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Post by oxfordsimon on Aug 24, 2024 1:04:01 GMT
It may have been intentional and authentic to Bollywood cinema but it was still a jarring element and arguably not appropriate for a theatrical presentation.
I did like the score and the staging was impressive
But it was the drunken couple behind me who rather tainted my memories
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Post by parsley1 on Aug 24, 2024 1:23:44 GMT
It may have been intentional and authentic to Bollywood cinema but it was still a jarring element and arguably not appropriate for a theatrical presentation. I did like the score and the staging was impressive But it was the drunken couple behind me who rather tainted my memories My new production will have NO alcohol permitted |
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1,442 posts
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Post by theatrefan62 on Aug 24, 2024 6:52:57 GMT
I loved this, and would love a revival. But definitely not the JL treatment.
I got why they mimed, but agree I don't think it worked in the context of a live theatre performance.
You'd think producers would learn, so many chase broadway and end up flopping (e.g. American psycho, groundhog day and possibly tammy faye next)
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Post by shownut on Aug 24, 2024 7:59:51 GMT
I loved this, and would love a revival. But definitely not the JL treatment. I got why they mimed, but agree I don't think it worked in the context of a live theatre performance. You'd think producers would learn, so many chase broadway and end up flopping (e.g. American psycho, groundhog day and possibly tammy faye next) Saying they "chase" Broadway is innacurate. Many shows are now developed in London first by Broadway producers because it is far cheaper to develop and run a show on this side of the pond than it is stateside. GROUNDHOG DAY was a Scott Rudin project who is a notorious Broadway producer. It was always intended for Broadway but according to many, was brought in far too soon without the revisions the creative team wanted to make before it transferred. Rudin insisted on an immediate move and we all know how that ended. TAMMY FAYE was also conceived with Broadway in mind but with a British Director at the helm who insisted his resident theatre get first dibs, the strategy was a bit different (it was initially intended for the Gillian Lynne, then Broadway). So the idea that Broadway is an afterthought for many of these shows is incorrect. It was always the intended destination. |
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Post by parsley1 on Aug 24, 2024 9:41:08 GMT
I loved this, and would love a revival. But definitely not the JL treatment. I got why they mimed, but agree I don't think it worked in the context of a live theatre performance. You'd think producers would learn, so many chase broadway and end up flopping (e.g. American psycho, groundhog day and possibly tammy faye next) Saying they "chase" Broadway is innacurate. Many shows are now developed in London first by Broadway producers because it is far cheaper to develop and run a show on this side of the pond than it is stateside. GROUNDHOG DAY was a Scott Rudin project who is a notorious Broadway producer. It was always intended for Broadway but according to many, was brought in far too soon without the revisions the creative team wanted to make before it transferred. Rudin insisted on an immediate move and we all know how that ended. TAMMY FAYE was also conceived with Broadway in mind but with a British Director at the helm who insisted his resident theatre get first dibs, the strategy was a bit different (it was initially intended for the Gillian Lynne, then Broadway). So the idea that Broadway is an afterthought for many of these shows is incorrect. It was always the intended destination. The intended destination is not always the right one and a producer with brains and less arrogance should be able to reassess and read a situation And that works both ways round Many shows tank here which were lauded on Broadway But with respect to Bombay Dreams It was also a bigger risk than most shows to begin with and it opened post 9/11 at a time when tourism was at a low and many other shows better received and critically acclaimed than this had to shutter And ALW closed Cats and Starlight to make was for this as well A lot of the success in the WE was due to pot luck, loyal south asian audiences large in numbers in the UK and something different factor Not due to any excellence in the show other than a few of the songs That this would be a recipe for success elsewhere and of Broadway of all places is beyond deluded of the team Bombay Dreams UK success and the touted return have been effectively negated by the flop on Broadway which was ill judged and greedy |
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3,426 posts
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Post by ceebee on Aug 24, 2024 9:52:28 GMT
Broadway is becoming an increasingly difficult place for unestablished shows to turn a profit. Even Sunset Boulevard has a steep break-even point before it might be considered profitable. The good thing about the UK has been the tax breaks afforded to new shows.
