The Last Smoker in America

[Pammylicious]

Posted: 7/9/12 at 12:26pm

Anyone see this before? Coming into the Westside Theater on 7/11 I am going on Saturday.

[Pammylicious]

Posted: 7/11/12 at 7:09pm

Bumping this.

No one has been to the Westside to see this yeat?

C'mon boys and girls....Musical Comedy, original score and book. What gives?

[HBBrock]

Posted: 7/11/12 at 7:44pm

You even mentioned the date of the first preview! Previews start tonight....lol...I'm here now.

[Pammylicious]

Posted: 7/11/12 at 8:24pm

Well you must report back immediately after the show....TYIA

[HBBrock]

Posted: 7/12/12 at 1:09pm

This is a very fun summer show. It's a simple story, the cast is great, and the songs were actually catchy! Farah Alvin is great as the lead! You will have a good time on Saturday. :)

[newintown]

Posted: 7/12/12 at 1:24pm

Sounds like there's not much interest here. The official synopsis leaves me cold, I admit:

In a world where smoking has recently been outlawed and the penalties are growing stricter by the minute, Pam is having an impossible time trying to quit. Her husband Ernie dreams of being a rock star and relentlessly practices his guitar in the basement, while their videogame-addicted son Jimmy listens to so much rap music he thinks he’s black. As if Pam isn’t pushed to the edge of reason already, her nosy, anti-smoking zealot neighbor Phyllis is on a mission to catch transgressors mid-puff. Will Pam kick the habit or fight for her right to light up?

Sounds like a limp version of Urinetown meets Little Fish.

And I confess, I think of the Westside Arts Theatre as Home of Mediocre Theatre, after being burned once too often there.

[Pammylicious]

Posted: 7/12/12 at 3:36pm

Thanks bringing my 19 year old son who's two favorite musicals were Spelling Bee and Avenue Q everything else he hates (American Idiot was at the top of the list). I figured the humor in this was right up his alley,

[gravity87]

Posted: 7/13/12 at 4:39pm

I have friends seeing this, this weekend. Really curious to hear their opinions. I have tickets for a few weeks from now. Has anyone else seen this yet?

[Phantom of London]

Posted: 7/13/12 at 4:51pm

Just hope this show doesn't leave a lump in your throat.

[sally1112]

Posted: 7/13/12 at 6:52pm

I am thinking of adding this to my list of show for my August NYC trip. I really want to see something off Broadway.

Keep us posted as more reviews/thoughts come in.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 7/14/12 at 5:53pm

We just got a pair for Friday, Pammy, so D & I will be interested to hear your reaction to the show tonight.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/14/12 at 6:48pm

I just spoke with two people who saw it and couldn't believe how bad it was. They said it was just jaw droppingy awful and not in a good way.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 7/14/12 at 7:26pm

I haven't seen it in this incarnation yet, but I did see it at NYMF a few years ago. It was really awful then and I can't imagine, without a complete overhaul of the score, that it's any great shakes now.

[Pammylicious]

Posted: 7/15/12 at 9:50am

Saw this yesterday. My 19 year loved it (lots of trash talking and rap music). It's pretty much rated R and I can see folks hating it because of that. I found the 95 minutes to pass quickly and some of the music I really liked, It's a parody, so take it for what it is. I thought it was fun.

Updated On: 7/15/12 at 09:50 AM

[newintown]

Posted: 7/15/12 at 10:08am

The press people ought to hire you for quotes, you make it sound unmissable.

[ZiggyCringe]

Posted: 7/17/12 at 12:28am

Saw it tonight. It's unfortunately a one-joke musical, which became tedious after the first 15 minutes.

The female half of the cast does great work (especially poor Farah Alvin, who apparently got hit on the head with a piece of scenery last week and recovered). Natalie is great, with what she has to work with.

The opening is weak, but then the next 15 minutes or so perk up, with a couple of good numbers and some inventive staging. I thought the Bacharach-tinged "Hangin' Out in a Smoky Bar" was inspired, both musically and staging-wise. Unfortunately, the show then falls apart. It felt like the director gave up after the "Gansta" number (which worked.) By the time we got to "Straight White Male," the hostility in the house was palpable, and the inventiveness on stage dwindled to zero, a trend which continued throughout the rest of the show. I understand that the authors were going for a non-politically-correct environment, trying to shock the audience into getting their message; however, the use of the N-word in the son's song and the entire lyric of "Straight White Male" don't shock. They're just uncomfortable, because this particular brand of "shock" has been done before. This might work if there were characters in the show, but there are only caricatures.
By the time we get to the "C-Word" song near the end, it's not shocking anymore. It just comes off as desperate.

Alvin basically sang the same lyric 72 times. (How many rhymes are there for "cigarette?" The use of "smoke" and "coke" was exhausting.) The lyrics were weak, you saw the rhyme coming before the first stanza even started. The choreography was fine, considering that its a show cast singer/actors rather than dancers.

Poor Natalie Venitia is stuck with a song in the second half called "If Our Lungs Could Talk" where she has to do schtick making the audience sing, and it was painful.

John Bolton basically screamed his entire (strangely written) role at the audience.

This show might work, severely truncated, as the first act of a two act musical (ala "Romance/Romance.") But as it stands, it's an endless 95 minutes with no intermission for a smoke break.

I'm puzzled as to who put money into this show. It premiered at NYMF (a production I didn't see). But I'm surprised that nobody who saw the show at NYMF said "This is basically an SNL sketch that is going on way too long." I predict it will close three days after it opens, and whoever put their money into this is going to lose their entire investment (which I'm guessing is around $2 million.)















Updated On: 7/17/12 at 12:28 AM

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 9/17/12 at 6:38pm

This is a very confusing story because they're recording it but also asking for money. Based on the glowing reviews here I bet everyone is clamoring to get their hands on a copy of the album (and maybe also a window card).
Last Smoker Cast Album

[DEClarke]

Posted: 6/26/13 at 6:30pm

My review of the cast album. (I didn't see the show in NYC, but I wish I had.)

Click Here to Read The Last Smoker in America (Original Cast Recording) is Humorous and Unexpectedly Touching