Threaded Order Chronological Order
| Some Like It Hot left us COLD | |
| Posted by: canbelto 11:16 am EDT 05/21/23 | |
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| Finally got around to seeing Some Like It Hot last night. Performers are showing fatigue: the pace was non-existent, most jokes fell flat and several leads are showing vocal damage and/or vocal distress. The show itself is lackluster. What should be a romp offers a poorly designed book missing established character relationships (we did not care about ANYONE, especially the charmless Sugar), choreography I would expect at a community theater summer show, and a truly stock set design. We were terribly bored and left at intermission. Many of my friends are remarking Broadway seems to be turning into "theme park" entertainment. What I experienced last night falls solidly into that category. | |
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| re: Some Like It Hot left us COLD | |
| Last Edit: twsct 01:48 pm EDT 05/22/23 | |
| Posted by: twsct 01:43 pm EDT 05/22/23 | |
| In reply to: Some Like It Hot left us COLD - canbelto 11:16 am EDT 05/21/23 | |
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| I'm not buying all the hype for this show. I saw it a week or so before opening night and thought it was all very mediocre at best. Hit or miss score, tepid book, overly choreographed, and cheap looking set. Of the three leads on is one miss cast, another dull/charmless, and one that's just "fine". | |
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| re: Some Like It Hot left us COLD | |
| Posted by: Billhaven 08:57 am EDT 05/22/23 | |
| In reply to: Some Like It Hot left us COLD - canbelto 11:16 am EDT 05/21/23 | |
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| I don’t know what community theater summer shows you’ve attended but I worked in summer stock for a few years and we didn’t tap anywhere near the intricate numbers in SLIH! | |
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| re: Some Like It Hot left us COLD | |
| Posted by: lowwriter 07:11 am EDT 05/22/23 | |
| In reply to: Some Like It Hot left us COLD - canbelto 11:16 am EDT 05/21/23 | |
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| Two of my relatives saw the show at the Saturday matinee and loved every minute. They praised the cast, the choreography and the pacing of the show, particularly one of the final numbers with the doors. They loved the character of Daphne. Their only complaint was that they were freezing sitting in the side orchestra. | |
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| re: Some Like It Hot left us COLD | |
| Posted by: Teacher64 09:00 pm EDT 05/21/23 | |
| In reply to: Some Like It Hot left us COLD - canbelto 11:16 am EDT 05/21/23 | |
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| I saw the show back in February and really enjoyed it. But right now I can honestly say, I don't remember a thing about it. | |
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| re: Some Like It Hot left us COLD | |
| Posted by: bsturtle 11:53 am EDT 05/21/23 | |
| In reply to: Some Like It Hot left us COLD - canbelto 11:16 am EDT 05/21/23 | |
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| I saw it a third time very recently, and the cast was as on fire as they were at an early preview. Performers are human and occasionally have an off night. (I will however agree with you about Sugar - she's the weakest link for me.) | |
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| re: Some Like It Hot left us COLD | |
| Posted by: canbelto 12:36 pm EDT 05/21/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Some Like It Hot left us COLD - bsturtle 11:53 am EDT 05/21/23 | |
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| I am fully aware a 2 show day is always exhausting, and Saturday night is always the toughest ask. But no performer, no matter how brilliant, can rise above inferior material. The show itself from the creative end is, for me, seriously flawed and mediocre at best. | |
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| re: Some Like It Hot left us COLD | |
| Posted by: comedywest 01:59 pm EDT 05/21/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Some Like It Hot left us COLD - canbelto 12:36 pm EDT 05/21/23 | |
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| In shifting the emphasis away from Daphne and Joe competing for Sugar, they lost a lot of laughs. The 1970s adaptation was called Sugar. If the were going to rename this adaptation, calling it Daphne would make more sense. I don't think it worked very well, v=certainly not as a comedy | |
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| re: Some Like It Hot left us COLD | |
| Posted by: Ann 01:42 pm EDT 05/21/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Some Like It Hot left us COLD - canbelto 12:36 pm EDT 05/21/23 | |
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| Yes, the problem with the character of Sugar is not the actress. The rest were in fine form when I saw it at the beginning of the run. | |
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| re: Some Like It Hot left us COLD | |
| Posted by: lanky 08:46 pm EDT 05/21/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Some Like It Hot left us COLD - Ann 01:42 pm EDT 05/21/23 | |
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| Agree. In an otherwise pleasant score, her songs are very weak, never quite establishing her vulnerability. A major problem (although I otherwise enjoyed the show). | |
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| re: Some Like It Hot left us COLD | |
| Posted by: AnObserver 10:52 am EDT 05/22/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Some Like It Hot left us COLD - lanky 08:46 pm EDT 05/21/23 | |