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19,657 posts
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Aug 24, 2024 10:31:12 GMT
parsley1 do you think your favourite Bend It Like Beckham will ever see the light of day again? 😄
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Post by parsley1 on Aug 24, 2024 10:33:33 GMT
parsley1 do you think your favourite Bend It Like Beckham will ever see the light of day again? 😄 Was done in Canada 😀 |
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1,442 posts
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Post by theatrefan62 on Aug 24, 2024 11:18:48 GMT
I loved this, and would love a revival. But definitely not the JL treatment. I got why they mimed, but agree I don't think it worked in the context of a live theatre performance. You'd think producers would learn, so many chase broadway and end up flopping (e.g. American psycho, groundhog day and possibly tammy faye next) Saying they "chase" Broadway is innacurate. Many shows are now developed in London first by Broadway producers because it is far cheaper to develop and run a show on this side of the pond than it is stateside. GROUNDHOG DAY was a Scott Rudin project who is a notorious Broadway producer. It was always intended for Broadway but according to many, was brought in far too soon without the revisions the creative team wanted to make before it transferred. Rudin insisted on an immediate move and we all know how that ended. TAMMY FAYE was also conceived with Broadway in mind but with a British Director at the helm who insisted his resident theatre get first dibs, the strategy was a bit different (it was initially intended for the Gillian Lynne, then Broadway). So the idea that Broadway is an afterthought for many of these shows is incorrect. It was always the intended destination. Broadway is the end goal, they are still chasing it. I never said it was an afterthought at all! They chose to develop here, they had a hit here, and instead of capitalising on that and transferring in the UK they continue to chase the Broadway dream. And we've seen numerous times now that doesn't work out, and then they've lost the momentum in the UK. A tour of Bombay Dreams was planned many years back, was going to be a couple production between some of the big regional touring houses. But it never amounted to anything |
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Post by parsley1 on Aug 24, 2024 11:33:34 GMT
It’s an entirely separate discussion
But shows which start out on Broadway
And come to the WE
For me in general
Are lower in terms of scope, ambition, sophistication, intelligence, credibility
Than what we send there from here
The only way to ensure generic transatlantic or international appeal
Is to offer a show with such broad themes and ideas and ideals
Like the Lion King that it’s dumbed down
There is absolutely nothing wrong with a show being made for and designed for a particular cultural context time and target audience
This is partly true for lots of the recently imported American plays which just don’t have the same impact or relevance here
It’s like trying to make a one size dress for everyone
It won’t look good on anyone
The sole motivation Broadway is the goal
Is greed and money
The laughable revivals in NY of
South Pacific
My Fair Lady
Anything Goes
The King and I
Allowed me to make my conclusions long ago
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Post by shownut on Aug 24, 2024 13:14:06 GMT
Broadway is the end goal, they are still chasing it. I never said it was an afterthought at all! They chose to develop here, they had a hit here, and instead of capitalising on that and transferring in the UK they continue to chase the Broadway dream. And we've seen numerous times now that doesn't work out, and then they've lost the momentum in the UK. A tour of Bombay Dreams was planned many years back, was going to be a couple production between some of the big regional touring houses. But it never amounted to anything There was a tour of BOMBAY DREAMS in the US in 2006. It was not a successful tour, but there was a tour. |
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Post by bobbievanhusen on Aug 25, 2024 3:32:30 GMT
Bombay The error was the greed in closing the WE production and eyeing Broadway Not sure they were eyeing Broadway, when the Broadway production opened before the London run ended. It just wasn't a good musical and Jamie Lloyd doing his usual black and white tropes on a story about Bollywood doesn't seem a great fit. |
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Post by shownut on Aug 25, 2024 7:10:43 GMT
Bombay The error was the greed in closing the WE production and eyeing Broadway Not sure they were eyeing Broadway, when the Broadway production opened before the London run ended. It just wasn't a good musical and Jamie Lloyd doing his usual black and white tropes on a story about Bollywood doesn't seem a great fit. To it's credit, BOMBAY DREAMS was a much better show on Broadway (and pretty heavily revised) though I was not happy that "Like An Eagle" was cut in favour of a far less interesting song. But there was a lot there that was workable and with another revisal it could be worth trying again. |
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Post by musicalslive on Aug 25, 2024 8:11:02 GMT
I LOVED Bombay Dreams! It was one of the first musicals I saw, early in my long journey of musical theatre. I fell in love with the music from the first note. (I love Bollywood music, but also the Indian sounds) I listen the album every month, since then. I was so happy to have a bootleg recording, which I watched a million times. Sad, because the quality was bad and I lost it, it was a VHS video tape. (I know, I'm old) I would love to see a proshot of this show.
Bend it Like Beckham was such a little replacement for me, I loved it and saw it a couple of times.
Hope for a revival, somewhere! ;-)
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Post by parsley1 on Aug 25, 2024 10:15:57 GMT
In London it was sorely let down by Meera Syals
Cack handed book
She is surely highly talented and a great actress and ground breaking
But at that time she had the monopoly on all things Indian unfortunately
And her writing for this show lacked sophistication or skill
With a new book entirely redone it would do well
As unlike most new musicals
The songs and orchestrations are wonderful and in particular the ballads are epic in their scope
Unsurprising given the musical pedigree involved
The Broadway production was arguably worse received than the WE incarnation from the critics
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182 posts
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Post by unseaworthy on Aug 25, 2024 13:20:20 GMT
Shakalaka Baby is a great song - I still listen to it most days!
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Post by colelarson on Aug 26, 2024 10:27:59 GMT
Absolutely fell in love with Bollywood Dreams and saw it a few times near the end of it's run and it made me get into Bollywood movies after seeing the show and learning about A. R. Rahman's work.
I have the Salaam Bombay Dreams DVD somewhere which shows the making of the show....might have to dig that out for a rewatch!
I saw the final cast and have enjoyed seeing Stephen Rahman Hughes in a few productions since.
I think it was a fun show and would throughly enjoy to see it back on stage.
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18 posts
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Post by musicalslive on Aug 28, 2024 9:44:06 GMT
The Salaam Bombay Dreams dvd, I remember that also. Do you still have a copy?
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165 posts
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Post by Paulw on Aug 28, 2024 10:31:03 GMT
The Salaam Bombay Dreams dvd, I remember that also. Do you still have a copy? I do somewhere I also made a digital copy (dvd rip) which I have on a hard drive |
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1,379 posts
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Post by BVM on Aug 28, 2024 12:13:53 GMT
I also thought this was a fantastic production with some great music. Though I was so gutted about it moving into Starlight's home at the time am not sure I was able to sit in the AV and fully appreciate it!
It's funny when I think of the last mega musicals it's usually 90's things that come to mind but this was mos def serving mega in 2002! Maybe this was in fact the last one!?
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