The numbers concerning "A Tale of Two Cities " are scary- Page 3

[Eagleman]

Posted: 8/24/08 at 9:43pm

"Eagleman: the show has yet to play a week of preview performances, and yet your giving it an early death."

I don't believe I'm saying that. I was fairly clear in suggesting that with "Jersey Boys", "The Lion King", "Wicked", and "South Pacific" deeply entrenched as the shows whose tickets are the most coveted and with Dreamworks' "Shrek" as well as "West Side Story" and "Billy Elliot" all opening within months of ATOTC, there is going to be fierce competition for audiences from shows that are going to generate a firestorm of buzz.

I do confess that $3,000,000 in advance sales two weeks out is a little anemic and is probably causing some tension at the Hirshfield. But that's not tanatmont to burying the show. There are many clever ways to generate hundreds of thousands worth of free publicity. Pencil in James Barber to sing the National Anthem at a Giants football game or at Yankee Stadium or Shea if the teams play into the post season.

Make an appearance at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Have some of the cast
sing a stirring Christmas song when the tree at Rock Center is lit. Get Jill on Letterman or with Regis to tell her story.

I'm on you side of this debate: with the exception of "Until Tommorow", there's not a lot about the show that would merit a description of being a "Les Mis" cheap knockoff.

Have I seen it, no. It's based on a few other things, for one the set design creates a different look and feel to the show--at least from the photos I saw,

For those people who wish to diminish the show, as I did, because of the Act One finale being similar to "Les Mis", it should be kept in mind that the creators of "Les Mis" used a few of the concepts developed for the RSC's production of "Nicholas Nickelby."--and yet that worked to the former's advantage.




Updated On: 8/25/08 at 09:43 PM

[Elphabuff2]

Posted: 8/24/08 at 10:04pm

I agree about the dialogue. The spoken word can be every bit as riveting as song.

[JillS]

Posted: 8/24/08 at 10:45pm

The guy who played Manette in Sarasota was my brother Alex! He lives in Barbados full time so he's not able to be a part of our show this time but I'll tell him you liked him!

[winston89]

Posted: 8/24/08 at 11:34pm

Eagleman,

I just want to say sorry. At first I thought that you were one of the naysayers of Tale of Two cities, only using its bad numbers as a way to attack the show. I now understand that your a fan of this show and you want to see it do well. Thus, you being concerned about the numbers.

[WickedBoy2]

Posted: 8/25/08 at 11:06am

It looks amazing, sounds wonderful...... but this will be gone within months just as the stunning 'Cyrano' did back in the mid 90s!
I hope it runs because its a wonderful story that needs to be seen.

[Eagleman]

Posted: 8/25/08 at 12:25pm

I was wondering if anyone would bring up "Cyrano--the Musical".

That show had stunning scenery, gorgeous, costumes and lighting, a solid cast, and a timeless story to propel it--the latter being the insolvable problem that doomed the musical.

Rostand's play had a great deal of poetry in it and that was for a reason: Cyrano, was to be of this world but not from it--a larger than life character who in the original play rhapsodized about being from the moon and travelling about the stars. In a drama, it's not really a challenge to get that across to the audience: you find a terrific actor and you have him read his lines. How do you write lyrics that are as powerful as this:

"Sometimes, bemused by the night,
I see far off in the silver light
A lady on the arm of her knight.
I dream of walking out in the silver glow
With a lady so.
I get carried away,
I pray.
I forget all,
Then see my shadow on the wall."

That's the kind of poetry that Rostrand used to suggest that Cyrano felt he was a being trapped in a society and a place that was mundane and literally beneath him.

And Sondheim himself or Oscar Hammerstein would be paralyzed trying to put Cyrano's dying word's to music;

I can wait no longer.
See? The moon beam is here at my door.
No one must help me. Only the trees. He’s coming.
I feel myself shod in marble. Gloved in lead.
As he’s on his way, I shall go to meet him sword in hand!
What? It’s useless? I know. A man doesn’t fight to win.
It’s better when the fight is in vain.

