I agree! I also saw it in Atlanta and thought it was overall wonderful, with great performances from the Broadway characters (and pretty good performances from the 'townspeople').
The biggest issue for me was how out of step it was about middle American life-- people didn't seem to understand how to use smartphones to get information (until they finally did) and they didn't seem to know (or know of) any LGBT people. These days, when many large high schools--yes, even in flyover states-- have at least a few out kids, it seemed out of date. It was actually kind of insulting about outside-of-NY America. That said, there was a ton of showmanship on that stage, and I laughed heartily throughout. The Godspell bit is brilliant (and, yeah, the Atlanta audience "got it").
Oh, and they must fix the opening scene/number. A big missed opportunity. It's not just that the number is weak, but the staging, costuming, concept are all from some long-forgotten time in Broadway's past. The people around me insisted the show was set in the 1980s, but then I pointed out that the social media element (introduced quite late in the show) would not have been around back then.
I hope they fix this stuff....the show could work really nicely. |
