WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN begins previews TONIGHT! — Page 10

I think people are surprised that the show opening is a mess because the songs are really unmemorable, the book is a shamble and you have the highest calibre stage talent being completely wasted. I would never complain about glitches or tech stuff or even character creation/acting at this point.

The core elements (book, score) of the show were quite dismal. I saw the Saturday matinee.

The show was an bombastic mess-"over visual" if that is even possible. It's like watching ADHD on stage. A frantic mess. I had no emotional connection to any character. No character is developed and a majority of songs lead to no where and do not advance anything.

Sherie is completely squandered. As many have stated Benanti is the show's one saving grace who actually made me think of Almodovar's style. From what I saw from her, she deserves another Tony nod. She brought absolute joy to the audience whenever she appeared. Her Act 1 number is an endurance test and a complete joy.

This being said, the women behind me said, "this show is going to be a huge hit!" so clearly some people are liking it. I was pretty bored throughout the show. Characters and story lines were muddled and incoherent. People came on and offstage with no clear direction or connection. Patti switched wigs and people were definitely confused as to what she was doing.

I can appreciate deliberately surreal or non linear work, I don't think WOTV is that. I think it is very rough.

Also, I can appreciate Bart coming out and addressing possible kinks to the audience, but I think telling the audience that the cast is "completely exhausted" is throwing them under the bus. In essence, saying, "don't expect too much from them." I thought it was tacky.

Overall, greatly disappointed. I can handle all the glitches in the world if the actors have great material and sharp songs to sing. Nothing like that here in my opinion.

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Updated On: 10/10/10 at 02:39 PM

Oh, this thread is a hoot!

Hysterical pearls and tampons flying everywhere!! Now this is why I come to BWW, boys and girls!

Keep up the fine work, y'all!

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What is the approximate run time?

ok thanks, I missed that :)

I just started college and have been paying $120 for books i hardly ever use or for classes that mean nothing to me. I would rather have seen this supposed mess of a show. I think the cast must be working round the clock with changes to make this a better show. If you didn't wanna spend $120 buck, you shouldn't have. I bought a sweater yesterday. Do i feel guilty? A little bit, I don't like it as much as I thought I did. But alas the tag has been removed, what am I to do?

I mean it has nowhere to go but up, right?

Good show everybody!

should be one more at least for the people responsable for this mess of a show

Well I saw Yazbek outside the theater a few hours ago trying to figure out some new changes so I'm sure there a lot to come. I do want to see it this week though so I can compare it later in the run.

Yep, that's why I went to the theater actually!

They are not doing any sort of rush for the show.

^ That would seem logical, but it seems clear to me that some theatergoers go to first and early previews specifically to tear apart a production in progress.

"They are not doing any sort of rush for the show."


Not even post-opening?

I do think that the show will open. It is a Lincoln Center production after all, but they would be wise to delay opening another 2-3 weeks to give them more time to fix this.

I was very disappointed in the book, score and choreography. Also, the set was just too much to look at...I was very confused at times (I have never seen the movie).

As most others have said, Laura Benanti fared the best out of the entire cast. I thought Brian Stokes Mitchell fared the worst...his material was dreadful, and he just didn't seem to care about being on the stage. Patti's material needs some rewriting/tweaking and maybe a new song for her for Act 1. Sherie was very bland (probably due to her bland material).

It just shocks me that with all the wonderful actors on that stage, that they couldn't write material that suits the talents of these stars. Hopefully the creative team will use this critical preview period to analyze audience reactions, make changes, and turn this theatrical disaster into a somewhat mediocre musical that can play out its limited engagement without severely damaging everyone's reputations.

I really think it's too early to write it off. Let's wait until it's frozen. Reviews and ticket sales will influence any possibility of an extension/open-ended run.

Updated On: 10/10/10 at 06:52 PM