THE MUSIC MAN Previews- Page 13

[ACL2006]

Posted: 12/26/21 at 2:39pm

They're apparently rehearsing at the theater now. 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 12/26/21 at 3:07pm

jonartdesigns said: "SoCalDirector said: "Calling a huge cast of talented people, the most tony award winners probably ever in principal roles in the musical at the same"

I haven’t seen this production, and as such I’m not going to say if it’s mediocre or not. However, an abundance of talent does not always equal a great show. Young Frankenstein (ironically enough with Sutton Foster, and Shuler Hensley), and Women on the Verge… come to mind."

Those were new shows with untested material, and a lot of people did not like the material. This is a classic show with great material (although there are things I personally don't like).  I would think it would be easier to fix a show that has great material than one that does not.  Whether the current issues will be fixed, only time will tell.  Clearly O'Brien failed with Carousel, but O'Brien's direction was awful, and that show has always had some basic issues that some people will always find distasteful.  The first production of Carousel that I ever saw was at the City Center, well over 50 years ago.  I was in my teens, it was a different time, and still I had problems with the premise that hitting a child might be okay because she didn't really feel it, or whatever the exact dialogue was.

With the Covid issues worse than ever, I can only hope that they have time to address whatever issues this show currently has.  I don't see the show until June, because the dates that were reassigned to me were for Christmas week, and /i did not want to travel to NYC at Christmas time.  Thank God...my performance may have been cancelled.  

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 12/26/21 at 3:58pm

I'm so curious to know what the cast list will be tonight.

[SueFB]

Posted: 12/26/21 at 4:34pm

Jordan Catalano said: "I'm so curious to know what the cast list will be tonight."

Same! My "educated" speculation is that it will be Kathy again in for Sutton. Ryan Worsing has been playing Olin Britt. Branch Woodman has been playing Ewart Dunlop. And Garrett Long posted on her Instagram Stories yesterday that Sherisse Springer will be replacing her in the role of Ethel.

Having heard nothing about it at this point, I'd be surprised if Hugh were out. Unless they do a late pre-show test and something comes out of that. 

[Robbie2]

Posted: 12/26/21 at 5:25pm

ACL2006 said: "They're apparently rehearsing at the theater now."

I guess Hugh is ok if he was at the Winter Garden this afternoon

[ACL2006]

Posted: 12/26/21 at 6:12pm

Anyone going tonight, can we get an u/s report? I think it's guaranteed that Kathy Voytko will be Marian all week.

[SueFB]

Posted: 12/26/21 at 7:50pm

ACL2006 said: "Anyone going tonight, can we get an u/s report? I think it's guaranteed that Kathy Voytko will be Marian all week."

I'm not there, but I saw an image posted with these cast changes:

Olin Britt will be played by ->  Lance Roberts

Ewart Dunlop -> Branch Woodman

Marian Paroo -> Kathy Voytko

Oliver Hix -> Ryan Worsing

Ethel Toffelmeier -> Sherisse Springer

Constable Locke -> Sean Montgomery

Grace Shinn -> Emily Jewel Hoder

Ensemble -> Maria Briggs

 

Updated On: 12/26/21 at 07:50 PM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 12/26/21 at 8:13pm

Wow. Not nearly as “bad” as I imagined it would be tonight. 

[SueFB]

Posted: 12/26/21 at 8:19pm

Jordan Catalano said: "Wow. Not nearly as “bad” as I imagined it would be tonight."

It looks like musical director Patrick Vaccariello is also out tonight. Jim Laev is conducting the orchestra. 

[ACL2006]

Posted: 12/26/21 at 8:20pm

It looks like they're going short a few male ensemble tracks with Roberts, Woodman and Montgomery bumped up.

[Kad]

Posted: 12/27/21 at 12:43am

I was there tonight and can confirm those replacements for the performance.

The production is… fine. But it’s hard for me not to say I was underwhelmed. My mother felt the same. It just lacks an exciting spark, and the lengthy dance sequences weigh the show down rather than propel it forward. Jackman is giving you The Greatest Conman, a warm charmer whose redemption is assured the minute he reveals himself on the train. It works decently, I guess, but it’s an oddly one-note performance. Whether he’s making a pool table out to be the work of Satan or he’s confessing to a child he’s a charlatan, it’s all sort of the same. 

