TUCK EVERLASTING Previews — Page 9

Saw the show this afternoon with my $20 seats. I feel like a lot of what I would have to say has already been covered. Is the show terrible? No. Is it great? No. I would call it... above average.

What makes me a little sad though is that there came a point in act two, right around the song "Time" I realized how good a plot and book this show actually had, if only they would have just toned things down a bit. It's a simple book and really REALLY would have been stronger with more simple staging. Just having Miles and Winnie talking at the table and then the simple ballet between father and son was a really beautiful moment. Then came the entire chorus to ruin it all. That chorus does that often in this show. Another notable 'who invited them?' moment is in "Top of the World." Why, when you are trying to direct attention up into the tree, do you have so much movement below it? And then the ONE time they WERE called for in Mae's solo number, why are they in their weird ethereal forest folk outfits instead of in some kind of party attire to set the scene to the flashback she described for us just moments before? Why not put them into something to show a bit of a difference in setting and time? Just, confusion all around with them.

Act One was SO short that it was almost jarring when it ended. Nothing had really HAPPENED yet. I would have liked to have maybe seen The Man in the Yellow Suit's number here instead of at the top of act 2. Could add a little time onto the noticeably short act and give some kind of tension to have us thinking about into intermission. It certainly nods to that's the direction we are going into but it's so fast you don't really get a moment to let it sink in before blackout.

Usually shows are looking to trim OFF time. I think this show really could benefit from 10 extra minutes somewhere. Maybe to explain the Man in the Yellow Suit's backstory. Not even explain it better, just explain it AT ALL. From reading the book, I of course know who he is. If I didn't though, man would I have been confused. He just rants that his grandmother told him stories. Does it imply that his grandmother is Miles' wife? Is that Miles grandson? And if not that, then who was his grandmother? HOW did she know about the Tucks to tell him? It's all very unclear, implied, and the resolution of it all very rushed.

The end ballet however was of course lovely. You could feel the emotion in the room and in one case hear it. There was a point during the ballet I was able to hear someone weeping and audibly cry out a distressed "NO!" from the back of the mezzanine. No words but MAN did it really grab your heart and squeeze.

Funny you brought up Bright Star as I mentioned that in my blog when discussing Tuck Everlasting.



"There is another original show that opened on Broadway this year (Bright Star) that also has issues in the book and the score, but there is a fire in that show that allows it to transcend. Even though Tuck Everlasting has been worked out of town before coming to NYC, it feels very flat to me as if it doesn't quite achieve the wonder and magic it's wanting to convey."



I was NOT a fan of Tuck Everlasting & could't get past the flaws.



http://gregory-g-allen.blogspot.com/2016/04/will-tuck-last-forever-on-broadway.html

Really??? Casey, call me! I got more suggestions for ya!

Saw it last week and agree with most. It was no bueno for me- glad I had the $19.75 ticket. I saw FN and felt that production was tighter- overall better story. Tuck's set was beautiful and the toad was charming but I could've skipped this show. By the time it got to the ballet at the end I felt like I was being held hostage.

wolfwriter2 said: "uncageg said: "Were the dancers supposed to represent something? I agree that they were not needed during the tree scene."

We thought because of their, often circular movement, that they represented a clock, but whether we were right or wrong, we didn't get the point."



I can now see why you thought that with the passage of time being a theme and the reference to a clock in the song. (Wheels, I think)

What are the chances any of the featured actors will win a tony to continue the nicholaw streak.

I saw this about a week ago and I've now had some time to formulate my thoughts on why I so virulently disliked it. Much to the dismay of those who hate on these message boards, I actually don't like writing negatively about shows, and I appreciate all of the proverbial blood, sweat and tears that go into putting up a show. That being said, I actively hated this show.

The all-encompassing disappointment, I think, is that the source material's story is so beautiful and, in the right hands, could have been a fantastic musical (a fountain of everlasting youth? It practically writes itself). Unfortunately, the team assembled missed the mark-- big time.

