Porgy And Bess 1st Preview- Page 2
Porgy And Bess 1st Preview
miss pennywise
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/7/04
#25Porgy And Bess 1st Preview
Posted: 12/18/11 at 3:46am
I'm sorry, but I spent two-and-a-half hours of my life being bored. I'm not wasting any more time there!
I'm sure if you go back and read BWWers' reviews of the show in Boston, people will have already articulated the same opinion, better than I can, I assure you.
And, BTW, dramamama, my post was not "about Diane Paulus." I don't know Diane Paulus personally and have nothing against her as a human being. I am commenting on her "work," which is, currently, PORGY AND BESS.
http://www.roches.com/television/ss83kod.html
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"If any relationship involves a flow chart, get out of it...FAST!"
~ Best12Bars
blaxx
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/28/05
#26Porgy And Bess 1st Preview
Posted: 12/18/11 at 5:12amI understand, love. Sorry to learn about your experience.
Listen, I don't take my clothes off for anyone, even if it is "artistic". - JANICE
WiCkEDrOcKS
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/13/04
miss pennywise
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/7/04
#28Porgy And Bess 1st Preview
Posted: 12/18/11 at 1:12pm
After praising Audra McDonald's performance, Ben Brantley had this to say about the production, which is still pretty much the way it is:
"Though her emotion-packed soprano has rarely been more penetrating or (dare I add?) operatic, Ms. McDonald makes you forget whether she’s speaking or singing the words of the loose-living, terminally conflicted Bess, who improbably but persuasively falls in love with Porgy (a dignified but hamstrung Norm Lewis). You just know that you feel what she’s feeling at any given moment, and that it is often unbearably painful.
No such sustaining power, never mind mere cohesiveness, informs the rest of this production. And the problem isn’t with making the recitatives mostly spoken instead of sung. I’ve seen that done before, most recently in Trevor Nunn’s 2006 London production. Nor are the widely (and prematurely) disparaged liberties taken with the text nearly as egregious as they were rumored to be. (The show’s original ending, which had been replaced in the early previews, has now been restored.)
Anyone who has seen or heard this show before will recognize it. This is “Porgy and Bess” for sure. But it’s “Porgy and Bess” in limbo. Ms. McDonald’s performance aside, all the new stratagems to specify and anchor the show’s themes, people and plot have instead made it oddly abstract and diffuse.
The fabled Catfish Row, one of the most robustly and specifically physical neighborhoods in American theater, is here only a state of mind, represented by a single, sparsely detailed set (by Riccardo Hernandez) that evokes the inside of a rotting ship, the kind that doubles as a coffin for unlucky sailors or, perhaps once upon a time, slaves.
The characters who gather to gamble, gossip, brawl, do their laundry and mend their fishing nets often seem to be (pardon the metaphor) treading water, looking for something like real land on which to rest their weary bones. And because the staging (including Ronald K. Brown’s frolicsome choreography) lacks focus, the story lacks urgency. The most attention-grabbing visual effects are the melting shadows occasionally cast on the wall, via Christopher Akerlind’s lighting. They seem more fully defined than many of the people onstage.
It might help if they all spoke the same musical language. But the Broadway-burnished mellowness of Mr. Lewis’s voice hails from a different planet than that of the operatically trained Phillip Boykin, who plays Porgy’s rival (and Bess’s sometime man), the murderous Crown. As the dope-peddling, strutting Sporting Life, David Alan Grier brings a winning, period-precise Cab Calloway style to the showstopper “It Ain’t Necessarily So,” then becomes a contemporary pop balladeer for his second big number, “There’s a Boat That’s Leaving Soon for New York.” Other performers seem to switch in mid-song between conversational lightness of singing and operatic heft. And much of the choral work, which demands precision, is hazy and ragged."
http://www.roches.com/television/ss83kod.html
**********
"If any relationship involves a flow chart, get out of it...FAST!"