It’s also strange seeing esteemed performers like Houdyshell, Mays, and Hensley in these thankless supporting roles. They’re not great showcases for any of their considerable talents. Houdyshell fares the best, but it’s a role she could do in her sleep. Mays is unrecognizable, which made me wish his impeccable character work was put to better use. Hensley barely registers at all as Marcellus, and “Shipoopi” (with its awkward new lyrics) is kind of a dud. 

Voytko was fabulous as Marian. Just a really lovely performance. The real slam-dunk of the production for me, honestly. 
 

The production is plenty lavish, I thought… I just don’t particularly like the design concept. The red clapboard false proscenium / drop is particularly puzzling to me- and it’s used a lot. It feels like something from another show entirely. 
 

I’m willing to chalk up some of my reservations due to the cast being exhausted and through the wringer this week. Maybe that spark will come when folks are rested, Sutton has returned, and everyone is healthy. But I don’t think my production issues- Jackman’s conception of Hill, the dance sequences, some design choices, will change.

Updated On: 12/27/21 at 12:43 AM

[A Director]

Posted: 12/27/21 at 4:27am

Kad said: "I was there tonight and can confirm those replacements for the performance.


It’s also strange seeing esteemed performers like Houdyshell, Mays, and Hensley in these thankless supporting roles. They’re not great showcases for any of their considerable talents. Houdyshell fares the best, but it’s a role she could do in her sleep. Mays is unrecognizable, which made me wish his impeccable character work was put to better use. Hensley barely registers at all as Marcellus, and “Shipoopi” (with its awkward new lyrics) is kind of a dud.

Marcellus and The Shinns don't have to be thankless supporting roles.. Wonder if they've been told not to outshine Hugh and Sutton? The Music Man has never been a big dance show. What is tap dancing doing in a show set in 1912 Iowa?



 

 

[bk]

Posted: 12/27/21 at 4:49am

If I'm understanding what I've read, the tap stuff is in the curtain call. Some people thought they were tapping in the little clip of Shipoopi but I didn't hear taps, only the ensemble making noise by slapping their hand on their costumes. 

And the show has plenty of time to make fixes and knowing Jerry Zaks, they will. And it's been a tumultuous first week. As to the "thankless" roles - no. I'd like anyone to watch Paul Ford and Hermione Gingold in the film and tell me those are thankless roles. 

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 12/27/21 at 7:38am

bk said: "As to the "thankless" roles - no. I'd like anyone to watch Paul Ford and Hermione Gingold in the film and tell me those are thankless roles."

I think they meant thankless in this production. Given how little anyone has talked about them, and those who have have said the same thing, it sounds like they’ve been directed to be pretty thankless. Frankly, it sounds like if you’re not Harold or Marian in this production, you’re just sort of there.

[SueFB]

Posted: 12/27/21 at 11:01am

Kad said: "I was there tonight and can confirm those replacements for the performance.

The production is… fine. But it’s hard for me not to say I was underwhelmed. My mother felt the same. It just lacks an exciting spark, and the lengthy dance sequences weigh the show down rather than propel it forward. Jackman is giving you The Greatest Conman, a warm charmer whose redemption is assured the minute he reveals himself on the train. It works decently, I guess, but it’s an oddly one-note performance. Whether he’s making a pool table out to be the work of Satan or he’s confessing to a child he’s a charlatan, it’s all sort of the same.

.....

 But I don’t think my production issues- Jackman’s conception of Hill, the dance sequences, some design choices, will change."

Re Jackman's performance, do you think it's an inherent problem with Jackman's "likable" persona which made it difficult for the audience (or you, at least) to buy into the idea he could ever really con these folks? Or was it a matter of there just not being enough difference between his performance of "Hill as fake charmer" vs "Hill as sincere charmer". It's hard to fix the first problem, but perhaps something can be done with the second. Then again, the story doesn't really want that change-over to be completely obvious either. A challenge, to be sure.

 

 

[JayElle]

Posted: 12/27/21 at 11:43am

A Director said: "Kad said in part:   "I was there tonight and can confirm those replacements for the performance.  Marcellus and The Shinns don't have to be thankless supporting roles.. Wonder ifthey've been told not to outshine Hugh and Sutton? The Music Man has never been a big dance show. What is tap dancing doing in a show set in 1912 Iowa?

"..ya got trouble, folks. Right here in River City. With a capital T and that rhymes with D..."

Forget the pool table..sounds like it's the dancing!!!

LOL.. Thanks for the laugh...It  does seem ironic.   Still looking forward to the show. 

