WAITRESS Will Officially Bow on Broadway in Spring 2016- Page 4

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 8/17/15 at 11:05am

Jorge, not on this planet.

[InnerMonologue]

Posted: 8/17/15 at 11:12am

^ seconded =/

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 8/17/15 at 11:25am

I agree with a lot of what Whizzer said, though I think I enjoyed it a bit more than he did. 

 

But he pretty much hit the nail on the head. I have faith a lot of the problems will be worked out before NY. There's something special there, for sure.

 

But, yeah, Jeremy Morse's character is grating and excessive. Which is odd because that character and storyline are so secondary in the film. Not sure why they decided to emphasize it so much in this version.

 

 

Updated On: 8/17/15 at 11:25 AM

[NJ_BroadwayGirl]

Posted: 8/17/15 at 11:29am

Agreed on Morse. I'm presuming he's doing a great job with the character he was presented with, but I think that storyline is excessive and I was shocked to hear him start singing a second song. I expect that to be among the bigger changes for Broadway. 

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 8/17/15 at 11:47am

And don't get me wrong, I was quite moved and emotional at the end, which surprised me considering I was thinking about 30 minutes earlier how rough some of this stuff was. 

"She Used To Be Mine" really got to me though and then "Everything Changes" (? the song Mueller sang in the hospital) KILLED me. Goosebumps all over my arms and tears prickling my eyes. 

If the whole show played at the level those two sequences were at this could develop some very strong word of mouth. 

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 8/17/15 at 12:17pm

Yeah, the second half of the second act is very effective. Subtle, honest, sweet, and very moving. 

Updated On: 8/17/15 at 12:17 PM

[mailhandler777]

Posted: 8/17/15 at 12:32pm

"She Used To Be Mine" really got to me though and then "Everything Changes" (? the song Mueller sang in the hospital) KILLED me. Goosebumps all over my arms and tears prickling my eyes"

You nailed it on the head. I cried during "She Used To Be Mine" and sobbed during "Everything Changes". 

 

 

 

 

Updated On: 8/17/15 at 12:32 PM

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 8/17/15 at 12:47pm

I'm glad to hear the score and star are in good shape. They seem to really be the anchors of the project.

[joe5]

Posted: 8/19/15 at 8:02am

I caught last evenings peformance , and I enjoyed it ! Thought all the female and male leads were excellant . The standouts being Jessie and Kelsa . Sara did a wonderful job with the score . I was in tears by the end . With a little tweaking , this will be a gem ! Wish them the best !

[VernonGersch]

Posted: 8/19/15 at 4:43pm

Just scored a ticket to see this right after it opens - really looking forward.  I think Diane is a genius, a moderate Sara fan and loved Jesse in Beautiful.

 

 

[dramamama611]

Posted: 8/20/15 at 9:03am

Hmmm....caught this last night.  I liked much of what I saw, but I certainly didn't fall in love with it.

Strengths: Mueller - giving a great and nuanced performance.  I can't wait to see what she does with role next year. I liked the trio of women, together and separately. But wished Settle, in particular, was a little less cartoon-y.  The men were fun but less fully realized.  Eric Anderson (Cal) stole his scenes without upstaging, and Gehling was fine as the doc, but why was.he so drawn to Jenna?

I also liked the score, quite a bit actually.  Quite a bit of it has been dancing through my head.could it use a little more variety?  Yes, but I was prepared for a monotonous evening.

 

The weaknesses: the book is the biggest concern as to the focus issues. When Jenna's story is front and center, it got too distracted by itself with the sublots. I l ow they are still work I.g on the abusive relationship, but they aren't there yet. 

The choreography was not my favorite.  I thought it tried too hard to be clever and it just felt unconnected to me.

I liked the first waiting room scene very much, but the other two seemed to be a waste.

I won't be revisiting the show in Boston, but would definitely consider catching it again in NY, if nothing else to catch Mueller's performance - which will likely get her another nomination (and possibly) a win.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 8/20/15 at 9:12am

"But wished Settle, in particular, was a little less cartoon-y."

I haven't seen Waitress, but I've wished that about every Keala Settle performance.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 8/20/15 at 10:11am

Completely agree with you about Settle being too cartoon-y (as well as a few of the other supporting cast members); I really loved her performance in Hands on a Hardbody, but thought she was too over the top in Les Miz and finally pushed some of my limits in Waitress. What makes her shtick stick out so much is that it's constantly juxtaposed with Mueller's quiet, thoughtful performance and the two styles mix like oil and water. 

[dramamama611]

Posted: 8/20/15 at 10:22am

Oh, and I should say that I was in the front row, I saw up noses and was blocked by furniture for scenes that too place upstage.  Too close.

