john & jen - thoughts?

[em22]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 10:44am

Hey everyone,

I just bought a CD copy of john & jen and really like the score, but from some googling, I find it doesn't get great reviews.

Do other people like this show or is it just me? Why don't critics seem to like it?

[LostLeander]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 10:55am

Eh.
Carollee is awesome, but what else is new?
I feel like the music never rises above mediocrity.
I've listened to it 2 or 3 times, and I perhaps need another 2 or 3 times to get more into it.
It has it's moments, but you have mine through a fair amount of mediocrity to get to them.

[BrdwayBaby]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 11:35am

I really like John and Jen. I mean, yeah, I does have some songs that don't really work well, but then there are some that are great (ie, Run and Hide). I think it's a worthwhile show, and it has a good story. Definitly worth at least listening to.

[eslgr8]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 11:42am

I really wanted to like the score. I love Lippa's The Wild Party, and both Carolee Carmello and James Ludwig sing beautifully, but having listened to the CD 3 or 4 times, I still can't recall a single melody. Compare that to The Last Five Years, which truly stays in your head long after the CD player has been turned off. John and Jen: a disappointment for me. But...this is added to my original post, I have a feeling that if I saw it, I would like it as the story is very powerful and though the score doesn't resonate with me, the musical itself would, I believe.

Updated On: 3/22/05 at 11:42 AM

[judy_in_disguise]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 11:50am

It's an absolutely beautiful show.

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 12:42pm

That's really funny, because I was OBSESSED with this CD the first time I heard it, and listened to it many more times. Out of My Sight? Bye Room? Every Goodbye is Hello? Omigosh, I found so many songs that stuck with me immediately. And I agree, Carolee and James are unbelievable. Wish I could've seen this one.

[Tom1071]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 12:46pm

Just too much angst for my taste.

[bjivie2]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 2:23pm

I'm agreeing with most people that it's flawed and could be better. But Lippa writes really fantastic confrontation sequences and the end of Act I ios really great. Other than that, it gets stuck in the shadow of that other two person show (L5Y).

[wicked4life51]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 2:32pm

i love this show , i think its amazing to the most extent lol.Carolee is amazing and well there is a lot of songs and duets from that show for a tenor lol (_ive used a lot of them) so yeah its defiently a peice of art,i love it

[paradox_error]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 2:34pm

But Infinite, we always knew you had an affinity for great flops...

Never heard it, so otherwise I can't comment.

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 3:35pm

I don't feel like searching for it, but I started a "john & jen" appreciation thread about a month and a half ago.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 3:48pm

I saw it when it played off-Broadway. I never really liked it.

[dramafreak13]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 4:09pm

i love this show...combine lippa and jrb, you have something great :0)

[bjivie2]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 4:11pm

I heard that JRB and Lippa actually had a fallout during this show. They used to be great friends (JRB orchestrated John & Jen), but they started fighting or something during john & jen. Now I heard that they won't even let Last Five Years and john & jen be in the same season at a theatre or something crazy like that. Oh, the drama!

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 4:13pm

If that's true, it sucks.

[dramafreak13]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 4:15pm

yea, that does suck... espeically since they are my two of my fav composers. sigh...can't we all just get along?

[Gothampc]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 4:20pm

Any theater that does john & jen and L5Y in the same season should fire their Artistic Director. What a lame season that would be.

[TxTwoStep]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 6:19pm

interesting, the two shows just closed a run in repertory at a small theatre here in Houston.

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 6:20pm

Yes. Very interesting...

[BWayBoy88]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 9:31pm

I am in love with this show. I think the music is so good. The cast is flawless and I love the general concept for the show.

[Dextrous Existence]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 10:07pm

I love the show too. Carolee is great! In someways, I have to agree that it "doesn't really rise above mediocre". It's a great concept, but I haven't seen an awe-inspiring performance of it yet. However, there are many moments in the show, where they just make it brilliant.

[leomaxfrank]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 10:27pm

I think that a smart director could really make the show great and rather moving. Cause although the material is flawed - we all know plenty of shows with flawed material can be successful and entertaining.

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 10:41pm

I ordered this at Borders a couple of days ago.

[jmnpublications]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 11:09pm

I reviewed a very nice production of this by the Stoneham Theatre in Massachusetts recently. Here's the link:

https://www.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=2432

jmn

[Jon]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 11:40pm

Time to piss of some Carolee Carmello fans:

I'm musical director for an upcoming producton fo John & Jen, so I've been studying the socre and listening to the castr recording. Yes, the music is somewhat atonal or dischordant at times, but part of it is that Ms. Carmello is OFF-PITCH on many of her belted high notes. She has a vibrato which wavers back and forth between being on the pitch and being a quarter step flat. Check out the end of "The Road Ends Here" for example.

It's the Donna Murphy Syndrome.