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| Bandstand - WOW | |
| Last Edit: Shutterbug 04:04 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
| Posted by: Shutterbug 04:00 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
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| Saw BANDSTAND last night. I absolutely loved it. The choreography is spectacular. I'm not just talking about the big production numbers. Yes, they're great - but it's all the smaller choreographed movement that adds so much to the piece. BANDSTAND examines the personal toll a war takes on families and individuals. The depiction of PTSD in its various forms is honest and moving. Then there's Laura Osnes and Corey Cott who are both giving truly dynamic performances. Corey is exceptionally endearing as a troubled soldier trying to heal as is Laura as a young widow whose husband didn't make it home. Both of them blow the roof off the theater with their voices. Laura's 11 o'clock number WELCOME HOME is very, very special - an emotional and vocal powerhouse. I also loved Beth Leavel in the smallish role of Laura's mother. Leavel shows us that there are no small parts and makes this role memorable. She's a true pro, and I'll see her in anything. I do hope this show finds its audience. I highly recommend it and hope to see it again. |
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| re: Bandstand - WOW | |
| Posted by: Page 11:30 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
| In reply to: Bandstand - WOW - Shutterbug 04:00 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
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| I've stated before out of the four Broadway shows I saw over Tony Awards weekend in June, Bandstand was my favorite. Wonderful cast! Beautifully staged! I've been listening to the cast album daily. From Triton Gallery in NYC, I have the Bandstand show poster mounted & framed (silver) which is displayed in my den. Thanks for posting, Shutterbug. |
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| re: Bandstand - WOW (Agreed!) | |
| Posted by: Delvino 08:34 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
| In reply to: Bandstand - WOW - Shutterbug 04:00 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
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| I was there today. See my post above under Ann's. We're on the same page. Your comment about Cott is spot on. | |
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| I had a wonderful time toooooo | |
| Posted by: Naughty_Rob 05:19 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
| In reply to: Bandstand - WOW - Shutterbug 04:00 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
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| Really enjoyed this show. Great old fashioned entertainment | |
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| re: I had a wonderful time toooooo | |
| Posted by: Delvino 08:38 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
| In reply to: I had a wonderful time toooooo - Naughty_Rob 05:19 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
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| What I loved was the old school feel to the backstage storytelling -- with additional and provocatively inserted PTSD components duly noted, defining as character traits -- and the brilliant visual design in the staging. It's that blend of the old and new that made it irrisistable to me. And again, Cott's center. He just makes us care. | |
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| re: Bandstand - WOW | |
| Posted by: ShowGoer 04:58 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
| In reply to: Bandstand - WOW - Shutterbug 04:00 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
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| I'm even more baffled by some of the love for this show on here than I was all the hosannas that Come From Away received. Come From Away at least is clearly the work of musical theatre professionals across the board, with deserved Tony-winning direction, a terrific cast, and a feel-good message we could all use now – if I still don't quite understand how it was ever supposed to be in serious contention for big awards (never mind how that music and lyrics got nominated for Best Score over War Paint, Anastasia and even A Bronx Tale), I at least had a good time while watching it and recognize its clear status as a crowd-pleaser. Bandstand, on the other hand, I thought was one of the more excruciating evenings I've spent on Broadway in some time. Never mind Groundhog Day and the other shows I mentioned above, I honestly preferred In Transit and Amelie to this one, flaws and all. Blankenbuhler's work aside, I thought this came off as a vanity project on Broadway, every bit as much as things like Amazing Grace and Scandalous and Soul Doctor. Cott and Osnes are killing themselves up there, as is much of the cast – but to no avail. And the atrocious miking bumps up every number to try to beat the audience into a submissive ovation that the songs wouldn't receive any other way. I don't get this one. |
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| Oberacker's work? | |
| Posted by: Delvino 08:32 am EDT 07/09/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Bandstand - WOW - ShowGoer 04:58 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
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| I'm intrigued that you found Richard Oberacker's music indicative of a vanity project. Whatever "Bandstand's flaws -- and I get them, especially some of its second act feel good-ness, shoehorned into a dark story -- Oberacker's driving, emotion enhancing score just lifts the work as much as Blankenbuhler's. That synergy -- the direction and choreography, gorgeously arranged music, and hard-working cast -- compensates for me. I certainly see how any number of producers or others could consider this B'way worthy. The show may have marketing issues, but its not a thrown-together, derivative piece. The thought and care are all on display -- and taste, in the design decisions by Korins and Young -- and make this more worthy than any vanity production I've seen. Including two of the ones you mention, which I can't related to "Bandstand" in the same sentence | |
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| re: Bandstand - WOW | |
| Posted by: lowwriter 12:46 am EDT 07/09/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Bandstand - WOW - ShowGoer 04:58 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
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| Atrocious miking? I have no idea what you're talking about. And In Transit has to be the most mediocre musical produced on Broadway in years. | |
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| re: Bandstand - WOW | |
| Posted by: sirpupnyc 08:55 am EDT 07/09/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Bandstand - WOW - lowwriter 12:46 am EDT 07/09/17 | |
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| I don't know if it's what ShowGoer means, but the sound design seemed to me to have two settings: loud and louder. Making a sonic difference between when the band is performing and when they're not makes sense, but it was just louder and boomier than what was already plenty loud. I was fairly close on the right side of the orchestra, so maybe that's just a bad spot for the effect, but it still seemed to have started from a bad case of typical musical sound design: loud, loud, loud, and don't let anything sound like it's coming from the stage. | |
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| re: Bandstand - WOW | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 09:23 am EDT 07/09/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Bandstand - WOW - sirpupnyc 08:55 am EDT 07/09/17 | |
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| On 5/17/17 I sat in the front mezzanine center C 114, which was ideal for this show. I had no problem with the sound. I heard every word clearly. | |
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| re: Bandstand - WOW | |
| Posted by: lowwriter 11:13 am EDT 07/09/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Bandstand - WOW - BroadwayTonyJ 09:23 am EDT 07/09/17 | |
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| I saw the show from the front mezz twice and I guess that's the best place to see the show sound and dance wise. | |
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| re: Bandstand - WOW (MILD SPOILER) | |
| Posted by: Delvino 11:51 am EDT 07/09/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Bandstand - WOW - lowwriter 11:13 am EDT 07/09/17 | |
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| I was in row D of the front mezz, and found the seats just about ideal, for Korins' work and the choreography. STAGING SPOILER When the characters' dreams begin to be realized, the extremem naturalism in the Korins designs vanish, the stage deepens, and the only realistic working set piece is a hotel door. It's a brilliant conceit for a show that's all about the tropes of MGM musicals and their deconstruction (see the authors' Playbill annotations of the score). But the show's designs -- like its dances -- are just stunning from the mezz, where both the downstage (most of act one) and then the far reaches of the upstage in act two are revealed. |
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| I guess you could call these two posts mixed reviews n/m | |
| Posted by: broadwaybacker 05:19 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Bandstand - WOW - ShowGoer 04:58 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
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