The Last Ship previews — Page 10

Mjohnson,

If you're referring to that tweet, no.

I agree that Bonnie and Clyde had a fantastic score.

Unfortunately, the critics bashed it to shreds in an I hate Frank Wildhorne moment. This was Wildhorne's best score but the Wildhorne bashing prevailed. Bonnie and Clyde has success in Korea and other countries but not here.

I also agree Bridges of Madison County has a gorgeous score but
it was saddled with that dull book. As gorgeous as that score was, (and i play it all the time) it is alas not very theatrical; more like gorgeous backround mood music. I play it to mediate and relax.

Finally saw the preview, just two days away from the opening. It exceeded my expectations, which weren't that high since they mostly came from reading reviews here.

In response to the Chicago Tribune review, as well as many reviewers here, they seemed to succeed at making Gideon a character for whom the audience cared about. They were fully absorbed in the first two scenes of the second act: Gideon with his son and Gideon with Meg.

Not so successful in making the "let's build a ship" story line plausible. But if every theater, film, and television production was rejected for having an implausible plot, half of the actors and actresses in this country would be out of work. The love triangle I thought was handled well.

Surprised that the theater seemed full on a Thursday night and that the audience was so attentive. They had a good laugh at every funny line. I was with a group, and the woman next to me told me that she routinely left shows that she didn't care for at intermission and thought that this show seemed like a good candidate for that treatment. She stayed and applauded heartily.

The audience rose to its feet during the curtain call. So I have upped my Sunday review speculation from 'poor to mixed' to 'mixed to good'. I don't see a long run for the show, but neither do I see a bum's rush out to the street. It deserves better than that.

I don't think saying that the audience rose to their feet during the curtain call should be taken as a sign of anything. Pretty much every show on Broadway get's a standing ovation, in fact I remember a standing ovation in the same theater a preview of Scandalous....As we near the opening, have their been that many changes since the first preview?

I think in the TimesTalk on the show, they said they added more backstory about Gideon and his father, which is why they used older Sting songs from his album, The Soul Cages, including All This Time, which was about the relationship with his father. Although, they did alter the lyrics to fit the show.

"I doubt will will see a better new musical this season."

I didn't dislike The Last Ship, but what a sad prediction....

EDIT: Read that review, and he just glossed over the weak book too easily. The cast and the music being good haven't been the main points of contention with people I've talked to, but the book/plot. The whole concept of a bunch of people building a boat no one asked for, on a dock they get jailed for trespassing once, but then just keep building thereafter, with money taken from a seemingly large church renovation fund, to build a ship no one designed, while the workers dismissed the other company offering them all jobs because they were shipbuilders. That was the weak part of the show to me. To say the cast and Sting music is good focuses solely on the positive.

Updated On: 10/25/14 at 11:16 AM

This is a thinking mans show and do not think it will take hold with the masses especially tourists

I think if it can make it thru the first 3 months of next year it might have a long run. How much Stings name will help is a question mark. This show needs the reviews. Whether it will get them is another story. The theater is hard luck recently for musicals.

Recent casualties

Catch Me If You Can
Scandalous
Big Fish

I am just a casual observer these days re Broadway seeing an occasional show On & mostly Off Broadway

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Updated On: 10/25/14 at 12:40 PM

"This is a thinking mans show..."

After seeing it finally, I would have to agree, but only if the "thinking man" in question is 5 years old. It's merely a string of the same old sentimental clichés, drabbed down in moody North Country trappings, accompanied by Sting's vaguely attractive moody maundering ditties.

Too much complaint over the plot. That's not something that I saw criticized in the Chicago reviews. Do you want that scene where the scruffy workers are ushered into the office of Mr. Boss and remove their hats and try to convey a simple and sincere message to him. And he reacts with arrogance and threats.

Instead the men go build that proud ship on their own, defy the bosses, and sail off to a better world. It's an allegory! It's theatrical!

Was the plot of My Fair Lady plausible? No, but it was based on a play by great social critic George Bernard Shaw, and could not be dismissed as a ridiculous idea. It could be thought of as an allegory that expressed the British problems with class and gender in an entertaining and theatrical way.

Anything I wrote above not withstanding, yeah, the book could have been better.

To me, Gideon's story is riddled with just as many holes as the shipbuilding storyline. Where has he been? What exactly does he want from his life? Where is he going? He's really just been sitting on a boat pining after this woman for 15 years?
And in a musical, it is also the score's job to flesh out these motivations and draw us deeper into the characters. However the music, while pretty, does not make any of this easier to swallow.

Does anyone think this will be a long term show for Broadway? Like, will it run for years?

^ Yes. Yorkey started the project and then left to do If/Then and Logan picked up from Yorkey's draft.