THE MUSIC MAN Previews- Page 4

[ACL2006]

Posted: 12/21/21 at 7:41am

hollebolle said: "It’s also worth noting there was already an understudy in (for Ewart Dunlop), which I think is unusual for a first preview? I don’t know the circumstances but it does make me a little nervous about the coming weeks."

The show currently only has four swings, so they better hire a few more quickly.

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 12/21/21 at 7:56am

I counted five swings on the official show website's cast list. Still a troubling sign though...

[jo]

Posted: 12/21/21 at 8:07am

Hugh shares part of the Shipoopi scene --

https://www.instagram.com/p/CXvy9euATyM/

The earlier clip was edited. A pity because that was the more interesting part.

Updated On: 12/21/21 at 08:07 AM

[HenryTDobson]

Posted: 12/21/21 at 8:11am

RippedMan said: "This all sounds to be pretty bland. it's "fine" isn't worth $800 to me. So hats off to the people that paid that, but I'm good. Doesn't sound like the production is all that interesting and just a very, normal, version of the show. I'd hoped that with Hugh's involvement they might have made this an "event" production, but seems like they kept it pretty safe."

Did I miss reviews? Hollebolle is the only one on this thread who has left a review and they called the performance "fun." Not sure why we're writing this one off already.....

Updated On: 12/21/21 at 08:11 AM

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 12/21/21 at 8:11am

I’m surprised that there are so few first preview reports on here! Hoping to hear more soon!

[Jimmyb1969]

Posted: 12/21/21 at 9:04am

I was there last night and IMHO I thought it was joyous! It was just what I wanted - needed - to lift my spirits! The star of the show - the dancing! Hugh is terrific and plays Harold as "the Charmer in Chief." He's wonderful. Sutton is terrific of course. It's nice to have two leads who can sing the score and while Sutton may not be your classic soprano she uses her upper range beautifully - because she's trained and has technique and is a pro. They've tweaked it some for her and she makes My White Night her own and it works beautifully. Other standouts...no surprise with Jefferson Mays and Mrs. Paroo and Winthrop are excellent...both just steal every scene they are in. Not everyone is at the top of their game - Jayne Houdyshell gives an understated (I'm being kind because I loved her in The Humans) performance as the mayors wife...I kept thinking where's the luminous Mary Testa when you need her or Simard or Hoffman? They would have devoured the role. This was a casting mistake. And I'm sad to say Shuler Hensley is just not cutting it as Marcellus. Usually love him but he didn't have the vocals and frankly he didn't feel like he was was having much fun. I'm all for evolving the role from Buddy Hackett but I was like where's Chris Fitzgerald - I know he's in Company but we needed a scene stealer and some joy and life and energy and I never got the feeling Shuler was having any of it - same with Jayne. Jayne needed a B-12 shot. And sadly Zaneeta was weak - barely there and threw away all her lines - along with the lethargic Ladies Dance Auxillary - again I kept thinking bring the dream team in and make something of these roles - Simard, Hoffman, Testa - you get it - bigger more memorable characters!

Direction is ok with one very big exception imho- more on that in a second ...Dancing is fantastic...sets are hit (gym, library) or MISS (barn act/transition curtain-ouch, "mini golf" footbridge-ouch, any connective scene/drops), lighting is hit or miss too and nothing exceptional throughout...hits gym and library, misses - train-needed to be so much cooler to help give us some movement not just the wires overhead, opening number-what town? And all the connective scenes and Wells Fargo were just flat and lifeless and please help out that ugly footbridge.   And the costumes I'm sad to say looked really cheap with the exception of Hugh. The choices for Sutton are just not right imho and her wigs were just awful. She plays the role with some fire...her costumes and hair should subtly reflect that. Big mistakes. 

Directors make choices - the choice to not stage the opening number-Iowa Stubborn, does not get the show off to a good start. I'm all for a cast standing there and singing BUT this doesn't work and needs to be restaged because you need that momentum going into trouble.It doesn't work now - imho. We need to set that this is a town and we are now dropped into the middle of it...not dropped into the middle of a Broadway choir concert. It's lazy - we need to get a better sense of these people before Hugh comes in to be the disruptor in chief. The first two numbers do not work as directed - Hugh has a huge deficit when he starts trouble and you could feel him working hard to get the show moving...it's the only time he struggled and I blame that squarely on the direction. Jerry needs to fix that asap. Easy tweaks. And the ending needs work. You expect the big joyous miracle and instead the show stops and I was like is this over...thank god Winthrop comes out and saves the day - he's so winning and then the show starts again but instead of the big marching band we get another beautiful dance number - let's call it "The grand finale interpretive instrument montage tableau" and from that amazing weirdness we go into the weirdest bows I've ever seen. Give people their moment. Give us more singing? And the orchestra felt small.

