| Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) | |
| Posted by: | Teacher64 04:49 am EDT 08/06/14 |
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| I will begin by saying that I went in promising myself I was not going to pick apart the show for its factual inaccuracies. I have read 4 biographies on Barrie, but I realize that this is a work of fiction and I approached it as such. There are really only two problems with this musical, 1. The Score 2. The book 1. The score is as bland and uninteresting as white bread. Looking over the song list and I can't think of very many numbers that really landed. Let's go through them and I will try to comment (though, to be honest, I don't think I will remember all of them, they kind of all mushed together). ACT 1 "Anywhere But Here" I am trying to remember what this number was about. Honestly, I have no idea. "Better" : If I remember correctly it was about disgruntled actors and a frustrated producer, as Barrie's play was opening and closing on the same night. (A lot of the numbers seemed to be about disgruntled actors, which was a big problem.) I honestly remember "Better" as the first song, which leads me to think that "Anywhere" was cut from the show. "Rearranging the Furniture": What an odd little number. All about Mrs. Barrie having the servants rearrange the furniture in her house. It would have made more sense for this to come later in the Act, after Barrie had met the Davies family, to show how useless she felt in his life. There could have been a sadness to this number, and we could have have felt sympathy for Mrs. Barrie, but as it was it really had no purpose. "Believe" : Barrie meets the Llewellyn Davies family in Kensington Garden and they all hit it off terrifically!! This is another problem. There should have been a progression through Act 1 of Barrie slowly winning Syliva over (he already has the boys). Their attraction should not have been INSTANT! Also, it was never clear if Barrie was pulling inspiration from the boys or if he was inspiring them (and specifically Peter) or perhaps it was both. But one should have been focused on and it wasn't. This number had a dancing dog, dancing bumble bees and dancing....clowns? Or something. There was also psychedelic animation being projected (think dancing flowers and rocket ships from a late 60s Beatles animated movie --I was half expecting that little copter bird with the wizard hat from the Brady Bunch cartoon to fly by). Honestly, it looked like something from some kids morning show on Nick Jr. Barrie's dog actually rode a tricycle! "All That Matters" : I believe this was Sylvia's big Act 1 number and it was the first number in the show that landed. And most of it was just Sylvia on stage singing. But it was very nicely done. "We Own the Night" : Barrie and the boys misbehave at a dinner party. The whole number is staged around a very long, elegant dining table. Unfortunately there were times when I was not sure where I was supposed to be looking; I heard actors talking but was not sure which actor was speaking. I also heard audience members laugh and I hadn't seen anything funny which means I was watching the wrong part of the table. The "funny stuff" that Barrie did was not very inventive (pouring peas over someone's head and sticking carrots in his ears). "Sylvia's Lullaby" : Now we have entered the only part of the entire evening that WORKED. The Act 1 scene in the nursery was where I really FELT something (the only time the entire night!). The kids flying off their beds was so simply done, yet so effective. This lead into ... "Neverland" : The only memorable tune of the night. Barrie sings it to Sylvia in the nursery while the boys are sleeping. Nice. And then..... "Circus of the Mind" : Everyone is criticizing Barrie for the "Circus of his mind". Dancers bring in what look like Carousel poles and mirrors, but the whole carousel thing never really comes together (and besides, carousels are at carnivals and fairs, not circuses). "Hook" and "Stronger" : For some reason Capt. Hook enters the scene and somehow influences Barrie to stand up for his story. It was a huge production number, that was really a lot of psycho-babble. It looked neat, but the whole thing did not work at ALL! This whole number needs to go. It was confusing and made no sense. Act 2 Oh, boy. Act one had some numbers that were effective, but Act two....nothing worked. And I mean NOTHING. "The world is Upside Down" : Disgruntled actors (again). There is a name, I am sure, for those Act 2 opening numbers that are just filler, so that the late-comers won't have missed anything (think "Oom Pah Pah" or "Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher"); that was what this number was. "Play" : Charles Frohman, who has been grumpy and pessimistic all night, suddenly (and inexplicably) has a change of heart, and leads the actors in a song about being "play"ful. (Get it, cuz they are in a "play"). When I saw the set for a pub roll in, and then I saw those metal drinking mugs, I thought, "Please don't tell me they are going to do a drinking song where they bang and clack their metal mugs together." Then they did. There is a name, I am sure, for those Act 2 opening numbers that are just filler, so that the late-comers won't have missed anything (think "Oom Pah Pah" or "Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher"); that