rOcKS @ 'Next to Normal'- Page 5

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 3/28/09 at 6:52pm

"Thank goodness we have you to let us know these things, WAT. Maybe we shouldn't even bother waiting until June to hand out the awards, since you're so sure. And really, what's the point of mentioning the WSS revival in this thread, which has absolutely NOTHING to do with that show?"

I mentioned WSS in response to Jaystarr's mention of HAIR in the post right before yours. Believe me, if he hadn't brought up Best Revival of a Musical in this thread, I wouldn't have either.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 3/28/09 at 6:56pm

Were you at N2N last night, WAT? What did you think?

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 3/28/09 at 6:56pm

"Wat... you really think "WSS" is "brilliant"? Gotta very respectfully disagree with you. I thought the women were good (Olivo the best, by far), but the rest was very underwhelming, at least for me."

Do I think the WSS as a show is brilliant? Yes. Do I love this revival, but realize it has some flaws? Of course. The pacing is off, the costumes aren't good, and yes, the ensemble could butch it up a little. But it is still a solid (and very enjoyable) revival. Olivo was excellent (save for America), but I truly enjoyed Matt and Josefina's performances as well.


...and now back to N2N...Alice Ripley for the Tony!

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 3/28/09 at 7:04pm

Agreed.

I hope it proves to pose a huge threat in the Best Score category as well. I DREAMED A DANCE makes me bawl like a baby.

Oh, I forgot to mention THERE'S A WORLD. I thought that was Aaron's best moment. I'M ALIVE was great but THERE'S A WORLD was so eerie and haunting yet incredibly moving. Vocally, it was his best moment, and it was the moment in the show where I felt like he was connecting the best with his role. It just felt so real.

I'm just so proud of this creative team for believing in this material for so long. Like I said, I've been following it for years and I'm so happy that it's so great now and finally on Broadway where it should be. Here's hoping it stays a while.

Updated On: 3/28/09 at 07:04 PM

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 3/28/09 at 7:11pm

I really liked NEXT TO NORMAL. I had seen it twice off Broadway, once in DC and now this first preview on Broadway.

My favorite actors in the show are by far Alice Ripley and Aaron Tveit. Both are fantastic and I do hope Alice wins and that Aaron gets a nomination.

Do I think it is "brilliant"? No. I really like a lot of the score, but I found that last night, I was looking for "buttons" to end each song, and found that most kind of trailed off, which annoyed me. "I Miss the Mountains" was good, but I feel like I've heard Alice sing it better. My two favorite songs in the show "Superboy and the Invisible Girl" and "I'm Alive" were outstanding.

For me, it is a very solid, good show, and I am happy for the cast that they have made it to Broadway. However, I was never moved like I was during BILLY ELLIOT or THE STORY OF MY LIFE. I think I enjoyed it the most when I saw it in Washington, DC (i know the show is VERY similar to the DC run right now, but I'm just stating my opinion).

I was in row C in the mezz, which was a great view to take in the show and see all three levels of the set. I thought the audience would be more enthusiastic than they were (since this show has a lot of fans from the show's prevous runs), but again, maybe if there were more points in the show for applause, the audience would have been able to erupt and react more. Even Jill Santoriello made changes to her songs in A TALE OF TWO CITIES so that the ends of the songs had "buttons" to allow for more enthusiastic audience reactions. I know that NEXT TO NORMAL was already recorded, but I would not be opposed to Tom Kitt making a few changes to allow for this. (the 13 cast recording was done early and does not totally reflect on the "final" score)

I have not yet seen Allison Janney's performance in 9 TO 5, but from what I've seen so far, I would give Alice Ripley the Tony right now. She is giving a wonderful performance and deserves to win.

So, overall, I enjoyed myself, but would be completely shocked if it beats BILLY ELLIOT for the Tony Award. BILLY is a much better crafted show that (i believe) has more mass appeal. If NEXT TO NORMAL wants to last beyond mid-June, I hope their marketing/advertising people start working on a campaign soon. I do feel like it will be a hard-sell to tourists, but I am definitely interested to see how this show will fare in this economy. I do wish them the best of luck.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 3/28/09 at 7:19pm

So, overall, I enjoyed myself, but would be completely shocked if it beats BILLY ELLIOT for the Tony Award. BILLY is a much better crafted show that (i believe) has more mass appeal. If NEXT TO NORMAL wants to last beyond mid-June, I hope their marketing/advertising people start working on a campaign soon. I do feel like it will be a hard-sell to tourists, but I am definitely interested to see how this show will fare in this economy. I do wish them the best of luck.

I totally agree with this. Except, I thought N2N was superior to BILLY (not by much though). BILLY has wider appeal and like I said, this year especially, it's going to be EXTREMELY hard for a show like N2N to win Best Musical. With the recession, the committee is much more likely to award 9 TO 5 or BILLY because they both have wider touring appeal and tourist appeal.

