What was wrong with SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS?
What was wrong with SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS?
WiCkEDrOcKS
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/13/04
#1What was wrong with SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS?
Posted: 7/24/08 at 12:46pm
I never got to see it but I've read the book/text which I thought was strong, love the OBCR, and think the cast is so incredibly talented.
What was wrong with this show/what kind of reviews did it get?
Updated On: 7/24/08 at 12:46 PM
#2re: What was wrong with SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS?
Posted: 7/24/08 at 12:54pm
Nothing! Absolutely nothing!
One of the most wondrous shows on Broadway in many, many years!
So misunderstood by the critics and public alike.
I was lucky enough to catch the very last performnace and I had no idea it was closing until the person next to me told me!
As you said, a stunning recording.
Jon
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/20/04
#2re: What was wrong with SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS?
Posted: 7/24/08 at 12:54pmIt lacked the nasty edginess of the movie. John Lithgow came across as a comic villain - like Mr. Applegate in DAMN YANKEES. Burt Lancaster inthe movie was TRULY evil.
joe5
Broadway Star Joined: 5/17/06
#3re: What was wrong with SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS?
Posted: 7/24/08 at 12:57pmWicked, The NY critics panned it. I really enjoyed it alot and still listen to the OBCR. The small fault I did have with it. It was just very dark in design. Except for a little neon here and there.
Unknown User
Joined: 12/31/69
#4re: What was wrong with SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS?
Posted: 7/24/08 at 12:58pmIt was a mess. Big huge numbers that did nothing, went nowhere. It sort of meandered around not really sure what it wanted to be. I did like the creepy incestuous love song Lithgow sang to his sister. But people mostly didn't understand it or were repulsed.
WiCkEDrOcKS
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/13/04
#5re: What was wrong with SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS?
Posted: 7/24/08 at 1:01pmI think the score is beautiful to be quite honest. "At The Fountain" is gorgeous.
#6re: What was wrong with SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS?
Posted: 7/24/08 at 1:05pm
So what's wrong with dark now and again? Not everything on Broadway is The Little Mermaid'- thank god.
Borstalboy
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/9/04
#7re: What was wrong with SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS?
Posted: 7/24/08 at 1:08pmI didn't see it, but Ethan Mordden praised it in "The Happiest Corpse I've Ever Seen"
#8re: What was wrong with SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS?
Posted: 7/24/08 at 1:12pmI did have its moments, but as Joe pointed out it was unfocused and had no real sense of what it wanted to be. AT THE FOUNTAIN is a gorgeous song, and DIRT is a lot of fun, but the whole show just wasn't the sum of its parts.
#9re: What was wrong with SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS?
Posted: 7/24/08 at 1:16pm
I'm with D2. It comes off a lot better on the recording than it did on stage. And "For Susan" or whatever it was called really was a great moment.
It kind of had the same problem as "High Fidelity" -- the musicalization impeded rather than enhanced one of the chief characterizations in the piece.
joe5
Broadway Star Joined: 5/17/06
#10re: What was wrong with SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS?
Posted: 7/24/08 at 1:24pmWickedBoy, There is nothing wrong with that. I thought the Mermaid was much to bright. And I think the lighting was done by the same person.
WiCkEDrOcKS
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/13/04
#11re: What was wrong with SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS?
Posted: 7/24/08 at 1:28pm
But Jon, if Lithgow was a problem, why did he win the Tony? I mean, if I recall, that was a weak year for musicals in general (save for Urinetown) but I doubt they'd give him the Tony if he was really a big issue with the show's success.
(And how/why the hell was Hunter Foster not recognized with a nomination that year?!!)
Unknown User
Joined: 12/31/69
#12re: What was wrong with SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS?
Posted: 7/24/08 at 1:30pm
Dark is fine- but this show was very hinty about what was going on. "For Susan" was masterful- as Lithgow becomes more & more obsessive about all he's done for his sister, you could FEEL the audience squirm as they "Got it" but the show pulled back and went unfocused again. You never really cared about any of the characters and it seemed like they couldn't decide what they wanted. It was interesting, but very unsatisfying.
I should add I saw the Previews in Chicago, not the final show.
#13re: What was wrong with SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS?
Posted: 7/24/08 at 1:32pm
I saw one of the final previews in New York, Joe, after it had been frozen, and it seems like they still hadn't really fixed that problem.
WiCkEDrOcKS
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/13/04
#15re: What was wrong with SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS?
Posted: 7/24/08 at 1:49pm
I do agree that the show felt mostly that it had to put so much on stage whereas a little less would have gone a lot further. 5 mins ago I listened to 'For susan' - a Tony winning performance for sure.
Roscoe
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#16re: What was wrong with SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS?
Posted: 7/24/08 at 1:50pm
James was fine, but he couldn't really carry the show. It just got lost on the stage of the Hirschfeld, there was no real intimacy there at all. It was an okay musical of what isn't really a very interesting movie.
I still remember laughing out loud at one of the more serious moments in the score, when the Chorus appeared to ask, "Whatcha gonna do SIDNEY?!?!?!?!??!!!!"
yukino
Swing Joined: 1/19/04
#17re: What was wrong with SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS?
Posted: 7/24/08 at 3:05pm
the must sounded amazing but i've never seen it either... 
LePetiteFromage
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/19/08
#19re: What was wrong with SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS?
Posted: 7/24/08 at 3:51pmReal depressing show, very disappointing since we had such high hopes. Upon repeated listening, the cast album is occasionally entertaining...very occasional.
Unknown User
Joined: 12/31/69
#20re: What was wrong with SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS?
Posted: 7/24/08 at 4:17pmA dear friend refereed to it so lovingly as "Sweet Smell of Sucked-ass!"
#21re: What was wrong with SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS?
Posted: 7/24/08 at 4:44pm
"It was an okay musical of what isn't really a very interesting movie"
Ok, obviously there is no accounting for taste... but I'm sorta shocked that you could feel that way about the movie. It's generally regarded as one of the better Hollywood movies of it's era. Even if you don't LIKE the movie... it's interesting in a number of ways.
All that said, I think the musical isn't really successful... which is a shame... 'cause they do get a lot right. As previously stated, a lot doesn't go anywhere.
kmc
Roscoe
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#22re: What was wrong with SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS?
Posted: 7/24/08 at 4:46pm
Oh, well, if it is highly regarded then it must be good. Boy am I wrong.
SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS is a masterpiece, and all that.
#23re: What was wrong with SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS?
Posted: 7/24/08 at 4:54pmI listen to the OBCR all the time and have seen it through other means. I agree At the Fountain is a great song and the cast was great. I think as said before it didnt know what it wanted to be. But I personally enjoy it.
"I am sorry but it is an unjust world and virtue is only triumphant in theatricle performances" The Mikado
notabb
Broadway Star Joined: 5/12/03
#24re: What was wrong with SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS?
Posted: 7/24/08 at 4:58pmI loved SWEET SMELL. I thought the score , cast and staging were great.The staging was almost cinematic. Welcome To The Night never stopped.The cast would sweep the set around so it was seemless. My feeling is people did not like the story they were being told. It was very dark and ugly but it was great. I wouldn't be shocked if there was a good bootleg around so you could see for yourself.
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