was what this number was. "What You Mean to Me" : If you are thinking this is a sappy love song that Barrie and Sylvia sing together, that ends with a kiss, you're right. "We're All Made of Stars" : The "cute, kids number" (Think "You're Never Fully Dressed" from ANNIE). The boys sing about make-believe and pretending, in a very pop sounding song. There is a name, I am sure, for those Act 2 opening numbers that.... well, you get the idea. The kids really sold it, and they were all very invested, but...it just didn't work. Sorry kids. "When Your Feet Don't Touch the Ground" : Suddenly, Sylvia is very sick, Peter has a breakdown and he and Barrie sing this song. First off, WAY too much plot in about an 8 minute scene (but that's the book, isn't it?). This really should have been how Act 1 ended, with the revelation of Sylvia's illness and Barrie singing a beautiful song of hope to Peter, and where we FINALLY see Barrie break through Peter's defenses (of course, we need more scenes of Barrie trying and failing to break through to Peter, so it really lands). Oh, and when I say a "Beautiful song of hope", "When Your Feet Don't Touch the Ground" wouldn't qualify. For that moment you need a REALLY special song. And it should end Act 2, perhaps with Peter finally embracing Barrie. Send them to intermission with tissue. "Something About This Night" : The disgruntled actors are no longer disgruntled! Peter Pan is a hit and they all come to the boys' nursery to show them the play. We get to see a "highlights of PETER PAN". Then this leads to .... "Neverland Reprise" : Where Sylvia goes to Neverland (wow, that was QUICK!). Visually very impressive, but emotionally empty. "Finale (All That Matters)" Barrie and Sylvia's mother reconcile, the boys are all happy and the entire cast comes out and sings at the audience. Now onto... 2. The Book Biggest problem, no focus. They need to ask themselves, "What is this musical ABOUT?" and then focus in on that. Is it about Barrie and Sylvia? Barrie and Peter? Barrie and Mrs. Barrie? Barrie writing PETER PAN? Is it about disgruntled actors? I think it is about Barrie and the Llewlellyn Davies family. They need to focus on that --how Barrie wins the boys (except Peter), but Sylvia's mother keeps harping on Sylvia about that odd little man always in the house. How Sylvia needs to stand up to her mother and eventually welcome Barrie and his positive influence. Barrie keeps trying with Peter but nothing works. They really need to zoom in on that and give us less about Barrie the struggling author, and the disgruntled actors (they took up WAY too much time). The other boys need to be fleshed out a bit. They were written to be bland. Sylvia's illness and death happened way too quickly and as a result it seemed contrived. Yes, I know that is what REALLY happened, but it just comes up so quickly and then...BAM! She's gone! Also, the play really catches little of Barrie's whimsy (in his day, I believe they were called "Barrie-isms"). There is one (in the nursery scene, where else?) when Barrie says, "Children should never be sent to bed, because they always wake up one day older." Barrie was FULL of little witticisms like that. One in particular I remember fondly went something like, "One who has died is merely ahead in a procession all leading that way. We have simply fallen behind, while stopping to tie a shoelace." A person writing a play about Barrie needs to be STEEPED in Barrie's work --read his letters and books. He had a definite tone and way of writing that tells us so much about him, but that just did not show up here in this musical. AND, one of the ways he caught the boys' attention was by telling GORY and BLOODY stories. The boys LOVED that (to Sylvia's dismay). Perhaps more time should pass? Barrie being slightly older towards the end of the play (but then the boys would have to be older too wouldn't they? Oh, never mind!). Or maybe the play ends with an older Barrie remembering the boys when they are younger? I don't know but there was no emotional ending. It was very bland. Random stuff: The guy in the dog costume (Porthos) did not work!! The costume was not convincing (it looked very community theater). They need a real dog! If ANNIE can have Sandy, and The Old Man can have the Bumpus Hounds, then Barrie should have a real Porthos. The actors were all invested and gave their all. They cannot be faulted. I was surprised that I like Jordan's Barrie --he was a lot more convincing than Depp was in the film. On the way home I was thinking who might be able to come in and do this story justice. I came up with Marsha Norman and Lucy Simon. Norman is an award winner and Simon wrote some haunting music for THE SECRET GARDEN. But, I may be too hard on this show's creators. There is a good story in there, somewhere. (I know I have been very critical, but I tried to put in some constructive ideas as well.) Ahh, well.... I know I will read over this post and find tons of mistakes, but it is almost 5 a.m. and I am going to bed. | |
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| re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) | |
| Posted by: | becrostim 05:52 pm EDT 08/07/14 |
| In reply to: | Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) - Teacher64 04:49 am EDT 08/06/14 |
