The Life...

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 2/12/05 at 1:40pm

Who else loves this show? I love the score and the lyrics. Anybody else get to see this? I sadly missed it...

[apdarcey]

Posted: 2/12/05 at 1:45pm

i think it's one of coleman's best scores. i simply adore the soundtrack and lilias and chuck's performances. sometimes the woman who played queen annoys me. but you can't win them all. i think it's a million and half times better than titanic and i'll never understand how titanic's score won the tony that year.

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 2/12/05 at 1:46pm

Yeah. Her voice is like a shrilly soprano, but I kind of like it, espeically in A Lovely Day to be Out of Jail...

[apdarcey]

Posted: 2/12/05 at 1:51pm

yeah, i know what you mean. sometimes i love it, sometimes i loathe it. but no matter what it's better than titanic.

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 2/12/05 at 1:52pm

Haha, yeah, but isn't pretty much everything? I loathe that show, if it wasn't for the movie, The Life would have won!!!

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 2/12/05 at 1:53pm

i thought i was the ONLY ONE! i loooove the music from this show so much! its really first rate!

[apdarcey]

Posted: 2/12/05 at 1:54pm

i'm glad there's someone else. i bought the soundtrack because everyone always raves about titanic... but i really hate it. and compared to the life. wow. what a loss. ha. i remember first seeing a performance of the life on the rosie o'donnell show.

[WISHIHADATONY]

Posted: 2/12/05 at 3:28pm

I think the cd is great! I loooooooove it. Like a couple of other Coleman shows (The Will Rogers Follies and City of Angels)

THE LIFE plays much better and is much more enjoyable when listened to on cd than seen in the theater.

The show did not have a successful Broadway run and a great deal of money was lost. Clearly, we cannot ascertain the reasons for this by only listening to the recording. But, indeed, the cd of THE LIFE is quite divine.

[Steve2]

Posted: 2/12/05 at 3:57pm

I saw it and enjoyed it very much. Unfortunately, both Lilias White and Sam Harris were no shows that night.

Posted: 2/12/05 at 4:05pm

I got to see THE LIFE and I agree that the CD is great. But in the theatre, I found the show to drag and take forever to complete a thought. As a whole, Titanic was tighter. Not necessarily why it won the Tony, but my 2 cents.

[WISHIHADATONY]

Posted: 2/12/05 at 4:12pm

DT, I am pleased you agree with me. Some show just "work better" on cd than live in the theater, right?

[MatureDignity]

Posted: 2/12/05 at 4:21pm

Steve - who were their understudies?

I love the recording, but never saw the show. I liked Titanic a lot, too, so I wasn't too crushed when it won.

[apdarcey]

Posted: 2/12/05 at 4:24pm

i never saw it on stage, so i'm not commenting on the shows. i'm simply talking about the scores, which i feel would obviously be well represented by the cd's, right? i would think that's how most voters would vote on the score. and i think the life score is just an infinite amount better than titanic.

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 2/12/05 at 4:47pm

I'm a huge fan of THE LIFE. The lyrics are brilliant; often both funny and poignant. Pamela Isaacs, Lilias White, Chuck Cooper, Sam Harris and Bellamy Young all gave wonderful performances. A ton of greats tunes, including "The Oldest Profession", "Don't Take Much", "He's No Good", and "My Friend". Love it!

[Becky]

Posted: 2/12/05 at 4:57pm

Steve - who were their understudies?

I'm not sure who Steve saw, but the first time I saw the show Sam was out and Brian Lane Green was on for him (for the next three performances). I was told by the box office that it was the first time Sam had missed a performance - and that he was on vocal rest. It was right after the Tony Awards if I remember correctly. It sucked for me, because Sam was the reason I flew up to NY and I had third row center tickets for 3 shows -- the EXACT three shows he was out. Who the hell has that kind of luck???? They wouldn't exchange my tickets for any of the nights, so I had to extend my trip and buy another ticket for the day he returned to the show.

To this day I've never had that bad of luck seeing someone. And apparently he rarely missed shows. Of course.

I thought the music was much better than the book. The CD does come across much better than the show itself - although I very much enjoyed it the few times I did see it. Updated On: 2/12/05 at 04:57 PM

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 2/12/05 at 4:58pm

use what ya got, a lovely day too be out of jail (my fav!), my body is also REALLY great

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 2/12/05 at 5:00pm

i have never seen the show.but i bought the cd and i never listen to it.

[harris007]

Posted: 2/12/05 at 5:03pm

I saw it twice during the summer of 1997. i was up their for a week. also saw titanic right after, and i kept thinking, THIS SHOW GOT BEST MUSICAL OVER THE LIFE. It was boring, with the xception of the irish girls, ya really didnt care about the charectors, maybe cus ya allready knew what was gonna happen in the end. but maybe it me,

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 2/12/05 at 5:04pm

i never saw it, but maybe it you

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 2/12/05 at 5:05pm

Yes, how did THE LIFE lose? Also, Bebe Neuwirth winning Best Actress over Pam Isaacs in a performance that is a featured role is a disgrace.

[apdarcey]

Posted: 2/12/05 at 5:07pm

Updated On: 2/12/05 at 05:07 PM

[MatureDignity]

Posted: 2/12/05 at 5:44pm

Becky - that sucks! I'm a huge Sam Harris fan, I would've been really upset. I was 0/3 in my attempts to see Hunter Foster perform - three different shows over 2 years! Finally caught him in The Producers.

How was Brian Lane Green?

I love listening to the score, but the synopsis didn't make the show sound very exciting.

[Becky]

Posted: 2/12/05 at 5:53pm

Becky - that sucks! I'm a huge Sam Harris fan, I would've been really upset....How was Brian Lane Green?

I'm a huge Sam fan myself How was Brian? Well, I'm going to shamelessly confess to something. I came in town Saturday, expecting to see Sam on Sat, Mon, and Tues nights. It had been planned forEVER, so when I got to the theater and found out Sam was out? I was grumpy. I stayed, seriously hoping that perhaps it was a mistake and Sam would come walking out. He didn't, of course, and like a pouting child I left at intermission. I've never done that before or since because I hate it when people leave a performance. I think it's rude, but there I was doing it. Brian was good I guess, but I was a baby about it - sitting there irritated that it wasn't Sam. In my defense that was 8 years ago, and I'd never be like that now.

I didn't even go to the other two performances when I found out Sam was out. I did talk to Brian on the street heading in to the theater before the Mon show - and he was sweet - although he proceeded to tell me this was the first time Sam had missed shows (like I needed that rubbed in a little more) and he let me know the performance Sam would be back. That was cool.

[magruder]

Posted: 2/12/05 at 5:55pm

Neuwirth was better. Much much better. Isaacs had an embarrassing role.

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 2/12/05 at 5:57pm

But you have to agree that her role was supporting.