If the Tonys play out the way we all expect them to, say you're an Average Joe from West Virginia walking down 45th Street and you see N2N with a sign that says "TONY WINNER- BEST ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL" and BILLY with a sign that says "TONY WINNER- BEST MUSICAL OF THE YEAR"...which are you going to go to? They really need that Tony Award for Best Musical. It would help a whole, whole lot.

And it's not like N2N is like XANADU in terms of material. It's not like people are going to go see it to spend 90 minutes in a theater to have a fun time. N2N is very deep, dark, and really not similar at all to RENT or SPRING AWAKENING as people have been unfairly comparing them. Will people pay to go see something like N2N in a recession like this? I mean, realistically, there's just no way. Not with WICKED, LION KING, and JERSEY BOYS not being able to sell out. Granted, it's a relatively cheap show to produce. But still...

Like I said, it may run a while, but will it recoup? Very doubtful. For the millionth time, nothing would make me happier than to be proved wrong. It's a tough sell...best of luck to the marketing team. They have a tough job ahead of them.
Updated On: 3/28/09 at 07:19 PM

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 3/28/09 at 7:27pm

Thank you, Wickedrocks, for your response.

I completely agree with you that N2N is unlike XANADU in terms of material. Yes, N2N is deep, dark and thought-provoking, unlike XANADU, which was pure fluff that somehow managed to garner positive reviews.

I also agree that it's unfair to compare N2N to RENT and SPRING AWAKENING. Thank you for mentioning that.

I am so glad that while you love the show, you are also very realistic in how you think it will fare among WICKED, JERSEY BOYS, etc etc. I really look forward to seeing what the marketing team will do with N2N, and frankly, I hope it works out for them.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 3/28/09 at 7:45pm

wickedrocks ~ I didn't mean that they hadn't met up since then. But the out of town thing meant that they were together a lot more consistently. Kind of like camp but without the cabins. (Sorry for the delay...I had to do a couple of things.)

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 3/28/09 at 7:50pm

Jordangirl, I was actually responding to bjh2114. Sorry!

[jordangirl]

Posted: 3/28/09 at 7:54pm

Oh, ok. :)

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 3/28/09 at 8:55pm

When I was mentioning Billy Elliot, [tos] and The Story of My Life I wasn't making predictions about who would be nominated for best musical at the Tonys. I realize Story won't be eligible and [tos] may not even be nominated. All I was saying was that I thought that all three were better musicals/productions.

I still liked Next to Normal. I think it is a good show. I'm just not raving about it the way I quite frankly wanted to. Maybe my expectations were too high, having already enjoyed it at 2nd Stage.

I do believe that the producers really need to work on the marketing of this show. The subject material already makes it a tough sell and I'm seeing NO advertising around town. They can't wait for the reviews to come out. Just get posters and signs up now.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 3/28/09 at 9:02pm

I completely agree on that point about the marketing.

They should get the show out there as soon as possible...especially considering the fact that they had such a short time for advance sale to build up.

[KingKong]

Posted: 3/28/09 at 9:06pm

When I was mentioning Billy Elliot, [tos] and The Story of My Life I wasn't making predictions about who would be nominated for best musical at the Tonys. I realize Story won't be eligible and [tos] may not even be nominated. All I was saying was that I thought that all three were better musicals/productions.

I knew what you were saying, i still found it hilarious.

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 3/28/09 at 9:09pm

Thought I should weigh in on N2N. imho, this is the best musical to open on Bway this year. It isn't perfect, but with the changes made on the journey of the show, I have hopes that it could get there. The only thing I suspect will still be there on opening night that shouldn't is J. Robert Spencer. If they made the difficult choice to recast that role in previews, I think half the problems of the show would disappear. Ripley is giving a not-to-be-missed performance. Damiano is also extremely strong. I think the actor playing Henry has made quite a journey. When I saw the show at Second Stage, he was the weak link, and he is absolutely and utterly charming now. As everyone has mentioned, Tveit is turning it out like a pro.

As much as I adored Billy Elloitt, Next to Normal has more social impact and has a much better score. I don't envy Tony voters this year, but I'd love to see Ripley, Kitt, and Tveit win Tonys.

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 3/28/09 at 9:09pm

Thought I should weigh in on N2N. imho, this is the best musical to open on Bway this year. It isn't perfect, but with the changes made on the journey of the show, I have hopes that it could get there. The only thing I suspect will still be there on opening night that shouldn't is J. Robert Spencer. If they made the difficult choice to recast that role in previews, I think half the problems of the show would disappear. Ripley is giving a not-to-be-missed performance. Damiano is also extremely strong. I think the actor playing Henry has made quite a journey. When I saw the show at Second Stage, he was the weak link, and he is absolutely and utterly charming now. As everyone has mentioned, Tveit is turning it out like a pro.