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| I want to thank Teacher 64 for this post.I saw the show Tuesday and the people I was with love it as well as the audience.I did not enjoy it at all and thought it would never end. I think your constructive criticism was right on. I wasn't going to post anything, but this post really summed up how I felt. I did like Jeremy Jordan as Barrie. | |
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| re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) | |
| Posted by: | squincy 02:30 pm EDT 08/06/14 |
| In reply to: | Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) - Teacher64 04:49 am EDT 08/06/14 |
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| I have to agree with the original poster here; if anything, I liked the show even less than he (she?) did. At times I found it almost painful to watch, mostly due to my embarrassment for the actors, who are to be commended for their excellent work at pushing a boulder up a hill. In addition to the fine points made by Teacher64, I would add: * The tone of the score didn't match the tone of the book at all, and neither matched the tone of the choreography. I don't mind modern scores for period shows per se; I think they work well for "Spring Awakening" and "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson", but those shows carried the stylistic elements of their scores throughout the whole piece, so it felt like you were viewing an earlier time period from a contemporary point of view. "Finding Neverland" didn't do that. The writers just took a naturalistic play set in 1904 and threw in some pop songs, and didn't even bother to tailor them to the specific characters. Every character's songs sounded just like everyone else's, including the children. Imperfect rhymes and poor scansion didn't help the situation. And the choreography seemed like it had wandered in from a nearby production of "Seussical". * The heightened emotions of the songs were not set up properly by the book. The best examples of this are "Hook" and "Stronger", in which Barrie is seen struggling mightily with the fears and doubts that prevent him from moving forward with his play. All well and good, but where was all this struggling prior to the end of Act I? Up to this point, we had seen him express a few quiet reservations about losing his inspiration, but nothing remotely on the scale of the writhing and turmoil he goes through here. At one point in "Stronger", he actually tears off his shirt, like some sort of Edwardian Hulk. So for me, the numbers came off as silly and forced, and not at all in keeping with Barrie's character. * Some of the anachronisms in the book really bothered me. References to existentialism (a term that wasn't even coined until the 1940's) and the subconscious (coined in the 18th century, but not popularized until the 1920's) came off as cheap attempts at depth, and phrases like "Nice try" and "Last night was fun!" were just easy laughs that ended up distancing me from the characters. How did the audience respond on the Saturday night I saw it? Well, they did cheer and applaud, but afterwards I heard a lot of the same "meh" reactions that Teacher64 did. My wife felt pretty much the same way I did, as did the young woman sitting next to me, whom I had never met before, but who didn't hesitate to share her reactions with me. All in all, a big disappointment for me, since I had really been looking forward to seeing this story told as a musical. | |
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| I was there as well last night... | |
| Posted by: | crewbway 12:33 pm EDT 08/06/14 |
| In reply to: | Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) - Teacher64 04:49 am EDT 08/06/14 |
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| The group I was with had mixed reactions; I enjoyed it more than most. Some things worked better for me...and some things did not (too much with the dog licking faces!). I found some of the music to be quite nice...especially when sung by the four leads. I loved the ending and did feel quite emotionally connected..as did most people sitting near me judging by the sniffling! Perhaps for me the experience of going to a regional theater and seeing Broadway actors in a new work was what most exciting about the evening. Looking forward to seeing it again in late September. PS...Carolle Carmello needs her own song! | |
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| re: I was there as well last night... | |
| Posted by: | Teacher64 01:11 pm EDT 08/06/14 |
| In reply to: | I was there as well last night... - crewbway 12:33 pm EDT 08/06/14 |
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| Interesting that you saw the same performance I did and came away liking it more. I was wondering what the other people in your group thought. What did they like and what did they not like? What did you think of the opening number and all the other songs with the "disgruntled actors"? The first two songs of Act 2 were primarily the acting troop. (Again, this is not a musical about an acting troop!) I thought the attention on the acting troop stole focus from the primary story, which is Barrie and the Davies family. The creators really need to sit down and just work on Barrie, Sylvia and the Boys, with Mrs. Barrie and Mrs. DuMaurier on the outskirts. Then the acting troop and Frohman are even more on the outskirts --way out! I thought the opening number should take place in