Wonderland reviews?- Page 6

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 8:28am

It's not just verse; it's a parady of Jabberwocky which is from Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.

From what I hear, it sounds like the review is more clever than is the show!

[phantom39]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 9:07am

That "review" is just plain mean.

[Testing1232]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 9:50am

<< 6-9 months!?!?!? are you kidding me?
The show hasn't made OP costs yet (probably) and you think those reviews are going to jack up their tix sales? When they have to compete with Sister Act, Catch me if you can, Wicked, Mary Poppins, Lion King...all these family shows? If this show makes it past Labor Day Hell will have frozen over..

Economics people.>>

Agree, however, not sure that I would include "CMIYC" in this list (as much as I loved it)--- I dont think the same people that MIGHT want to take their family to see a show, would choose between "Wonderland" and "CMIYC"- The others, definitely.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 10:01am

Sister Act isn't exactly a "family friendly" show, either. While it's fine for kids, families etc., the show certainly isn't being marketed that way, as other kid friendly shows are.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 10:11am

I don't think Catch Me... would be a family show. I think parents would be much more likely to take their kids to Wonderland than Catch Me If You Can.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 10:13am

And keep in mind also that many many many tourists do not buy tickets ahead of time so when they find they're unable to get into WICKED or LION KING, they might take a chance on WONDERLAND.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 10:18am

I'm taking my kids (14 and 10) to CMIYC. They have no interest in seeing Wonderland.

If Wonderland makes it through the summer, I expect they may change their minds -- they have a July trip to plan.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 10:27am

The life of any Broadway musical after taking a critical blood bath depends on a lot of things - mainly, the advance, the reserve and the willingness of the producers to lose money if they feel its going to eventually be a word of mouth hit regardless of critical reception.

The thing that usually kills new musicals that get 'bad' reviews is a huge drop off in group sales orders. Family shows in particular. Unlike your single ticket orders, group sales groups also have the option of canceling their orders with just a few weeks advance notice.

This is basically what killed TARZAN, which initially had a much, much larger advance than WONDERLAND.

Some shows obviously get awful reviews and are able to thrive on either star power (THE ADDAMS FAMILY) or word of mouth (WICKED).

But WONDERLAND, I don't believe really can count either of those strongly in its corner. (The Word of mouth on WICKED, for the record, was immediate and passionate - like BOOK OF MORMAN it was a show that after only the first few previews was clearly going to be an audience phenomenon) - the reviews were really incidental).

It was already well documented that WONDERLAND had little advance and barely scraped together its reserve to get to opening night, so essentially the run of WONDERLAND is going to depend on the passion of their producers to keep it open (a clever marketing campaign aimed at summer tourists wouldn't hurt).

I wouldn't think the upcoming release of the cast recording would do much to spike sales - there isn't much of a market for showtunes at any time, but WONDERLAND in particular has already been available as a recording for quite a while
Updated On: 4/19/11 at 10:27 AM

[Anakela]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 10:46am

I just got an advance copy of the new OBCR of WONDERLAND today (It will be released May 3) - The tunestack is fun read but so far nothing has grabbed me musically. Are there any standout songs in this score?

Who sings Home on the OBCR- just Alice, or is it Alice/Chloe?

Once More I Can See is my favorite Alice song, I am obsessed with Shindle's I Will Prevail, and I have a soft spot for I Am My Own Invention.

Posted: 4/19/11 at 2:12pm

I saw the second preview. IT WAS AMAZING! Have not had that much fun since Wicked. Kate Shindle better win a Tony for her performance as The Mad Hatter!

[ACL2006]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 4:13pm

I think the bigger question is: which will close first; this or "Baby, It's You!"?? Will both stay open at least through the Tony Awards??

[bjh2114]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 4:13pm

^Haha, funny.

