The Hollow / Boy Detective @ Signature

I saw The Hollow on Wednesday, and I think it has potential to be a great show. Some of the songs need work on placement/lyrics, but the music definitely has some hummable tunes. I'd be first in line to buy the Cast Recording. The Boy Detective on the other hand wasn't my favorite show. I saw the show on Thursday (which was the World Premiere, I believe), and it wasn't awful, but it needs aLOT of work. As far as I know, shows are still on for Sunday (from Signature's Fan Page), but tonight's performance of The Hollow was cancelled due to weather.

I'm very curious about 'Boy Detective'. Can you go into more detail?

I've read the book many times -- it's so beautiful. And Joe Calarco is one of the best directors working today. I hope some producers and writers take notice of that soon...

The photos of 'Boy Detective' look stunning.

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Well, Boy Detective was one of the strangest shows I've seen. It had its moments of brilliance, but most of the time I felt very confused. For the first 15-20 minutes of the show, I could barely understand any of the lyrics, but the story seemed to come across fairly easily. It had great potential until it got to the strange scientist (who almost seemed like he was going to molest the lead). Then things took a turn for the worst with the whole Penny Maple character who danced with a coat rack and sang a song with the Boy Detective that bored me to no end. And then it became very eerie in the second act and it never resolved to a scary climax, but just bubbled down to a sappy happy ending. Definitely not my favorite show Signature has done. :P Sorry to those of you who will love it in the future.

The novel, for me at least, is up there with THE HISTORY OF LOVE as one of the books of the last ten years. I recommend it highly.

Joe is a genius -- I bet that coat rack dance was gorgeous. The show looks so beautiful, all those tiny houses...

Wish I could get down there to see it. I just can't afford the travel AND the show ticket. Sigh.

I wasn't sure how the novel would translate, but it sounds like they could use a little bit of work on it. Oh, how I hope it makes its way to NYC... Maybe Playwrights Horizons or something.

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Oh, I didn't realize that! Thanks!

Not sure if they've released any pics publicly yet. I've seen a bunch of photos around Facebook/Twitter/etc. Really beautiful -- all these miniature houses.

Not sure if I can post a link, so I'll keep an eye out for the official ones and post them here!

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I haven't seen the Hollow yet (though I will soon, I think), but I did see The Boy Detective Fails this afternoon. I confess that I am an Adam Gwon fangirl. I was impressed with the score and the acting. It's the best work I've seen Stephen Gregory Smith do. The book needs a little bit of work, but it does have potential.

I may complain about Signature a lot lately, but even I have to admit that they are doing something pretty amazing with the American Musical Voices Project. I can't think of another theatre that puts that kind of emphasis on new works.

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I saw Boy Detective on Sunday night and LOVED it! My friend described it best when she said it felt like an indie musical. Like imagine if Royal Tenenbaums was turned into a musical. That's what it felt like. It's certainly off-the-wall and if you're not a fan of quirky then this might be one to skip. The score is terrific and the performances are great as well. I think it's totally worth seeing. I have yet to see The Hollow.