I guess that's the excitement of live theater..you never know what might happen. I'm seeing Chitty December 9th and I hope all is fine, but I wouldn't be disappointed if it wasn't. Thanks for the report!
This is a horrible thing to say, but I'd actually like to be at a performance when the car breaks down. Apparently when it does, Jan Maxwell has a free-for-all with ad-libs. And that woman is so brilliant that I'm sure they're a riot.
I was there. I felt horrible, like it was my fault. I'm like an accident waiting to happen at Broadway shows. First Wicked, now this. I left, called my sister and told her I was going to be blacklisted from the audience of every Broadway show.
I was just really bummed that the cast didn't come out like the last time this happened and just perform for everyone. They definitely weren't making enough announcements and the audience around me was really impatient. Even when they finally started up after the 45 minutes, they only made an announcement back in the lobby, not in the house.
I had tickets to see something else at 10pm, so I had to leave before the second act. I felt horrible, it's the first time I've ever left a show early and I really didn't want to leave, but I really wanted to see Sides and that's definitely closing Oct. 28th, so I had to chose that. I'm definitely want to go back and see all of Chitty though, I wanna know what happens!
Like a firework unexploded
Wanting life but never
knowing how
orange - did you get the name of the house manager? i was there as well, and i've got his phone number and email if you want it to see if you can get comp tickets to another show since you had to leave. pm me if you want the info.
I saw Chitty during previews and not too far into the first act they had to stop because of technical difficulties but it was with the sound, you could hear the actors but there was a lot of feedback. LOUD feedback.
(formerly bronte604)
"You really just love money and power and capitalism? You know they're never going to love you back."
"Things happen for the best...I don't even believe that myself."
I think there's something very inherently wrong with the fact that, say, the car gets more applause than the human actors do, Di -- but it's sort of just something that with the nature of this kind of theatre, we've got to accept. There's too much baggage in beginning to go into whether or not this "type" of theatre is even condonable at all, but Chitty's not entirely awful just because of its huge prop. It has some decent song and dance, and a nice story, too. Yes, the draw is the trick -- I agree with you there -- but it's not the only thing the show has going for it. I do wish more attention is general was paid to the stunning acting talent, though.
I was there also. During the break in the middle of the first act (the very long one), the ushers brought in disabled children, who made a bit of noise and left at intermission. Anyway, I did not notice that the car did not have a raft or wings, because it was my first time seeing the show.
The fact that the break was so long distresses me very much. There were many young children in the audience who will forever associate musicals with waiting in a theater 45-minutes with nothing to do. Though an unconscious connection, they will forever hate musicals.
Regarding the car's standing ovation, that is not entirely true. The car got a great reaction because the audience was relieved it was working. Also, the audience is already standing when the car comes out during the bows, because they are getting up to leave and don't expect it to come out.
I thoroughly enjoyed the show despite the wait, and loved everything about it, especially the actors.
In terms of reception of the car, I didn't just mean that it got a standing ovatation at this particular performance -- I was speaking in very general terms.
I've seen the show eight times (go on, laugh) and every single time, that car has gotten better reception than the actors, whether it be an obvious standing ovation, or simply applause that is significantly more thunderous.
Out of (probably ignorant) curiosity, how DOES the Chitty car fly. I don't see any wires, lifts, floats, anything (I haven't seen it live, just video clips.
It's hard to explain, but it's lifted from the bottom... sort of. The lighting makes it so you can't see, unless you're sitting very, very close at a certain angle.