The Public Theater - Ethan Lipton’s “The Seat of Our Pants”- Page 3

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 11/26/25 at 11:11pm

i think our seats were TDF and they were in the rear/back section--though there were plenty of empty seats in both sections if you want to bounce around.

[Jonathan Cohen]

Posted: 11/28/25 at 1:12pm

Having no prior experience with the material, this musical is both incredibly pretentious and makes fun of it's own pretentiousness, with the Micaela Diamond role pretending to break character to complain about the project. The point being it feels like any possible approach to the material was shoe horned in. It's overstuffed. 

While I enjoyed individual moments and songs, on the whole this feels like the type of overly long show you deserve a medal for sitting through to the end. To their credit, they did hand out stickers.

[Falsettolands]

Posted: 11/28/25 at 1:22pm

Jonathan Cohen said: "Having no prior experience with the material, this musical is both incredibly pretentious and makes fun of it's own pretentiousness, with theMicaela Diamond role pretending to breakcharacter to complain about the project. The point being it feels like any possible approach to the material was shoe horned in. It'soverstuffed.



While I enjoyed individual moments and songs, on the whole this feels like the type of overly long show you deserve a medal for sitting through to the end. To their credit, they did hand out stickers."

to Lipton’s credit, the breaking of the fourth wall to comment on the material is quite literally also baked into The Skin Of Our Teeth. This is not exactly a device Lipton invented- it’s in the spirit of the play Wilder wrote.

[Jonathan Cohen]

Posted: 11/28/25 at 2:01pm

That's interesting. I thought it was extremely funny in the moment, but between the time jumps, and some actors playing different characters, breaking the fourth wall made it too narratively chaotic. I'm sure that's intentional, it just didn't work for me.

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 11/29/25 at 11:55am

I saw this again last night and loved it even more than my first viewing. The pace has tightened substantially, though it still slows down late into act 3, before waking up again for that banger finale.

Ruthie Ann Miles and Michaela Diamond continue to be the show’s MVPs. They’re both digging so deep into these performances, with Miles in particular bringing an attack to the material that must be incredibly therapeutic; she’s really one of our best actors working today.

If you haven’t seen it yet, you have a week left. I sat on both sides of the theater at this point, and wherever you sit is great. Rush it, buy full price, do what you gotta do.

[NativeNYer2]

Posted: 11/29/25 at 2:11pm

Could this be a contender for the Drama Desk for Puppetry?  What other shows even have puppets this season?

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 11/29/25 at 6:13pm

NativeNYer2 said: "Could this be a contender for the Drama Desk for Puppetry? What other shows even have puppets this season?"

There aren’t any puppets in this production. The dinosaur and mammoth are actors in costumes.

[lastmidnights]

Posted: 12/7/25 at 11:35pm

ColorTheHours048 said: "I saw this again last night and loved it even more than my first viewing. The pace has tightened substantially, though it still slows down late into act 3, before waking up again for that banger finale."

Seconding this. The show now runs 2 hours 35 minutes, while in early previews it was at least 3 hours. They did a fantastic job tightening it.

I don't know what the plans are for this show beyond the cast recording they are going to release, but I hope it does have a life after this. I had a thought on my 2nd visit that maybe they  could get Rainn Wilson to play the Shuler Hensley part for a Broadway run

[Rentaholic2]

Posted: 12/8/25 at 7:07am

If they’re considering a Broadway transfer, I wonder if they would rush to try to get a theater this season.  Given how weak this season is, it seems like this is well liked enough that it could have a chance of doing quite well at the Tonys. 

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 12/8/25 at 9:22am

Do we know, for sure, that they’re releasing a cast recording? I’d be so sad if they didn’t. I know The Public has usually been pretty good about recording their original musicals, but I haven’t seen anything about this one yet.

[inception]

Posted: 12/8/25 at 9:43am

Rentaholic2 said: "If they’re considering a Broadway transfer,

Only those with vast fortunes to squander would finance a Broadway transfer of this.

Recording and licensing would be more sensible.

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 12/8/25 at 9:43am

Rentaholic2 said: "If they’re considering a Broadway transfer, I wonder if they would rush to try to get a theater this season. Given how weak this season is, it seems like this is well liked enough that it could have a chance of doing quite well at the Tonys."

There is zero commercial audience for this.

[lastmidnights]

Posted: 12/8/25 at 10:55am

ColorTheHours048 said: "Do we know, for sure, that they’re releasing a cast recording? I’d be so sad if they didn’t. I know The Public has usually been pretty good about recording their original musicals, but I haven’t seen anything about this one yet."

Not announced yet, but I can confirm. It's being recorded this week.

[Rentaholic2]

Posted: 12/8/25 at 11:19am

QueenAlice said: "Rentaholic2 said: "If they’re considering a Broadway transfer, I wonder if they would rush to try to get a theater this season. Given how weak this season is, it seems like this is well liked enough that it could have a chance of doing quite well at the Tonys."

There is zero commercial audience for this."

Is that because it's just too weird?  I don't really know much about it, so genuinely asking.  I can tell it's not for everyone, but seems like if they tightened it up, it could have the potential to have decent word-of-mouth and then maybe do well enough at the Tonys to keep going.  But I'm just basing this off the reviews, so could be way off here.  

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 12/8/25 at 11:33am

It was one of the best shows I saw this year and I would agree it doesn’t have any commercial viability. If a non-profit wanted to add it to one of their seasons (seriously unlikely), it could maybe have another life on Broadway to boost licensing prospects, but it would tank as a commercial run. It’s too strange and long-winded for mainstream audiences, and feels much more in the vein of offbeat Off-Broadway musicals that get a reappraisal years down the road after people have given the recording time to marinate.

[lastmidnights]

Posted: 12/8/25 at 12:07pm

There's absolutely an audience for this. I think the extended preview period/the uneven shape it was in early hurt their word of mouth, but they made all the necessary changes and were in incredible shape by opening. I can only imagine what a few more workshops would do to help tighten this up a bit more. The biggest issue that remains in my eyes is Act 3, which probably needs a few cuts. 

Maybe I'm naïve, maybe I really like this show, but I don't see this ending here. The Public has spent 10 years developing this. From what I've heard, this is a particular favorite of Eustis as well. Not a perfect comparison, but in a world where Operation Mincemeat has done well, I think this could too.

I think they just need to be smart about next steps. Trying to stunt cast the Shuler Hensley part (somebody please get in touch with Rainn Wilson!) or others would be ideal. The biggest factor will be getting a Broadway house on the medium to smaller end. The Golden, once Mincemeat closes, would be perfect for this. 

Just my two cents. Happy to admit I'm very biased because I haven't been taken with a brand new show like this in a while. 

Updated On: 12/8/25 at 12:07 PM

[theatergoer3]

Posted: 12/8/25 at 2:09pm

I’d love for this to have a future life and am thrilled to hear it’s being recorded. It was one of my favorites of the year as well. 

But without a few more cuts, it’s a tough sell for mainstream audiences. It’s close to 3 hours (with a very long act 2), has multiple tones and isn’t super populist but more outlandish. 

I think a limited run subscription house could work well if that’s the goal but I don’t know if The Public has any partnerships for that. 

[lastmidnights]

Posted: 12/8/25 at 3:53pm

theatergoer3 said: "But without a few more cuts, it’s a tough sell for mainstream audiences. It’s close to 3 hours (with a very long act 2),"

The final version after opening night was 2 hours 35 minutes