I never saw the original and while I liked the production in La Jolla, it still had a lot of work left. Admittedly, it's not an easy musical to sell by its subject matter, but those who did see it never seemed to give it another thought once they saw it. I think you're taking some of the lukewarm responses far too personally.
At intermission in La Jolla, there was some murmuring about underwhelming lyrics in the show. Boy, was that true. If they changed the most cringe-worthy lyrics between now and then, good for them. I have doubts, thought because I still heard/read lyrics complaints from people who saw the show in DC.
A completely unnecessary number in the show was the Houdini song but that remained. I know because several people who saw the show in DC remarked that it was useless and slowed down the show. Although some did like it, to be fair.
While I found the two leads touching in some parts, I missed the excitement and dynamic voices heard in other productions. Yet again, I heard similar complaints from some who saw it in DC.
So yeah, I'm skeptical that it will open to raves in NY and be even a modest success. But I do WANT the show to succeed. I just think it needed a lot of work in La Jolla and it worries me that several elements pointed out as weaknesses nearly a year ago were still being called out last month. That's a shame.
My remark about some people getting caught up in enthusiasm over their reviews should have been clarified better. I was referring to two reviewers on here and one reviewer on another site who called it a perfect production. That's a mighty lofty description to thrust on a show. Perfect. Really?
But if Side Show doesn't earn rave reviews in its second appearance on Broadway, and its two stars are not raved about, please comfort yourself by repeating over and over that NY critics are not high caliber and then you can sleep better at night.
|