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Post by chernjam on Mar 23, 2023 17:33:10 GMT
I'm predicting mixed-positive from the critics
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Post by chernjam on Mar 23, 2023 3:00:05 GMT
Clip sounds great, hope we get a soundtrack recording; I always find the OCR underwhelming from an orchestral point of view. Plus it misses all the additions/revisions that were added later on. (Duet version of TiMTL & the proper end to ABL.) And AnnCrumb was never my favourite Rose. So fingers crossed for this. ^ Ditto to all the lack of revisions/additions. Aspects of Love was the first musical I ever saw, and started my interest in theatre and ALW. The score remains a favorite even if the story always was bonkers. But just hearing that clip of Seeing is Believing with a real orchestra and not two pianos and a string or something has me excited for this. Will have to see if I actually cross the Atlantic to see it. But if its a full on revival that takes off, I'm willing to take the expense |
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Post by chernjam on Mar 20, 2023 1:26:40 GMT
Not sure what you find shocking? Treating an entire group of people the way the Cinderella cast and crew (original and never to be) were treated is unacceptable regardless of what you have going on in your life. I stand by that and can assure you I will sleep just fine. Really? Is sarcasm beyond your comprehension? I will make a mental note to always be literal when I reply to your posts in future, then. Your dispassionate words, 'sad circumstances, certainly' over his son being critically ill with cancer make me wonder why you would begin to think you have any sort of moral superiority in the first place. You know nothing about what was really going on. If someone close to me was critically ill, they would be my first priority, not the cast. ^ exactly this... the "poor cast and crew" - spare me. people got paid and bitched and moaned that they weren't fawned over and had this production remain open even when it was losing money. |
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Post by chernjam on Mar 19, 2023 0:14:16 GMT
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Post by chernjam on Mar 19, 2023 0:13:32 GMT
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Post by chernjam on Mar 17, 2023 4:14:46 GMT
http://instagr.am/p/CpSFmIRIigM She always refused to say anything negative, even with all the drama surrounding the closure, but seems to be reacting to something. Has his Lordship said something he shouldn’t? Again? Has anyone figured out what this was all about? |
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Post by chernjam on Mar 2, 2023 5:42:03 GMT
Steve and I've swapped ALW antidotes for over 20 years now I think, so I always respect his opinion and his take on things (still can remember reading his posts about LND previews when they were clocking in at 3 hours) Anyway, if I had to guess what's the issue - is that he's trying too hard for a hit rather than being guided and passionate about something. He's going against all the old lines he used to repeat about Hal Prince's advice post-Jeeves about the look of a show and how that brings together all the other essential parts. I was deflated when I heard his next project was Cinderella. Prior to that he was mentioning his interest in something else that he needed to try to acquire the rights to that involved someone who was still living, so obviously that didn't happen. But I thought Cinderella - who really cares? The announcement that Emerald was working with him definitely came when she was being celebrated for some of her work. Hard to see what is really edgy about it. And as people had mentioned the topic is kind of been beaten to death between Wicked, Heathers, Mean Girls, etc. Score wise- I think there's a lot of good stuff here - including some of the incidental music. "Only You, Lonely You" "Far too Late" "I know You" "I know I have a heart" I even find "Bad Cinderella" catchy. And he can bring it together at the right moments (Cinderella Waltz... finale) that I thoroughly enjoy. I've listened to the recording a bunch of times and still enjoy it. It's so strange. The trolls on Broadway world are out in great numbers - yet audience wise, it's selling pretty well for previews for something that people are saying is a train wreck. And lest people keep re-writing history, Cinderella did get decent reviews in London, including from the US press. I'm on the fence myself - mostly because NYC isn't the same post-COVID and the ticket prices are crazy just to take a chance. If I'm going to put that kind of cash down, I'll be picking POTO or Sweeny Todd at the moment. But not dead set against giving this a try. Just need some reason to. Perhaps if they do a cast recording that might get my attention. Steve is an absolute legend, I remember him from his TireTracks days. He is incredibly knowledgeable about ALW, certainly the one I would want to ask if I had any questions on that subject. Also, despite his scatching and often hilarious posts about ALW, it ultimately comes from a deep love for the first 30 years or so of his work (excluding Cats and one or two other shows of course!). Thank you for your thoughtful reply, chernjam. I agree with almost everything you say, but I question the part about "trying too hard for a hit". I can't think of anything less likely on paper to be a hit than Stephen Ward, his previous show (which I am not a fan of incidentally). Also, if he was simply after a hit, why wouldn't he just secure the rights to make a musical adaptation of a recent hit movie, as so many other musical theatre composers do? That