What's with all the N2N hate?

I just don't understand it! I am the biggest critic of musical theatre and went into N2N with doubts but left overwhelmed. I think the score is brilliant, and the lyrics cleaver and unexpected. The story is simple but strong and relevant.

I saw the show twice this past Feb and loved it. The acting and singing was amazing, in my opinion Jennifer Damiano should have won the Tony over Karen Olivo (And yes I did see WSS). The staging, set and lighting was inventive and overall the show has become one of my favorites.

So what's with all the hate? Why do you hate it so much and what show(s) produced over the past few years do you like better?

AND YES, I am aware that there are probably several threads about this topic, but I wanted to start a new one.

Updated On: 4/12/10 at 09:46 PM

I love it so much, and I'm really glad it won the Pulitzer. I think it was deserved. It handled mental illness and the suffering it spreads around a family so well.

I went in knowing nothing about it. I will admit that I didn't love Alice's voice going into it and didn't really care for the few performances I had seen. I was BLOWN away. It effected me emotionally more than any show I have seen. It was a true theatre experience. Is it perfect? No. But I really felt like it was art.

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Because every show has people who don't like it?

I don't like the message of the show or its ending, but I still like the score a lot.

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I saw it the weekend after opening and actually lost sleep over it because I thought I was the only one who didn't like it. The ending is really weak, it sort of comes out of nowhere and leaves too much unresolved. And the character of Gabe is way too much of a plot device and a really poorly managed one at that. SPOILER It's never really clear exactly what he is at any one moment, at some points he's a ghost, sometimes a memory, and I don't know what the heck he is in the last scene with Dan. END SPOILER

Also, many of the lyrics are weak and lazy. But that's just one man's opinion. And obviously the critical tide is against me. So I just try not to talk about it too much, and certainly stay out of the love thread and all that. The Pulitzer thing kind of irritates me, and while to me it may be close to it, it's not the worst decision the committee's ever made.

"but I perceived the whole message is that Diana's grief was completely normal and it was wrong for doctors to treat it like it was an illness."

What are you talking about? The Doctor specifically tells her that she has a chronic illness and it could be dangerous to let it go untreated. They make it extremely clear that Diana made her decision on her OWN.

Updated On: 4/12/10 at 11:27 PM

lull89: He's a ghost in the scene with Dan. And an angel like figure after that.

Okay, fair enough.

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More experience ruining spoiler talk:

lull89: He's a ghost in the scene with Dan. And an angel like figure after that.

I didn't think he was ever a ghost or an angel. For Diana, he's a manifestation of her psychosis and delusions. I also took it to believe that Dan has a slight tinge of a mental issue as well. His buried grief caused him to lose it a little, too. He spent so many years trying to keep Diana well that he ignored his own pain and it all came to a boil with a vision of Gabe.

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Updated On: 4/12/10 at 11:45 PM

who or what Gabe is is left up to our interpretation.

I think Gabe is Diana's hallucination (or manifestation of her delusion, but I think it appears more perceptual/sensory than
cognitive. Anyway), but at the end when Dan sees him, it's more metaphorical.

I don't really think Dan displayed any signs of psychopathology in the show.

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