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| Newly uncovered review of DEH by Brooks Atkinson (Read on, you question will be answered at the end of the review) | |
| Posted by: broadwaybacker 10:00 am EDT 05/26/23 | |
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| "Dear Evan Hansen, is a remarkable theatrical production that graces the stage with raw emotion and poignant storytelling. In this transformative musical, the talented creative team led by composers Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, writer Steven Levenson, and director Michael Greif, masterfully crafts a resonant narrative that captures the essence of our complex human experiences. At the heart of the production lies the compelling performance of the titular character, brilliantly portrayed by [insert lead actor's name]. Through his portrayal, we witness the vulnerabilities and inner turmoil of Evan Hansen, a socially anxious teenager seeking connection and acceptance in a world that often feels distant and indifferent. [Lead actor] captures the essence of Evan's struggle with remarkable nuance, blending vulnerability and strength, as he navigates a web of lies that ultimately leads to unforeseen consequences. The music of Dear Evan Hansen, adorned with stirring melodies and heartfelt lyrics, serves as the emotional backbone of the production. Pasek and Paul's score gracefully illuminates the characters' internal battles, providing a melodic tapestry that lingers in our hearts long after the final note. From the poignant ballad "Waving Through a Window" to the stirring anthem "You Will Be Found," the music amplifies the emotional depth of the story, inviting the audience to empathize with the characters and reflect on their own struggles and triumphs. Levenson's skillful writing paints a vivid portrait of adolescence, grappling with themes of identity, loneliness, and the power of human connection. The story masterfully explores the effects of social media, highlighting the dichotomy between the curated online personas and the vulnerable realities individuals face in their everyday lives. Through Evan's journey, Levenson invites us to question the boundaries of empathy and the profound impact our actions can have on others. Under Greif's astute direction, the production seamlessly weaves together elements of storytelling, music, and stage design. The visually striking set designs and lighting create a shifting landscape that mirrors the emotional terrain of the characters, enhancing the audience's immersion into Evan's world. The choreography, though not extravagant, effectively conveys the characters' emotional states, allowing their movements to resonate with authenticity and purpose. Dear Evan Hansen is a triumph, not only for its superb artistic craftsmanship but also for its ability to touch the hearts of audiences young and old. It is a testament to the power of theatre as a medium for empathy and understanding. Through its poignant storytelling, captivating music, and exceptional performances, Dear Evan Hansen reminds us of the beauty and resilience that can emerge from even the darkest corners of our lives. In the hands of this remarkable creative team, Dear Evan Hansen emerges as a modern masterpiece, etching its indelible mark on the landscape of contemporary theatre. Its power lies not only in the story it tells but in the conversations it ignites, the emotions it evokes, and the profound impact it leaves on those fortunate enough to experience its magic." OK, what the heck? Like many of us, I've been curious (and scared) about AI. Last night, I read about a new free download of ChatGPT for Apple devices, so I downloaded it to try to get a sense of what it was all about. The second thing I asked it to do was: "Write a review of Dear Evan Hansen in the style of Brooks Atkinson." In LESS THAN FIVE SECONDS the above "review" appeared on my phone. I don't have the slightest idea as to how AI works, but I'm more scared than ever about its implications, in countless ways. |
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| FWIW, I think that doesn't sound anything like Brooks Atkinson (nm) | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 03:19 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
| In reply to: Newly uncovered review of DEH by Brooks Atkinson (Read on, you question will be answered at the end of the review) - broadwaybacker 10:00 am EDT 05/26/23 | |
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| nm | |
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| re: FWIW, I think that doesn't sound anything like Brooks Atkinson (nm) | |
| Posted by: showtunetrivia 08:31 pm EDT 05/27/23 | |
| In reply to: FWIW, I think that doesn't sound anything like Brooks Atkinson (nm) - AlanScott 03:19 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
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| I agree, Alan, and I’ve read a lot of Atkinson. It reads like a typical—for now, anyway—AI-generated text. There’s a blandness to them. They follow specific templates, and if you read enough examples, you start to recognize them. There are certain sentence formations that get used over and over, with different nouns and/or adjectives, but the form is the same. They strike me as the sort of thing a smart fifth grader could devise: regurgitating the material in a mostly acceptable fashion, but lacking any kind of creativity. When my kids were in middle school, they had these dumbass writing exercises, centering on “eleven sentence paragraphs.” They were supposed to present facts or a position, then then two sentences of commentary, then some sort of closing argument. Maybe that sort of crap is useful to a kid who has no idea how to approach any kind of writing assignment, but as the daughters of two writers, our kids went bonkers facing that kind of stricture. The AI writing I’ve seen is like those kids, faced with “write something to fit this requirement,” so they vomit some words, and hope they’re in the right order. The ChatGPT and their ilk are also prone to making stuff up. I have a bunch of writer friends who asked the AIs for author biographies. Oh, if only they had really done and written what the AIs said they had! Laura in LA |