would seem the way to go in that case. School of Rock is the only time he has done this, a musical I have no interest in and have never even listened to, but even that is a fairly old movie. Also, Cinderella is a risky project, it's been done many times before. I would argue that if he was simply aiming for a hit in this case, he would have done a much more conventional retelling of the story. I never think that ALW involves himself in any project he doesn't feel passionate about. Thats a good point Oliver (Re: Stephen Ward) - It's just a bit strange how things have been post-Sunset/WDTW. As much as the whole Sunset drama focused more on the soap opera/tabloid craziness around the Normas, I wonder if that caused ALW some PTSD. And I think that's part of my "trying too hard for a hit" thought came from. Sunset opened on Broadway with a jaw dropping $37.5 million advance in ticket sales (a record that held up till the recent Hello Dolly revival with Bette Middler) yet closed failing to return its investment. That is one of the reasons the original WDTW directed by Hal Prince got scrapped. I know we have to take all of ALW's interviews with a grain of salt, but at one point before Prince passed away he acknowledged that he wished they had continued working on that collaboration. It's just strange as a fan myself to hear some of that greatness here and there in these scores, but how they have continued to miss that success. |
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Post by chernjam on Mar 1, 2023 4:47:57 GMT
That's interesting, you probably know more about his collaborators than I do. That would suggest that this change in his attitude happened very recently, post WIW? Regarding no one around to tell him when things need work, you seem to be blaming ALW for absolutely everything which doesn't seem fair. What about the book, why didn't anyone tell Emerald that needed work? Even if we think she's highly cooperative with ALW, it was her story. I’m not blaming him for everything. I’m clearly stating that he works with crap people these days. People whose work is not of the quality that ALW had in the past. People who add nothing to pot, and don’t help to improve the show. Emerald Funnel came up with an awful plot, and ALW doesn’t see that. A better director would have pointed out all the flaws that the audience have pointed out, but Connor just does what he’s told. Steve and I've swapped ALW antidotes for over 20 years now I think, so I always respect his opinion and his take on things (still can remember reading his posts about LND previews when they were clocking in at 3 hours) Anyway, if I had to guess what's the issue - is that he's trying too hard for a hit rather than being guided and passionate about something. He's going against all the old lines he used to repeat about Hal Prince's advice post-Jeeves about the look of a show and how that brings together all the other essential parts. I was deflated when I heard his next project was Cinderella. Prior to that he was mentioning his interest in something else that he needed to try to acquire the rights to that involved someone who was still living, so obviously that didn't happen. But I thought Cinderella - who really cares? The announcement that Emerald was working with him definitely came when she was being celebrated for some of her work. Hard to see what is really edgy about it. And as people had mentioned the topic is kind of been beaten to death between Wicked, Heathers, Mean Girls, etc. Score wise- I think there's a lot of good stuff here - including some of the incidental music. "Only You, Lonely You" "Far too Late" "I know You" "I know I have a heart" I even find "Bad Cinderella" catchy. And he can bring it together at the right moments (Cinderella Waltz... finale) that I thoroughly enjoy. I've listened to the recording a bunch of times and still enjoy it. It's so strange. The trolls on Broadway world are out in great numbers - yet audience wise, it's selling pretty well for previews for something that people are saying is a train wreck. And lest people keep re-writing history, Cinderella did get decent reviews in London, including from the US press. I'm on the fence myself - mostly because NYC isn't the same post-COVID and the ticket prices are crazy just to take a chance. If I'm going to put that kind of cash down, I'll be picking POTO or Sweeny Todd at the moment. But not dead set against giving this a try. Just need some reason to. Perhaps if they do a cast recording that might get my attention. |
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Post by chernjam on Feb 18, 2023 20:00:06 GMT
Hey matt - thanks for the report. As opposed to some on BW who seem trying to out-snark one another and talking about things that have nothing to do with the show, appreciate your sharing. Especially since they seem hell-bent to drive the thing in the ground while pretending to lavish praise on the actors. Story and score wise from the reviews I remember reading last year, the critics were pretty supportive and I won't go so far as ALW to say they were "raves" they were mixed to positive. I'm curious what your thoughts are about the lead. The pre-releases of the pop versions of I know I have a heart didn't really do anything for me, but I don't suspect that version is meant for 49 year old guy  I thought the clips of her singing "Bad Cinderella" from the dress rehearsal was okay as a preview. How'd she do with the bigger songs and overall? |
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Post by chernjam on Feb 12, 2023 23:34:00 GMT
Yeah the new single recording definitely missed the mark for me. But I assume that I'm not the one they are targeting with this.
