[The] [ Official] [TOS] [Review] [Thread]

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 7/17/08 at 1:19pm

Post 'em if you got 'em...

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 7/17/08 at 1:33pm

[n e 1?]

[jordangirl]

Posted: 7/17/08 at 1:57pm

It's kind of early isn't it? Tonight's show hasn't even started yet.

[Calvin]

Posted: 7/17/08 at 1:58pm

Will the Times just rehash its earlier review?

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 7/17/08 at 2:04pm

Will the Times just rehash its earlier review?

I seriously doubt it. Isherwood'll probably still review it, but it's been nearly two years between Off-Broadway and now.

MACBETH rehashed its early review because it came to Broadway practically right after the first production closed, with the same creative team. Same with DOUBT.

Updated On: 7/17/08 at 02:04 PM

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 7/17/08 at 2:05pm

and we can't forget LuPone's re-review!

[pattilupuppy]

Posted: 7/17/08 at 2:05pm

i will be there tonight, cant wait

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 7/17/08 at 2:08pm

Just know that, no matter what goes down tonight, Matthew Murray will hate the show with a passion. He hated the Off-Broadway production, and he'll hate it even more for keeping itself going.

[once a month]

Posted: 7/17/08 at 2:12pm

While in NY on Sat, I managed to catch the matinee of (title of show). I knew what to expect after seeing all the video segmants on YouTube and hearing the cast CD somewhat often since first discovering it (only) last year. Let me say that I was not disappointed in any way, and actually thought it exceeded my expectations. I knew I'd laugh through-out, but I never once expected to be caught up in...egads...poignancy!! It clearly moved me! I understood each of the flop and actress references, and it sounded as if all the blue hairs surrounding me got them as well (I felt like a 'boy' at 53)! I feel it will be loved by many, by the people who struggle and try to find a way to their dreams; think about Rocky or even A Chorus Line.I thought the "removal" of the set a funny nod to all of the ALW type special effects, in particular the homes in Aspects of Love and Sunset Blvrd.

I want to see (tos) succeed because I identify with the cast, and feel like they've let me know an awful lot about themselves, like Jeffs penchants for Wonder Woman or bird-watching...right down to his bio! When I left the Lyceum after the show, I actually felt like I just made four brand new best friends. I'd go see it again in a heartbeat if the occasion arises. These are 4 (5)people I'd like to know, or even date. I wish them success and I also wish them the (title of show) COFFEE TABLE BOOK!

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 7/17/08 at 2:40pm

I agree...I was not surprised by the fun, but I was by the emotion...particularly the Heidi replacement conversations and the final moments.

I need to ask this, if anyone who saw it prior to the recording feels like answering.

They cut the 1776 line, which I never got from the recording...what does the tour of 1776 being mormon and gay reference?

Thanks

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 7/17/08 at 2:43pm

3-stars from AM NY:

"Like "Passing Strange," this is a show that you will either love or hate. There is no middle ground. At our performance, half the audience went insane with giddiness, while the rest looked on dumbfounded and pissed.

As explained in the show's sentimental finale, the creators have accepted the fate of being "nine people's favorite thing" instead of "a hundred people's ninth favorite thing." In other words, they refuse to accommodate mainstream taste. This is not Paris Hilton in "Mame." Even if "[title of show]" is a flop, what matters most is that they held true to their vision.

In any event, we found it to be an irresistible, infectious romp. Behind the low-key production values and musical theater trivia, there is pure genius, miles and miles of heart, and an immense amount of fun. We wouldn't miss it for the world."

http://www.amny.com/entertainment/stage/broadway/am-title0717,0,2265407.story

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 7/17/08 at 5:08pm

Newsday is Mixed:

Everyone in Michael Berresse's production is quick and charming. The setup - four mismatched chairs, street clothes and a grimy rehearsal room - has a prepossessing anti-spectacle ordinariness. The show-tune pastiche - think Laura Nyro as interpreted by William Finn - is accompanied by the amusing Larry Pressgrove on a lone keyboard.

How I wish I could love the show. I wish I didn't feel that I was being manipulated by long-struggling talented people on a guilt trip. Most of all, considering the risk, I wish the offbeat and low-budget show belonged on Broadway - not incidentally, at the same ticket price as the magnificent and massive "South Pacific..."

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/stage/ny-ettitle5766304jul18,0,4619943.story

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 7/17/08 at 5:22pm

Here's a positive review, on my site, that just went up (as well as a review of Damn Yankees):

http://www.broadway2seattle.com/2008/07/view-from-new-york-damn-yankees-and.html

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 7/17/08 at 5:46pm

Variety:

"A cute little workshop musical that was inoffensive in its downtown setting catering to its downtown claque, "[title of show]" stands pathetically naked on Broadway. Show's whimsical conceit -- to construct an original musical from moment-by-moment minutiae in the lives of its collaborators -- survives the transfer intact, as do the original creatives. But stripped of satirical edge for its heavy Broadway date, the backstage show by Hunter Bell (book) and Jeff Bowen (score) is revealed in all its narcissism, flaunting its shallow aesthetic values and taking unseemly pride in its inflated ambitions.

It's entirely possible, of course, that the self-satire was never there to begin with, and that Messrs. Bowen and Bell were always as enamored of themselves and their modest idea as they are here. But on a fresh viewing, the substance of the musical emerges with far greater clarity -- and loses whatever charm sustained it downtown.

