| i'm always amazed it ran so long | |
| Posted by: | Chazwaza 05:03 pm EST 01/16/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Titanic Revival - MikeR 04:14 pm EST 01/16/14 |
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| Not because it wasn't good... I don't know how it played, I never got to see it. But I did listen to the CD and I'll admit it didn't excite me that much. A beautiful score with a few standouts, and I intend to listen to it again asap. But I think the score is a bit too sophisticated to have been a hit without the already well-loved Titanic story. I think Maury Yeston is incredibly talented and I'm excited there is a revival of this happening. But I have to assume that it's the classic story, the promise of a big show with crazy sets and a large cast, and the lack of obvious competition (The Life was the other big new musical and that is about hookers, or Steel Pier which was disappointing and about old people at a dance competition) and the resulting Tony for Best Musical, the push from Rosie (which helped so many shows back then), that kept it running as long as it did. That, and of course, it opened the same year the world-wide phenomenon movie Titanic came out... which I'm SURE resulted in a LOT of free press, a lot of public interest in the story and going to a musical of it, etc. I think if Titanic opened a year later, competing with Lion King and Ragtime for new musical audiences, it would have shuttered sooner. Although it still would have had the boost from Titanic the movie, but it would have been out of theaters by then, and the musical wouldn't have won Best Musical to help validate it (and obviously the competition would have been drastically stronger and more abundant). | |
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| re: i'm always amazed it ran so long | |
| Posted by: | perfectlyfrank 01:43 pm EST 01/17/14 |
| In reply to: | i'm always amazed it ran so long - Chazwaza 05:03 pm EST 01/16/14 |
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| As much as I admire the score on CD, nothing compared to how it played on stage in the original production. It was extremely powerful and when the audience left the theatre and looked up to see the names of the ship's victims on the theatre wall, well, I personally felt it had a deeper emotional impact than the film in every possible way. It will be interesting to see how this plays as a chamber piece but I have a feeling I'll miss the tilting stage and the furniture sliding to simulate the sinking. That was striking. So was the scale of the piece yet, despite the show's size, it felt very much rooted in character. It was a marvelous show. | |
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| re: i'm always amazed it ran so long | |
| Posted by: | lordofspeech 08:42 am EST 01/17/14 |
| In reply to: | i'm always amazed it ran so long - Chazwaza 05:03 pm EST 01/16/14 |
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| I loved it. And it was unusual in that it was a true ensemble: multiple story lines with the sophisticated intersection of multiple musical themes (think of an extended "A Weekend in the Country"). There were some very clever directorial tricks and a cumulative effect of the tragedy, heightened as we watched it happening to the many (rather than, as in the movie, as it happened to a select couple). And there was an excellent cast of not-yet-well-knowns including the dizzyingly daffy turn by Victoria Clark (a GREAT clown) as the first-class-wannabe passenger. | |
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| re: i'm always amazed it ran so long | |
| Posted by: | larry13 06:42 pm EST 01/16/14 |
| In reply to: | i'm always amazed it ran so long - Chazwaza 05:03 pm EST 01/16/14 |
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| STEEL PIER is not about "old" people at a dance competition. Maybe you're mixing it up with Kander & Ebb's 70, GIRLS, 70 which IS about old people(but not at a dance competition). Anyway, is your point that a show about old people(and possibly at a dance competition)had to be a flop? | |
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| re: i'm always amazed it ran so long | |
| Posted by: | Chazwaza 07:19 pm EST 01/16/14 |
| In reply to: | re: i'm always amazed it ran so long - larry13 06:42 pm EST 01/16/14 |
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| My poorly made point was that the subject matter and setting are not that exciting and not appealing to a large audience. At least in my limited assessment. | |
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| re: i'm always amazed it ran so long | |
| Posted by: | EvFoDr 09:51 am EST 01/17/14 |
| In reply to: | re: i'm always amazed it ran so long - Chazwaza 07:19 pm EST 01/16/14 |
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| And while I must admit to being slightly disappointed when I saw it, particularly that it was not darker like They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, and the corny supernatural element---it looks more and more like spun gold in retrospect compared to much of what we get today. | |
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| re: i'm always amazed it ran so long | |
| Posted by: | MikeR 06:05 pm EST 01/16/14 |
| In reply to: | i'm always amazed it ran so long - Chazwaza 05:03 pm EST 01/16/14 |
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| Yes, I think it's fair to say that all those things contributed to Titanic's success. But if it hadn't been able to turn all those things into strong word of mouth, it wouldn't have run for as long as it did. (Re: the movie - I seem to recall reading stories around here that people would occasionally ask the box office at the Lunt-Fontanne if Leo and Kate were in that day.) | |
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| re: i'm always amazed it ran so long | |
| Posted by: | NightMusic77 05:47 pm EST 01/16/14 |