Who that might actually be, I'm not sure.
The whole thing feels bizarre. First off, the preview periods are over 6 weeks. I think that's longer than the West End preview period. And I didn't realize that the opening falls the day after ALW's birthday. So the previews began the day before POTO was supposed to close and now the opening is after his birthday. Just feels awkward across the board.
Meanwhile POTO has been sold out since they announced it was closing in September. Foolishly they look like they are barrelling towards closing in April when they could easily have it continue and continue selling out through the summer... But what do I know?
Anyway - I was interested in Cinderella/Bad Cinderella when I first heard some of the music during the lockdowns. And was happy to hear that the Broadway orchestra will be 18 members. But worry that they're going heavy camp on this making it more along School of Rock musical comedy type of thing.
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Post by chernjam on Feb 12, 2023 23:24:45 GMT
Its been interesting reading how you all on the West End reacted to the new production there. Its a bit shocking to me that with the closing notice on Broadway back in September, since then POTO has sold out every week since, and since New Year's has been the top grossing show on Broadway (beating hamilton, lion king). How they're still planning on shutting this seems supremely stupid. 35 years later and its grossing over $2 million. I get it that the closing announcement is spurring a lot of that, but compared to what you're all reporting in London, don't they realize they are destroying a phenomenon?
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Post by chernjam on Jan 1, 2023 4:10:23 GMT
ok now you've sent me down the Youtube rabbit hole...
the first public performance of The Perfect Year captures the simple beauty of this song:
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Post by chernjam on Jan 1, 2023 3:56:24 GMT
I'm amazed by the quality of that video - multiple cameras, audio/orchestra mixed so well. So maddening that they didn't just do a professional filming of the stage production rather than that never-going-to-be-made-movie they keep talking about
The Perfect Year - one of ALW's best and most underrated songs
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Post by chernjam on Dec 8, 2022 18:32:44 GMT
The film was never my favourite - I re-watched it after seeing the show and came to the conclusion that it works better as a musical. Groundhog Day as a film had always been a personal favorite. And I was excited when I heard it was becoming a musical in 2015... One of my regrets was letting the negative reception it received here talk me out of going and seeing it for myself (that and when I was ready to give it a shot, I believe Andy Karl was out and I really didn't want to pay the ticket price on a coin-flip of a show and understudy) having seen some clips online since I realize it was a missed opportunity. If Aspects of Love turns out to be a revival worthy of taking a trans-atlantic flight, I will definitely take the oppotunity to see Andy in this |
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Post by chernjam on Oct 7, 2022 0:12:38 GMT
Its interesting when Aspects was revived with the Toronto production which became the US tour - they did revise the lyrics to Love Changes Everything. I remember thinking how it went from "hands and faces earth and sky" to "each beginning, each goodbye" and how just a seemingly simple change like that provided so much more depth taking it from a trite immature thing to something a bit more profound.
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Post by chernjam on Oct 5, 2022 2:40:46 GMT
Am more excited about this than Bad Cinderella - mostly because Aspects of Love was my first musical ever that I saw on Broadway. The score remains a personal favorite. I'm a little worried to hear "reimagined" and "you won't recognize it" - and Ball has belted the hell out of Love changes everything that it's my least favorite from Aspects (there is more to love is my favorite, if anyone cares ) but I get that the story wouldn't work by any stretch of the imagination in 2023. Don't know the director. Hopeful that it would be a decent size orchestra. Looks like I'll be making my first trip to the UK next year  |
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Post by chernjam on Oct 4, 2022 0:30:07 GMT
Re: All That Dazzles (or Bad All That Dazzles as he’s now changed it to) Isn’t he the guy that goes on about how he doesn’t like posting anything negative? And why should Carrie be supportive of a Broadway transfer when it’s no secret the show was a nightmare to work on? How do we know it was the show and not Carrie who was the nightmare? There's more than one side to the story/saga and to me I find it hard to deal with CHF and the victim complex. I for one am hopeful that they've had time to revisit things and refocus some things for the show. Thought the score had some nice songs in it and it was enjoyable to listen to. I also found the bad cinderella revisions to be improvements. Just losing the "I am 'Me Cinderella'" was a major upgrade. Always cringed when I heard that. |
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Post by chernjam on Sept 17, 2022 1:41:34 GMT
