The Broadway show thread where we discuss all things Broadway

[JenM]

There weren't any technical difficulties when I saw Spiderman last April. Although I thought the show was so bad it seemed like the entire performance was one giant technical difficulty anyway...

I really hated that show. It's the first Broadway show I've even seen where I saw an usher have to start the applause after a song because the audience was so zoned out I don't think they realized the song had ended.

I saw it back before they closed it down for a few weeks and changed it...but honestly, outside of getting rid of the show and pretending the whole thing never happened, there is nothing they could have done with it to convince me it's worth coming back to try again.

 

[snapppyd]

There weren't any technical difficulties when I saw Spiderman last April. Although I thought the show was so bad it seemed like the entire performance was one giant technical difficulty anyway...

I really hated that show. It's the first Broadway show I've even seen where I saw an usher have to start the applause after a song because the audience was so zoned out I don't think they realized the song had ended.

I saw it back before they closed it down for a few weeks and changed it...but honestly, outside of getting rid of the show and pretending the whole thing never happened, there is nothing they could have done with it to convince me it's worth coming back to try again.

It was a little over 3 hours when we saw it, kind of excruciating! And the storyline, well, what storyline??

 

[gometros]

Saw Spiderman last night. Other than a few technical difficulties it was great.

I was there too and those technical difficulties cost about an hour in time to get it fixed. The biggest one was when they had a problem with the hydraulic lift and stopped the show for 45 minutes.

I was not at all impressed with the show. It was more apropos for a Theme park show than a Broadway musical. It seems all the effort was put on the special effects and they forget the musical part of musical theater. I love U2, but the songs left me with an 'eh' feeling. Nothing I can walk out of the theater humming. There was very little dance numbers. And what singing there was...some was hurtful to my ears. OMG one number that the Goblin did was just plain excruciating.

To make matters worse, I got stuck between an eight-year old on my left who could not sit still and a guy on my wife's right who thought that no cellphones meant to talking on the phone. I had to pointedly ask him at the beginning of the second act to turn the damn thing off.

Looking forward to Newsies in June.

 

[gometros]

I forgot one thing, what bugged me the most. They left a major plot point out of the story. The reason Peter Parker decides to do good as Spiderman is when he realizes the guy that killed his Uncle Ben was somebody he could have stopped earlier. They totally ignored that and just showed Uncle Ben getting killed by a car jacker.

 

[JenM]

It was a little over 3 hours when we saw it, kind of excruciating! And the storyline, well, what storyline??

Exactly! The friend I saw it actually hadn't seen any of the Spiderman movies previously and wasn't all that familiar with the character...at intermission she said she was actually having trouble following the story. That was how difficult they made that story, something that my 4-year-old nephew can figure out after watching a cartoon made no sense on stage.

And that was back before they changed it, when they still had a Geek Chorus and spiderwomen dancing in high heels. Seriously.

I forgot one thing, what bugged me the most. They left a major plot point out of the story. The reason Peter Parker decides to do good as Spiderman is when he realizes the guy that killed his Uncle Ben was somebody he could have stopped earlier. They totally ignored that and just showed Uncle Ben getting killed by a car jacker.

Is it a carjacker now? When I saw it, he got hit by car. They also left out the "With great power, comes great responsibility" line that's only...a major part of Spiderman's backstory. I know that was put back in with the updated version.

 

[snapppyd]

Exactly! The friend I saw it actually hadn't seen any of the Spiderman movies previously and wasn't all that familiar with the character...at intermission she said she was actually having trouble following the story. That was how difficult they made that story, something that my 4-year-old nephew can figure out after watching a cartoon made no sense on stage.

And that was back before they changed it, when they still had a Geek Chorus and spiderwomen dancing in high heels. Seriously.



Is it a carjacker now? When I saw it, he got hit by car. They also left out the "With great power, comes great responsibility" line that's only...a major part of Spiderman's backstory. I know that was put back in with the updated version.

I was so confused - Dh and I were wondering who the 3 kids on the stage were - are they writing the story, reading the story???

 

[TifffanyD]

Hey all! We just saw La Cage aux Folles last night! It was so fantastically entertaining! The only downside of it was George Hamilton... he wasn't bad exactly but he was so out-acted by the rest of the cast that it was sometimes cringeworthy. What a fun show tho! I almost skipped it because I am sick and just wanted to sleep but I am so glad I went!

 

[JenM]

I was so confused - Dh and I were wondering who the 3 kids on the stage were - are they writing the story, reading the story???

They were the "Geek Chorus" - I think they were supposed to be making up and narrating the story at the same time. Then the one girl shows up and decides they should intertwine it with a story from Greek mythology. That was not a good idea.

Apparently they were also meant to be stage representations of Julie Taymor, Bono, and the Edge.

 

[MissDisney121]

Hey all! We just saw La Cage aux Folles last night! It was so fantastically entertaining! The only downside of it was George Hamilton... he wasn't bad exactly but he was so out-acted by the rest of the cast that it was sometimes cringeworthy. What a fun show tho! I almost skipped it because I am sick and just wanted to sleep but I am so glad I went!

I agree about George Hamilton. I saw it here in Des Moines and he was definitely the weak part of the show. Christopher Sieber was amazing though. Glad you enjoyed the show.

