Posted: 1/17/16 at 2:43pm
Very interested to see who will be replacing Dave Thomas Brown as Michael, as I'm assuming he will be leaving very shortly with the announcement just being made that he will be joining American Psycho, which begins Broadway previews in just about two months.
Posted: 2/24/16 at 12:59pm
Posted my thoughts in the wrong thread earlier, so, take 2:
Saw this tour recently, and since I couldn't find any other thread about the tour, I figured I'd post my thoughts here. It was, in a word, exquisite. I've loved the score from the first time I heard it, and it held up the show even through the weakest moments of the book (which was, as others have pointed out, a bit uneven). The best moment of the show for me was "One Second and a Million Miles"- best song in the score, and beautifully acted and sung. Visually, it was one of the loveliest shows I've seen in a while, in part because of its simplicity and its gorgeous lighting (those sunsets, those stardrops...).
I didn't have the privilege of seeing O'Hara and Pasquale in anything except the promo clips/cast recording stuff, but I thought Stanley and Samonsky did a wonderful job. Stanley is anything but perky, but she does find Francesca's dry humor alongside her suppressed passionate nature. "Almost Real" and "Always Better" were particularly heartwrenching. Likewise, Samonsky didn't just play Robert as a bland "hunk", but found a nice balance between the dreamy romantic lead and the awkward dork who says dumb things around the woman he's falling for. And then there's "It All Fades Away." Powerful and emotional. A good chunk of the audience around me spent the last 10-15 minutes of the show sniffling- I myself teared up. The final tableau was truly lovely, among my favorite closing images of any show.
I had heard mixed things about this show (one friend called it a "snooze"
, but after seeing it myself, I was pleasantly surprised and really did love it. If anyone wants to know anything else about the tour, let me know and I'd be happy to answer any details :)
Updated On: 2/24/16 at 12:59 PM
Posted: 2/24/16 at 1:08pm
Apologies for the double post, but for some reason I can't seem to edit my other post. I wanted to add that I too saw the show in a house that was probably (definitely) too large for it and is known for sound issues, but that this show didn't seem to have too much of an issue. The sound was crisp and clear throughout, although a few of Samonsky's moments (particularly his "One Second" reprise at the very end) were overly quiet. The crowd here was quite responsive, and I'd say the house was at least two-thirds full, in case anyone was wondering.
Posted: 2/24/16 at 2:36pm
Excited to hear a positive review, we get this in about two weeks and I'm very excited to see this score sung live, and to finally see the much talked about physical production.
Posted: 2/24/16 at 10:52pm
Mr. N, don't be misled about the physical production. It is quite simple and, for that reason, beautiful. But it probably isn't a set we'll be talking about 20 years from now.
As you may have read, I absolutely loved the touring production in LA. I envy you and wish I could see it all over again.
Posted: 2/24/16 at 11:12pm
I didn't mean to imply I was expecting a sumptuous production. I'm more intrigued by what I've heard described as a very "flowing" (if that makes sense) one, in terms of set pieces and such.
Posted: 2/25/16 at 5:30pm
Mr. N, "flowing" is exactly the word I'd use to describe the physicality of the production. As much as I'm still on the fence on how I feel about the ensemble moving throughout even the most intimate scenes, I can't deny there is a smoothness and grace to a lot of the movement of both set and cast. I don't tend to pay as much attention to sets as others on this board, but the simplicity of this one worked and allowed the lighting to shine, which for me was the most powerful part of the visual/physical side of the production.
Posted: 2/25/16 at 9:33pm
Does anyone know if this tour with this cast is expected to make its way to Chicago? I know on their schedule there are a few missing weeks, but one of those weeks are in March so I would expect they would have already announced the cities.
Posted: 3/21/16 at 8:26am
I caught the Saturday matinee in Dayton. Boy, was that 2.5 hour drive worth it. I had been wanting to see this for a VERY long time and it was everything I wanted it to be and so much more. Stanley and Samonsky are brilliant. I've been a fan of Stanley since I saw On the Town, and a fan of Samonsky after seeing him in The MUNY's Into the Woods. As wrong as you know the affair is, you still ultimately feel the impact when you realize this isn't going to have the fairy tale ending you want. I was enthralled the entire time. Though the pace is slow, the show never felt boring or tedious. As embarrassing as it is to admit, this was my first time seeing a Jason Robert Brown show live, and will always be on the lookout for new work of his from now on. I will always cherish this show. It's the perfect example of an unappreciated musical. The crowd was scarce. My seat was in the second to last row of the upper balcony, but we were permitted to move to the 1st row for Act 1 (maybe a total of 20 people in the upper balcony), then we moved to the 6th row in the Orchestra for Act 2. The orchestra was almost full, but the mezz, lower balcony, and upper balcony were a ghost town. The theatre was rather large (2400 seats), but it killed me more people aren't seeing this show. I'm trying to plan a weekend trip to Nashville to catch it again. After seeing it once, I'm not ready to say goodbye.
Posted: 7/1/16 at 7:49am
The Washington Post has a positive review of the show (now playing at the Kennedy Center) in today's paper. I can't find it on their website, however. Maybe someone else can. The headline is misleading--something about the show has an ear for corn. Sounds unnecessarily negative to me.
Posted: 7/1/16 at 8:02pm
TweetyPie2 said: "The Washington Post has a positive review of the show (now playing at the Kennedy Center) in today's paper. I can't find it on their website, however. Maybe someone else can. The headline is misleading--something about the show has an ear for corn. Sounds unnecessarily negative to me.
"
Here you go
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/the-gorgeous-songs-of-madison-county/2016/06/30/00c57c7c-3ed9-11e6-a66f-aa6c1883b6b1_story.html
They must have changed the headline