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| re: FWIW, I think that doesn't sound anything like Brooks Atkinson (nm) | |
| Last Edit: Chromolume 10:01 pm EDT 05/27/23 | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 10:00 pm EDT 05/27/23 | |
| In reply to: re: FWIW, I think that doesn't sound anything like Brooks Atkinson (nm) - showtunetrivia 08:31 pm EDT 05/27/23 | |
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| In my high school we had the 5-sentence paragraph. (11? I can't even imagine.) Except I remember being able to do the same formula with only 3 sentences lol. But I absolutely agree with you about the tone/content of the AI stuff. And "regurgitating" is an apt word. It's very clear to me that the AI bot never actually saw the show. I do have a memory, this one from middle school, of a student having left the first part of a book report on a desk. It began, "The Prime Of Miss Jean Brody is about a school teacher, named Miss Jean Brody, in her prime." You can't make this stuff up. Literally. ;-) |
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| re: FWIW, I think that doesn't sound anything like Brooks Atkinson (nm) | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 10:45 pm EDT 05/27/23 | |
| In reply to: re: FWIW, I think that doesn't sound anything like Brooks Atkinson (nm) - Chromolume 10:00 pm EDT 05/27/23 | |
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| Be glad that the teacher grading wasn't Don Lemon. (Ducks) | |
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| re: Newly uncovered review of DEH by Brooks Atkinson (Read on, you question will be answered at the end of the review) | |
| Posted by: steveva 10:22 am EDT 05/26/23 | |
| In reply to: Newly uncovered review of DEH by Brooks Atkinson (Read on, you question will be answered at the end of the review) - broadwaybacker 10:00 am EDT 05/26/23 | |
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| It makes me want to plug in a review of anything (except Sondheim) written in the style of Walter Kerr since his reviews (except for Sondheim shows) were so wonderful to read. | |
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| The Walter Kerr review | |
| Posted by: broadwaybacker 10:42 am EDT 05/26/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Newly uncovered review of DEH by Brooks Atkinson (Read on, you question will be answered at the end of the review) - steveva 10:22 am EDT 05/26/23 | |
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| stevea, here ya go. I used DEH again so that we could compare, and all I can say is wow: "Dear Evan Hansen, a perplexing theatrical endeavor that sets out on a grand mission but stumbles along its ambitious path. This production, with music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, a book by Steven Levenson, and direction by Michael Greif, presents a narrative that grapples with the complexities of adolescence and the desperate yearning for human connection. While its intentions are noble, the execution falters, leaving the audience with a sense of unease and unresolved conflicts. The central character, Evan Hansen, as portrayed by [insert lead actor's name], is a fragile and socially anxious teenager who becomes entangled in a web of deceit and manipulation. [Lead actor] delivers a performance filled with genuine vulnerability, embodying Evan's insecurities with a sense of authenticity. However, the character's transformation is hindered by the muddled storytelling, which often relies on contrivances and implausible plot devices. The score, composed by Pasek and Paul, boasts a handful of memorable tunes that resonate with the audience. Songs like "Waving Through a Window" and "You Will Be Found" possess melodic hooks that linger in one's mind. Yet, despite these moments of musical splendor, the overall impact of the score feels uneven and lacking a cohesive artistic vision. The songs, while individually appealing, struggle to integrate seamlessly into the narrative fabric, resulting in a disjointed and disconnected experience. Levenson's book delves into the modern complexities of social media and its impact on human relationships, seeking to explore the themes of identity and loneliness. However, the execution falls short of its lofty ambitions. The characters often feel underdeveloped, relying on predictable archetypes and shallow motivations. As a result, the emotional connections between the audience and the characters remain tenuous, hindering the depth of engagement that this story so desperately needs. Under Greif's direction, the production presents a visually striking landscape, with set designs and lighting that effectively convey the shifting emotional terrain. However, the staging feels overly busy at times, with distracting movement and choreography that detract from the heart of the story. There is a missed opportunity to create moments of stillness and introspection, where the audience can truly connect with the internal struggles of the characters. Dear Evan Hansen aspires to be a thought-provoking exploration of the human condition, but it falls short in its execution. Its ambitious themes and desire to touch upon the universal struggles of adolescence are overshadowed by contrived plotlines and inconsistent characterizations. While there are moments of musical beauty and flashes of genuine emotional resonance, the overall impact of the production feels muddled and unsatisfying." The message concluded with the following analysis, which is all the more incredible after comparing the Kerr review to the Atkinson review. "In the hands of Walter Kerr, a critic known for his sharp wit and discerning eye, this review would likely highlight the missed opportunities and lack of coherence that hinder Dear Evan Hansen from achieving its full potential." |
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| re: The Walter Kerr review | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 03:22 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
| In reply to: The Walter Kerr review - broadwaybacker 10:42 am EDT 05/26/23 | |
