TOOTSIE - Chicago tryout- Page 11

[Menken Fan]

Posted: 9/29/18 at 12:43am

Another strong show and enthusiastic audience tonight. Sarah Stiles' understudy was on again.  What's up with that?

They were also surveying the audience tonight.  Not sure if they've been doing this on other nights.  

Updated On: 9/30/18 at 12:43 AM

[Sondheimite]

Posted: 9/29/18 at 12:47am

Solipsist234 said: "BalconyClub said:"Icannot keep up with the many changes in the show either!"

...yeah, because the other 50 posts wouldn't suggest that at all. Nope. No bueno. Not at all!

Also, you must really be breaking the bank if you're spending a ton of money to see an out-of-town tryout in its entirety in terms of its run even though no one told you you had to, or whatever!"

How long before they ban you?  Like... I thought you were pretty amped up terrible... but can you please just turn up how awful you are to an eleven so that maybe the Moderators will finally take pity on all of us and ban you

[BalconyClub]

Posted: 9/29/18 at 1:11am

Bwayfan292 said: "Balcony club, I think its super cool that you do this. I appreciate it!

Would you say the show is getting better each night? or staying the same? "

If this terrific show was static, its magnetic draw would not continue to pull me in. The show is getting tighter and better each performance.  

The constant changes fascinate me.  Friday night, the opening notes of UNSTOPPABLE had less volume. This put a better focus on Michael's lyrics.

Earlier this year, I only caught the PRETTY WOMAN Chicago tryout on ONE night. There was no reason to see that show again.



 

Updated On: 9/29/18 at 01:11 AM

[bk]

Posted: 9/29/18 at 2:31am

Sondheimite said: "Solipsist234 said: "BalconyClub said:"Icannot keep up with the many changes in the show either!"

...yeah, because the other 50 posts wouldn't suggest that at all. Nope. No bueno. Not at all!

Also, you must really be breaking the bank if you're spending a ton of money to see an out-of-town tryout in its entirety in terms of its run even though no one told you you had to, or whatever!"

How long before they ban you? Like... I thought you were pretty amped up terrible... but can you please just turn up how awful you are to an eleven so that maybe the Moderators will finally take pity on all of us and ban you"

I'm with you.  This is just about the most annoying thing I've seen here and trust me I've seen annoying things.  The obsession with the minutiae is nauseating (ooh, the volume was higher on the first word of the song) - I mean I simply don't understand anyone who would do this - go to every single performance - I mean even if they're cheap tickets it adds up - and then run here and post about it.  This is needy amped up to the nth degree, but then we have people who say "I'm so glad you're doing this".  I'm glad some are enjoying this and I suppose I should just avoid this thread but it irritates me every time I see the last post is this guy having attended yet another post.  

[TheSassySam]

Posted: 9/29/18 at 6:49am

BalconyClub, I appreciate your posts. We rarely get to hear what changes are made throughout previews in such detail. It's refreshing. There seems to be a lot of judgement passed onto you about you seeing this show multiple times. Yet, there are users who praise other users for attending other shows dozens of times.

Besides, this is a post about the Chicago tryout. What else are people expecting by coming to this post? 

 

[Browneyes142]

Posted: 9/29/18 at 2:03pm

Solipsist234 said: "BalconyClub said:"Icannot keep up with the many changes in the show either!"

...yeah, because the other 50 posts wouldn't suggest that at all. Nope. No bueno. Not at all!

Also, you must really be breaking the bank if you're spending a ton of money to see an out-of-town tryout in its entirety in terms of its run even though no one told you you had to, or whatever!"

Why would any of us do this because "someone told (us we) had to", we participate at our various levels because we want to. No one MAKES me go to a show, how miserable would that be?!?

To you and BC and others, if this bothers you, ignore the thread, no reason to inject your hate. 

Several of us do quite enjoy the little tweaks because it's fun to see how things are put together .How the big and small are tweaked to make it the best version .

I do see some shows repeatedly. Usually, it's to get a different experience . I see new actors, if it's a show where the actors get to inject a bit of their personality, it can be very different . I go to previews to see how it differs from the final product, etc .

[gleek4114]

Posted: 9/29/18 at 2:38pm

So long are those days of front row lottery. I won for the matinee and was seated in the rear balcony. The view is fine, but this is a very big theater. Either way happy to be here, and happy to see Leslie Donna as Sandy, as Sarah Stiles is out. I'm seeing it again for the evening, so I'm looking forward to hopefully seeing Sarah to compare.

