Thou Shalt Not
Thou Shalt Not
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/15/05
Thou Shalt Not#0
Posted: 5/2/05 at 2:16amIs this A good show? Good cast recording? good songs? I know Norberts in the cast, and to me, Norbert can do no wrong...
Leading Actor Joined: 2/22/05
re: Thou Shalt Not#1
Posted: 5/2/05 at 2:22amThis was probably the poorest show I have ever had the displeasure of seeing. I want that two and a half hours of my life back! To be avoided at all costs!
re: Thou Shalt Not#2
Posted: 5/2/05 at 2:22amThe show was a fascinating idea, poorly executed. Harry Conick Jr.'s score was alright, but the book was terrible, and the direction and design were downright awful. That having been said, I enjoy the cast album from time to time, especially Norbert's haunting "Tug Boat." It's probably a good purchase if you've got 100 or so cast albums already and are looking to round out a broad collection, but it's hardly one you'll find in your player over and over.
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/15/05
Featured Actor Joined: 5/21/04
re: Thou Shalt Not#4
Posted: 5/2/05 at 2:49amGuess you missed the whole TSN phase
re: Thou Shalt Not#5
Posted: 5/2/05 at 3:10am
I really like the cd, but I can't imagine how it fits to the story.
A new book might save a melodic score.
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/15/05
re: Thou Shalt Not#6
Posted: 5/2/05 at 3:40amDoes anyone have "tug boat" from the show and can send it to me? Thanks.
re: Thou Shalt Not#7
Posted: 5/2/05 at 6:52amcould anyone give me somewhat of a synopsis of the show? thanx.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/1/04
re: Thou Shalt Not#8
Posted: 5/2/05 at 8:15am
There has never been and will never be a worse show than THOU SHALT NOT. It makes BKLYN look like GYPSY.
I'm told the cast recording isn't bad but you couldn't pay me enough to listen to it. The night I saw it, when the show ended nobody really applauded. When the cast came out there were random claps but people just started leaving, shaking their heads.
re: Thou Shalt Not#9
Posted: 5/2/05 at 10:30am
devonian - One of the show's biggest faults was the fact that the score did not fit with the story. Some lovely songs for an album, but not really good material for a musical. The book was awful and I'm not sure the subject would have ever really worked without a heavy-hitting dramatic score. Other than the inventive use of turntables, the design was rather dull and unattractive. The staging ranged from simple to perplexing and there were several extraneous scenes that added nothing to the show other than some bodily movement (the laundry ballet, the time-passing-quickly sequence). And I loved the first Mardis Gras after WWII that consisted of a huge empty stage with about ten people dancing around. HUH??? Seeing Debra Monk play the stroke victim in the second act was just painful to watch (but the Scrabble scene was hilarious) and the gang-bang ballet...well...if you have to use the words "gang-bang ballet", then enough has been said. Norbert was the saving grace for the show and "Tugboat" was the only scene that actually worked. The use of his character in the second act was simply bizarre and at times, kinda freaky. His final song was such a great jazzy frank-sinatra-esque tune that was thrilling...until you realize it's intent is to celebrate vengeance and murder and then you think, "WTF?"
In short, it was mess not to be missed. I'm glad I saw it just so that I could live to tell the tale. But I'm sure there have been worse in the history of Broadway. Bring Back Birdie and Rockabye Hamlet spring to mind as far more grotesque shows.
re: Thou Shalt Not#10
Posted: 5/2/05 at 10:35am
People have made me interested in this show now, just by virtue of how awful it sounds. I'd love to hear the cast album, and any other stories of how awful the show is. 
Leading Actor Joined: 2/22/05
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/16/03
re: Thou Shalt Not#12
Posted: 5/2/05 at 11:25amI remember Norb was the ONLY one not panned in the show. The album will prob be a collectors item eventually as it was privately put out by Herry Connick Jr. hisself and whe they are gone- they ain't no mo'. The CD is worth it only cos it features Norb, otherwise eh.
re: Thou Shalt Not#13
Posted: 5/2/05 at 11:27amI wouldn't say the score is good, I'd say it has some potential. I love "The Other Hours", and find campy delight in listening to "Take Her to Mardi Gras", "Ain't That Sweet", and the title song. It has a certain cheese facotr to it that is enjoyable, a lot of it is kind of like a long train wreck. Butz is great on the recording, but Debra Monk does not fair as well. Taht Tugboat song is awful.
re: Thou Shalt Not#14
Posted: 5/2/05 at 11:46am
This show was probably one of the worst I have ever seen, and probably the only that got unintentional laughter throughout -- particularly when Debra Monk's character (post stroke) tried to spell out the name of the murderer in the scrabble game.
