THE NUTTY PROFESSOR, Pre-Broadway Tryout in Nashville -- Discussion- Page 3

[Playbilly]

Posted: 8/13/12 at 2:36pm

I went to On A Clear Day.. after the closing announcement & they handed out surveys. Seemed odd unless they were planning a tour.

[broadwaybabytn]

Posted: 8/13/12 at 3:00pm

The show is mediocre. A fun and funny adaptation of a classic movie, but geared towards a much older audience, which was the group seeing the show last night. For a "family show," it's a bit raunchy, but nothing that wouldn't go over most kids' heads. Technically, it's fine. Nowhere near Broadway quality, but it's up on its feet, working well, and there were some cute tricks. The direction felt ok, and the general choreography was good, but the staging, especially during solo numbers, was odd.

The cast is spotty... Michael Andrew is terrific, and though he seems to be giving a Jerry Lewis impersonation at the beginning, he grows out of it as the show progresses. The girl playing Stella Purdy was incredibly bland, though she was blessed with a beautiful voice. She also had to work against a student-teacher relationship, which comes across as completely inappropriate in our atmosphere. Klea Blackhurst stole the show, and she wheeled on about half the scenery. Mark Jacoby, in four mediocre featured roles, wasn't doing his best work at all. The ensemble is weak, with a few exceptions. The male dancers are stronger than the female ones, and generally, the choreography is much better than the dancers themselves. There was a cheerleading number, which felt odd, and a section featuring boys as the drum corps, in which they were painfully out of step. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the cheerleading number was where I noticed that some girls were All in all, it was pretty fun, but it needs a lot of work. The book felt dated, as did the score, but the book was a bit worse.

[broadwaybabytn]

Posted: 8/13/12 at 3:04pm

Double post.
Updated On: 8/13/12 at 03:04 PM

[Playbilly]

Posted: 8/13/12 at 3:50pm

The cheerleading/drumline number was a little offputting. The point of the first part dealt with Stella being a non-conformist, but she just explained that in the previous solo. I'd lose the solo. She has enough. If they changed the cheerleader number to more of an "America" type number, it would strengthen the show.

The drumline number needed...drummers. It could be replaced with a number about the students feelings about Kelp.

[Nouveaux]

Posted: 8/16/12 at 3:31pm

I went last night and agree with the others, it was OK. I pay a lot more attention to the story than the singing (mostly because I can't carry a tune) and there were several things that bothered me.
First, as others have mentioned, the teacher/student relationship seems really creepy now.
I'm not sure how old Marissa is, but she looks older than the students. They could do some work on her makeup to help with that.
The dancers were decent. Lindsay Moore stood out as the best of that bunch to me.
Klea Blackhurst was fantastic and was easily the best on the stage.
Costumes were very good overall, although they opened in the back a few times.
The point where Buddy/Kelp confesses who he is was very odd. It was obvious that it was coming, but there wasn't near enough of an event to warrant the confession. That needs to be much bigger.
Buddy's cigarette was unnecessary. I didn't mind it at the start when he's going way overboard, but it wasn't needed at the end. I think we've moved past that stereotype.
There are several places where Kelp mentions that Buddy isn't aware of him and Buddy comments that he doesn't know where his knowledge of math came from, but then he sings a song about knowing what it's like to be picked on. They need to fix that inconsistency.

Again, overall, it was ok. A fun night out that isn't too serious, but I'm really glad I got it at a discounted price of $15 thanks to a Facebook promotion as I wouldn't have paid regular Broadway prices for it.

[jpbran]

Posted: 8/16/12 at 3:37pm

Not sure about anyone else, but I did get a survey from TPAC a couple of days later.

And I'd imagine the "Billy Elliott" surveys were due to it being an established show with a LOT of history and language specific to the UK; I remember hearing they were very nervous about how B.E. would play to US audiences, specifically the "family crowd."

[DrMark]

Posted: 8/27/12 at 12:26pm

Well, I just received an e-mail survey about "The Nutty Professor." It was fairly generic, asking me to rate the show, choreography, set, cast, etc. I did put a lengthy comment in the free text field.

As I remember the "Billy Elliott" survey, it did ask about if I could understand the accents, slang, etc., so I think you're right about that. I really didn't like that show, and I really wanted to like it, since I liked the movie. But I digress.

[tazber]

Posted: 8/17/13 at 10:59am

Any word on this?

I gather it needed re-writes, but I recall hearing that it was mostly the book that needed them. The score wasn't going to change much.

I wonder if Hamlisch's untimely passing has put this on hold?

[Dollypop]

Posted: 8/17/13 at 3:42pm

I spoke to Klea Blackhurst recently and she indicated that it won't be going any further than Nashville.

[tazber]

Posted: 8/17/13 at 4:58pm

Thanks for the update Dolly.

That's a shame. I was hoping they'd find a reason to produce Hamlisch's last score for posterity.

[Tom5]

Posted: 8/17/13 at 5:02pm

I've never heard where a college professor having a relationshop with a college age student was news, so I'm mystified where the many mentions of creepiness comes in here. The music, sadly, will have to remain in its present state so for what is good about it we can thank the great Marvin Hamlish and what may not be good he certainly would have addressed so there will be no one to blame there. I hope this is (or becomes) good enough to reach Broadway. It certainly has a good basic dynamic story and if anyone remembers the film, an absolutely perfect (and funny) ending.

[Playbilly]

Posted: 8/17/13 at 6:41pm

When Jerry dies they can use the music for "The Day the Clown Cried - The Musical". Two birds and all....

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 8/18/13 at 8:13pm

'I didn't say they don't do survey, they do - and it's stupid. If they can't figure it out then they should get out of the business. Why do you think the movie business has devolved into what it is today? I think you know the answer. You think Hal Prince needed surveys when he was trying out Cabaret? No, he had a brain and talent and he listened, as did the show's creators, and they fixed. And that's the way it was for every musical up until THIS decade.'

Clearly you don't work in this industry and have no idea what you are talking about.

[bk]

Posted: 8/19/13 at 1:02am

Clearly I don't work in this industry? Amusing. Sonny, I've been working in this industry since long before you were born - going on forty-three years now. I don't think I'm the one who doesn't know whereof they speak, if you get my drift, and I know you do.