| re: GETTING THE BAND BACK TO WHERE THEY WERE BEFORE COMING TO BROADWAY | |
| Posted by: NewtonUK 01:35 pm EDT 08/24/18 | |
| In reply to: re: GETTING THE BAND BACK TO WHERE THEY WERE BEFORE COMING TO BROADWAY - ryhog 11:41 am EDT 08/24/18 | |
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| Let me pose you an example. When WICKED opened in San Francisco the reviews were pretty brutal. When the show opened on Broadway they were, if anything, worse. On a recent anniversary of the show, I re-rad all of those reviews - well - about a dozen, including the rave from USA TODAY. I find I agreed with what all the critics who disliked the show said. I found their criticisms valid, and reflected what I saw both times I saw WICKED. I don't believe, and neither did the crix, that WICKED is a very good piece of musical theatre. Which bears no relation to the fact that it is a mega hit. No more did the horrid reviews LES MIZ had at the RSC, and then in The West End have any less validity, just because the show became a huge moneymaker. On the flip side, the recent revival of JOURNEYS END on Broadway was impeccably acted and directed - and all seemed to agree that it was a wonderful revival of a very good, if old fashioned play. They couldn't sell tickets to it at all. So commercial success doesnt mean a show is actually good, any more than commercial failure means, necessarily, that the show is terrible. Take FOLLIES - a troubled show with so much brilliance in it, never makes a penny. Is it good? Is it terrible? No - its lost in that middle ground where shows can go either way - and FOLLIES lacklustre book has always brought the show down in the last 30-40 minutes - no matter what else went on prior. A great musical trying to escape from a mediocre shell that won't let it out. And lets face it - the story is ultimately a downer, too clever by half, too cynical by half. I still love it. And recognize every one of its faults,. SO mediocre shows can be hits. Terrific shows can be flops. And lots of shows in the middle rise and fall for all kinds of reasons, some discoverable, some not. |
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