What were your biggest theatrical disappointments of the season...- Page 2

[magictodo123]

Posted: 6/6/19 at 8:30am

 

 

GeorgeandDot said: "Sounds like you all saw Benanti when she was sick because her voice was in immaculate shape when I saw it. As far as I know, Benanti was not sick when I saw it. I wouldn't assume that. People can have different opinions on how good someones voice is without having to make excuses like saying they were sick. 

Lear was a massive disappointment. Especially Jackson who I've just decided I'm not much of a fan of. The design was odd, but surprisingly aesthetically pleasing however.

Tootsie was also a disappointment. The score was bad, the dessign was bad, the choreography was bad, and the book was fine. The performances, however, were phenomenal all around, which I think is the only thing keeping it afloat."  I can't tell you a single song in Tootsie that stood out in my mind. 

 

[dramamama611]

Posted: 6/6/19 at 8:31am

I was disappointed in a LOT this year....but for me, the biggest was Harry Potter.    The book, IMO, was so pointless.  Sure, some of the effects were fun - but I never really felt it was "magic".  I could pretty easily figure out most of them.   We were so disappointed, you may remember, we considered NOT attending Part II - but glad we did, as it was 'better' than part 1.

 

That being said, we were also disappointed in The Prom,  Beetlejuice, Head Over Heels - so many.  Didn't hate any of them, but didn't really love anything -- until Hadestown. Also loved Choir Boy and Mockingbird.

 

I can't say that either BMC or Kong disappointed - as I didn't have very high expectations anyway.

[52889j]

Posted: 6/6/19 at 8:39am

King Lear and Laura Benanti in My Fair Lady

[carolinaguy]

Posted: 6/6/19 at 8:40am

Here are the shows I saw this season:

 

The Waverly Gallery

Network

The Ferryman

Beetlejuice

Oklahoma!

King Lear

Kiss Me, Kate

Hadestown

Tootsie

Gary

Ink

 

Of the lot, I would say Hadestown and Gary met the expectations I had for them. The Ferryman exceeded my expectations. While I liked many (not all) of the others, they in some way were at least a little disappointing. But the biggest I would say were Network (where the power of the story was lost because the Diana/Max relationship was flat) and King Lear (which should have been an event but instead was just weird).

Updated On: 6/6/19 at 08:40 AM

[kdogg36]

Posted: 6/6/19 at 8:41am

My biggest disappointment was King Lear, for many of the reasons already stated in this thread. My biggest pleasant surprise was Head Over Heels, which was only my third favorite musical of the season, but which I enjoyed immensely despite not being that much of a Go-Go's fan.

[Stage Door Sally]

Posted: 6/6/19 at 8:45am

I saw Network in previews and was wowed by Bryan Cranston's tour de force performance. Loved watching the show from onstage.

But the play was an overall disappointment. When Cranston wasn't on, the show was off. It shouldn't have meandered into a meaningless wife/girlfriend subplot and Tony Goldwyn and Tatiana Maslany were miscast in key roles. ;-(

[DoTheDood]

Posted: 6/6/19 at 9:06am

What I saw this season
- The Bands Visit
- All My Sons
- Gary
- Hamilton

I'll focus on AMS and Gary since the other two (while I loved) were different seasons.

I didn't go into AMS even knowing much about the play but man it was a slog. Maybe it was because I saw it in previews but a lot of the show felt bland. The leads were alright but nothing memorable and the person playing George was horribly miscast. The stand out was Benjamin Walker, which I'm glad he got nominated for Featured Actor for. Still this just makes me want a more better production so I can understand the hype with Arthur Miller's work more.

My unexpected favorite has to be Gary. Again, like others have pointed out, Nathan Lane was my only excitement, but wow... this production was hilarious and beautiful. I hope Mac releases some form of the text because that would be fantastic to read.

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 6/6/19 at 9:40am

I cannot understand why The Prom is so successful. Is it just one of those shows where the songs suck? I have tried to listen to the soundtrack 5 times now, and I can't get past It's Not About Me. The songs with the actors are so over the top and pretentious, and the songs with the teenagers are so inorganic and insipid.

[broadway86]

Posted: 6/6/19 at 9:43am

Burn This for the surprising lack of nuance by Mr. Driver, and the lack of general stagecraft by Ms. Russell.

Network for turning Chayefsky's cracking screenplay into a stultifying night of theatre, outside of Mr. Cranston's performance. I hope that Ms. Maslany's next stage role yields more positive results.

I can't say that Beetlejuice was a disappointment, because I wasn't expecting much. Having said, aside from a couple dynamo performances (Caruso, Kritzer) and the astonishing technical aspects, I was surprised by how hollow and unfunny it was.

Updated On: 6/6/19 at 09:43 AM

[Iamme2]

Posted: 6/6/19 at 10:06am

Hadestown / nothing fresh on stage . Don’t get the hype

[Skip23]

Posted: 6/6/19 at 10:18am

magictodo123 said: "Don't jump down my throat, but...Kiss Me, Kate! I just couldn't get into it. I loved some of the songs and there were standout performances, of course, but I didn't enjoy it. "

 

I didnt mention this but I knew it wouldnt match any expectation going in  It’s directed by Scott Ellis - a major musicals assassin  

 

[InTheBathroom1]

Posted: 6/6/19 at 4:04pm

I was so excited for Girl From The North Country but thought it was an absolute bore and quite pointless.  The musical performances were great but nothing ever came together in any kind of satisfying way.

[astorian_ofthe_heart]

Posted: 6/6/19 at 4:28pm

Definitely agree that This Ain't No Disco was a huge disappointment I expected so much better. Also disappointments: Tootsie and Superhero. For Superhero, I was expecting Tom Kitt to blow me out of the water with his songs, but the show just didn't come together. That book by John Logan was surprisingly weak. With Tootsie, I was skeptical about the premise but hopeful because of David Yazbek. Ugh. What a letdown.

