| 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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