Posted: 7/10/07 at 10:13pm
Definitely a money review, but he does have some slightly negative words to say.
Hey as long as I can look at something other than a 'quote' from Perez mediawhore Hilton on my walk to work I'm fine with them pulling out even the negative words from their reviews. :)
Posted: 7/10/07 at 10:14pm
***********************
1. Word of Mouth (Audri, Cindi & Randi)- POSITIVE
2. NY1 News (Roma Torre)- POSITIVE
3. NY Variety (David Rooney) -RAVE
4. Talkin' Broadway (Matthew Murray)- POSITIVE
5. Hollywood Reporter (Frank Schneck)- NEGATIVE
6. Associated Press (Michael Kuchawara) - RAVE
7. NY Times (Charles Isherwood)- POSITIVE
****
RAVE-2
Positive-4
Mixed-
Negative-1
Updated On: 7/10/07 at 10:14 PM
Posted: 7/10/07 at 10:16pm
Posted: 7/10/07 at 10:18pm
Mr. Roberts possesses a polished deadpan style, but Mr. Beane’s inspiration seems to have failed him when it came to minting fresh fun from the subplot involving flashbacks to Danny’s 1940s romance.
The stage “Xanadu” can’t really muster much in the way of an extravaganza, either, despite Dan Knechtges’s mercilessly cheesy choreography and the music director Eric Stern’s zesty pop arrangements. (For those attuned to higher musical planes, yes, he is that Eric Stern.)
The production is skimpy on both the casting and design fronts.
A few dozen audience members are seated onstage, but this device, used effectively in “Spring Awakening,” seems less an aesthetic choice than an economic one here. With a cast of just 10 and minimal sets (the designer David Gallo seems to have blown much of the budget on disco balls), “Xanadu” uses these onstage viewers as unpaid extras and space-filling, mildly animated scenery.
Posted: 7/10/07 at 10:19pm
Posted: 7/10/07 at 10:19pm
As for NY Times- I think I will go with POSITIVE....he does really say .. its the best show! I agreed with Anakeela with some points... I re-edit it...
J*
Updated On: 7/10/07 at 10:19 PM
Posted: 7/10/07 at 10:21pm
J*
No it is not. Do you know what a rave is? It is when they go on and on and on about how amazing the show is how their are no faults and how it is one of the best pieces of theater- all of that without hesitations. That was definitely not WORD OF MOUTH. It is positive.
Posted: 7/10/07 at 10:22pm
I would call the Times review a Rave to a Positive.
Updated On: 7/10/07 at 10:22 PM
Posted: 7/10/07 at 10:22pm
::gasp:: YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
im sure these reviews will leave this joyous romp "suspended in time"...
Updated On: 7/10/07 at 10:22 PM
Posted: 7/10/07 at 10:23pm
Still, nothing to scoff at. When I first saw this a couple of weeks ago, remembering what people were saying, how can they bring this without Jane, it's gonna be such crap, etc, and having the time of my life, realizing how much everyone who goes is enjoying this show, and as time went on, more and more thinking this was gonna get awesome reviews. It appears that seems to be the case.
I'm so happy. Murray was right (that's a phrase I never thought I'd use), this show has extreme talent in every department. I already have my first onstage seat for July 31. When was the last time such a "fun", not trying to be "high-art" show has gotten great reviews?
Posted: 7/10/07 at 10:25pm
Posted: 7/10/07 at 10:25pm
'Heaven on wheels' -The New York Times
Posted: 7/10/07 at 10:36pm
Must go back!!
And sit on stage!!
LIVE THAT LESSON!!!!!!
Posted: 7/10/07 at 10:40pm
Posted: 7/10/07 at 10:46pm
The simple reason is that only the doltish could fail to improve on something so awful -- and the Xanadu creative team, headed by playwright Douglas Carter Beane and director Christopher Ashley, is clearly not a convention of dolts. Indeed, they have taken the movie's bare essentials and transformed them into a cute 85-minute spoof that works more effectively than all but the strongest believers might ever have hoped
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The pair [Testa and Hoffman] proves to be true comic-relief figures, much as Cinderella's step-sisters are sight-and-sound gags in many versions of that fairy tale. (Strengthening the allusion, there's a moment when Sonny gloms on to one of Clio's roller skates, leaving Clio to flee with only one skate.) As for the always terrific Testa and the terrific-when-she-wants-to-be Hoffman, their broads-being-broad tandem act is a sight to behold and revel in.
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Butler is pretty and properly silly as Clio -- often speaking with an Olivia Newton-John-affected Australian accent. Jackson, temporarily subbing for an injured James Carpinello, is an appealingly forthright Sonny. (Editor's Note: Jackson will be out of the show from July 17-27, due to a prior commitment. The role will be played by ensemble members Andre Ward and Curtis Holbrook during that period.) Tony Roberts, who never disappoints, is likeable as the gruff Danny Maguire, the disco's owner and Clio's former flame, as well as Clio's dad, the gruffer Zeus.
#################################################################
Xanadu may irk musical comedy lovers who wish the genre's current craftsmen would move forward rather then offering self-referential backward glances. And this piece ups the ante not only by mocking tired conventions of live musicals but celluloid ones as well. Beane even anticipates the criticism by giving Zeus a stentorian speech that goes in part, "The theater? They'll just take some stinkeroo movie or some songwriter's catalogue, throw it on a stage and call it a show." That's just what these dapper folks have done. And eureka! They've created a confection the actual Mount Olympus muses are likely smiling on this very minute
http://www.theatermania.com/content/news.cfm/story/11110
Posted: 7/10/07 at 11:09pm
Posted: 7/10/07 at 11:15pm
So that makes:
RAVE-3
Positive-4
Mixed-
Negative-1
Posted: 7/10/07 at 11:18pm
Posted: 7/10/07 at 11:21pm
Updated On: 7/10/07 at 11:21 PM
Posted: 7/10/07 at 11:22pm
Posted: 7/10/07 at 11:23pm
And I feel bad for any lead actress that has to be up against Jenna Russell - who will without a doubt receive the same praise for SUNDAY that she did in London.
Posted: 7/11/07 at 12:00am
Posted: 7/11/07 at 12:01am
Posted: 7/11/07 at 12:06am
Updated On: 7/11/07 at 12:06 AM
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