In "I Am Playing Me," Heidi is thrilled, just thrilled, to find herself taking centerstage -- even if she has nothing to say for herself. In "Die, Vampire, Die," Susan exults in her ability to stifle any doubts about their project. And in "Change It, Don't Change It," all four collaborators congratulate themselves for preserving the integrity of a show that, lest we forget, is about nothing."

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117937758.html?categoryid=33&cs=1

[frogs_fan85]

Posted: 7/17/08 at 6:00pm

I'd like to continue to profess my utter hatred for Linda Winer.

From her review: "at the same ticket price as the magnificent and massive "South Pacific."

From telecharge:
[title of show]: 101.25
South Pacific: 125.00

Also a few months ago in her season wrap-up article she claimed that the strike had killed the audiences and created an early closure for The Seafarer, The Homecoming, and Rock 'n' Roll. Granted those three did not do stellar box office numbers, especially The Homecoming, but all of those shows were limited engagements from the beginning. Also, The Seafarer and Rock 'n' Roll actually extended their engagements.

Sorry for the thread jack, but Linda Winer is just factually incorrect sometimes that it bothers me to no end.

EDIT- After finishing the review, I have to mention Winer spent an entire sentence each on direction, production design, and score. No information on the performance of the actors, except for Larry Pressgrove. Nonsense. Updated On: 7/17/08 at 06:00 PM

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 7/17/08 at 7:03pm

Talkin' Broadway (What a Twist!) is Negative:

...What was once a rigorously original meditation on artistic inspiration is now (to quote from the show) a "toothless, gutless, and crotchless" backstage drama with an unusually peppy setup. No one should expect stage life to precisely mirror real life - dramatic invention is always a given. But Bowen and Bell deny themselves that pass here by making their attack on theatre's dangerous tendency toward untruthfulness as untruthful as it could be.

In the climactic anthem to individuality, Bowen sings, "We can either follow our instinct / Or take advice from every Joker / We can either be distinct / Or wind up merely mediocre." Powerful sentiments, but empty ones given the nature of the bargains time has shown Bowen and Bell willing to broker to get their break on Broadway.

http://www.talkinbroadway.com/world/tos.html

Updated On: 7/17/08 at 07:03 PM

[mikem]

Posted: 7/17/08 at 7:18pm

Well, to Linda Winer, the ticket prices ARE all the same. She pays the same thing for every show. Who cares if it's not true for the rest of us?

[chinkie azn jai]

Posted: 7/17/08 at 7:42pm

http://www.ny1.com/ny1/Living/theater_reviews.jsp

NY1 is positive.

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 7/17/08 at 8:17pm

The Associated Press is a Rave:

When we last saw Hunter Bell and Jeff Bowen on stage, the two theater-obsessed lads were basking in the glow of a successful off-Broadway run in "title of show," their delightful tale of writing and putting on a musical.

Now several years later, the boys, not to mention fellow performers Heidi Blickenstaff and Susan Blackwell and musical director Larry Pressgrove, have hit the big time: Broadway.

And this quintet seems right at home in the larger Lyceum Theatre, where "title of show" opened Thursday. The production remains as appealing as ever, a slyly funny yet surprisingly sweet-tempered look at following your dreams and remaining true to yourself as you suffer — and suffer — the pangs of artistic creation...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080718/ap_en_re/theater_review_title_of_show_2

Updated On: 7/17/08 at 08:17 PM

[NJgirl]

Posted: 7/17/08 at 9:33pm

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121632924528963349.html?mod=2_1168_1

Wall Street Journal is mixed. Called it "narcissitic with moments of genuineness" Cast was charming..but he LOVED Susan and "Die Vampire"

[jagfkb]

Posted: 7/17/08 at 9:36pm

I do agree with many of these reviews, as many of the moments with Heidi and Susan are the ones which flow the best. Also, I absolutely love "Die Vampire Die".

[FallintoLight]

Posted: 7/17/08 at 9:52pm

Well despite the reviews the show was just AMAZING tonight! What a warm and welcoming audience and what a gracious cast who wants nothing more then to fulfill their dreams and make us (the audience) embrace our passions. This show is so refreshing to me and so real. I am So happy that I was able to be there tonight! And the boys gave a nice little speech at the end and brought up Michael and thanked everyone for helping them all get here. Truly touching!

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 7/17/08 at 10:20pm

TheaterMania writes:
http://www.theatermania.com/content/news.cfm/story/14542

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 7/17/08 at 10:20pm

The New York Times is a Rave:

Nobody you ever heard of is in it. There aren’t really any characters to speak of, just four performers in everyday clothes acting like everyday people. The set consists of four mismatched chairs, a keyboard and a turkey burger. The darn thing does not even have a proper name. What on earth is this show doing on Broadway? That question is confronted head-on in the peculiar and quite adorable musical called “[title of show].” The improbable story of this mini-musical’s inception, creation and determined effort to break into the theatrical big leagues is precisely what this obsessively and hilariously self-referential show is all about. Consider “[title of show]” the class clown of Broadway. Certainly it will never be part of the popular crowd, like those snooty smash hits “Wicked” or “The Lion King.” It’s not the straight-A, critic’s-pet type like “Spring Awakening,” either. But like all class clowns, it wins you over by making fun of the big shots and bursting with its own distinctive personality.

http://theater2.nytimes.com/2008/07/18/theater/reviews/18titl.html?pagewanted=2

Updated On: 7/17/08 at 10:20 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/17/08 at 10:34pm

So is it nine critics' favorite thing yet?