Xanadu First Preview- Page 5

[fengshuihellnyc]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 12:53pm

and as far as there being a "RULE" about reviews.... actually it has always been after opening that it is acceptable to give a review. Has been since the beginning of time of broadway theatre, perhaps longer.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 12:57pm

Actually, Fab, I didn't pay for the show.

feng: I AM NOT A PROFESSIONAL CRITIC! OBVIOUSLY! There are no "rules" when it comes to expressing your opinion. Just because this is in black and white on the internet doesn't make it anymore real or threatening than if I had just SAID these thoughts.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 12:57pm

that "rule" about only reviewing shows on or after opening night is for professional critics only. since the age of the internet, everyone is now allowed to "review" shows at the invited dress, the first preview, or any performance we attend and many people will get to see it. if you want to enforce your "rule" of only reviewing shows on or after opening, you're going to have to destroy the Internet...and that's not going to happen.

[fengshuihellnyc]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 1:02pm

I knew someone was going to pull the Its only for critics/internet thing. Uhmmmm well wouldn't that make anyone on a website a critic... be it official or unofficial. So that would apply to everyone... and even if you don't go by that standard... it is proper Etiquette!

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 1:07pm

So then even if my comments were nice, I shouldn't have said anything?

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 1:07pm

i am NOT a critic. my reviews on this board are not seen in national newspapers and my reviews do not affect ticket sales on shows. i LOVE theater and will continue to post my thoughts on first previews for the rest of my life. if you don't like it, don't read them.

[jaystarr]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 1:16pm

well- I think of this in terms of : You see someone you know in the street and talked about Broadway shows and you mentioned "Hey I am going to see Xanadu this Sunday" and that person replied..I have seen it on its first preview and it sucks !

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 1:21pm

"well- I think of this in terms of : You see someone you know in the street and talked about Broadway shows and you mentioned "Hey I am going to see Xanadu this Sunday" and that person replied..I have seen it on its first preview and it sucks !"

and this has been happening for a long time now. those lucky few who attended the first preview of Bring Back Birdie on January 26, 1981 probably went home and told all their friends that it was crap and they shouldn't waste their time or their money on that show. it is impossible to stop people from expressing their opinions.

[jaystarr]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 1:27pm

EXACTLY !

Also- In my case (im sure most of us) I dont have that much friends nor co-workers
who love musicals and I cannot really discuss these things with them, nor to have
an intelligent conversation regarding "Xanadu" the musical. Thank God ! We have this website to say whatever we want.-J*
Updated On: 5/24/07 at 01:27 PM

[DAME]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 1:34pm

I understand the show sucked the big wad last night.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 1:37pm

"The high point of the show for me was watching the woman in the 1st row of on stage-seating (in the yellow) fall asleep."

LOL I've seen that happen in virtually every show I've ever attended, if not "on stage" seating, then front row seating. It happens everywhere all the time.

"and as far as there being a 'RULE' about reviews.... actually it has always been after opening that it is acceptable to give a review. Has been since the beginning of time of broadway theatre, perhaps longer."

Oh good grief! This has been discussed to death. munk did not write a professional review.

"I knew someone was going to pull the Its only for critics/internet thing. Uhmmmm well wouldn't that make anyone on a website a critic... be it official or unofficial. So that would apply to everyone... and even if you don't go by that standard... it is proper Etiquette!"

1 - In that case, if you see a show in previews and one of your friends asks you in person if you liked it, be sure not to say anything or even clue them in with a facial expression. Turn and walk away without a word or gesture so as not to indicate anything of any sort. Keep doing this until after opening night.

2 - Proper etiquette? This board can't even use proper grammar! What the hell were you expecting?

DAME - Sounds good to me!

PS - I pretty much guessed munk would use the words "trash" and "garbage" as well. The munk review-that-is-not-a-review was pretty much identical to what I believed it would be.

Needless to say, I cannot wait to see Xanadu!

