The Last Ship previews — Page 2

The critic who reviewed the show in the Chicago Tribune warned the producers that they had better make that main character more likeable, or New York was likely to "take the show down."

Dirgical. Never heard that label before, but I like it. I guess Carousel is the most successful dirgical, due to the timeless beauty of its score, not because Billy Bigelow is pacing around annoyed in heaven, while ducking the big stars hung from the ceiling.

Showboat might qualify since in the second act the lives of the main characters come apart, although it ends on a faint note of hope. But the show has too much joy in the first act for me to throw it in with the others.

Porgy and Bess. Until I saw it, with Audra, I thought it was probably a bit of a romp with the poor Negro characters making the best out of their lot in a way resembling Sanford and Son. After all, it had these perky songs I had known all my life: "It Ain't Necessarily So," and "I got Plenty of Nothin'". Very wrong. Very dark opera. But Bess got to hold the baby and sing "Summertime," damn the original book. Was anyone really supposed to believe that Porgy was going to get to New York with that brace contraption and win back Bess?

West Side Story? It starts out full of life and possibilities, but every turn of the plot brings it closer to its tragic ending. Not a dirgical. A grand storm of thunder and lightning that just happens to end in a deadly lightning strike. Again, a faint note of hope at the very end.

Yikes. Sounds like not much of anything changed since the Chicago run.

This just seems to be a copy of the Chicago tryout thread. No improvement at all. How it can be classed as a masterpiece is laughable. My prediction of many months ago that this would be dull dreary repetitive and boring was spot on.

For those who were there do you miss the "action" on the bridge if you sit back of stalls. Never been to the Neil Simon. Has Aaron Lazar`s acting improved. He was very wooden in Chicago. Is the ending still a huge disappointment. Stage rising, smoke and screen projection. Have they reduced the number of times Last ship is played. It just got on my nerves by the end.
I do also think they are aiming at the Once audience as there are many similarities.

Had a friend who went last night. Michael's song at the top of the show is brand new. In Chicago he had "And Yet" and it is now replaced by "All This Time". I assume this was in an effort to combat the critiques of the show in Chicago that Gideon wasn't likeable.

I think this was done at the end of the run in Chicago as well, but Gideon is given the scene with Fred Applegate's character in the hospital (Spoiler?) rather than Meg, I believe who had it initially. I give them credit for trying to build up Michael's material.

Updated On: 9/30/14 at 09:14 AM

Out of curiousity, because this is the vibe I am getting: does this feel like it would play better as an album?

---

Rob Mathes.
http://www.playbillvault.com/Show/Detail/Cast/14056/The-Last-Ship-at-Neil-Simon-Theatre

Rob Mathes - not a familiar name to me, then I did a bit of research and saw why. He's from the pop world, and totally new to theatre.

Other than Whizzer's complaint about the drums in the lovers' trio, how do the orchestrations sound to everyone else? Do they contribute to the frequently-mentioned dreary tone of the show?

Updated On: 9/30/14 at 10:01 AM

First song feels like 20 minutes and no one cares.
Then we get Gideon's All This Time, which is a Sting hit, not an original song. The recognition is what helps make Gideon likable.
As for the trio song many are discussing, When We Dance, that's another old Sting hit.

RUkiddingme: thanks for that. Not familiar with Sting's catalog. Disappointed that they didn't write a new song.

I hate to be so cynical, but doesn't this sound exactly like how we thought a Sting show would be?

Thanks for the info that some of these songs were interpolated past hits. I'm not familiar enough with Sting's catalog to recognize them, but it totally explains some of the tonal shifts in orchestrations feeling too pop and why the lyrics become generic and not as character driven in some of the other songs.

It does feel like cheating a bit. I know the current song isn't working so I'll just throw in one of my past hits to appease the audience? Well, it doesn't always work because I didn't even know they were past hits and I just thought they felt out of place with the rest of the score!

---

Uh, parts of it? Care to explain?

The enthusiastic response from people seeing a first preview is because the house is usually filled with friends and supporters. The real test comes when poeple not connected to the show see it. Many musicals that had great first preview reactions closed after 1 performance. That said, it is set in Ireland so it has to be grim and bleak. Is there a scene at a wake or funeral?-that is a must for an Irisah themed show. And lots of drinking and fighting I suppose as well.