Kennsington Garden with all the park's patrons reacting to the "Famous Man and his Dog" and Barrie struggling with his next play. Mrs. Barrie can be introduced (they did walk together), Sylvia and her Boys are introduced, but they are always just passing each other and never really meeting, though Barrie notices their playfulness. And all of it in Kennsington garden. The song should end with their first actual meeting. That way the main characters and their situations are all introduced And then BAM!! The two (Barries and Davies) meet. End of song! Now THAT is what a good opening number does; introduces the characters, their situations and then throws them all together. (I love how they meet in the BBC movie where George asks Barrie if Porthos is going to bite him and Barrie says "Not unless you ask him agreeably." George says, "Why not?" and Barrie replies, "Because he is uncommonly fussy about who he bites. He doesn't just bite any old whipper snapper." ) Also, what did you think about the Mary Barrie rearranging furniture song? Did you think "Believe" was as hokey as I found it? What did you think of the songs "Hook" and "Stronger"? I think that again the creators have lost focus --it is not so much the story of Barrie the struggling play writer, it is about his relationship with the family and that needs to have some significance in the final number of the act. Sylvia and the Boys have no bearing at all in that Act 1 closer. Did you think the illness of Sylvia came on too quickly? It is really introduced in the middle of Act 2 quite literally (there were 4 songs before her illness and 4 songs after). I think when you talk about people crying at the end you are talking about the scene where Sylvia goes to Neverland. Yes, a character dying will make people cry. But that was not the ending of the play. There was a scene and a song after that and I think that ending fell flat. I like the idea of Barrie being much older in the final scene (I wonder if it could even by after Peter's death by drowning or in the war --of course it was Michael who drowned and George who was killed in the war,but does that really matter? After all it was George and Jack who inspired Peter Pan, not Peter who was still an infant at the time). An older Barrie remembering the children, maybe even singing a final song with them perhaps the boys could be behind a scrim of some kind to indicate he is simply remembering them the way he loved them best, when they were young. (Barrie once wrote, "Nothing much matters after you are 12. Twelve is the beginning of the end.") If our last look at the boys is as Barrie remembers them, then there is no need for older actors to be brought in to play them. Anyway, I hope your write more of your thoughts and the thoughts of the folks who were with you. I love hearing from different perspectives. | |
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| re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) | |
| Posted by: | perfectlyfrank 10:41 am EDT 08/06/14 |
| In reply to: | Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) - Teacher64 04:49 am EDT 08/06/14 |
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| If you think "Stronger" didn't work then you saw a completely different show. That number is so solid and it left the audience applauding louder than I've heard in any Broadway show in the last few years. Now, I agree that the book needs to make a better connection with what Barrie is going through and his creation of the Hook character but I think much of this is that they separate the scenes with the manager, Sylvia's mother and then the date and "Stronger" with that ridiculous circus number so the connection between the scenes and the song were not as strong. As for the score, I do think there were some lovely numbers. I liked the first number with Barrie and "Tinkerbell" very much but that charm was lost with the scenes and songs that followed. Sylvia's songs were lovely and so was "Neverland" . I especially liked the Barrie/Peter duet but felt that connection needed to happen sooner. So, again, I agree with your assessment that the meeting between Barrie and the Llewelyn-Davies family needs to be worked on - a lot. Partly it's the very bland child actors. Mostly it's the book that simply doesn't credibly build a case for why Barrie and Peter and the family fill needs in each other. I feel that instead of pushing the cliche musical comedy bits, the show needs to spend more time working on the Barrie/Peter and his relationship with the other boys because that's the emotional core of the story and it will give the stronger last few scenes more resonance. I think you're very astute to point to Marsha Norman's work on THE SECRET GARDEN. I also think her work on BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY was great too. She has a good understanding of getting to an emotional core and mining relationships in a book. She might be a very good script doctor here. But overall, I think the show worked far more than you are giving it credit. I, like you, found many faults but that is based more on my tastes than on whether the show is currently working with audiences. It most definitely is a crowd-pleasing show right now and I predict it will be a commercial success even if nothing is changed (although it needs pruning.) But like you, I hope they do more work to capture the charm of Barrie's work and give depth and build heart to the Barrie/Llewelyn-Davies family relationship.) | |