| In reply to: | i'm always amazed it ran so long - Chazwaza 05:03 pm EST 01/16/14 |
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| You're definitely right about Rosie O'Donnell giving Titanic a much-needed boost. The original cast performed their opening number on her show either late in previews or early in the run and Rosie mentioned the show quite frequently. It went from being somewhat of a laughing stock during previews to a bonafide hit due mostly to word-of-mouth. But what a season that was! Steel Pier was a bit of a let down (not about old people at a dance competition--they were adults vying to win a dance marathon) but it did have some fantastic choreography, a great lead performance from Karen Ziemba, and it boasted the Broadway debut of Kristin Chenoweth who was truly a standout in the show. The Life was another let down with some great numbers--that show could've been a huge hit; I think it struggled in trying to carry its own weight. I definitely remember seeing Titanic early in the run, loving the music, and wishing it were more plot-driven. As it stands, the show is more of a "let's meet everyone on board" than an actual plot. It was hard to get to know/care about characters you only got to "meet" briefly. I'm honestly curious who the target audience is for this production of Titanic in New York. If the Ragtime revival didn't fly, why would Titanic? (I compare it to Ragtime because they opened on Broadway within a year of each other and neither has exactly become a "name" show. Frankly, I think Ragtime is the superior property.) | |
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| re: i'm always amazed it ran so long | |
| Posted by: | Singapore/Fling 07:00 pm EST 01/16/14 |
| In reply to: | re: i'm always amazed it ran so long - NightMusic77 05:47 pm EST 01/16/14 |
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| Rosie did her best to give it a boost, but it was struggling after it opened to that lousy review in the Times. It didn't turn around until it won all of those Tony awards (also best score, book, orchestrations, and scenery, iirc), and then of course got a huge short in the arm once the film did so well. | |
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| re: i'm always amazed it ran so long | |
| Posted by: | Chazwaza 06:34 pm EST 01/16/14 |
| In reply to: | re: i'm always amazed it ran so long - NightMusic77 05:47 pm EST 01/16/14 |
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| Despite having never seen Titanic play out as a full show, I know from listening to the score and reading about it and getting the structure from all that... that RAGTIME is far and away a better musical, and I think it has a much better and vastly more memorable score. And it's funny... I was 14 in 1997, so it seemed to me then like Steel Pier was more about "old people" but that was also my short hand for the post, I never thought it was about elderly people or anything. But I do remember the CD being disappointing (ps I wasn't a normal 14 year old, I had a vast knowledge of musicals by then). The show I was most taken by that year, and still am, is The Life. I think the score is just sensational. But yes, I remember watching Rosie (for the performances) and seeing all these shows and hearing about them. I was already a fairly regular theater goer, but somehow I missed seeing all the big new shows of 1997... I never saw The Life, Titanic, or Steel Pier. But I did see the surrounding shows... Forum, Chicago, Rent, Ragtime, Parade, Cabaret, Annie Get Your Gun. | |
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| re: i'm always amazed it ran so long | |
| Posted by: | larry13 06:46 pm EST 01/16/14 |
| In reply to: | re: i'm always amazed it ran so long - Chazwaza 06:34 pm EST 01/16/14 |
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| Just when I thought there was nothing I could agree with you about, along comes your admiration for the score of THE LIFE. Fully agree. | |
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| re: i'm always amazed it ran so long | |
| Posted by: | Chazwaza 07:18 pm EST 01/16/14 |
| In reply to: | re: i'm always amazed it ran so long - larry13 06:46 pm EST 01/16/14 |
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| Outside of Sondheim shows and Kander & Ebb shows, The Life might be the score I've sung most in my car. I think it's just awesome. There are some songs I admit are weak or repetitive, but by and large it is, as I said, sensational. | |
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| I think THE LIFE was a good show- beautiful sets + lighting, too nm | |
| Posted by: | thtrgoer 01:17 am EST 01/17/14 |
| In reply to: | re: i'm always amazed it ran so long - Chazwaza 07:18 pm EST 01/16/14 |
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| and those performances! | |
| Posted by: | Chazwaza 04:36 pm EST 01/17/14 |
| In reply to: | I think THE LIFE was a good show- beautiful sets + lighting, too nm - thtrgoer 01:17 am EST 01/17/14 |
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| I never got to see the show, but the performances on the CD are ridiculous. | |
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| re: i'm always amazed it ran so long | |
| Posted by: | enoch10 12:41 am EST 01/17/14 |
| In reply to: | re: i'm always amazed it ran so long - Chazwaza 07:18 pm EST 01/16/14 |
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| on my list of shows that could clearly be better in revival than in the original production the life is very near the top. but it is hard to dislodge my number 1 which is 9 to 5 - ridiculously underrated material destroyed by misguided direction, unforgivably heavy choreography and a lugubrious, soul destroying set. some day somebody's gonna revive 9 to 5 to hosannas and thrown roses. i hope they follow that smashing success with the life | |
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