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| I don't think that sounds anything like Kerr, either. I wrote a fake Kerr review a few years ago for an imaginary musical version of Arsenic and Old Lace. I think I got closer. :) |
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| re: The Walter Kerr review | |
| Posted by: keikekaze 03:32 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
| In reply to: re: The Walter Kerr review - AlanScott 03:22 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
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| I agree. I was just about to point out that the "Kerr" review actually sounds very much like the "Atkinson" review, and does not feature anything resembling the quips Kerr was famous for ("I won't say Portofino is the worst musical ever presented on Broadway; I've only been going to musicals since 1919"). I've never studied Atkinson's reviews in depth enough to know how far the AI recreation misses the mark, but I suspect it does. AI doesn't seem to be able to do quirky, individualized humor . . . yet. | |
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| re: The Walter Kerr review | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 04:10 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
| In reply to: re: The Walter Kerr review - keikekaze 03:32 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
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| I would say that Atkinson wasn't generally quirky or humorous. He was reportorial, that's the best word that comes to mind. Even his Sunday pieces are sort of unshowy, and he rarely if ever indulged in the kind of rhetoric that is in this fake review. And the Kerr review is missing both his quirkiness and his analytical skill. And the prose is flat-footed, which was rarely if ever true of Kerr's reviews. |
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| re: The Walter Kerr review | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 04:24 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
| In reply to: re: The Walter Kerr review - AlanScott 04:10 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
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| And, as I said about both reviews, the info presented is boilerplate and incredibly general. Not much insight. Just the kinds of stuff you'd expect from any basic, non-skilled review. | |
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| re: The Walter Kerr review | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 04:39 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
| In reply to: re: The Walter Kerr review - Chromolume 04:24 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
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| Atkinson's opening night reviews did tend to be on the generalized side. He did have only an hour or two to write them. The thing that set Kerr apart from everyone else and made him so special was that even with the same deadline, he came up with reviews that felt more detailed and analytical and had an interesting, even eloquent quirkiness to them. Maybe the Herald Tribune was an afternoon paper, which would have given Kerr more time than Atkinson had. I don't know the answer to that. | |
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| re: The Walter Kerr review | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 05:02 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
| In reply to: re: The Walter Kerr review - AlanScott 04:39 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
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| I am linking Atkinson's opening-night review of Death of a Salesman. His Sunday followup piece can easily be found online. This review is more specific than I think of Atkinson as generally being. And it is probably as much of a rave as anything he ever wrote. I can't put into words the stylistic differences between this and that Dear Evan Hansen Atkinson review. Perhaps someone else can. But there are certainly things in the fake review that I just can't imagine Atkinson ever writing. Also, I can't imagine him writing that kind of all-out rave for Dear Evan Hansen. Not because I think he might not have liked it, but because such all-out raves — the Death of a Salesman review is one — were rare from Atkinson. Perhaps I would say that there is a quietness even to Atkinson's raves, and that is missing from the Dear Evan Hansen review. |
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| Link | Atkinson on Death of a Salesman |
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| re: The Walter Kerr review | |
| Posted by: garyd 08:28 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
| In reply to: re: The Walter Kerr review - AlanScott 05:02 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
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| "he evokes a wraith-like tragedy". This phrase has always stayed with me from the first time I read this review. Such a poetic and accurate description of the play. | |
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| re: The Walter Kerr review | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 09:23 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
| In reply to: re: The Walter Kerr review - garyd 08:28 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
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| And I don't think of Atkinson as having been poetic very often, but it shows that he could be when inspired. | |
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| re: The Walter Kerr review | |
| Posted by: steveva 11:23 am EDT 05/26/23 | |
| In reply to: The Walter Kerr review - broadwaybacker 10:42 am EDT 05/26/23 | |
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| That's Walter Kerr alright! Thanks! I loved how he could write a mixed review and made it seem like a show that couldn't be missed! | |
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| re: The Walter Kerr review | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 11:57 am EDT 05/26/23 | |
| In reply to: re: The Walter Kerr review - steveva 11:23 am EDT 05/26/23 | |