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| re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) | |
| Posted by: | pitslre 09:38 am EDT 08/06/14 |
| In reply to: | Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) - Teacher64 04:49 am EDT 08/06/14 |
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| Totally disagree. I thought the mix of light hearted content worked very well and actually built up the second act to be so much more impactful because you enjoyed and cared about everyone. Sylvia's last scene was genuinely very moving. The last thing this show needs is a Secret Garden/dark dreary treatment. The fun aspect is so crucial to making this work because it puts you in Barrie's mindset. | |
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| re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) | |
| Posted by: | dooey 09:04 am EDT 08/06/14 |
| In reply to: | Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) - Teacher64 04:49 am EDT 08/06/14 |
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| Not looking to get into an argument, but I just wanted to chime in and offer an alternate opinion. I saw it with my wife and teenage daughter and all three of us were thoroughly enchanted by the entire show. We found it totally engaging and brilliantly staged. We loved the score and found the book very engaging, even after knowing the film well. My daughter keeps saying how she can't wait for a cast recording, and truth be told, I'm looking forward to it as well. The score definitely had a modern pop sound, but it really seemed to work because of the style and staging of the show. I had a few quibbles here and there: "Believe"--fun song, but staging seemed kind of silly--just some dancing bees and some lame projections. "Circus"--I kept expecting it to build into a full carousel, but it never really did. We LOVED how stylized and quirky everything was. The servants were fabulous. I thought the dog was kind of silly, but the audience members seemed to love it; it WAS consistent with Nana in PETER PAN, so I accepted it. And we thought the HOOK number at the end of Act I was astonishing. Actually, song after song seemed to "wow" us. So fun and clever and moving and wonderfully staged! Dang--now I want to see it again! Sorry you didn't enjoy it as much as we did. | |
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| re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) | |
| Posted by: | Teacher64 10:08 am EDT 08/06/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) - dooey 09:04 am EDT 08/06/14 |
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| I am glad you liked it. The show did get a standing ovation at the end, but then these days, what show doesn't? And a lot of talk I heard while walking out was in the "It was OK" mode. I really don't believe the show will make it to NY in its current incarnation. But then, that is what out of town tryouts are for, right? They are going to need to do a lot of work on this show before it comes to NY; "tweaking" is simply not going to do it. | |
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| re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) | |
| Posted by: | lowwriter 09:58 am EDT 08/06/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) - dooey 09:04 am EDT 08/06/14 |
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| I went with two friends on two separate days over the weekend and they both enjoyed the show as much as I did. (Though I had reservations which I noted in another thread below.) Because I love the film I thought my reaction might be a little skewed but I talked to several people during intermission and afterwards at both performances to make sure my reaction wasn't off. The audience members I spoke to praised the cast and the show though one fellow agreed with me that the choreography could be improved upon. Now that I'm away from the show I do think the number with Mary adjusting the room at the beginning of the show doesn't add very much. | |
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| re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) | |
| Posted by: | lowwriter 08:45 am EDT 08/06/14 |
| In reply to: | Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) - Teacher64 04:49 am EDT 08/06/14 |
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| I disagree with almost everything you've written but I do agree the human dog is probably too much. Several of the songs stayed with me and I think the book can be trimmed but it's a better book than most musicals on Broadway these days. It's obvious why Hook enters the story in Act One. I'm not sure what show you were watching. When You're Feet Don't Touch the Ground is one of my favorite songs from the show. | |
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| re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) | |
| Posted by: | Teacher64 10:01 am EDT 08/06/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) - lowwriter 08:45 am EDT 08/06/14 |
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| I was hoping you would fill me in on the "Hook" numbers at the end of Act 1, but you didn't. Could you expound a bit? Thanks! | |
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| re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) | |
