What is going on with Passing Strange?- Page 2

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 2/26/08 at 4:21pm

Go see Passing Strange and Gypsy.

Why?

Because most of you people think that Wicked is the past, present, and future of musical theater.

[CyCoSpAz2]

Posted: 2/26/08 at 5:01pm

Is there Standing Room/Student Rush?

[MarkK]

Posted: 2/26/08 at 6:24pm

Since Passing Strange is at 23%....There is probably "lying down room". Im sure you wont have a problem getting a discounted ticket.

[verynewyorkcurious]

Posted: 2/26/08 at 6:24pm

I think Youth tickets (25 and under) are $25

[Deycallmemimi2]

Posted: 2/26/08 at 6:36pm

I believe things are going to pick up when the Times review comes out. I believe Isherwood gave it a rave off-bway and I am sure the Times will send him again and it will be another rave! If the Times review is great it will be the new "IT" show and I am sure there grosses will go up!

[thetinymagic2]

Posted: 2/26/08 at 8:25pm

CyCoSp:

Tomorrow night is the last press night, but you might be able to score a discount or student (under 25 ticket). We all hope this will take the track of "Awake and Sing" (also at the Belasco a couple of seasons ago), and steadily gather up a VERY interested audience after the NY Times raves came out. It was a slow build 6-7 weeks, before the word of mouth spread like wildfire, and we got a respectable run, AND people LOVED the play...

[FranklinShepardInc]

Posted: 2/26/08 at 10:03pm

Scaryclowns' one-line plot summary of each musical hardly seems fair. One could easily write:

SPRING AWAKENING:
"A rock musical about emo teens in puritanical 1890s Germany whining about sex, morosely posing, aborting babies, dressing drably and commiting suicide."

PASSING STRANGE:
"A rock musical about a young American boy's rollicking adventures through the wild sex and free-love drugs of '70s Amsterdam and '80s Berlin in search of the man he's destined to be."

This is much more accurate.

[Testing1232]

Posted: 2/26/08 at 10:37pm

Just got back, and liked it, but its going to be very hard for this show to find a Broadway audience. The house is just too big. This show needs to be playing in a much smaller theatre.

Liked Act I much better than Act II, which I thought dragged. (Actually, I think they could have kept just about every song, and made this into a 90 minute show very easily (also eliminating the intermission, which is really not needed anyway.)

Agree with a previous post.. "My Key" is an amazing song !!!

Loved the score, and the performances were very good, although I could have done without the "Venus" scene.

Have to again equate this with "Hedwig" (not so much in quality, because to me, "Hedwig" is just about brilliant), as far as playing Broadway. "Hedwig" was perfect in the Jane Street. Would have crashed and burned on Broadway.

Unfortunately, I feel that fate awaits "PS".

Btw, had a Balc ticket tonight.. They werent even seating anyone in the balcony. Was either front Mezz or Orchestra.

Extremely sparse crowd !!

[BenKaye]

Posted: 2/26/08 at 10:44pm

Really glad you liked it, Testing.

Please everybody, this show may not appeal to the Wicked-adoring masses, but it's still an amazing show. Sure it's got it's flaws, especially in Act Two (although I don't really agree with them, but shwatever), but what doesn't. And it's a lot better than the majority of shows playing at the moment.

[thetinymagic2]

Posted: 2/26/08 at 10:49pm

Franklin: You should work for the publicity dept! Much better synopsis than what they're doing!

[adamgreer]

Posted: 2/26/08 at 10:56pm

Maybe they ought to just steal the byline from the Seinfeld musical- Rochelle, Rochelle. They could describe Passing Strange as, "one young boy's strange erotic journey from Los Angeles to Berlin."

[FranklinShepardInc]

Posted: 2/27/08 at 10:30am

I also cheer that this show is one of the most refreshing new musicals this season. The songs perhaps aren't "classic" Broadway, but are catchy, vibrant, stay true to time, character and place, and are completely in the vernacular of the world it mirrors.

I think it's the perfect antidote to the SPRING AWAKENING angsty blues.

[BkCollector]

Posted: 2/27/08 at 11:25am

It's a very hard show to market because it's about what most middle-class theatergoers don't even want to think about. One of the reasons you hear so many "I didn't understand what it's about" because most White Middle Class people don't ever engage the ideas that Stew is writing about.

Sadly, that will probably be the downfall of the show. Would it have been more popular off-bway? Yes.

Does it deserve to be on Bway as one of the most thought-provoking, musically inventive, soul-stirring pieces of theater in this or indeed the last four or five decades?
Absolutely...