I'm not even sure which is weaker; the trite and underdeveloped book or the homogenous songs lacking in both melody and emotion? Add in the incongruous staging (seriously, this is an intimate story, why in the world is there this overblown choreography at every turn?), and I found myself seriously considering walking out at intermission, which I have never before done in my life.

Anyway, the whole thing bums me out because I am a fan of the original book, as well as many involved on the cast and creative sides. But, yeah, a major misstep.

Call_me_jorge said: "What are the chances any of the featured actors will win a tony to continue the nicholaw streak."



Not good. I mean I can see them getting nominations and likely Terrence Mann is the best CHANCE at it but compared to the other feature actors of the season, especially the ones over in Hamilton, the role is very one note. He's a bad guy. That's kinda it. Oh he plays it well, don't get me wrong, and his number at the top of act 2 was some of the better fun to be had in the show but the role is no Genie or Shakespeare or even a Nostradamus. Other then that, I mean MAYBE Carolee might steal a featured actress slot somehow but again, the role does nothing to really show off what she can do.

dramamama611 said: "I REALLY wanted to see Winnie at 17 make the grown up choice not to drink...or at least talk to Jessie one more time.


Perhaps. It doesn't happen in the book. It ends with her using the vial on the toad, considers she can always use the spring later if she changes her mind, and the story picks up with the Tucks decades later. Her final decision as an older Winnie certainly gets lost in the show. In the book, you have to infer that she permanently chose to not drink from the spring, now knowing that the spring no longer exists (there was always the possibility that it dried up/was destroyed before she had a chance to). Not even sure why they had Andrew Keenan-Bolger come back on stage while Winnie was 17 (he seemed out of place). Seems useless for him to appear to witness her falling for someone else... They shouldn't have brought Jesse back out... to show how distant the Tucks were in time.


"Bright Star was SO much better than this."


True.

Updated On: 4/20/16 at 08:38 PM

TFMH18 said: "The all-encompassing disappointment, I think, is that the source material's story is so beautiful and, in the right hands, could have been a fantastic musical (a fountain of everlasting youth? It practically writes itself). Unfortunately, the team assembled missed the mark-- big time. "

This. I definitely didn't hate it. We considered that for less than $20 a ticket, it would have been a fine enough nap if we decided to take one right then and there in the theater. If I paid the actual seat's non-discounted cost, I'm sure I'd have a different stance.

The show made me question whether because I was an adult, I couldn't appreciate or enjoy the childish superficiality of the show, and whether it was the childish mind of my younger self that read a lot more into a simple children's book than there actually was. But then I'm fairly certain the original story was actually wonderful and well told.

I actually liked having Jesse coming out on stage to see her at 17 but they used it the wrong way. He was in a very poor spot and came and went so fast you might have missed him if you were not quick enough. But I like that it showed that he was still thinking of her and hopeful that the choice she was going to make would be him, only to face the reality that Winnie has grown up and will keep growing up. One of the few changes I did like.

In the book, they Tuck's COULDN'T come back for her right away because in another huge change from the book (which I just realized I don't think anyone has brought up yet) Ma Tuck is actually held accountable for killing a man and is going to be hung. You know rather then what happened here where rather then put in some much needed tension and conflict, they just give Ma a free pass. They have to break her out and go on the run or their secret would be revealed when she doesn't die. One of the reasons the Tucks only come back after she has died. But I do agree that showing some of Winnie's dilemma over the spring at the age of 17 would have been nice in the ballet. Something with her like going to the spring, Jesse watching as she fights over it internally then Hugo appears and she chooses him instead of the spring, Jesse sort of realizing he's going to be alone forever and perhaps finally succumbing to the same dread of everlasting life his family had for years. Wow, the more I talk about changes I would have liked to see in this, the more I realize how dark the story really can be and how much better it would have been if they went more dark with it rather than happy colorful pretty dancing fun time.

I'm seeing it this summer and wanted to know how the rear mezz seats are? I'm a very short person but with prices on Broadway I don't really have a choice!

The ballet, like everything else, is overdone. It could have been told in half the time. We get it. Instead it just drags and drags and drags. And then you think the shows over, but no.