 

[snapppyd]

They were the "Geek Chorus" - I think they were supposed to be making up and narrating the story at the same time. Then the one girl shows up and decides they should intertwine it with a story from Greek mythology. That was not a good idea.

Apparently they were also meant to be stage representations of Julie Taymor, Bono, and the Edge.

Oh no, really??

 

[JenM]

Oh no, really??

Yup - and it was totally intentional! I'm amazed they managed to fit the show on the stage with all of the egos.

I also read somewhere that Julie Taymor choose what villains to use for the show from a Spiderman merchandise catalog instead of a comic book.

The sad part is...I'm a huge U2 fan, I love Spiderman, and I thought Julie Taymor's staging for The Lion King was some of the best I've ever seen. This show should have been awesome. But I don't think any of them knew what they were doing.

 

[snapppyd]

Yup - and it was totally intentional! I'm amazed they managed to fit the show on the stage with all of the egos.

I also read somewhere that Julie Taymor choose what villains to use for the show from a Spiderman merchandise catalog instead of a comic book.

The sad part is...I'm a huge U2 fan, I love Spiderman, and I thought Julie Taymor's staging for The Lion King was some of the best I've ever seen. This show should have been awesome. But I don't think any of them knew what they were doing.

We were so disappointed in the music, there was ONE song that sounded a little like U2 - the rest was totally and absolutely forgettable. I agree about the Lion King, I don't know what happened to Jule - they tried to hard to be Cirque du Soleil maybe?

 

[JenM]

We were so disappointed in the music, there was ONE song that sounded a little like U2 - the rest was totally and absolutely forgettable. I agree about the Lion King, I don't know what happened to Jule - they tried to hard to be Cirque du Soleil maybe?

I read that the difference between Spiderman and Lion King is that when Julie Taymor did Lion King, she wasn't the one who wrote the script, so she had no control over that. Also, Disney wisely kept a tight reign on the show's budget so it wouldn't spiral out of control like it did on Spiderman, where she had creative control on everything.

It's a shame, there was so much talent there - and the cast of the show was amazing (we saw the standby for Peter Parker/Spiderman and he was great), but the show was just a mess.

I was listening to the Broadway cast recording of "Tommy" just recently - I was obsessed with that show when it first opened on Broadway - and that was a rock musical with tons of flying that was so much better than Spiderman.

 

[snapppyd]

American Idiot and Mary Poppins had flying, I saw AI 19 times and never once was there a problem!

 

[gometros]

Is it a carjacker now? When I saw it, he got hit by car. They also left out the "With great power, comes great responsibility" line that's only...a major part of Spiderman's backstory. I know that was put back in with the updated version.

Yep, it's a carjacker now, but they did have that critical line in there. I would have walked out if they left THAT out.

American Idiot and Mary Poppins had flying, I saw AI 19 times and never once was there a problem!

And Mary Poppins had Bert dancing upside down too. No problems there.

 

[Jeannie]

Going to see Venus in Fur next weekend. Has anyone seen it? It sounds.... interesting!

 

[rszdtrvl]

Well if he doesn't want to go I will gladly take his place. I'm nice like that.

I'm sure you are. Not that those Billie Jo photos in your signature mean anything, right??


I told him and he was cool with it. He was glad that I got the cheap seats though.

I am excited. It looks like it is going to be a great show. We have the Broadway Soundtrack and it is great.
(shhhhh.... I also own a bootleg version of the show too - got it on ebay a year or so ago - not the best quality, but it is amazing - can't wait to see it live!)

 

[JenM]

I'm sure you are. Not that those Billie Jo photos in your signature mean anything, right??


I told him and he was cool with it. He was glad that I got the cheap seats though.

I am excited. It looks like it is going to be a great show. We have the Broadway Soundtrack and it is great.
(shhhhh.... I also own a bootleg version of the show too - got it on ebay a year or so ago - not the best quality, but it is amazing - can't wait to see it live!)

American Idiot was amazing! You'll love it.

 

[snapppyd]

I'm sure you are. Not that those Billie Jo photos in your signature mean anything, right??


I told him and he was cool with it. He was glad that I got the cheap seats though.

I am excited. It looks like it is going to be a great show. We have the Broadway Soundtrack and it is great.
(shhhhh.... I also own a bootleg version of the show too - got it on ebay a year or so ago - not the best quality, but it is amazing - can't wait to see it live!)

I'm not ashamed to say that I am 55 years old and I saw AI 19 times! Dh and I absolutely loved it - if it had stayed on Broadway I would probably need to mortgage my house right now to keep going every week

If you watch The Voice, Tony Vincent is a contender on Celo's team - he was the original St. Jimmy. My DH was so mad when BJ took over the role - Tony was that awesome. I hope you love the show as much as we did

 

[superme80]

I'm not ashamed to say that I am 55 years old and I saw AI 19 times! Dh and I absolutely loved it - if it had stayed on Broadway I would probably need to mortgage my house right now to keep going every week

If you watch The Voice, Tony Vincent is a contender on Celo's team - he was the original St. Jimmy. My DH was so mad when BJ took over the role - Tony was that awesome. I hope you love the show as much as we did

I saw Tony Vincent alooooooooooooong time ago when he was trying to break into the Christian music scene. Was not impressed. Was very surprised to see that he was in American Idiot. Haven't seen the show, but from what I heard on the cd and saw on youtube I was impressed.