[Tom theater rat]

Posted: 8/20/15 at 11:27am

I was there on Tuesday and was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the show. I loved the score and thought that it varied much more than previously posted. at one point, my friend and I thought the keyboardist looked a lot like Sara B......and wouldn't you know....it was!! What a thrill to see her perform her own score. We were both obsessed with the way she almost conducted the rest of the band on stage. It felt like she was another character to keep your eye on thru the performance.

The book does need some work. I agree that you really wonder what the Doc actually sees in Jenna as her character is pretty morose when she visits him. I suppose the pies did the trick!! It certainly wasn't the waitress uniform! I thought the 3 waitresses characters were fleshed out pretty well and enjoyed their individual personalities as well as their singing, both together and individually.

Comparing Waitress to Finding Neverland (although completely different shows), I seemed to enjoy every other number from FN.....first thrilled and then....snooze fest.....and then thrilled again. Waitress, although a much smaller show, kept a pleasant consistency that swept me up in its simplicity. It almost falls victim to the Bridges syndrome that if more than 2 or 3 characters are singing, then the quality drops significantly. I look forward to them tweaking the rough edges of the book and becomes the small gem that, I hope, Broadway would welcome.

Updated On: 8/20/15 at 11:27 AM

[mailhandler777]

Posted: 8/20/15 at 1:16pm

dramamama611 said: "Oh, and I should say that I was in the front row, I saw up noses and was blocked by furniture for scenes that too place upstage.  Too close.

 

I was front row too. Could see up noses,dresses and got spit on. My biggest issue though was the stage was so freaking high. 

 

[trpguyy]

Posted: 8/20/15 at 1:22pm

Tom, you're sure it was Sara conducting the show, and not the music supervisor/conductor Nadia DiGiallonardo (who does resemble Sara)? It seems unlikely that they'd have Sara guest conduct the show in previews without an announcement of some sort. 

[dramamama611]

Posted: 8/20/15 at 1:39pm

I did a double take last night. They do look a lot alike.

[Bway_Mill_Fan]

Posted: 8/20/15 at 1:41pm

Nadia and Sara together https://instagram.com/p/4edwqdjGFx/

I would be thrilled to see her up there but I didn't hear anyone else mention this (not that I don't believe you!). May be a case of mistaken identity. Someone tweeted to her if she'd be up there and she said it would be Nadia.

[rcwr]

Posted: 8/20/15 at 2:22pm

I loved the score and I loved Jessie. I want Keala to play it realer, with vulnerability, and MUCH less brash/angry. Even Jeanna should lean more towards real and less towards geek stereotype, though she's playing it realer than Keala is. I want the stalking-is-romantic song gone. Shift the tone so it's like the lead tone and this show will be something special.

I agree with Whizzer's review.

[Tom theater rat]

Posted: 8/20/15 at 2:40pm

I'm sure you must be right......I thought it was too good to be true that Sara would be playing, but boy do they look alike. I was so distracted, that I paid way too much attention to her and have been looking at pics of Sara ever since to try and confirm. Thanks for clarifying guys. Looking forward to seeing what the reviews say after tonights opening. Hoping they tighten things up because I really do like the score and am rooting for this show after seeing it.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 8/20/15 at 2:47pm

I'm on the fence over "Never Getting Rid of Me".  I see the argument people are making about the stalker feel to it, but the character is so nebbishy, I don't think anyone would ever be in danger of his intentions.  I  really enjoyed watching Jeanns during his song, seeing the.moment where she realized she wasn't afraid of him or relationships. 

I think we can get overly pc about the issue...can a person not be persistent? Use hyperbole? A fine line in this instance, and I'm not sure which side I stand.

[rcwr]

Posted: 8/20/15 at 2:53pm

dramamama, I really enjoyed Jeanna's reactions during that song too. It IS romantic and functional and safe within the context of the show, which is why it unsettles me -- it taps into the notion that refusing a repeated "no" answer is a great thing to do. I wish I felt that Ogie's nebbishyness made the concept less threatening. I can imagine a persistance song working well for me in that spot, even one with hyperbole, if it were different. I wish this one didn't set off my stalker-icky feelings.

[NJ_BroadwayGirl]

Posted: 8/20/15 at 3:21pm

I didn't get stalker vibes from "Never Getting Rid of Me" but after I left, and had heard his second act performance, I thought, why did that character have two songs? I thought the actor did a nice job but somewhere in that storyline is part of the length issue.

But I can also see why people could get an icky vibe from it.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 8/20/15 at 5:54pm

^ totally agree that the character didn't deserve two songs.