century, love, death. It's all of a natural world. EXCEPT the mother giving birth to a full grown man is just glided over without a mention. I mean...it would have split her in two!! In the film he is born a tiny little baby-sized old man and quickly grows (which kinda also defeats the story but saves us having to consider the weirdness of the birth). I don't know how it's handled in the novella.
Posted: 8/9/25 at 2:55pm
TalksAboutBruno said: "maybe due to my seat or the sound design of the show, I could barely understand a word during those numbers"
my husband and i were sat in row 5 and had the exact same issue. i hope the sound design is better in nyc.