| Posted by: | lowwriter 11:27 am EDT 08/06/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) - Teacher64 10:01 am EDT 08/06/14 |
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| It seemed obvious to me that the show is in part about Barrie's creative struggle and his stasis as a writer. And him fitting in a restrictive society. The Hook number shows him overcoming an obstacle in his writing and confronting his darker side. To let go in his writing and his life. To me, the Hook number was one of the numbers that grew out of the book organically. I loved it. It may be true that the audience standing at the end could just be something that happens at the end of lots of shows. But at the two matinees I attended, the audience was very responsive to several of the numbers throughout the show. And Jeremy Jordan, Laura Michelle Kelly, Michael McGrath, and Carolee Carmello received a lot of enthusiastic applause throughout and they deserved it. | |
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| re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) | |
| Posted by: | John_Patti 08:01 pm EDT 08/06/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) - lowwriter 11:27 am EDT 08/06/14 |
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| I truly believe the Act One curtain applause is more for the special effects and staging of the pirate number than the solo Barrie sings at the end of the Act. There is a momentum, good or bad, that starts with the circus/revolving door number, climaxes with the pirate scenery change and envelops the Barrie solo. That momentum is very exciting and not like anything that comes before it. Its a very schizophrenic show - the tone is uneven all night. The second act finale is emotionally wrought - the last fifteen minutes are about impending death and theatrical death and involves children for gosh sake - and that cirque du soeil special effect at the end is enough to make a coma victim break a tear. Sometimes that's all a show needs, so now its up to the creators to see if they can make it the best show it can be. They may not need to. I still cant get over how this thing is being directed more towards children and the family audience than being an adult thinking man's show which children of a certain maturity could deal with/appreciate. I can already smell the popcorn and hear the toy mother's coffins* being hawked in the Winter Garden Lobby. *It's a tiny coffin with flowers painted on it and when you open it tons of glitter pops out. | |
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| re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) | |
| Posted by: | lowwriter 08:47 am EDT 08/06/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) - lowwriter 08:45 am EDT 08/06/14 |
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| As far as The Secret Garden goes, I love the score but it has one of the deadliest books and that's why it didn't attract a large audience on Broadway. Marcia Norman is a bad book writers for musicals. | |
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| re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) | |
| Posted by: | Michael_Portantiere 10:43 am EDT 08/06/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) - lowwriter 08:47 am EDT 08/06/14 |
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| I'm no fan of Marsha Norman in general, but I think her book for THE SECRET GARDEN is some of her very best work. Can you give us some examples of why you think it's "deadly?" And if you're going to say that you feel it lacks humor, let me say in advance that I disagree. | |
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| re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) | |
| Posted by: | lowwriter 11:30 am EDT 08/06/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) - Michael_Portantiere 10:43 am EDT 08/06/14 |
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| It's been such a long time since I've seen The Secret Garden on Broadway. I just remember loving the score but finding the dialog of the book stilted and obvious and uninvolving. The show only worked for me when the actors were singing gloriously. Would love to see another production. | |
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| re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) | |
| Posted by: | Michael_Portantiere 03:00 pm EDT 08/06/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) - lowwriter 11:30 am EDT 08/06/14 |
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| I'm sorry the book struck you that way initially, but yes, I urge you to see another production when you have the opportunity. | |
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| re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) | |
| Posted by: | WaymanWong 01:10 pm EDT 08/06/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) - lowwriter 11:30 am EDT 08/06/14 |
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| If you love the glorious score to ''The Secret Garden,'' Marsha Norman deserves credit there, since she wrote the lyrics. I disagree about the book, and so did many Tony voters, since Norman won the Tony for Best Book. (She also got a Drama Desk for it.) I just wish Marsha Norman and Lucy Simon would write a new musical. ''The Secret Garden'' goes back to 1991! | |