Anyway, here's the amNY review. Matt Windman gives it one star and pans it (surprise):

"There are many adjectives to describe the new musical “Wonderland,” a contemporary, vaguely ethnic variation on “Alice in Wonderland,” but “wonderful” is definitely not one of them. “Sappy,” “bizarre,” “misconceived,” “idiotic” or just plain “awful” would be far more appropriate.

...

On a purely visual level, director Gregory Boyd’s high-tech production makes for quite a spectacle, marked by extremely flashy costumes and video-game-style projections.

With its thoroughly nonsensical plot, bad jokes and largely distasteful score, however, “Wonderland” is nothing short of an unmitigated and embarrassing disaster.


http://www.amny.com/urbanite-1.812039/theater-review-wonderland-1-star-1.2825272

[goldenboy]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 12:02am

Well I saw it in Tampa in January and I said to my friend."They are going to kill this in New York."

Never in my wildest dreams (nightmares) did I imagine the reviews to be this scathing!

Never underestimate the cruelty of the New York Critic.

[fingerlakessinger]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 12:08am

This is weird. My friend has seen it 3 times in NYC (once with a date, another for a paper he is gonna write for college on musical themes and another with his parents) and he likes it (he gives it 6 out of 10) and says that the audiences every time he saw it went nuts. And that's all I have been really hearing from people is that the crowd is eating it up so I'm confused when people on here say the exact opposite. Who knows.

[philly03]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 12:11am

goldenboy: This is a 180 on the production you saw in Tampa '11. That version, though also not very good, was HEAPS better than what is playing on Broadway right now. (It was nothing trying to be like Wizard of Oz or the Wiz!)

[Anakela]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 12:57am

This is weird. My friend has seen it 3 times in NYC (once with a date, another for a paper he is gonna write for college on musical themes and another with his parents) and he likes it (he gives it 6 out of 10) and says that the audiences every time he saw it went nuts. And that's all I have been really hearing from people is that the crowd is eating it up so I'm confused when people on here say the exact opposite. Who knows.

I've seen it a couple more times than that, and I would agree with your friend's assessment of the audiences every time I've gone- a lot of "that was wonderful," "such a great choice," "we have to tell ______ and her daughter(s) to see this" talk overheard on the way out every time.

Honestly I wasn't surprised by most of the critiques of the book, but I'm still flat-out stunned by some of the reviews for Shindle, who has been deliciously evil and belty and flat-out amazing every time I've sen it.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 1:11am

***spoilers***


This is a 180 on the production you saw in Tampa '11. That version, though also not very good, was HEAPS better than what is playing on Broadway right now. (It was nothing trying to be like Wizard of Oz or the Wiz!)

I think the Wizard of Oz comparisons are reasonably valid. The ending was a little bit like The Wizard of Oz. Maybe not the book, but the 1939 movie for sure with it all turning out to be a dream.

And the whole concept of taking a fairytale and modernizing it is very much like The Wiz even though The Wiz probably wasn't the first to do that. And it's even more like the movie version with this also being set in an abstract New York City. Updated On: 4/20/11 at 01:11 AM

[goldenboy]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 3:47pm

I get the feeling the kids 10-15 really like it.
How old is your friend who saw it 3 times?

[Testing1232]

Posted: 4/20/11 at 5:17pm

I'm with Ana... saw it few more times than that as well- (My daughter is seeing for the 4th time tnite DW)- and the audience, for the most part, eats it up..

Yea, also thought the reviews for Shindle would be better, and also thought there would be more positive feedback for "One Knight", which everyone seems to love. I am curious how the reviews would have been for Morgan James, if she was the lead Alice?

