Women On The Verge - Early Previews Questions- Page 2

[tazber]

Posted: 8/28/11 at 2:15pm

The review was from Whizzer as I recall. I thought it was extremely fair and not at all ruthless. It wasn't even snarky. It was honest and sincere.

Anyway, that thread is a really great read if you want to see how the show evolved over the preview period.

Once you get to the point where Kyle4 starts posting you can stop reading. It's just standard message board b.s. from there through the duration.

But those first few pages are worth reading if you're interested in the early shows.

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 8/28/11 at 2:17pm

I think a lot of the early negativity was especially because of the shock of the show not being as fantastic as everyone thought it was going to be. And because it really improved during previews, by all accounts.

[tazber]

Posted: 8/28/11 at 2:22pm

I just re-read Whizzer's review. It was more negative than I remember. I wouldn't call it ruthless, but I get your point After Eight.

Here is the link to the thread. First major review is on page 3.
WOTV preview thread

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 8/28/11 at 2:26pm

bwayfan- I agree. Expectations were very high for this show from the get go, so it's not surprising people were a bit let down after the technical problem ridden preview period. This show really should have had an out of town try out. I can't help but think how much they could have benefited from that. I guess since it was a limited engagement they didn't want to do that though. I'm really hoping this will get some productions at theatres around the country in the 2012-2013 seasons.

Updated On: 8/28/11 at 02:26 PM

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 8/28/11 at 4:11pm

The show may have improved a bit but it really was a mess. n interesting mess, mostly because of the talent involved, but the book was just terrible, very uneven and it lost poor Sherie Renee who should have been the star, not LuPone or Benanti, once they were cast the show lost any balance or storyline to follow. I did enjoy the score at the time but the production was not up to the music.

I doubt we will see any regional or other productions because the book needs to be re-thought out from start to finish. The music can live in Cabarets etc. but there is really no show there to revive, IMO, (people probably said that about CARRIE too).

[ljay889]

Posted: 8/28/11 at 4:46pm

Once the rights are released by MTI, I highly doubt there will be NO regional/amateur productions ever done. Some gutsy regional theaters will certainly give it a shot.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 8/28/11 at 4:54pm

I think a lot of regional theatres will jump on it. After all, the theatre world is full of ego. There are MANY a director who think they will be able to re-envision it more successfully.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 8/28/11 at 5:31pm

Are they considering releasing the rights?

[aasjb4ever]

Posted: 8/28/11 at 6:01pm

The day after the show closed, it was announced MTI picked up the rights and a cast recording would happen.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 8/28/11 at 6:37pm

^ Yup! I really do think this has the potential to do very well in regional theatres. It will be interesting what the show is like without the flying, treadmills, and projections.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 8/28/11 at 6:41pm

I doubt we will see any regional or other productions because the book needs to be re-thought out from start to finish.

Completely disagree. Pepa does not need to be the "starring" role. Otherwise, they'd need to change the title of the show. Pepa is still at the center of the story, just as in the film. The musical just expanded a bit on the subtext and motivations of the characters by setting them to song. But it was never really the story of Pepa. It was always a comedic exploration on the variations of love and heartbreak from a woman's perspective.

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 8/28/11 at 7:23pm

I saw the show pretty early on in previews, and while I found it enjoyable, it was kind of a mess.

I love Yazbek's score though and I listen to the cast recording all the time. I think the biggest problem was not the book, but rather the production. That monster of a set especially was just...too much. I think if they had done an out of town tryout and had more time to work with and refine it, then maybe it could have worked, but as it stood when I saw the show it was just distracting and ineffective. I also felt that a lot of the impressive talent onstage (namely Sherie Rene Scott, Brian Stokes Mitchell, and Danny Burstein) were underused. The only performances that really made any sort of impression for me were LuPone and Benanti...no fault of the actors, all of whom I love, but perhaps the fault of the writing or the direction.

I would definitely be interested to see a regional production of it, if only to see if the show holds up better with a simplified production design. The score is so fantastic but most of it kind of faded away in the background because of the craziness of the visuals onstage...I didn't fully appreciate it until I got the CD and listened to it.

Also re: My Crazy Heart, I love the song and I thought the staging was interesting (as others have said, it began with Pepa on the rotating bed during the overture and then all the women entered one by one), but my first thought when I heard Madrid open the second act was that it would work better as an opening number.

I think it's a fascinating show and I can appreciate that they tried to do something different, but a lot of elements of it just didn't work, at least for me.