I can’t imagine what the city will be like without Phantom. It’s been this theatrical constant for most of my life and is pretty much our Broadway mascot. It’s going to be so odd to walk down the street and not have that mask on a marquee and all the poles. Yeah that was my thought too. My first broadway musical ever - was Aspects of Love. Phantom was sold out a year in advance at the time. Plus knowing nothing of either show, it didn't really matter (I was being "forced" to expand my "cultural horizons" by my parents being in high school and not really knowing much of theatre) In any event, I was shocked how much I loved Aspects of Love and became a huge ALW fan pretty quickly. The fact that Phantom has continued to run as its main competition the year it opened, Into the Woods, has been revived I think 4 times since - is remarkable. Hard to believe it's coming to an end. I do wonder if as someone suggested this is an effort to drum up sales and interest (especially with that reality thing just being announced) and then to reopen with the "new" version |
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Post by chernjam on Sept 5, 2022 2:48:37 GMT
I purchased this when it first came out... was happy to have the updated version of the score on CD (yeah, I'm dating myself in wanting an actual CD rather than streaming cast recordings ) I've never seen LND live - never made it to NYC despite several promises it was en route. Enjoyed listening to the score, but as ALW often says if all the elements don't work it doesn't matter how good the score is. Which is what I think is the case here. The story really comes across as thin. Phantom survived and lures Christine to NYC where Raoul has become an abusive spouse - and the climax is whether she sings a song the Phantom wrote or not? Eh... Maybe COVID has made me a bit more jaded, but the story seems less deserving the seriousness of the score that ALW wrote. Which is a shame. The first time I heard "Till I hear you sing" I remember thinking that was going to be a colossal hit for him |
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Post by chernjam on Aug 17, 2022 20:46:16 GMT
The score is definitely underrated.
I did see the Broadway production, which as much as it's labelled a "bomb" I found pretty enjoyable. Not quite sure why things never gelled where it could've done better, and now that you all have posted about it, its interesting that it never revived or has popped up elsewhere.
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Post by chernjam on Aug 17, 2022 4:06:44 GMT
It was a revival of Aspects of Love. It may still happen of course. If it's a true, revival (and not actors playing instruments or dual pianos) that would get me on a plane for my first trip to the West End |
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Post by chernjam on Aug 16, 2022 20:29:17 GMT
glad I'm not the only one who was wondering... Just curious, since the Cinderella closing and the inference that LW had some family issues going on - has there ever been any confirmation of that? Just wondered if that was why we hadn't heard anything else about a revival of something (or any Cinderella news for NY) |
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Post by chernjam on Jul 31, 2022 20:02:47 GMT
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Post by chernjam on Jul 31, 2022 20:01:51 GMT
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Post by chernjam on Jul 26, 2022 16:56:59 GMT
It’s always a great pleasure to visit The Watermill - definitely the most idyllic theatre in Britain and run by such lovely, friendly staff. I’ve seen virtually all their summer musicals for the last 10 years and I’m waffling a bit because I’m not sure what to make of this. (I wonder if ALW will attend considering he lives only 6 miles away?) I’m also not the best person to offer an opinion on this as I’m still searching for a Lloyd Webber musical that I can really enjoy. This was in with more of a chance since it has fair bits of spoken dialogue and I find him at his most indigestible when he does his more usual through-composed shtick. Anyway I found it all a bit meh. I’m not a fan of the actor-musician presentation but The Watermill normally do this rather well. Their version of A Little Night Music, which really does call for instrumental sophistication, was truly excellent but this was just OK. The low point was some poor intonation on the cello played by Toby Webster as the sheriff - it’s also a most inconvenient instrument from an actor-musician point of view. The best thing about this were the two leads: Robert Tripolino as The Man and Lydia White as Swallow were both excellent with beautiful expressive voices. Less good were the children - very ‘school production,’ the general casting of the older characters who looked almost the same age as the youngsters and the final immolation which was pretty feeble. The thing that disappointed me most though was the score. It’s just so bland. Lloyd Webber’s music is always predictable. At least we are spared his sub-operatic, Pucciniesque pretensions, but does every song always have to do what you expect it to? No Matter What does work better in context than the ghastly Boyzone version but it’s still a banal song (and is reprised too often.) Running time 2hrs 10 mins Thanks for this - interesting feedback. I've yet to see any production I like with actor-musician presentation. It all feels very cheap to me and distracting. As an ALW fan, will be curious to hear from other ALW fans their reactions |
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I thought the clips of her singing "Bad Cinderella" from the dress rehearsal was okay as a preview. How'd she do with the bigger songs and overall?
