WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN begins previews TONIGHT! — Page 23

kyle4- There is nothing wrong with having a negative opinion of a show. However, just because you did not like the show and thought it was a train wreck does not mean it really is. That is your opinion and you are entitled to that. That being said, everyone else who liked the show and enjoyed are entitled to their opinion as well. There are positive and negative opinions about every Broadway show. No one's opinion is fact and not one opinion is right while the others are wrong.

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The best part is that he only saw half of the show!!!

Exactly! I completely agree. I have no problem with those who leave shows during intermission, BUT please do not judge the entire show.

If anyone had the desire for an 'impromptu unannounced unprofessional cast recording' of WOTV, I would not be able to help you if you didn't PM me.

So I love the score. The overture, Lovesick, Time Stood Still, Model Behaviour, On the Verge, Madrid, Tangled and Invisible are all GREAT. There's some holes but nothing's awful. Fix the opening and the ending and I think this show is on very solid ground.

Who did the orchestrations? There're fantastic.

I saw the matinee of Women on the Verge this past Saturday (October 16). First of all, every single person in the audience except for me and maybe one or two others was over 75 years old. Many of them had walkers, and the ones around me couldn't hear a thing. Throughout the entire show, the women next to me kept asking each other "What did he say?" Let me tell you, that was the best part of the show.

David Yazbek (the composer/lyricist) was sitting several rows ahead of me. He kept getting up and running to the back of the theater, where Jeffrey Lane (the book writer) was standing (or should I say hiding). I absolutely loved Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, so it was a pleasure to see these two men.

Okay, now back to Women on the Verge. This show was probably one of the worst shows I have ever seen in my entire life. And I've seen Carrie.

This show reminded me of cramps -- just when you think it couldn't get any worse, it does. It's just a frenetic mass of very talented singers running around a stage, singing forgettable songs. I actually felt sorry for them, especially Patti LuPone. Are they kidding with her? She's completely wasted in this show. The jokes are horrendous and the songs are equally horrendous.

The one song that was slightly decent was the one where Laura Benanti runs around trying to get in touch with Pepa (Sherie Rene Scott). That was kind of funny, although not worth the price I paid for my tickets.

Then, right in the middle of the first act, the show had to stop for a few minutes because the sets weren't working. So Laura Benanti got on stage and, in character, played charades with us. I felt sorry for her (and for a legend like Patti LuPone who I saw standing in the wings, looking like she was wondering what's happened to her career). That was the best part -- the charades, which were not a part of the show although the very old people in the audience thought that it was. The audience, by the way, was so quiet that I thought some of them had died. The applause was minimal and the bows at the end of the show were sad. Patti LuPone was looking dejected. Not good.

Oh, and Laura Benanti, during those charades, took a tomato from the vegetable stand that was stuck on the stage and asked the audience if we wanted a tomato. When nobody responded, she said that we could throw it at her. Good idea.

Anyway, back to the show. What a mess. I'd seen the movie that this was based on and I even took it out from Netflix before I saw this show so that I could refresh my memory. This musical follows the movie almost to the letter. While the movie was just okay, the musical is just not.

Sherie Rene Scott seemed completely lost on that stage. Her gorgeous voice is there, but the songs and book just don't do her justice. Did she owe David Yazbek a favor or something? Her character, not fleshed out in the movie, is equally one-dimensional in this musical. And then, after about 3/4 of the first act, her character is completely thrown away (as it was in the movie). Note to Jeffrey Lane -- if you must do a musical based on this mediocre movie, you are allowed to fix these sorts of problems -- how about fleshing out some of the characters?

Laura Benanti was also in fine voice, but her crazed running and panting made me exhausted and dizzy. I felt like she was running after the sets, which were constantly being pushed and pulled every which way. Once you saw one set, it was immediately hurled offstage. Blink and you'd miss some of this. It was that frenetic.

Patti LuPone, of course in fine voice, was just embarrassing. Not her fault. The songs she had to sing were just awful. And the words she had to say were worse than things I wrote in high school (and got scolded for).

The woman who played the lawyer, de'Adre Aziza, was really bad. I thought her voice was weak and her acting weaker.

Brian Stokes Mitchell sounded nice but was also thrown away. It was like they hurried him onstage quickly and then hurried him offstage just as quickly. What's the rush?