[Anakela]

Posted: 4/22/11 at 1:13am

(My daughter is seeing for the 4th time tnite DW)

I don't even have a small child in my life who I can blame repeat Wonderland viewings on. :)


So I am loving Karen Mason's take on the reviews, in this new playbill.com interview (click thru to read the whole quote, but this beginning part, especially the Isherwood 'lack of voices' bit, was my favorite):

What does Mason make of some of the musical's less-than-stellar reviews? "I thought that they were," Mason pauses, "to be honest, a little cavalier about our show. I felt like they wanted to come in not liking it, and that was achieved. I think there are some really fine performers/performances in this show — really great Broadway performers. I read in the New York Times today, Charles Isherwood decrying the lack of voices, and yet not one of our voices was named — not one of the performers in our show was mentioned as having great voices. That's kind of two-faced, honestly. To say that there aren't these great voices, and yet here's an entire show of great voices, and yet nobody mentioned that. To me, it's so odd... I think with any Broadway show, you go in there with an open heart and you take from it what is given, and I think it's probably not a show that's going to change the fate of America or that's going to change all of musical theatre, but two hours of great entertainment is not a bad thing...

DIVA TALK: Catching Up With Wonderland Star Karen Mason Updated On: 4/22/11 at 01:13 AM

[BwayTday]

Posted: 4/22/11 at 1:21am

For the reviews not to mention the good points of the show (They exist. No matter how much you DIDN'T like about the show, there are good things there) is really ridiculous. I agree with her.

[dented146]

Posted: 4/22/11 at 1:57am

Wonderland is really up against it. With a slightly better economy, the season figures to have great potential. But this year visitors have much more from which to choose. I suspect that there will be a lot of very full theaters throughout the summer. Wonderland may do OK simply being the third or fourth choice for many people.

But for the long haul it has little chance.

[Testing1232]

Posted: 4/22/11 at 6:02pm

<<
(My daughter is seeing for the 4th time tnite DW)

I don't even have a small child in my life who I can blame repeat Wonderland viewings on. :)
>>>>

LOL !!! Shes going for #5 Tues.... ! :))

[My Name in Lights]

Posted: 4/22/11 at 8:06pm

I went the night before it officially opened with high hopes, but was very disappointed. The audience was packed and there seemed to be a group upstairs that was bussed in to lead the applause, but it had to be papered because the show just isn't that good. It's overblown with lighting effects and tries really hard to be the new blockbuster, but it isn't. It appears that all of the actors are trying hard,too, but the casting isn't good. The actress playing the lead isn't a strong enough performer to carry a show; I was more fascinated at her teeth which look as if she just came from the dentist after some sort of cosmetic fix which didn't turn out well. She isn't a strong enough actress to make you really care if her character gets home or not...the characters she meets are more interesting, but even they are all flash and not much substance. The male lead is bland and he looks more as if he were part of the Les Mis ensemble (one of my favorite shows)than this type of show. I was in the second row of the orchestra and another one of the actors was perspiring so badly, it was flying off his face as if it were spit, (it happens) but it was sweat. Although based on a classic, the updated adaptation is weak. Some of the punchlines you know before they say the words. Though not all bad, i.e., the costumes are really good, it tries too hard; a poor attempt to be the new "Wicked." I've seen Wicked many times and would see it again even after all these years, but would only tell die hard theatre fans to see Wonderland out of curiosity, and at a very deep discount...or not at all.

[philly03]

Posted: 4/22/11 at 8:29pm

My Name in Lights: It seems like you were very focused on the performers LOOKS.. which isn't really justifyable? Her teeth (why do teeth matter on stage), his sweat (did you see his dance routine while singing his high energy song?), doesn't look like a leading man, etc... I hope you aren't serious.

I think Janet Dacal proved she's no leading lady. It would've been interesting if they had actually kept Lauren Kennedy to do the role who did it in workshops. Or got someone with more experience for such a make it or break it show. To be fair she did hold her ground in the previous Tampa production in January... but I know the first go around she was swimming amongst other stand-outs.

To be fair, her character in this version with the writers just isn't likeable. Not only that there's no reason for her to be anywhere but home, so again, who cares? I and I think a lot of people would assert that the plot is so pointless and boring that it puts the show at such an uphill battle.

Perhaps the bus trip was a group of people from Tampa or Houston who were part of shaping the show... Though they were probably terribly depressed and disappointed after.