Beetlejuice, The Prom, and The Cher Show were the biggest surprises for me. I went in expecting to hate/tolerate them, and ended up loving them. 

[Rainah]

Posted: 6/6/19 at 5:16pm

The Prom. I SO BADLY want to enjoy a musical with queer women as the central characters. I can't get through the lyrics. They're... not great.

[Sauja]

Posted: 6/6/19 at 5:29pm

There were productions I liked far, far less, but given my love of Van Hove, Cranston, and the source material, I expected Network to be brilliant, and I ended up finding it flat, boring, and not all that well acted. Maslany was way off. Goldwyn was flat. And Cranston...yes, he was very good. But by the word on the street, I was expecting to be blown away. Maybe my expectations were just set too high. 

 

And then even though I had very low expectations as it was, that first preview of Pretty Woman was stultifying. I can't believe it made it to NY. I can't believe it's still running. I can't believe poor Eric Andersen has to rap. It's one thing to go in thinking something won't be good and having your expectations matched (King Kong). But when you don't think it's going to be good, and it STILL manages to shock you with its awfulness. That's some extra level bad!

[RWPrincess]

Posted: 6/6/19 at 7:36pm

Disappointing:

Alice By Heart

The Ferryman--I think it should have been 2 Acts and also think the 3rd Act didn't connect well to the 1st two. That said I do think it was a good play and it does deserve its Tony nominations.

Hadestown: Didn't hate it but also didn't love it

Exceeded Expectations:

Burn This--Great performances all around and a decent payoff at the end

Yiddish Fiddler

Tootsie

Pretty Woman--I don't think this was awful. I think it was a good screen to stage adaptation however, the music was forgettable.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 6/6/19 at 10:41pm

Broadway-The Cher Show. There's a reason it got so few nods. It was better in Chicago and that isn't saying much. The book is atrocious. When you find yourself bored in a show about Cher, you screwed the pooch. The costumes, choreo are divine and SJB is giving a master class. Aside from that, a snooze. You can even tell the ensemble is tired, bored and over it from their Instagram posts. A totally lost opportunity. They should have waited until she passed so she wasn't sticking her nose in it. They tacked on that tacky Mamma Mia finale because Cher demanded it. 

Off-Broadway. Daddy. What a steaming turd. It sold out the run prior to opening based on Cumming, promised nudity and a pool. The set was best part. A convoluted mess. They need to stop giving that kid so much money and let his words speak for themselves without all the bells and whistles. We'll see what he does next. 

[cougarnewtin]

Posted: 6/6/19 at 11:24pm

What I saw this season (on Broadway; off is a whole different conversation):
-Straight White Men
-Spongebob
-The Ferryman
-Torch Song
-The Play That Goes Wrong
-The Waverly Gallery
-Hillary and Clinton
-Hadestown
-Burn This
-Oklahoma

I’m not gonna comment on Spongebob and Play because those are from past seasons (though I will say... I may be in the minority but the schtick of Play That Goes Wrong got old REAL quick for me).

The biggest disappointments I’d say for me were Waverly Gallery and Hillary and Clinton. Waverly had some great performances but I REALLY did not like the script of the show (with the exception of Hedges’ final monologue and a few heartbreaking lines from Joan Allen’s character). Hillary and Clinton just felt... flat to me. I won’t judge it too harshly because I did see the show while battling a cold and wasn’t in such a great mood going into it, but I just did not enjoy this show at all.

Straight White Men of course wasn’t all that great, but I didn’t expect anything going on. Still, it remains to be among the worst shows I’ve ever seen on Broadway.

[uncageg]

Posted: 6/6/19 at 11:30pm

Alex Kulak2 said: "I cannot understand why The Prom is so successful. Is it just one of those shows where the songs suck? I have tried to listen to the soundtrack 5 times now, and I can't get past It's Not About Me. The songs with the actors are so over the top and pretentious, and the songs with the teenagers are so inorganic and insipid."

Yes, I am going there.... The show does not have a soundtrack but it does have an Original Broadway Cast Recording (OBCR)

 

Updated On: 6/7/19 at 11:30 PM

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 6/7/19 at 12:14am

Highlights:

Waverly Gallery

All My Sons

TKAM

Fiddler 

Music of Hadestown/Book of Tootsie

 

Lowlights:

Ink

Network

[bandit964]

Posted: 6/7/19 at 12:48am

Disappointed by:
-Ink
-The B Side...


Far exceeded my expectations:
-Octet
-Frankie & Johnny...

[blaxx]

Posted: 6/7/19 at 1:03am

A lot of posters here made Tootsie sound like the second coming during its out of town run.

I thought the score sounded as if Yazbek remembered it was due the night before, quickly gathered a few songs from his scrap book and tried to put something coherent together last minute. 

The book was like the pilot of a sitcom that doesn't get picked up.

It was on of the laziest shows I've seen. 

[NOWaWarning]

Posted: 6/7/19 at 1:47am

Beetlejuice. Great source material. Great cast. Great design. Bad writing.

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 6/7/19 at 6:41am

I'll also mention the disappointing Encores! season. Every show was IMO very sub-par.

[SisterGeorge]

Posted: 6/7/19 at 12:57pm

bandit964 said: "Disappointed by:
-Ink
-The B Side...


Far exceeded my expectations:
-Octet
-Frankie & Johnny..."

Act I of "Ink" exceeded my expectations, but Act II disappointed (it got so preachy)

Going to "Octet" end of June with great expectations...hope I'm not disappointed.

 

Updated On: 6/7/19 at 12:57 PM