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| If you want to see MOULIN ROUGE this afternoon or tonight .... | |
| Posted by: NewtonUK 11:48 am EDT 09/05/19 | |
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| ... and don't mind that Karen Olivo is out .... Tony Voters are moving to other dates, and likely some seats will be avail ... | |
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| re: If you want to see MOULIN ROUGE this afternoon or tonight .... (spoilers) | |
| Posted by: mikem 02:01 pm EDT 09/05/19 | |
| In reply to: If you want to see MOULIN ROUGE this afternoon or tonight .... - NewtonUK 11:48 am EDT 09/05/19 | |
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| (spoilers) Karen Olivo is great in the show, but she seems like she is belting all the way through, and I'm not surprised that it's catching up to her. I noticed she has a full-time standby (and no one else does). I saw the show recently and have mixed feelings about it. I am probably the ideal audience -- I recognized at least 90% of the songs, and I liked the movie. However, I thought that the stage version crammed in too many songs, and it became too much about recognizing song snippets. Song recognition seemed to be a goal rather than the music serving the material. Someone said that the stage version has about twice as many songs as the movie, which sounds about right. I also think that the stage musical has a mixed, somewhat insincere stance towards the songs. In some cases, like when the Duke sings Rihanna's "Only Girl in the World," it seems like it's almost making fun of the characters. I think that leads to some of the laughter when songs get recognized (which is distracting when it happens 70-some times). I don't remember that same kind of incessant laughter in other jukebox musicals, even ones like Rock of Ages where you really don't know what's coming next. Aaron Tveit is very talented, but I don't think he is ideally cast. His character is extremely naive and almost boyish, and Tveit is 35, looks at least that old in this show IMO, and doesn't project that naivete. (Ewan McGregor was 26 when filming the movie, and he projected that naivete to me.) I think both Olivo and Danny Burstein are giving Tony-worthy performances, though. The audience for the show is not ideal. Very rowdy from the get-go, and I think it will be worse now that the cast album has been released and people will know what's coming and can sing along. The woman in front of me talked (and drank) throughout the first act. I leaned over and said something quietly and nicely during the first act, to which the response was to pull out the phone. Then at intermission, while she sat in her seat, and I sat in mine, she indignantly complained about how I "invaded her personal space" to her seatmates at intermission. Her take-home message was not that she had been disruptive to her fellow audience members, but that an "a-hole" dared to invade her personal space. Then she was shocked that I could hear her complaining about me -- it truly did not seem to occur to her that I could hear her from my seat. Some people are truly in their own world. And yes, she was a millennial. I think the blocking must have changed over previews, because my seat was supposed to be at the cusp of partial view, and it wasn't. I sat in the same exact seat Leon_W did (thank you, Leon, for your detailed seat report!), which was G9. I don't know if anyone ever stood at the windmill above me, but I could only see the blade from my seat. I could see the Duke sitting in the second tier of the set from my seat, though. There were reports from early previews that ensemble members would stand at the side of the stage and block views, but that only happened for a few moments during some numbers, and it didn't affect me at all. It might affect the rows closer to the stage, but again, I don't think you would miss anything of import. Much farther to the side might be truly blocked, but G11 and probably G13 would be basically full view. One thing to be careful about is that Satine's dressing room has a mirror on her table that is an actual mirror that would probably block her face when she is sitting at it from the extreme house left seats. I could see her whole face from my seat, though. Another thing is that the elephant in the mezzanine box at house right has a trunk that spills past the box and blocks some of the view from the extreme side of the mezzanine. That doesn't happen for the windmill in the mezz box on the other side. I think the show is a slam-dunk for awards recognition for sets and costumes, and will hopefully finally bring Burstein a Tony, but I don't think it will win the big prizes. The trend for Best Musical is towards shows with substance, and that is not Moulin Rouge's strength. |
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| re: If you want to see MOULIN ROUGE this afternoon or tonight .... (spoilers) | |
| Posted by: PlazaBoy 04:18 pm EDT 09/05/19 | |
| In reply to: re: If you want to see MOULIN ROUGE this afternoon or tonight .... (spoilers) - mikem 02:01 pm EDT 09/05/19 | |
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| Sounds like you took the unfortunate incidents in your stride, but the laughter when songs get recognized and the entitled young woman would have ruined my evening. | |
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| re: If you want to see MOULIN ROUGE this afternoon or tonight .... (spoilers) | |
| Posted by: mikem 05:32 pm EDT 09/05/19 | |
| In reply to: re: If you want to see MOULIN ROUGE this afternoon or tonight .... (spoilers) - PlazaBoy 04:18 pm EDT 09/05/19 | |
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| I think the entitled woman tried her best to ruin my evening. I had to consciously say to myself that I needed to rise above it and let it go, especially after she and her friend started cursing me out at intermission. I actually went and talked to the house manager, who was fantastic. I was really impressed with her. She really listened to me and offered to have someone from security talk to them. I declined because I thought it would escalate things further, but it helped to know I had that option if things deteriorated. The woman was a bit better in the second act. She also talked more to the person on the other side of her, which I couldn't hear and was more out of my sightline. I don't think the laughter at the first lines of each song is avoidable, though. It's partly in the way the show is directed. There wasn't any laughter during the diamond medley, for example, because that medley thematically made sense. |
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| re: If you want to see MOULIN ROUGE this afternoon or tonight .... (spoilers) | |
| Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 02:51 pm EDT 09/05/19 | |
| In reply to: re: If you want to see MOULIN ROUGE this afternoon or tonight .... (spoilers) - mikem 02:01 pm EDT 09/05/19 | |
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| "I also think that the stage musical has a mixed, somewhat insincere stance towards the songs. In some cases, like when the Duke sings Rihanna's "Only Girl in the World," it seems like it's almost making fun of the characters. I think that leads to some of the laughter when songs get recognized (which is distracting when it happens 70-some times)." Yes, I had the same reaction. |
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| re: If you want to see MOULIN ROUGE this afternoon or tonight .... (spoilers) | |
| Posted by: mikem 05:15 pm EDT 09/05/19 | |
| In reply to: re: If you want to see MOULIN ROUGE this afternoon or tonight .... (spoilers) - Michael_Portantiere 02:51 pm EDT 09/05/19 | |
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| I looked back at the film music, and there is only one extended medley, the "Elephant Love" medley, and there is a reason why so many songs are strung together -- the medley describes all the different ways you can express love. Otherwise, there are two short medleys, with the rest of the songs being standalone or with just one song attached. For the musical, there are nine medleys of at least 3 songs (not including the megamix at the curtain call). Some have a theme but some of the songs just seem to be there for either "You've got to be kidding me" or "Name That Tune" with the audience. |
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| re: If you want to see MOULIN ROUGE this afternoon or tonight .... (spoilers) | |
| Posted by: mikem 02:05 pm EDT 09/05/19 | |
| In reply to: re: If you want to see MOULIN ROUGE this afternoon or tonight .... (spoilers) - mikem 02:01 pm EDT 09/05/19 | |
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| I forgot to mention that I think they have changed the advisory about when you can take pictures. It sounds like previews said you could take photos and video during the curtain call, but now the advisory is that you can not take photos or video while there are performers on stage. | |
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