[jaystarr]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 2:07pm

I'm alive - and the world shines for me today
I'm alive - suddenly I am here today


Updated On: 5/24/07 at 02:07 PM

[singingbackup]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 2:48pm

Thanks Munk and WAT for giving us a glimpse (be it bad or good) into what's happening over at the Helen Hayes. And for whomever said "a show doesn't change THAT much from previews to opening night" that often is NOT the case. Numbers are cut, performers replaced, new scenes added, etc.

For anyone in LA, who might remember. There was a brilliant send up of XANADU, produced by Amy Pietz called Xanadu Live! where they did the show verbatem, lypsincing the soundtrack, roller skates, the whole thing, all this in a 99 seat house. Read an interview with Amy Pietz and said they had gotten calls from all over with offers to produce this take on Xanadu. Perhaps this is where it got it's start. It was a huge hit here at the Gasco Center Theater.

[jaystarr]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 3:07pm

BTW- How did they do the beggining number "I'm Alive" ? Were they ( muses) a mural painting first then become alive ? How about those neon lights ?

I cant wait to see it-j*
Updated On: 5/24/07 at 03:07 PM

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 3:10pm

The must effect is actually pretty cool.

Sonny is drawing the muses on the floor before the show begins. Thanks to a huge, tilted mirror, we can see what he's drawing: all of the muses, etc. that are projected onto the floor. Once the show starts and things come to life, the projection actually changes to a video, so they're all actually moving. There's a trap door where the projections are. The projections disappear, the trap door opens, and the muses emerge from below.

It's a delightful enough effect - which is why I said - the first 2-5 minutes of the show are okay.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 3:11pm

All the muses come out of the painting from a trap door underneath the stage and they start singing the song. There is a large mirror, which I think I mentioned earlier, that is tilted so the audience can see the stage floor (where the painting is). The trap door opens from there and the muses come out of there and start the song.
Updated On: 7/11/07 at 03:11 PM

[jaystarr]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 3:19pm

Thanks guys !

So there is an overture ? (the part where Sonny is painting the muses before the "I'm Alive" number )Also Did someone mentioned earlier that its a 90 mins show without intermission?
Updated On: 5/24/07 at 03:19 PM

[SkierRob02]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 3:20pm

Do they glow? BEST part of the movie. Curious as to how they would do that on stage.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 3:25pm

No overture. Yes, 90 minutes. No glowing unfortunately.

[SkierRob02]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 3:37pm

Now that's it, no glowing, this show MUST be crap. How could you do Xanadu without the glowing. LOL Still excited to see it though.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 3:38pm

I can't believe someone actually designed those costumes. They look like 4th-rate party city halloween costumes.

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 3:41pm

My question is how did Dan Knechtges have time to coreograph 110 and Xanadu at the same time? They must have been rehearsing at the same time...

What were the costumes?

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 3:54pm

Well, neither 110 nor XANADU has much choreography. Most of XANADU's choreography is just flight patterns for the roller skates, though there is a tap number for the sexy Curtin Holbrook.

Kerry Butler looked like Tinkerbell. It was a cheap, pink, lacey thing. It was really ugly.

The muses were appropriately decked out like Greek Gods, but they just looked cheap. There are handfulls of other costumes. They're all supposed to be tacky - but they just look cheap.

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 4:02pm

If we cant critique the performance, can we critique the critiques of the performance? Or the critiques of the critiques of the critiques of the performance?

I'm so confused.....

But it really does sound hysterically bad. :)

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 4:03pm

Oh, and another thing. (I knew things would pop into my head like this).

In the finale, not everyone is on roller skates - namely, Mary Testa, Jackie Hoffman, and Tony Roberts. A huge cop out if you ask me. One of the BEST, most campy moments of the film is when Gene Kelly (in a suit) is leading the roller brigade at Xanadu.

The finale and the lack of choreography and pizazz is just one of the many things wrong with it.