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Trying Times

Posted by:	WaymanWong 01:16 am EST 11/19/14
In reply to:	re: Anymore? - tmdonahue 09:22 pm EST 11/18/14

Even New York Times' raves take a musical only so far. And one clear-cut case was the 2009-2010 Broadway season. * Ben Brantley raved about ''Fela!'': ''Bill T. Jones' singular, sensational show. ... There has never been anything on Broadway like this production. ... You feel like you have been dancing with the stars.'' The Times also did followup pieces. * Charles Isherwood raved about ''American Idiot'': ''As invigorating and ultimately as moving as anything I've seen on Broadway this season. Or maybe for a few seasons past.'' * But Isherwood panned ''Memphis'': ''Slick but formulaic. ... Barely generates enough heat to melt a vinyl record.'' (Other critics, though, praised it; AP's Michael Kuchwara: ''The very essence of a Broadway musical.'') Yet ''Memphis'' overcame the Times pan. It won the Best Musical prize from the Outer Critics, Drama Desk and the Tonys, and ran for about 1,200 performances. (''American Idiot'' closed after 11 months; ''Fela!'' ran for about 500 shows.)

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