Glad I saw the Norm Lewis/Jesse Mueller version in DC.   In the final scene, Norm--frustrated with the stage band playing 76 Trombones on kazoos--blows his whistle.  In through all orchestra doors marches the Univ of Maryland marching band playing 76 Trombones.  They were in every aisle and along the back. The audience went nuts at the surprise. 

Would love to see that at the Winter Garden.

 

[jo]

Posted: 12/27/21 at 11:47am

SueFB said: "Kad said: "I was there tonight and can confirm those replacements for the performance.

The production is… fine. But it’s hard for me not to say I was underwhelmed. My mother felt the same. It just lacks an exciting spark, and the lengthy dance sequences weigh the show down rather than propel it forward. Jackman is giving you The Greatest Conman, a warm charmer whose redemption is assured the minute he reveals himself on the train. It works decently, I guess, but it’s an oddly one-note performance. Whether he’s making a pool table out to be the work of Satan or he’s confessing to a child he’s a charlatan, it’s all sort of the same.

.....

But I don’t think my production issues- Jackman’s conception of Hill, the dance sequences, some design choices, will change."

Re Jackman's performance, do you think it's an inherent problem with Jackman's "likable" persona which made it difficult for the audience (or you, at least) to buy into the idea he could ever really con these folks? Or was it a matter of there just not being enough difference between his performance of "Hill as fake charmer" vs "Hill as sincere charmer". It's hard to fix the first problem, but perhaps something can be done with the second. Then again, the story doesn't really want that change-over to be completely obvious either. A challenge, to be sure.

"

Again, may I cite Hugh Jackman's portrayal of the very  likable real-life character  Frank Tassone in BAD EDUCATION. Tassone was highly regarded by the Long Island school where he was a hardworking school administrator who charmed everyone (including the community where  the school  he led reached fourth in national ranking), Behind the charming facade was someone who led a double life and who committed fraud  under  the nose of the   school board  ( the biggest crime in the history of the US national school system and for which he eventually served time).  Hugh's portrayal earned some of the best reviews of his career & an EMMY nomination for acting. Another early role was Deception where he was a smooth-talking & sophisticated New York (supposed-to-be) lawyer who conned Ewan McGregor into facilitating a major bank fraud by enticing him to the seedy side of the Manhattan night life.  And there was Woody Allen's Scoop where he hid his serial killer life behind the facade of a very  charming  heir of an English lord.

A fraudster need not look like an ordinary looking man, to be believable as someone with  criminal intent.

 

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 12/27/21 at 1:55pm

SueFB said: "Jordan Catalano said: "Wow. Not nearly as “bad” as I imagined it would be tonight."

It looks like musical director Patrick Vaccariello is also out tonight. Jim Laev is conducting the orchestra."

This could be so they could be training another conductor or so the MD could take notes.

[SueFB]

Posted: 12/27/21 at 2:08pm

I'm not questioning Jackman's ability to play the role. I actually don't think that Frank Tassone is a good comparison, a charming liar who is never redeemed. To me, the better comparison is Charlie Kenton - maybe not a fraud, but a 2-bit huckster  - and a true a**hole - before gaining redemption in the end. But we digress. 

My question was addressed to somebody who has seen THIS performance, such as the person whose comments I quoted. 

[Kad]

Posted: 12/27/21 at 2:22pm

I don’t think it’s Jackman’s persona- he’s certainly a capable actor. Instead of the Robert Preston model of Hill- the slick, fast talker who fleeces you before you know what happened and leaves you thinking it was your idea- Jackman is a warm, charming, makes you feel like center of the world take. It’s a valid interpretation, but it makes his eventual epiphany carry less weight because he’s… functionally the same as he was. 

[SueFB]

Posted: 12/27/21 at 3:13pm

Kad said: "I don’t think it’s Jackman’s persona- he’s certainly a capable actor. Instead of the Robert Preston model of Hill- the slick, fast talker who fleeces you before you know what happened and leaves you thinking it was your idea- Jackman is a warm, charming, makes you feel like center of the world take. It’s a valid interpretation, but it makes his eventual epiphany carry less weight because he’s… functionally the same as he was."

Thank you! I wonder if they sense any problem there and will try to adjust that, or if that's just the plan. 

 

[BWAY Baby2]

Posted: 12/27/21 at 4:46pm

A valid interpretation could be that Hill is a huckster- and a conman fraud- but he is able to fully rationalize his behavior and feel okay about it. Perhaps the final epiphany is not as dramatic- but coming to terms with your deceptions and realizing that you can be a better person is also believable.