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| Women cannot be seen as vulnerable in today's world. Otherwise they are perceived as "victims" and men as unlikable "predators." Everyone today must be seen as a social justice warrior. The American theater is dead. | |
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| re: Some Like It Hot left us COLD | |
| Last Edit: Chazwaza 05:09 pm EDT 05/21/23 | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 05:08 pm EDT 05/21/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Some Like It Hot left us COLD - Ann 01:42 pm EDT 05/21/23 | |
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| The most generous I can be is that it's an issue with both the character as written and with the actress currently playing it. | |
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| rising above mediocrity | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 01:24 pm EDT 05/21/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Some Like It Hot left us COLD - canbelto 12:36 pm EDT 05/21/23 | |
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| I would say that this isn't true -- many many great performers have risen above mediocre material, i think there's a long history of stars who can spin straw into gold. But it's also very hard for good material to rise above a mediocre performer. This is what happens all over the place when amateur companies put on a bad production of a good musical and the audience thinks the show isn't good. The material actually isn't mediocre, but it can't rise above the limits of the performers doing it. This is why I'm always hesitant to bring friends who don't know a musical to a production of it if I haven't seen it first. At least half the time it doesn't do the show or score justice at all. But a great song can be done badly by a mediocre performer, and a mediocre song can become gold when done by a great performer. And I think that's possibly happening in SLIH -- I think the material given to Sugar is generally good, and a performer who has effortless star quality and can act the role and bring star quality to it would be making a stronger case for the material than what we're seeing in SLIH. |
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| re: rising above mediocrity | |
| Posted by: AnObserver 11:00 am EDT 05/22/23 | |
| In reply to: rising above mediocrity - Chazwaza 01:24 pm EDT 05/21/23 | |
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| Someone I know has a theory about why there are so few actors with "star quality." Schools and universities discovered they could make money having a theatre department and therefore they grind out mediocre performers. But that's only part of the reason. And don't forget Mssrs. Prince and Sondheim only endured "stars." THEY wanted to be the stars. That's only part of the reason also. Television, internet, money, time, real estate greed, etc. Rudolf Bing said, "The problem with Madame Callas is that she is smart." !!! |
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| re: rising above mediocrity | |
| Posted by: champagnesalesman 12:24 am EDT 05/22/23 | |
| In reply to: rising above mediocrity - Chazwaza 01:24 pm EDT 05/21/23 | |
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| You are so right I remember seeing Elaine Stritch in a concert version of Sail Away and I left there thinking "what a good musical this is why isn't it ever done." . and a few years later Mel Miller did it at musicals tonight starring a woman with below zero star quality and the audience was clearly thinking "wow this show stinks no wonder nobody ever does it" i was the production not the show.. maybe when the lackluster Miss Hicks leaves the show a more charismatic Sugar might take over |
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| re: rising above mediocrity | |
| Last Edit: PlayWiz 05:25 pm EDT 05/22/23 | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 05:20 pm EDT 05/22/23 | |
| In reply to: re: rising above mediocrity - champagnesalesman 12:24 am EDT 05/22/23 | |
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| I think it's more the material, the way the role has been reconceived, as Ms. Hicks actually has one of the strongest voices in the cast. But Sugar here has no real vulnerability, and the overpowering amplification doesn't help either. I saw the recent production of the Jule Styne-Bob Merrill "Sugar" and the more traditionally cast actress, along with the rest of the excellent cast there had better and stronger material which actually didn't rewrite the essence of the famous sex comedy that Billy Wilder and company wrote and filmed. | |
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| re: Some Like It Hot left us COLD | |
| Posted by: Shutterbug 12:12 pm EDT 05/21/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Some Like It Hot left us COLD - bsturtle 11:53 am EDT 05/21/23 | |
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| I enjoyed the show a great deal, but also agree that Sugar is the weakest link in this show. | |
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| re: Some Like It Hot left us COLD | |
| Last Edit: Delvino 02:10 pm EDT 05/21/23 | |
| Posted by: Delvino 02:08 pm EDT 05/21/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Some Like It Hot left us COLD - Shutterbug 12:12 pm EDT 05/21/23 | |
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| I fall into a different camp: I found the actor and role fine but her songs the least memorable in the score. And song quality matters. She desperately needs a roof raiser, a number that’s hers alone that leaves an old school musical comedy impression. Her final attenuated torch is likely a vocal challenge - and is well sung - but arrives like a place holder. It’s long and uninteresting so late in the story. She becomes negligible as a player because she just cannot stop the show. | |