The score was indeed fascinating, and the orchestrations, particularly the dance arrangements -- all done by Connick Jr. were terrific.
Don't expect a revival of this turkey anytime soon.
re: Thou Shalt Not#15
Posted: 5/2/05 at 11:51am
"particularly when Debra Monk's character (post stroke) tried to spell out the name of the murderer in the scrabble game."
That just got rid of my bad mood. Thanks MB!
re: Thou Shalt Not#16
Posted: 5/2/05 at 12:15pmI was also lucky enough to attend the first preview (sometimes you just know whats in the air) so I was among the few priveleged enough to see the tap dance number set in a morgue. Needless to say, it was gone by Preview Number Two.
re: Thou Shalt Not#17
Posted: 5/2/05 at 12:19pm
But..but...but...Kate looked good.
I remember I looked forward to this show for months and finally seeing it was such a let down. This was when I was really into the BCEFA signed posters and planned my NYC trips around buying them.
I really became of big fan of Kate after Music Man and 42nd street, and was really let down by this show. I didn't even buy the poster.
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/13/03
re: Thou Shalt Not#18
Posted: 5/2/05 at 12:24pm
I don't know much about the muscial, except what I have read and heard.
I have the cast album....
That said, I couldn't wait for the CD to end. I have never played it again.
Interestingly enough, a local theatre in the Chicago areas is doing a production of it in a few months.
re: Thou Shalt Not#19
Posted: 5/2/05 at 12:27pmI believe there's a tap number on the cast recording MB. I believe in the Thou Shalt Not ballet. Do you know what that bit was about, or where it was set?
re: Thou Shalt Not#20
Posted: 5/2/05 at 1:07pmIf I remember correctly, the Thou Shalt Not (affectionately known as the Gang-bang ballet) ballet took place among the streets of New Orleans during Mardis Gras (well, the Mardis Gras costumed chracters stood on the whirling turntables chanting, "Some folks are whispering Thou shalt not" as the action ensued) as Therese decends into madness. She got trashed and got it on with a group of thugs in the street. My recollection is hazy as to why this happens and I remember thinking, someone thought this was a good idea? Another moment of brilliance was the having-sex-with-your-lover-in-a-spinning-bed-while-the-ghost-of-your-husband-watches ballet.
re: Thou Shalt Not#21
Posted: 5/2/05 at 1:57pmThe source material is Emile Zola's novel Therese Raquin. I saw a production of the play Therese Rauin a few years ago and fell in love with the story and thought it could possibly work as a musical. However, putting it in New Orleans in the 40s was a big mistake. The story has potential to be a dark dramatic period piece. But after Thou Shalt Not, I doubt that it will be tackled again anytime soon. I know there was an opera version of it, the recording is on sale at the Met store, but I have no idea what it is like. I'm tempted to buy it though. The book is a good read though.
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/15/05
re: Thou Shalt Not#22
Posted: 5/2/05 at 3:37pmI think i'm more intrigued by the huge flops then I am by the blockbusters. I would have liked to see this and Dance of the Vampires.
Joined: 12/31/69
re: Thou Shalt Not#23
Posted: 5/2/05 at 3:53pm
I enjoyed the show for one reason and one reason alone....
Norbert.
The whole evening would have been a horrible if it weren't for the fact that we were watching the beginning of one of the best scene stealers/performers to come along. It was watching history in the making. Norbert was phenominal! He received a standing ovation when he came out.
I also listen to the recording on occation while i am cleaning.
re: Thou Shalt Not#24
Posted: 5/2/05 at 5:28pm
Mister Matt, thanks for the low down- it's much appreciated. Sometimes I'm just left wondering how people could get it so wrong- not just the odd lapse, but a great big two hour long brain storm!
Personally, I like the score, and, not knowing the book, have made up my own plot in my mind as I listen to the cd, that links the score and actually allows it to work in a sensible way- though I'm it's nothing to do with Therese.
I hope Harry Connick Jnr isn't too burned by the experience: given the choice between Thou Shalt Not and Copacabana, I'd certainly listen to the former.
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