[Loopin’theloop]

Posted: 12/27/21 at 6:56pm

BWAY Baby2 said: "A valid interpretation could be that Hill is a huckster- and a conman fraud- but he is able to fully rationalize his behavior and feel okay about it. Perhaps the final epiphany is not as dramatic- but coming to terms with your deceptions and realizing that you can be a better person is also believable."

It’s not written that way though. Valid as the idea is, the show isn’t designed to work with that in mind. It needs the change as Preston did it, the show is designed around it. A more subtle change needs different writing to make us aware it’s happening because unless we actually see it, we are robbed off the moment 

[JackKelly200630]

Posted: 12/27/21 at 7:20pm

Jerry has his work cut out for him in trying to fix this. He's absolutely capable, but there's a lot to be done.

I was at the first preview last week and wanted to wait to post my thoughts to allow my opinions to marinate and not make them too harsh.

The biggest problem that has stuck with me since the performance is the tempos. Warren was obviously allowed to really take reign and add to his heart's delight, which isn't my cup of tea but I can see how it could work. This becomes a major issue however because when you slow the tempos as much as they did and add a significant amount to the dance breaks, these musical numbers become painfully long, slow, and boring. Shipoopi is played almost at the tempo of a period era merry-go-round (which bails out Shaiman and Wittman as the audience is too bored to notice their cringey lyric rewrite) and this is hardly a deviation from the norm in this production.

What contributes to the poor pacing of the production is the poor (or lack of) direction at many moments throughout the show. For me, this was the nexus of many of the issues discussed above in this thread, such as Jackman's performance and the diminution of the supporting roles. Too frequently it seemed as if the actors were hitting mark, delivering, and exiting, and the actors on stage not involved in the action seemed unsure as to what purpose they were serving. This isn't at all a knock on the actors, they delivered what the material called for to their fullest and it's one of the most talented casts you'll ever see on Broadway from Jackman to the swings, but so much of what works about this show is context of the book. Much of the humor is situational, and even if the line is delivered to a T, if the scene isn't set properly and the reaction of the ensemble isn't on point with the humor, the joke doesn't land as intended. The same goes for Hugh's performance. It's not as much that he is unsure of the tact to take or his persona bleeding through, but it seems as if the entire cast is unsure what/how they should feel toward him and Hugh (being a tremendously nice person and real classic actor) doesn't want to push his castmates down one path or overstep into Jerry's authority to dictate the direction of the show. The cast just doesn't seem to be on the same page as to the objectives underlying the story and what the production as a whole is building toward, which definitely is not on them. Sutton is the only one who cuts through this and she is spectacular. Like a steamroller she gives us her take on Marian everyone else be damned, she calls the shots and the production falls in line when she's on stage.

There is definitely time to fix this, but covid certainly isn't making it easy. It really as of now is death by a thousand cuts and it's painfully obvious how missed Rudin is. Nothing here is unfixable and there's a path to success, maybe on the level of Bette's Dolly, but there's a lot of work to be done.

Side note: I mentioned it above, but the Shipoopi rewrite is really bad. It's a drastic change on something people really wouldn't give a damn about (other than the Peter Marks' of the world who resent the tunes sheer existence). Though still probably unnecessary, minor alterations to smooth over words like "hussy" would've been a much better way to go to quell production's concerns.

[jo]

Posted: 12/27/21 at 8:27pm

SueFB said: "I'm not questioning Jackman's ability to play the role. I actually don't think that Frank Tassone is a good comparison, a charming liar who is never redeemed. To me, the better comparison is Charlie Kenton - maybe not a fraud, but a 2-bit huckster - and a true a**hole - before gaining redemption in the end. But we digress.

My question was addressed to somebody who has seen THIS performance, such as the person whose comments I quoted."

Kenton was not a fraudster who led a double life & who committed fraud. Tassone did get some form of  redemption when he was in jail ( not shown in the movie , but in real life) as he was allowed early parole because of his good behavior. He was also allowed to make restitution from his pension payments & by doing tutorials while in jail. 

I have seen the film version many times and have followed & contributed to  the discussions here since the  revival was in development.  On this board (since its beginning in 2003 - where I was one of the earliest members) I believe we are allowed to put in our thoughts if we believe they might make some form of contribution to the continuing exchange.

 

Updated On: 12/30/21 at 08:27 PM