Thanks for the newsy and informative videos! I realize this is a bit out of left field for you but, what shows would you take a 10 year old to on Broadway right now (March 28-April 5, 2024). He's not a Broadway obsessive, but his siblings are, so we would love some good shows to see together. It sounds like, from your videos, definitely The Wiz. And then? Notebook and Gatsby or Back to the Future? Sounds like Merrily might be confusing, Sweeny might be too dark (not campy like Little Shop), Wine & Roses depressing. What about Elephants? The spectacle sounds fun even with uninspiring music but, without spoilers, the reviews hint at a disturbing finish and I don't know if that works for a kid. [The official advisories say recommended 8+] I'm hearing good things about Spamalot. I'll be watching for your thoughts on the Tony nominees!
We absolutely loved it as well. I’ve never read the book and I didn’t like the movie, so I came in with low expectations. Let’s just say, I was blown away. It was beautiful in ever sense of the word - the songs, the set, the acting, the lighting, etc. I would totally repeat attend this.
This was a very disappointing show. The music was pedestrian, the staging predictable, the direction uninspired. It's as if the Hallmark or Lifetime channels produced this for easy tears and cheap emotional reactions. It's pretty easy to get people to cry seeing old people relive their earlier lives and loves and deal with Alzheimer's, but it's much more difficult to make an audience care about those people. It's not enough just to say, "Here's some old people and here's how they fell in love and lived their lives and isn't this all just so sad and profound? Don't you want to have a good cry?" It's not nearly enough, especially given the serious nature of the subject. The movie and book were tender works. This is just exploitative.
Sorry you felt that way- I've been to a lot of really heady, stuffy, prestige musical theater and I loved The Notebook! Simple, not cynical. So refreshing to experience something straightforward and beautiful. The audience seemed to love it too. I found the handling and portrayal of dementia (they never specifically call it Alzheimers) was extremely effective. It's odd- I see criticisms about how the show "doesn't work" (which, based on the response in the theater, is objectively untrue in most cases), but not a lot of those people saying what they think could have been done differently by those standards to make it work.
I too was disappointed in this production. I came in with no expectations, having not read the book or seen the movie, but the whole thing felt lazy and manipulative. To me, the characters were caricatures. They didn't in any way feel like real people. But the most insulting thing was the ending, where old Allie apologizes for not having recognized her husband when suffering from dementia. Both my parents suffered from dementia, and this is in no way an accurate portrayal. People suffering from extreme dementia don't know when they are more or less lucid. It felt extremely manipulative -- played for extra emotion -- and as though no one involved in the production had any actual, personal experience with it. The only thing that saved the show was the strong performances, but I left thinking that these performers deserved better than this by-the-numbers production. I'm glad that the two lead actors were recognized with Tony nominations, but the book being nominated is a joke and could only have happened in a year, like this one, where nearly all the original musicals suffered from weak books. Given all the buzz surrounding this show before its opening, it says everything that it wasn't nominated for a best new musical Tony.
Amazing channel! Happy to see you on UA-cam and thankful that I bought tickets for late march now that I hear you saying this!
Thanks for the newsy and informative videos! I realize this is a bit out of left field for you but, what shows would you take a 10 year old to on Broadway right now (March 28-April 5, 2024). He's not a Broadway obsessive, but his siblings are, so we would love some good shows to see together. It sounds like, from your videos, definitely The Wiz. And then? Notebook and Gatsby or Back to the Future? Sounds like Merrily might be confusing, Sweeny might be too dark (not campy like Little Shop), Wine & Roses depressing. What about Elephants? The spectacle sounds fun even with uninspiring music but, without spoilers, the reviews hint at a disturbing finish and I don't know if that works for a kid. [The official advisories say recommended 8+] I'm hearing good things about Spamalot. I'll be watching for your thoughts on the Tony nominees!
Hope you all had a great trip! What did you end up seeing?
We absolutely loved it as well. I’ve never read the book and I didn’t like the movie, so I came in with low expectations. Let’s just say, I was blown away. It was beautiful in ever sense of the word - the songs, the set, the acting, the lighting, etc. I would totally repeat attend this.
I was blown away too!
This was a very disappointing show. The music was pedestrian, the staging predictable, the direction uninspired. It's as if the Hallmark or Lifetime channels produced this for easy tears and cheap emotional reactions. It's pretty easy to get people to cry seeing old people relive their earlier lives and loves and deal with Alzheimer's, but it's much more difficult to make an audience care about those people. It's not enough just to say, "Here's some old people and here's how they fell in love and lived their lives and isn't this all just so sad and profound? Don't you want to have a good cry?"
It's not nearly enough, especially given the serious nature of the subject. The movie and book were tender works. This is just exploitative.
Sorry you felt that way- I've been to a lot of really heady, stuffy, prestige musical theater and I loved The Notebook!
Simple, not cynical. So refreshing to experience something straightforward and beautiful.
The audience seemed to love it too.
I found the handling and portrayal of dementia (they never specifically call it Alzheimers) was extremely effective. It's odd- I see criticisms about how the show "doesn't work" (which, based on the response in the theater, is objectively untrue in most cases), but not a lot of those people saying what they think could have been done differently by those standards to make it work.
I too was disappointed in this production. I came in with no expectations, having not read the book or seen the movie, but the whole thing felt lazy and manipulative. To me, the characters were caricatures. They didn't in any way feel like real people. But the most insulting thing was the ending, where old Allie apologizes for not having recognized her husband when suffering from dementia. Both my parents suffered from dementia, and this is in no way an accurate portrayal. People suffering from extreme dementia don't know when they are more or less lucid. It felt extremely manipulative -- played for extra emotion -- and as though no one involved in the production had any actual, personal experience with it. The only thing that saved the show was the strong performances, but I left thinking that these performers deserved better than this by-the-numbers production. I'm glad that the two lead actors were recognized with Tony nominations, but the book being nominated is a joke and could only have happened in a year, like this one, where nearly all the original musicals suffered from weak books. Given all the buzz surrounding this show before its opening, it says everything that it wasn't nominated for a best new musical Tony.