It's a big, joyous night and Hugh and Sutton are terrific. An excellent first preview and now they have a month to tighten this up and get it all right. Nothing isn't fixable! Come on Jerry stage the opening number!

 

Updated On: 12/21/21 at 09:04 AM

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 12/21/21 at 9:19am

I’m glad I reconsidered buying tickets early. I’ll go later if/when they fix it up. This doesn’t seem like the immediate hit that Dolly was, which is fine, but if people are paying hundreds of dollars and have been waiting years for this to debut…I don’t know, seems a little odd to not be in top form.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 12/21/21 at 9:21am

I find it most interesting that design-wise this isn't up to scratch with Dolly... I thought for sure that the design for this would be lush and beautiful, but based on the few photos and first reports, it sounds like it is not.

[binau]

Posted: 12/21/21 at 9:28am

GiantsInTheSky2 said: "I’m glad I reconsidered buying tickets early. I’ll go later if/when they fix it up. This doesn’t seem like the immediate hit that Dolly was, which is fine, but if people are paying hundreds of dollars and have been waiting years for this to debut…I don’t know, seems a little odd to not be in top form."

We must have a different definition of hit because people paying hundreds of dollars for a show that is cheap is the very definition of a hit! While it might be disappointing aesthetically, the Dolly! Revival seemed highly overpriced given how long it took them to recoup. Maybe they decided to be more financially savvy this time. 

[JasonC3]

Posted: 12/21/21 at 9:35am

GiantsInTheSky2 said: "I’m glad I reconsidered buying tickets early. I’ll go later if/when they fix it up. This doesn’t seem like the immediate hit that Dolly was, which is fine, but if people are paying hundreds of dollars and have been waiting years for this to debut…I don’t know, seems a little odd to not be in top form."

Did I miss more than one or two people suggesting this was not in "top form?"

[willep]

Posted: 12/21/21 at 10:07am

JasonC3 said: "GiantsInTheSky2 said: "I’m glad I reconsidered buying tickets early. I’ll go later if/when they fix it up. This doesn’t seem like the immediate hit that Dolly was, which is fine, but if people are paying hundreds of dollars and have been waiting years for this to debut…I don’t know, seems a little odd to not be in top form."

Did I miss more than one or two people suggesting this was not in "top form?""

…considering they are the only two reports we even have of the show in this thread, that’s not a good record? It’s 100% “fine” reviews. I’m with Giants in that I’ll wait to see if it improves.

[pacificnorthwest]

Posted: 12/21/21 at 10:15am

What a terrific, thoughtful review, Jimmyb1969. Thanks! I hope the MM team takes your suggestions to heart.

Also hope I can get tickets eventually. I loved the last incarnation (at least I think it was the most recent -- 2001?). 

[Auggie27]

Posted: 12/21/21 at 11:17am

Jimmyb1969's report is precisely the kind of detailed account -- full of actual specifics -- that I was hoping for this morning. Much gratitude. I have a real sense of where the show is working and where the synergy of its elements hasn't gelled. This is what this site was always wonderful at providing: sharply observed commentary. 

What's somewhat startling: the staging concerns about the top of the show. The kinds of decisions that are made early in overall conception. I much appreciate how carefully the reservations are delineated, i.e. Jackman having to jump-start the proceedings in "Trouble." Perhaps the direction has a conceptual idea: the town is slowly awakened by Hill, therefore is literally sleepy at the top. It's not easy to keep sleepy, staid townspeople from appearing as underutilized ensemble. But just speculation. 

Thanks for the analysis. I really understood what was experienced last night.  

Updated On: 12/21/21 at 11:17 AM

[JasonC3]

Posted: 12/21/21 at 11:30am

willep said: "JasonC3 said: "GiantsInTheSky2 said: "I’m glad I reconsidered buying tickets early. I’ll go later if/when they fix it up. This doesn’t seem like the immediate hit that Dolly was, which is fine, but if people are paying hundreds of dollars and have been waiting years for this to debut…I don’t know, seems a little odd to not be in top form."

Did I miss more than one or two people suggesting this was not in "top form?""

…considering they are the only two reports we even have of the show in this thread, that’s not a good record? It’s 100% “fine” reviews. I’m with Giants in that I’ll wait to see if it improves."