As much as I adored Billy Elloitt, Next to Normal has more social impact and has a much better score. I don't envy Tony voters this year, but I'd love to see Ripley, Kitt, and Tveit win Tonys.

[fellfromthesun]

Posted: 3/28/09 at 9:51pm

"Are the lyrics of "I've Been" similar to the ones that were in the workshop. (It's on the forbidden site), because the combination of those lyrics, that music, and norber'ts singing made my heart skip a couple of beats, absolutely breathtaking. "

"I've Been" is pretty different from that version. It's trimmed down almost halfway and Gabe has a small vocal part in it. Although i miss the full version from the NYMF days, this version is still one of my favorite moments in the show becase of
1. How well written of a song it is and
2. It really gives us insight from Dan's point of view, where as most of the show is really Diana's.

Both "I've Been" and "I Am The One" Reprise are where Spencer's performance truly shines. His delivery in the line "But i've never been alone...I could never be alone" always gives me chills and tears and the same time.

I still miss the "I've Been" Reprise that was after the "I Am The One" Reprise in the NYMF version, but with the changes to the ending, it wouldn't really make sense anyway.

[KingKong]

Posted: 3/28/09 at 9:53pm

Although i miss the full version from the NYMF days, this version is still one of my favorite moments in the show becase of

OMG the NYMF version of I've Been was to die for. I loved it so much. But this version is definitely great too, and fits really well with where the show has ended up (i really like that they put the song back in and still included some of the more poignant lines a la "mine is just a slower suicide")

[fellfromthesun]

Posted: 3/28/09 at 10:06pm

It's definitely still one of (if not my number one) favorite in the show. I just think it's such an amazing song and the extra verses in the NYMF version make it feel "complete" to me. Maybe i just feel it is too good of a song to only last the 2 and a half minutes it does. But hey, as you said, i'm just so happy they added the song back in. After i saw it at Second Stage, i emailed Tom Kitt asking why the song wasn't included and he responded by saying
"The song was a difficult cut to make because we truly love that song, but we found that we were not needing to hear from Dan in that way and the song was halting the action a bit too much."

I'm glad the creative team thought it was important to hear from Dan at that point, because i think it's such a pivotal moment in the show for his character.

[KingKong]

Posted: 3/28/09 at 10:09pm

definitely, and Spencer is great in it. If he gets a tony nomination (which i think is possible) it will thanks to that song and the reprise of I Am the One. I swear, the moment he acknowledges Gabe's presence, I lose my mind, every time. And as much as I loved Brian's performance, Spencer takes it a completely different level emotionally.

[fellfromthesun]

Posted: 3/28/09 at 10:15pm

What was even more touching to me than his acknowledgment of Gabe (which was incredible) was right after Natalie comes in and their dialogue finishes right before "Light". Dan just literally breaks down and sobs in his chair. It was such a moment of truth on that stage and my eyes immediately filled up with tears.

I can't get over how good this show was and how much it's improved from an already stunning show.

[KingKong]

Posted: 3/28/09 at 10:17pm

Now, if they'd just fix the amplification, it would perfect.

[fellfromthesun]

Posted: 3/28/09 at 10:19pm

Yes, definitely. It wasn't unbearable, but fixing the sound issues will only add to how great the show is.
I would've liked to hear the strings more too...they seemed to be very low in the mix of things.

[broadwaygirl99]

Posted: 3/29/09 at 12:01am

I saw it tonight and I thought it was great! Aaron was fantstic and I really hope he gets a nomination, I have been a huge fan of his ever since he was first in Hairspray and I want to see him get imense success. Alice was really, really good. She makes you feel her pain and he truobles and is so emotional. She goes on an amazing journey and she acts it fantastically, shes so powerful. Jennifer as imporoved alot from when it was off broadway and I really think that she will get a nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She plays the part less like a drugy girl who has occasional sarcasim, she really feels the character and acts and sings beautifully. J.Robert Spencer was the weakest link of the show. I feel like he didnt have any connection to anyone and he was just going though the motions. He singing was ok and his acting wasnt that good, overall he just doesnt compare to Brian who I really think should have done this and not Shrek.the score was great and I loved all the songs expecailly I'm Avlive and I Am the One. Overall I would give it 4 out of 5 stars because the lacking performance of Spencer and the unsableness of Act Two.

[Testing1232]

Posted: 3/29/09 at 12:35am

< ...and now back to N2N...Alice Ripley for the Tony! >>

Oh yes !!!! And she WILL win it !!!!! :))

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 3/29/09 at 12:00pm

Hopefully! I just don't see how Janney can win. She's funny and endearing in 9 TO 5 but Ripley is simply incomparably good.