Justin Guarini sounded good as well but was lost in this mess.

Danny Burstein was cute, but only because Danny Burstein is cute. Nothing to do with his character in this show. He would suddenly appear from behind a door for no apparent reason and in the second act he suddenly became a narrator of sorts. What a mess.

There was a weird couple of characters that made no sense here -- the motorcycle guy and his girlfriend. Suddenly he was upset about her leaving him (I think) and he hid under a table (I think). Listen, I'm just guessing about this because I have no idea what was happening with them.

I'm shocked that this was directed by Bartlett Sher. What the heck was he thinking when he decided to have everyone running this way and that way? If they were smart, they'd all just run out of the theater and never look back.

All in all, this was a waste of time and money for me and the producers. Coming from a huge Dirty Rotten Scoundrels fan, I hate to say that Yazbek and Lane may just be one-hit wonders (I did not like The Full Monty). Sorry.

When the show was over, the cast came out to bow. I'd never seen such a short set of bows. The looks of regret on the faces of Patti LuPone and Sherie Rene Scott during their bows said it all. And the audience hardly even clapped. Yes, they were very old but they were still able to leave the theater very very quickly. I don't blame them. Their sudden burst of energy was no doubt fueled by their realization that they'd just wasted almost three hours of their lives watching this.

I cannot see how this joke of a musical can open its doors to critics in just a few short weeks. Either this has to be completely overhauled, or it must close before it opens. Otherwise, I'm afraid the reviews will be scathing.

Thanks, FindingNamo. It was cathartic to get it all off my chest. I woke up the next morning thinking that something horrible happened the day before and I wondered for a second what that was. Then I remembered.

Jgssf, regarding the caliber of talent here, this show kind of reminded me of that "A Night of 100 Stars" that they used to have on TV every year. They would throw over 100 huge stars together on a stage and just have them smile and wave at the camera. While the stars were fantastic, the show was crap.

Does anyone really believe that the actors would say anything bad about the show? As an actor you must believe in your work, and the best thing to do is stay positive and do your job. That does not mean they are unaware of the problems and bad word of mouth on the street. The way the bow is staged is as confusing as the show itself, what order could they possibly bow in? It was very strange to see all the featured players enter and bow at once.
I don't see any problem with someone discussing a show they left at intermission, there are people in this thread that have been commenting on every page without seeing the show at all till like page 19!

aaaaaaaaaaaaah, i believe i know EXACTLY who MimiJudith is......
another rejected actor who didn't make it into the show.
If that wasn't the case, why does it lay so heavy on your heart?

Once again, there are people, specifically on this board, bashing the show, creative team, and some of the actors, because they are rejects who are unhappy with their lives. Otherwise, why would they care so much and post such hateful reviews?

Sherri's character IS lost in the piece. That's the point! She's an excellent actress. maybe you're just jealous you're not her?

Mitchell sounded good only??? Ar you kidding?? His voice knocks the socks off of ANY baritone out there today.

Justin did an excellent job for his first time out & his voice sounded beautiful.

Kudos if Laura did what you say she did, for having the balls to improv. Things go wrong on stages all the time and dopey actors stand there doing nothing, so good for her. would you have the guts?

azziza was bad?? that's why lincoln center casted her & why according to her bio she sang at carnegee hall & hollywood bowl? wow, that's some serious jealousy there.

Patti is a very smart & shrewd actor who would not have taken this role if she couldn't turn it into gold. you question patti lupone? pedro almodovar emailed her asking her to do it. sooooo, you must have a problem with the man who created the movie as well then? or are you just mad that no "latinos' were cast in principal roles, even though this movie is based in Europe & not the Caribbean?

These sound, once again like kyle4, like personal attacks of someone who has a vendetta against the show for whatever reason. Maybe the see it as competition, or are just mad that they got rejected with the likes of Salma Hayek and Jessica Beil.

"""MimiJudith"""" I think you should follow in Kyle4's footsteps and F*CK OFF too!

Good wife.........

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pedro almodovar emailed her asking her to do it

Yeah, but don't forget that his movies aren't that good, anyway.

Donthatecongratulate is a shill, don't play into it.

Please stop replying to Donthatecongratulate. It's a very troubled child, and you're only encouraging it to misbehave. We'll be cleaning the poo off the walls of its cell all day if you keep goading it.