[kade.ivy]

Posted: 9/29/18 at 2:55pm

I hope Sarah Stiles is well. She missed a weekend of shows a couple weeks ago, correct? Seems like last time she had other engagements, so might be the case today.

[SweetLips22]

Posted: 9/29/18 at 4:31pm

I would be curious to know, with all these minute changes being made every single night, are they rehearsed or just told what to do and expected to remember them as they perform?

Also I do check in here daily to check out all reports but reading all the changes means absolutely nothing to me  'cause without having seen this piece, I really have no idea what BC is talking about, fascinating though it all is.

[Ravenclaw]

Posted: 9/29/18 at 5:21pm

SweetLips22 said: "I would be curious to know, with all these minute changes being made every single night, are they rehearsed or just told what to do and expected to remember them as they perform?

Also I do check in here daily to check out all reports but reading all the changes means absolutely nothing to me 'cause without having seen this piece, I really have no idea what BC is talking about, fascinating though it all is."

It's a combination of both--the company continues to rehearse throughout previews, but small changes (like substituting one joke for a new one) may be implemented just by giving notes.

Does anyone know when the official press opening is? They're about halfway through the out of town run, so it must be soon.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 9/29/18 at 5:33pm

^its Sunday

[kade.ivy]

Posted: 9/29/18 at 6:08pm

Today’s matinee stopped for about 5 minutes after Santino’s first song. When he came back onstage, he said “Previews...let’s all go out to a restaurant later.” He then sang the last few bars of the song again, and the show proceeded as normal.

I enjoyed the show very much! The book is very solid, moves well, and only a bit preachy. I enjoyed the score, though found many songs forgettable. My favorites were Sandy’s song, the Act I closer, and Santino’s 11 o’clock number.

Santino is giving a great turn, though I don’t really buy Michael’s jerkiness yet. Lilli Cooper is delightful, and Ms. Flesher was incredibly entertaining as Sandy. I’m 99% sure I saw Sarah Stiles walking on the street on the way out, so hopefully she will be in for the evening show.

Overall, a wonderful show that I hope improves to be even better in New York!

[BalconyClub]

Posted: 9/29/18 at 6:33pm

kade.ivy said: "Today’s matinee stopped for about 5 minutes after Santino’s first song"

Though the On The Bone drop flew up, the pair of restaurant booths remained in place instead of rolling off to the wings.

Updated On: 9/29/18 at 06:33 PM

Posted: 9/29/18 at 6:36pm

Would it be worth it to go to the Press release night? Or to wait until later?

[kade.ivy]

Posted: 9/29/18 at 6:56pm

BalconyClub said: "kade.ivy said: "Today’s matinee stopped for about 5 minutes after Santino’s first song"

Though the On The Bone dropflew up, the pair of restaurant booths remained in place instead of rolling off to the wings."

Ah, yes! I couldn’t tell what was happening, but my seat mate noticed! 

[gleek4114]

Posted: 9/30/18 at 1:04am

Got back to my hotel not too long ago, and can confirm Sarah was back in the show tonight, and also very sweet at the stage door. I'll post more detailed thoughts tomorrow, but I REALLY enjoyed the show.

[FranklinDickson2018]

Posted: 9/30/18 at 1:10am

Am really loving all your excellent reporting from Chicago.  It is fascinating to me and I look forward each day to what you have discovered.  Thanks for sharing with us.  You make me really want to see this show and I can't wait to see it someday!!!  Your reporting is invaluable!

[PatrickDC]

Posted: 9/30/18 at 1:45am

Very glad I got to see the show tonight. And my first ever visit to Chicago. Staying with a buddy in Boystown. Love the gay bars here. Outside Boystown my fav bars are Marty’s and SoFo. Anyway... Using a 1 to 10 scale: Overall: 7 Score: 5 ... some real standouts — Dorothy’s first version of I WON’T LET YOU DOWN was amazing. I assumed that would be Michael’s final number after Julie and he reconcile. Sets: 9 ... love the bar and Michael & Jeff’s apartment. Cute subtle nods to Santino such as the THE FANTASTIK’S poster. The rolling subway pieces had great details too. Choreography: 6 ... true it’s not a choreography heavy show. Good energy from the ensemble — always appreciate drooling over Harris Milgrim — but passable choreography. Book: 5 ... I didn’t buy that an actor , and an unknown at that, would in the first day of rehearsal be so mouthy and take control from the director. I dint know the inside of the business but a egotistic director like Ron would never allow it. In the film they had time for Dorothy’s influence to grow and got the public’s feedback to give the soap’s producers enough reason to give her free rein. Just doesn’t work in the musical. Jeff has some great lines, really the best ones in the production. He is sort of a one-man Greek chorus. His lines are brief but he says a lot. Sandy steal the show on her 3-4 appearances. Ok, big quibble, the ending. HATED it. Won’t spoil it but wow does it just fall flat. No closing number. No big emotional song. Curtain just falls. What am I missing? Does this work for others? Didn’t work for me at all. Last thought: the Cadillac Palace is a gorgeous theater. Every inch is beautiful and well maintained. Oh and one last-last thought, for those who asked earlier, sight lines from the first few rows were fine. We were in B on house right. Saw everything.