Who are they all? There’s a hoard of them. Ah, I know you.
All my old enemies! Falsehood. Cowardice. Compromise.
I know you’ll get the upper hand.
Never mind. I’ll fight on, and on, and on!
You take everything, the laurel and the rose, too! Go on, take them!
But, in spite of you, one thing goes with me now
And tonight, when I, at last, God behold
My salute will sweep his blue threshold with something spotless --
A diamond in the ash which I take in spite of you --

Those lines have kept theatergoers coming to performances with boxes of Kleenex for generations. There's no such problem to confront with
"A Tale of Two Cities". Dickens' writing, just as moving at times, is very, very different. Miss Santoriello didn't have the problem of making Sydney Carton an otherworldly hero of mythic proportions. Not being able to create lyrics as majestic as Rostand's, the creative team "downsized" Cyrano and by doing so, the audience could never really buy into the show--although it was dazzling to look at.

Some works of art, I guess, are just not meant for the stage-like "Gone With the Wind" and "Little Women" just to name two of countless classics that couldn't do justice to the original.







Updated On: 8/26/08 at 12:25 PM

[LadyDramaturg2]

Posted: 8/26/08 at 6:16pm

As an aside, I point out that when I noted your “there-their mistake,” I embedded it in a compliment; that you interpreted being characterized as "too-thoughtful" as a slap, I don't understand. Too “good” a writer to slip in the wrong homonym, but "a thoughtful writer," nonetheless. Rare in these forums. What's wrong with that? Geez. [I’d have sent this as a PM, but I’m not the only one who is a target for your little zingers, and I’d like you to know that you misinterpreted my intent and my tone completely.]

But your response to my main point was nothing short of thoughtful and knowledgeable and everything...and a pleasure to read. And, if you hadn’t called me an anal-retentive knuckle-rapper, it would have prompted me to point out that although Horchow indeed was a novice, the strength of Crazy For You was the score, as you reinforced in your summary of how he developed the show. In the case of TOTC, you have novices at the helm, and then you have that music –

To say that it ain’t Gershwin isn’t fair. But there are principles (if not rules) that guide composers in every form. The structure of this show is suffering, and although many fans have extolled the virtues of this score, I found it turgid. I loved your Anne Rice story (somewhere else), and I think that its cautions apply here too. My opinion and observation. Hope I’m wrong.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 8/26/08 at 6:29pm

I hope the best for this show, but I'm afraid Billy Elliott is really going to overshadow everything this season. I saw it in London and it is a force to be reckoned with.

I didn't see Cyrano, but I was thinking Tale of Two Cities may suffer a similar fate from the opening of Billy Elliott as Jane Eyre did from the opening of The Producers. Jane Eyre was a beautiful show that deserved a much longer run (not to mention at least 2 Tonys for Lighting and Schaffel). I only wish I could have seen it more than once.

[Eagleman]

Posted: 8/26/08 at 8:38pm

LadyDramaturg,

I wouldn't disagree for you with the world. "Crazy for You" did have Gershwin, which, of course, gives it a huge lead right out of the gate. Aside from that not insignificant
advantage, Horshow snagged Ken Ludwig to do the book and Ludwig was already coming off a fair success in "Lend me a Tenor". The icing on the cake was Susan Stroman's pulse-wickening choreography. (How come "Contact" is so rarely discussed on this board?)

So your point is well taken: Horshow waited decades to back a show until he was absolutely convinced it couldn't miss; I think it's fair to suggest that Miss S. isn't quite as assured of the fortunes of her show.

Somehow, too, I think it's easier to bring along a bubbly show like "Me and My Girl"
then it is "Titanic" or "Jekyll and Hide".

You're half way home when others have already done the heavy lifting.

[Eagleman]

Posted: 8/26/08 at 8:38pm

LadyDramaturg,

I didn't realize I was zinging you. I thought I was disclosing a truth: the older I get
the more problem I have with homonyms--"two"..."two" ..."ate" "eight". It's the truth.

As to the subject at hand, I wouldn't disagree for you with the world. "Crazy for You" did have Gershwin, which, of course, gives it a huge lead right out of the gate. Aside from that not insignificant advantage, Horshow snagged Ken Ludwig to do the book and Ludwig was already coming off a fair success in "Lend me a Tenor". The icing on the cake was Susan Stroman's pulse-wickening choreography. (How come "Contact" is so rarely discussed on this board?)

So your point is well taken: Horshow waited decades to back a show until he was absolutely convinced it couldn't miss; I think it's fair to suggest that Miss S. isn't quite as assured of the fortunes of her show.

Somehow, too, I think it's easier to bring along a bubbly show like "Me and My Girl"
then it is "Titanic" or "Jekyll and Hide".

You're half way home when others have already done the heavy lifting.

(I don't know why this message was posted three times. It's not a cry for attention.) Updated On: 8/26/08 at 08:38 PM