~ Best12Bars
henrikegerman
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/29/05
#29Porgy And Bess 1st Preview
Posted: 12/18/11 at 1:26pmHaving not seen Porgy, I have to disagree that either Mormon (a fine, very funny show) or Follies (I'm coughing along with Sean Martin at the suggestion that it's the strongest show in town) are the best on the boards. The best musical production of the last few seasons is Anything Goes. Hands down!
TheHappyPhantom
Featured Actor Joined: 8/25/11
#30Porgy And Bess 1st Preview
Posted: 12/18/11 at 2:24pm
I'm sorry, even in its worst production, Follies' music alone tops the tragically pointless fluff of Anything Goes anything. I couldn't stomach a minute.
As for Porgy, hopefully things will improve. Paulus isn't great, but even she can't be immune to the reviews if she wants this to last as long as it's scheduled to.
#31Porgy And Bess 1st Preview
Posted: 12/18/11 at 2:49pm
I am also on the wagon that wanted my money back for Follies, and this is coming from someone who LOVES the music. It just was so boring to watch onstage. If Porgy & Bess had been playing last week, I definitely would've used the $37 towards that.
I hope this has a healthy run. Audra McDonald, Norm Lewis, Nikki Renee Daniels and Josh Henry are some of the best voices on Broadway. What a brilliant and talented cast!
#32Porgy And Bess 1st Preview
Posted: 12/18/11 at 3:07pm
tragically pointless fluff of Anything Goes anything. I couldn't stomach a minute.
Good lord...
"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "
#33Porgy And Bess 1st Preview
Posted: 12/18/11 at 4:02pm
Anything Goes left me pretty cold, too. The dancing was good but, I thought, surprisingly sparse (meaning there were only a handful of big dance scenes). And I have to say, the portrayal of Asian characters was stupid and offensive. It would (or should) be unthinkable to put on a show that featured a correspondingly idiotic treatment of African-Americans, even if it was a revival of an old show. I suppose one has to relativize one's expectations to the time the work was created, but this only goes so far, especially when the book has been updated.
Sorry for indulging in this major sidetrack from the topic of the thread. I'm seeing Porgy and Bess on 1/14 and will make an on-topic comment then. :)
Updated On: 12/18/11 at 04:02 PM
SingingBanannie
Swing Joined: 12/18/11
#34Porgy And Bess 1st Preview
Posted: 12/18/11 at 5:01pmI saw the invited dress rehearsal and was blown away. It was engaging for the entirety of the show, and moves very quickly (not what you would expect from an opera!). Norm Lewis and Audra were stunning. But that we knew. The supporting ensemble was terrific. Clara and Jake were sweet and endearing and Crowne was scary in all the right ways. I loved the choreography especially. Go see it! It's a modern interpretation of a beloved classic.
#35Porgy And Bess 1st Preview
Posted: 12/18/11 at 6:02pm
This OT (and unfounded) ANYTHING GOES criticism belongs in another thread. However, I agree with Henrik that it was far and away the best show of last season - pitch perfect in every way.
I look forward to reading more of the BESS, MY WOMAN reviews. Who is seeing it tonight?
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#36Porgy And Bess 1st Preview
Posted: 12/18/11 at 6:11pmHi Diane, aka SingingBanannie!! I mean, "the choreography especially"?
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SingingBanannie
Swing Joined: 12/18/11
#37Porgy And Bess 1st Preview
Posted: 12/18/11 at 11:48pmI actually DID like the choreography especially, and NO, I am not Diane Paulus. I am a professional opera singer who has seen MANY productions of Porgy at opera houses. As this show usually has an extremely large chorus of professional singers on stage, there is usually not a lot of dancing (the choruses are professional opera choruses and not singers/dancers). SO, yes, I loved the choreography--it was moving and unique to this production of Porgy.
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#38Porgy And Bess 1st Preview
Posted: 12/18/11 at 11:55pm
Bananie -- let me take a moment to explain the quesioning of your posts: It is always highly suspect when ANY poster joins the boards JUST to sing the praises of a brand new show. This makes everyone suspect that you in some way work for the show, or at least are directly involved with someone that does.
It's just not kosher.
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
blaxx
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/28/05
#39Porgy And Bess 1st Preview
Posted: 12/19/11 at 1:48am
So is this how it is going to go?