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| re: Some Like It Hot left us COLD | |
| Posted by: carolinaguy 02:03 pm EDT 05/21/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Some Like It Hot left us COLD - Shutterbug 12:12 pm EDT 05/21/23 | |
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| Same opinion. I saw it during previews and Hicks tore the place apart with her vocals on her three numbers, but there was really no character for her to play in the script. It was like they were trying so hard to avoid the Marilyn aspects that they left a blank spot. I kept thinking she could have been great if only she had been given even a sliver of specificity to play. | |
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| re: Some Like It Hot left us COLD | |
| Posted by: toros 09:32 am EDT 05/22/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Some Like It Hot left us COLD - carolinaguy 02:03 pm EDT 05/21/23 | |
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| "...but there was really no character for her to play in the script." I think that's exactly right. It's very clear what the writers DIDN'T want to do with the character - make her a sexy, dumb blonde - which is fine, but that's what most of the humor is derived from in the source material. They found other solutions to potential challenges for contemporary audiences, but they came up short with the character of Sugar. She has nothing to play. I wouldn't blame it on the actress. Did anyone notice that the musical is almost completely devoid of sex - sexual titillation, sexual allure, etc.? I think it's part of why it feels so unsatisfying, despite some fun songs and dances. The wildly underrated "Shucked," on the other hand, is steaming with sex. | |
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| re: Some Like It Hot left us COLD | |
| Posted by: steven_carter 09:52 am EDT 05/22/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Some Like It Hot left us COLD - toros 09:32 am EDT 05/22/23 | |
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| I think the problem is how the role of Sugar is reconceived in this version. In the quest to make all women strong and empowered (see also the stage versions of "Tootsie", "Groundhog Day", and many other recent works), they rob these characters of their reality and their dramatic arc. Sugar, as conceived by Billy Wilder is fascinating: she makes bad choices, she drinks too much, she is vulnerable,...And oh, she also like sex, something the current authors seem to find too much for current audiences. The whole wonderful boat scene where Sugar flips the traditional roles and SHE is the one who seduces the Tony Curtis/Christian Borle character, is funny, real, and sexy in the original. In the new version, no seduction happens....and the script heavy-handedly literally spells out for us that DON"T WORRY. NO SEX HAPPENED. As if that would be exploitative for two consenting adults to have sex with each other. The new authors of this SLIH (and many recent adaptations) may think they have empowered their female characters by removing their bad choices, or neurosis, or vulnerability. But what they have really done is turn interesting, real, flawed, human characters bland and colorless. |
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| also how the score is divided up... the band leader sings more than the lead singer | |
| Last Edit: Chazwaza 03:48 pm EDT 05/24/23 | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 03:47 pm EDT 05/24/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Some Like It Hot left us COLD - steven_carter 09:52 am EDT 05/22/23 | |
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| The only star we see is the band leader. The STAR of the band, and lead singer, is not convincing at all as a singer for this kind of act, and why do they give so much of what she ought to be seeing to the band leader? Not to mention that despite being gorgeous and with a great voice (though I found it mismatched with the kind of singing that this kind of band would be utilizing), there is a lack of charm and wit and star quality in the *performance* as well as in the material. I never got from the performance or the show why the band and the Borle character are falling over themselves to keep her in the band or be in her company. But I will say I do not remember thinking her songs were not good. But I agree that she has been de-fanged as a character, so to speak. |
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| re: I think the problem is... | |
| Posted by: Dale 04:34 pm EDT 05/23/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Some Like It Hot left us COLD - steven_carter 09:52 am EDT 05/22/23 | |
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| The much need sax and bass are no longer needed since they are now a dance act for the band... HUH? | |
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| re: I think the problem is... | |
| Last Edit: PlayWiz 08:03 pm EDT 05/23/23 | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 08:00 pm EDT 05/23/23 | |
| In reply to: re: I think the problem is... - Dale 04:34 pm EDT 05/23/23 | |
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| That wouldn't be a problem if this was directed by John Doyle! But as the pool of people who can act, sing, dance and possibly play instruments as well as an 802 member is very small, glad those kinds of productions are starting to diminish in quantity. | |
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