This show deserves to be a classic. I'm sorry, but the reason Gypsy has lasted this long is because it's every Gay man's fantasy fulfilled on stage all about "if I ever showed people what I got there wouldn't be lights bright enough or signs big enough." (As a gay man, I know this to be true) It feeds the unsupported, unloved ego of the average gay male musical theater lover, but is it a good show? No more than any other show, it's nothing special.

Passing Strange is something special.

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 2/27/08 at 12:40pm

Do you know why it's not doing well?

Because if I didn't read this board, I wouldn't know it exists, and if I din't now then neither would your average theatre-goer. They need to seriously advertise more, and make sure people know it's a rock musical.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 2/27/08 at 5:24pm

I didn't want to start a new thread for this, but for anyone who's seen Passing Strange recently, what's the running time?

[verynewyorkcurious]

Posted: 2/27/08 at 5:29pm

according to jaystarr's review, it is 2 1/2 hours with 1 intermission.

[ljay889]

Posted: 2/27/08 at 5:29pm

Absolutely...

This show deserves to be a classic. I'm sorry, but the reason Gypsy has lasted this long is because it's every Gay man's fantasy fulfilled on stage all about "if I ever showed people what I got there wouldn't be lights bright enough or signs big enough." (As a gay man, I know this to be true) It feeds the unsupported, unloved ego of the average gay male musical theater lover, but is it a good show? No more than any other show, it's nothing special.



- Um. ok? GYPSY is generally considered one of the greatest American musicals of all time, if not the best written musical of all time.

[TomMonster]

Posted: 2/27/08 at 6:07pm

I'm seeing it tonight, and am looking forward to it!

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 2/28/08 at 7:06am

I saw it last night, and I must say that I disagree with the folks who found Act I to be the stronger of the two.

Act II is where, for me, the story really came together and I felt thoroughly engaged. Daniel Breaker's character develops the most in Act II. I found the music to be fantastic throughout, and the story is very special.

I hope this show lasts at least through the Tony Awards. If it gets a Best Musical nod, it can have the opportunity to perform on the telecast, which could give it a boost.

Updated On: 2/28/08 at 07:06 AM

[jaystarr]

Posted: 2/28/08 at 8:34am

WBaF- I'm glad you saw the show & like it! Yeah... Act 2 has different effects on people. I must agree on you that the book really developed on ACT 2..

I hope so that this show last till the TONY AWARDS too.. This will definitely get a nod for BEST NEW MUSICAL! and soon people will dsicover this great show and get over their PASSING STRANGE...for the show...

J*

[Kalimba]

Posted: 2/28/08 at 9:00am

As much as I wanted to like this show, I did not. Never have I left the theater before with such a mind-numbing, splitting headache.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 2/28/08 at 9:05am

That's another comment I've read on here from a bunch of posters that I have to disagree with.

I was in the front row of the Orchestra, and the sound was at a perfectly normal volume, no different than that of any other Broadway musical currently playing.

I was able to understand every lyric clearly, and never did my ears hurt or did I come down with a headache.

And this is coming from someone who can't stand any "concert" that doesn't have the word "cabaret" in the title.

Perhaps this is something that has been fixed during previews, as last night was the final preview.

It felt like a complete Broadway musical to me.

Updated On: 2/28/08 at 09:05 AM

[jaystarr]

Posted: 2/28/08 at 9:10am

I said it in my Report that this musical is not for everyone...like SPRING AWAKENING & GREY GARDENS...

Though its different! and I like that.... just getting sick & tired of the same old musical format....

J*

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 2/28/08 at 9:11am

It was very loud when I saw it, but it was compeltely justifiable.

Why?

'Cause it's a ROCK MUSICAL. They're not gonna play it like a traditional musical theater sound. If that's more your speed, GYPSY is playing down the block.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 2/28/08 at 11:18am

It says that Broadway is able to support tourist drivel like Legally Blonde and Grease, but not a show that tries to be different than anything else in town.

Wait..what? Did you miss Spring Awakening, Spelling Bee, Light in the Piazza and the last 12 years of Rent? If you're angry that a show you like is not selling well, don't blame "Broadway" or "the tourists", but rather blame the marketing and PR team for not getting the name out there. Honestly, I never heard of this show until about a week ago and I'm afraid I haven't been impressed with the four demo tracks on the website. I'm not sure to whom this show is being marketed. I visited the website to find out what the show is about and just got a bunch of confusing quotes and lyrics about Youth and "finding the Real" and whatnot. I ran across the video clip, which does look somewhat intriguing, but still doesn't give you any insight into the show whatsoever. I don't know. So far, this is one I would only see on Broadway if I've seen everything else. Ticket prices are too expensive to waste money on a show that can't be bothered cluing the public in to what they are trying to present.