[Speed]

Posted: 9/30/18 at 4:40am

I haven't seen the show yet but I'm liking that there is no big closing number.  That would be too obnoxious for this story.

Updated On: 9/30/18 at 04:40 AM

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 9/30/18 at 8:35am

Reading about the nightly tweaks to the book saddens me. It suggests that the team will not get the time to change the larger problems in the storytelling:

A) The Romeo and Juliet musical is terrible, even after Dorothy fixes it.

B) The klunky writing in the lesbian romance scene. Too many modern writers are terrified of the word bisexual.

C) The idea that anyone working on Broadway in 2018 would be shocked by a man playing a woman. Frankly a good chunk of the audience would assume Michael was coming out as trans in that final monologue. There would be a headline or two calling him brave for coming out, rather than treating him like a monster.

[kade.ivy]

Posted: 9/30/18 at 9:08am

PatrickDC, thanks for your review! I actually enjoyed the fact that there was no closing number. It adds some subtlety and suggests some ambiguity, not to mention shows restraint on behalf of the creators. So, I guess it works for me, but I understand your quibbles.

[PatrickDC]

Posted: 9/30/18 at 9:09am

Speed said: "I haven't seen the show yet but I'm liking that there is no big closing number. That would be too obnoxious for this story."

Ok, but the ending needed more emotion to me. And in musicals emotions are typically expressed in song. Maybe a softer, slower tempo reprise of I Won’t Let You Down. When the curtain drops I’m thinking I don’t care all that much for the future of these two characters. 

[NYCblurb]

Posted: 9/30/18 at 11:03am

I’m 99% sure I saw Sarah Stiles walking on the street on the way out, so hopefully she will be in for the evening show.

I wonder if they're going to recast her for NYC run? If I were the director I would be taking these absences very seriously. Doesn't an actor go on almost NO MATTER WHAT? What do you think?

[schmoe]

Posted: 9/30/18 at 2:35pm

Menken Fan said: "Another strong show and enthusiastic audience tonight. Sarah Stiles' understudy was on again. What's up with that?

They were also surveying the audience tonight. Not sure if they've been doing this on other nights. Thought some of you might be interested in seeing the survey, which gives us some of the song titles (since there is still no song list in the program)

[mod note - images removed per copyright complaint]"

There were surveys and pens taped to the back of the seats on Thursday evening (9-27).  From what I saw, it was between 5 and 10 rows in the orchestra.  It asked you to fill out one side before the show and one side after.  It was A LOT of questions.  They were collecting them afterwards, but it was hard to determine how many people filled them out.

Oh, and I say, go BalconyClub, go.  You rock.

[BalconyClub]

Posted: 9/30/18 at 11:49pm

The Chicago opening night, Sunday, Sept 30, was electric.

In the outer lobby, Chicago legend Margie Korshak was distributing seat assignments to the press.

The Tribune's Chris Jones entered in a jovial mood.

Spotted Robert Falls from the Goodman.

FOUR will call windows were open instead of the usual 3.

In the main lobby, the curtained black box of production equipment between aisles 2 and 3 had been removed.

Many in the audience were beautifully dressed.

The OVERTURE received lovely applause soon after it started.

A few in the audience clapped over Santino Fontana's first lines, yet Fontana quickly jumped to his next line to humbly stop the adoration.

Opening night jitters may have caused one missed lighting cue or an ensemble split second costume change hiccup; otherwise, the show was on fire.

Sarah Stiles (Sandy) caught the giggles in her final exchange with Andy Grotelueschen (Jeff).

If you have the opportunity to see Tootsie in its final two tryout weeks, get your curious soul to the theatre.






 

Updated On: 9/30/18 at 11:49 PM