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re: Is Broadway Only for New Yorkers? (Time Magazine)

Posted by: JereNYC (JereNYC@aol.com) 04:06 pm EDT 03/31/14
In reply to: re: Is Broadway Only for New Yorkers? (Time Magazine) - MikeR 03:53 pm EDT 03/31/14

I'm not sure why Zoglin thinks the themes in these current pieces would be any more difficult to understand than, say, THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK or THE CRUCIBLE. These classic plays are set in very specific times and places and yet seem to have themes universal enough that audiences continue to connect with them.

I haven't seen IF/THEN, but I could imagine anyone anywhere coming away from MOTHERS AND SONS with their own thoughts about grief, guilt, and moving on with ones life amid the ghosts of the past.

You don't have to have the specific experience of living in colonial Massachusetts or a 1940's Amsterdam attic to fully engage with those plays, so it seems a bit disingenuous to claim that MOTHERS AND SONS and IF/THEN can only be understood and enjoyed by New Yorkers.

Link Jere-Rigged

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re: Is Broadway Only for New Yorkers? (Time Magazine)

Posted by: perfectlyfrank 11:07 am EDT 04/01/14
In reply to: re: Is Broadway Only for New Yorkers? (Time Magazine) - JereNYC 04:06 pm EDT 03/31/14

Very well put. Universal themes are what make plays and films hits. Whether a show is set in New York or Iowa has little to do with why people relate with stories like WEST SIDE STORY or THE MUSIC MAN. And, of course, a great percentage of Broadway ticket sales are made up of out of town buyers.

And of all the things I've read about MOTHERS AND SONS, Tyne Daly's performance is almost always mentioned as it's greatest strength. Comparing her abilities to Kim Kardashian is a bit off the mark. His opinion for sure but with all the other blunders in his piece, it's hard to take his opinion with more than a grain of salt.


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re: Is Broadway Only for New Yorkers? (Time Magazine)

Posted by: enoch10 05:10 pm EDT 03/31/14
In reply to: re: Is Broadway Only for New Yorkers? (Time Magazine) - JereNYC 04:06 pm EDT 03/31/14

pretty uninformed piece all around. when was b'way not nyc-centric? no other generation of tourists seemed to have any trouble following along.


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re: Is Broadway Only for New Yorkers? (Time Magazine)

Posted by: mikem 06:16 pm EDT 03/31/14
In reply to: re: Is Broadway Only for New Yorkers? (Time Magazine) - enoch10 05:10 pm EDT 03/31/14

Zoglin named the recent Grease revival, one of the worst productions I have ever seen on Broadway, to his 10 Best of the Year list. He also voted for The Little Mermaid for the Best Musical of the year in the New York Drama Critics Circle voting. (Passing Strange, Adding Machine, Next to Normal, Xanadu, Cry-Baby, and A Catered Affair were also eligible that year. He was the only critic who voted for Little Mermaid as the best. No one else even put it in their Top 3.)

Everybody's entitled to their opinion, but he seems totally out of left field sometimes.


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re: Is Broadway Only for New Yorkers? (Time Magazine)

Posted by: enoch10 09:07 pm EDT 03/31/14
In reply to: re: Is Broadway Only for New Yorkers? (Time Magazine) - mikem 06:16 pm EDT 03/31/14

>> The Little Mermaid for the Best Musical of the year

well there you go.


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