The show that was troubled before getting to Broadway has recruited a number of shills to sign up and tell us how amazing it is?
I guess we'll have to wait until real posters we trust go see it.
Listen, I don't take my clothes off for anyone, even if it is "artistic". - JANICE
Updated On: 12/19/11 at 01:48 AM
#40Porgy And Bess 1st Preview
Posted: 12/19/11 at 2:30am
The shill dead giveaway is the final directive:
"Go see it!"
"GO SEE IT NOW!!!!!"
#41Porgy And Bess 1st Preview
Posted: 12/19/11 at 2:38am
I can't believe our resident first previewers Trace and Whizzer did not go to the first preview! I am looking forward to their thoughts.
Updated On: 12/19/11 at 02:38 AM
#42Porgy And Bess 1st Preview
Posted: 12/19/11 at 11:15am
"Bananie -- let me take a moment to explain the quesioning of your posts: It is always highly suspect when ANY poster joins the boards JUST to sing the praises of a brand new show. This makes everyone suspect that you in some way work for the show, or at least are directly involved with someone that does.
It's just not kosher."
ewww.
Bananie dont let these folks deter you from posting. When i read something that made me join and posted about it, i was accused of being; someone who signed on with 2 different accounts, an actor in that show (cant even remember which one it was) and a producer. Its common practice around here to attack a persons credibility. Guess thats easier than debating the issue. Gald to hear you liked the choreo.
Mattbrain
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/23/05
#43Porgy And Bess 1st Preview
Posted: 12/19/11 at 11:30am
"I can't believe our resident first previewers Trace and Whizzer did not go to the first preview! I am looking forward to their thoughts."
Well, they also didn't go to the first preview of The Mountaintop either.
Butters, go buy World of Warcraft, install it on your computer, and join the online sensation before we all murder you.
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ATTENTION FANS: I will be played by James Barbour in the upcoming musical, "BroadwayWorld: The Musical."
BehindBroadway
Swing Joined: 12/19/11
#44Porgy And Bess 1st Preview
Posted: 12/19/11 at 11:32amLet's be honest. If it talks, walks, looks and smells like a shill, it's a shill. I don't believe anyone should be rude or mean to them, but accusing someone of being such an obvious shill is not mean or rude.
#45Porgy And Bess 1st Preview
Posted: 12/19/11 at 11:48amAfter seeing Audra at Carnegie Hall I will see anything the woman is in!! She is phenomenal and I will definitely go see Porgy and Bess!
#46Porgy And Bess 1st Preview
Posted: 12/19/11 at 11:52am
"Let's be honest. If it talks, walks, looks and smells like a shill, it's a shill. I don't believe anyone should be rude or mean to them, but accusing someone of being such an obvious shill is not mean or rude."
Not so. just because someone raved about something doesnt make them...whatever that word is. And in this case, its true that porgy is not done with choreo traditionally. So why is liking that newer element, a sign that this person is involved? I dont get it. But hey, next someone will argue that im Bananie. Anywho any more opinions on the show?
#47Porgy And Bess 1st Preview
Posted: 12/19/11 at 12:18pmHonestly, I don't even think shills are that big of a deal. I don't take much stock in the idea that one person praising a show on a message board is going to boost ticket sales. Especially if they are new and anonymous. So if anyone here is actually a shill, you might want to speak to your marketing director about new ideas.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
#48Porgy And Bess 1st Preview
Posted: 12/19/11 at 12:26pm
Not so. just because someone raved about something doesnt make them...whatever that word is.
The poster in question attended the invited dress rehearsal. If nothing else, that suggests a level of involvement with the production, the cast, etc.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
#49Porgy And Bess 1st Preview
Posted: 12/19/11 at 12:30pmI dont really get the feeling that this one is a shill, simply because she (?)'s right about choreography in PORGY: there usually isnt any, because it needs a chorus of strong singers, not dancers. So this one I'm willing to give a bye... especially after reading the posts from the patently obvious shill in the "OMG PORY AND BESS AMAZING!" thread. I mean, that guy was just sooooooooo obvious.
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