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| re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) | |
| Posted by: | lowwriter 03:28 pm EDT 08/06/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) - WaymanWong 01:10 pm EDT 08/06/14 |
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| I can't say that I find the lyrics anything special. This is a show I wanted to like much more than I did. As far as the Tony Award for book, what competition did she have? Really, the only thing I've liked written by Norman is her first play off-Broadway. | |
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| re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) | |
| Posted by: | MikeR 05:50 pm EDT 08/06/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) - lowwriter 03:28 pm EDT 08/06/14 |
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| Her competition was Once On This Island, The Will Rogers Follies, and Miss Saigon. I would've given it to OOTI, but those are four solid nominees. It's not like 1989, when the category was eliminated, or 1985, when Big River beat Grind, Harrigan and Hart, and Quilters. 1991 was a relatively strong year, with four credible nominees in that category. | |
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| re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) | |
| Posted by: | Teacher64 01:12 pm EDT 08/06/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) - WaymanWong 01:10 pm EDT 08/06/14 |
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| I agree!! I have always wanted them to collaborate again. Did they not get along?? | |
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| re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) | |
| Posted by: | bwaydiva1 04:41 pm EDT 08/06/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) - Teacher64 01:12 pm EDT 08/06/14 |
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| I really loved "The Secret Garden". I thought the elements were really quite uniformly good. | |
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| re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) | |
| Posted by: | Teacher64 10:04 am EDT 08/06/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) - lowwriter 08:47 am EDT 08/06/14 |
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| I know this is not ALWAYS a sign of quality, but Marsha Norman's book for THE SECRET GARDEN did win the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical that year. | |
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| re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) | |
| Posted by: | dooey 08:51 am EDT 08/06/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) - lowwriter 08:47 am EDT 08/06/14 |
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| I tend to agree about Marsha Norman. The book to BRIDGES really weighed that show down and seemed to pull it in too many directions. Thank goodness for JRB's score and those wonderful performances. | |
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| re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) | |
| Posted by: | lowwriter 09:59 am EDT 08/06/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) - dooey 08:51 am EDT 08/06/14 |
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| Yes, I loved the score to Bridges but the book seem to detract from the show at times. Especially all the talk about the cow. | |
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| re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) | |
| Posted by: | bwaydiva1 09:29 am EDT 08/06/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) - dooey 08:51 am EDT 08/06/14 |
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| I LOVED The Secret Garden-I saw it as a kid and really enjoyed it. I even thought the book was good. The score for Bridges was better than the book. (Although I didn't find it as problematic as others did.) | |
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| re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) | |
| Posted by: | perfectlyfrank 10:50 am EDT 08/06/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Saw FINDING NEVERLAND tonight (long and spoilers) - bwaydiva1 09:29 am EDT 08/06/14 |
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| I think the book for BRIDGES is far better than people gave it credit. SECRET GARDEN would not have benefited by a musical comedy treatment because the story is quite dark. Norman is a good writer and knows how to mine family relationships. I think she would actually be an asset to FINDING NEVERLAND right now because I feel the show veers far too much into cutesy musical comedy. Not that I fault the show for expanding beyond the sadness of the film but that sadness is the core of the tale and it is almost all but ignored in this musical, particularly Act I. I think with a better balance the show will work better for me. However, despite my reservations, I have to admit that the show is currently being well received in Cambridge despite what the original poster indicates. The response from the audience when I left the theater was glowing, hardly just "OK". I personally had qualms but from my experience, the audiences were even more enthusiastic for NEVERLAND than they were when I saw PIPPIN and PORGY AND BESS at the A.R.T. That seems to indicate a good trajectory for this show. | |
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