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| Both of these reviews, in the style of the critics or not, are incredibly and woefully general in their assessments - it's as if they both read the Wikipedia article and wrote the reviews based on that instead of actually seeing the show. Which I think essentially is what the AI program did. I'm not worried. |
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| re: The Walter Kerr review | |
| Last Edit: Shutterbug 02:58 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
| Posted by: Shutterbug 02:56 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
| In reply to: re: The Walter Kerr review - Chromolume 11:57 am EDT 05/26/23 | |
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| I find this AI technology a bit unsettling. Sure it’s a fun party trick and can be fascinating/entertaining as a novelty, but I do worry that it potentially starts us on a slippery slope towards inauthenticity, duplicity, fraud, and distrust. I mean, talk about “fake news.” Not everyone follows the same moral/ethical code, as we see most glaringly in the political sphere. Who knows how this AI technology could be used to manipulate, defame, influence, or undermine. It just gives me pause. |
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| re: The Walter Kerr review | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 03:15 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
| In reply to: re: The Walter Kerr review - Shutterbug 02:56 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
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| Yes - I do agree with that. What I find ineffective about these two "reviews" is the sense of generality that neither Atkinson nor Kerr would have settled for. To write something "in the style of" is easy enough, even for a computer - but those reviews sound too much like someone who had never really seen the show, but could figure out what might have been generally highlighted in a review. They don't pass the test to me at all. That said, yes, I do think there will be potential applications of AI that will be much better, where we would have a much harder time questioning authenticity. |
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| re: The Walter Kerr review | |
| Posted by: huskyital 12:30 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
| In reply to: re: The Walter Kerr review - Chromolume 11:57 am EDT 05/26/23 | |
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| I'm a bit worried. Walter Kerr wrote some great books.In college I read The Decline of Pleasure . When he was the reviewer for the New York Times he had clout. Jesse wrote a rave for the Thanksgiving play but it had no effect on the grosses. | |
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| re: The Walter Kerr review | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 03:31 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
| In reply to: re: The Walter Kerr review - huskyital 12:30 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
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| He had clout when he wrote for the Herald Tribune and his first season at the Times. Then he switched to reviewing on Sundays and his clout seemed much less. Example: He loved Moonchildren, and it closed the weekend after his review appeared. Admittedly, Barnes liked Moonchildren a lot, too, and that doesn't seem to have helped much at the box office. You just can't make people see something that they don't want to see. Still, I think it's pretty clear that Kerr's clout lessened after he switched to Sundays. |
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| re: The Walter Kerr review | |
| Posted by: FleetStreetBarber 03:20 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
| In reply to: re: The Walter Kerr review - huskyital 12:30 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
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| He also had plenty of clout when he reviewed for The New York Herald Tribune prior to his stint at the Times. | |
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| re: The Walter Kerr review | |
| Posted by: jbk 06:34 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
| In reply to: re: The Walter Kerr review - FleetStreetBarber 03:20 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
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| Leaving AI aside for the moment, why hasn't there been a published collection of Walter Kerr's reviews? No one else was so astute about actors, so passionate an assessor of everything he saw on stage, so joyous when joy was called for, so wounding when he was left wanting, so verbally adept. I want a Kerr collection to re-read and add to my bookshelf next to Max Beerbohm and Kenneth Tynan. Walter Kerr provided the best chronicle ever of New York theater from the 60s to the 90s. And boy, was he fun to read! | |
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| re: The Walter Kerr review | |
| Posted by: comedywest 07:56 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
| In reply to: re: The Walter Kerr review - jbk 06:34 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
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| There is Pieces at Eight. | |
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| re: The Walter Kerr review | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 06:54 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
| In reply to: re: The Walter Kerr review - jbk 06:34 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
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| In 1970, Simon and Schuster published Thirty Plays Hath November, a collection of his writings on theatre. It's hardly complete, covering 1963-1968, but it's something. | |
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| re: The Walter Kerr review | |
| Posted by: jbk 07:00 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
| In reply to: re: The Walter Kerr review - AlanScott 06:54 pm EDT 05/26/23 | |
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| Thanks, Alan. | |
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