Whatever data points work for you I guess.  Personally, I'll wait for more than two people to weigh in from the first preview before I start forming many impressions about the quality of a show.

 

Updated On: 12/21/21 at 11:30 AM

[ACL2006]

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

Jordan Levinson said: "I counted five swings on the official show website's cast list. Still a troubling sign though..."

Well, four adult swings and one child swing.

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 12/21/21 at 12:04pm

Hugh's entrance/applause as Harold Hill

https://www.facebook.com/MusicManBway/posts/1267350307105839

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 12/21/21 at 12:15pm

If the opening number indeed doesn't work, then Jerry Zaks probably realizes that after last night. He famously kept retooling RUNYONLAND from his '92 Guys & Dolls until it worked as the proper setup that the show needed.

As for the design, a few things are very possible:  (1) after Rudin's departure, the new producers tried to cut some corners in the way the sets were built, even if the designs themselves were mostly done before his exit.  (2) MUSIC MAN is a show with a lot more "locations" than DOLLY, and it's not set in a classy/wealthy place like DOLLY. A lot of it is set outside in small-town America, which can be harder to execute well.  (3) DOLLY was closer to a souped-up replica of the original Broadway production than this MUSIC MAN is, in terms of design/choreography/staging.  (4) Remember, Santo Loquasto designed Rudin's 2018 Carousel and that looked like a nice regional theatre production (and, like MM, is mostly set outside).

Updated On: 12/21/21 at 12:15 PM

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 12/21/21 at 12:32pm

jacobsnchz14 said: "Hugh's entrance/applause as Harold Hill

https://www.facebook.com/MusicManBway/posts/1267350307105839"

Well, it's no "Call...on...DOLLY LEVI!'

 

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 12/21/21 at 12:43pm

The orchestra felt small? Oof…that’s troubling to me, considering it has one of the biggest orchestras currently on Broadway. Not sure why they didn’t just use the original orchestrations. Well, obviously for the Tony consideration, but those old charts are pretty perfect.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 12/21/21 at 12:49pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "(4) Remember, Santo Loquasto designed Rudin's 2018 Carousel and that looked like a nice regional theatre production (and, like MM, is mostly set outside)."

Based on what we have seen so far, it looks like this is definitely more in the vein of the Carousel design than Hello, Dolly!. Can't wait to see and hear more.

[BroadwayNYC2]

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

I’m glad we are actually getting b-roll for this. The way any footage from Dolly was kept under lock and key was so beyond stupid to me. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 12/21/21 at 1:03pm

HeyMrMusic said: "The orchestra felt small? Oof…that’s troubling to me, considering it has one of the biggest orchestras currently on Broadway. Not sure why they didn’t just use the original orchestrations. Well, obviously for the Tony consideration, but those old charts are pretty perfect."

I wouldn't read into it too much. The sound design is often muddy for the first preview because the acoustics are quite different when there are 20 people in the room for tech vs 1500 with a real audience. Scott Lehrer is an expert at sound-designing classic musicals (he has done all the Bart Sher revivals + almost every Encores! show)...it will surely get better. Also depends on if the orchestra is entirely in the pit area, or if  some players are in satellite rooms.

New orchestrations are necessary when the dance/musical arrangements have been updated, and also if there are transposed keys. There's, reportedly, more choreography in this production. I'm sure Jonathan Tunick has done a bangup job with the orchestration.

[JSquared2]

Posted: 12/21/21 at 1:04pm

BroadwayNYC2 said: "I’m glad we are actually getting b-roll for this. The way any footage from Dolly was kept under lock and key was so beyond stupid to me."

 

Serious question -- other than your wanting to see footage and not being able to, from a producer's point of view, what exactly was "stupid" about it?   They did not need it to sell tickets, and they saved about $100,000 that went back to the investors.

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/21/21 at 1:33pm

HeyMrMusic said: "The orchestra felt small? Oof…that’s troubling to me, considering it has one of the biggest orchestras currently on Broadway. Not sure why they didn’t just use the original orchestrations. Well, obviously for the Tony consideration, but those old charts are pretty perfect."

Not to turn this into another Company vs The Music Man debate, but if Company's score can sound so bright and full with 14 pieces, there's no excuse for the lush score of TMM. I certainly hope it doesn't sound small. 

[WesternSky2]

Posted: 12/21/21 at 2:31pm

Really curious to hear more about how they've altered some of the score for Sutton!