639 posts
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Post by ncbears on Oct 29, 2024 18:01:18 GMT
I prefer y'all to BWW, and in particular, the orderliness of message threads - one per show.
Instead, it is anarchy at BWW with multiple threads popping up about the same show. The site has a poor "search" function to use to minimize the "new thread" phenomenon, not that people would use it anyway.
It has gotten worse as some older posters with knowledge and perspective have disappeared - not that it was ever a non-toxic place.
Also, the owners of the site are beholden to the producers and creatives for income and access - so a lot of criticism is censored and removed if deemed "personal" Some actors, such as Patty Murin, just can't be criticized or talked about, ever. Lawsuits are a forbidden subject as well. Allegations of personal misconduct - outside of a show - are also off-limits.
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Post by shownut on Oct 30, 2024 6:42:52 GMT
For those interested in following the progress of TAMMY FAYE in previews, Michael Cerveris (Jerry Falwell) has been posting videos on Instagram highlighting the changes.
He posted one last night stating that the evening's performance felt like another first preview thanks to the amount of revisions executed over Monday and Tuesday (10 hours rehearsal on Monday when there was no show and 5 hours yesterday prior to the evening performance). A reprise has been but in Act Two but other that, it appears most of the cuts/changes/tweaks are in the book.
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Post by max on Oct 30, 2024 20:35:31 GMT
For those interested in following the progress of TAMMY FAYE in previews, Michael Cerveris (Jerry Falwell) has been posting videos on Instagram highlighting the changes. He posted one last night stating that the evening's performance felt like another first preview thanks to the amount of revisions executed over Monday and Tuesday (10 hours rehearsal on Monday when there was no show and 5 hours yesterday prior to the evening performance). A reprise has been but in Act Two but other that, it appears most of the cuts/changes/tweaks are in the book. Good to hear of previews being used for the purpose they were intended for, though automation in many departments often makes change in any area difficult. I'm still surprised though that after the London show, and plenty of time and money, they didn't get it more right. Good for them but.... pressure! Couldn't they have done various cuts of a filmed version of London and tested it on US audiences? |
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4,803 posts
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Post by Mark on Oct 31, 2024 3:36:22 GMT
I went tonight. Having seen the show in London and very much enjoyed it a lot, I was confused at all the mixed feedback online. And what I can say is that the mixed feedback is not unjustified in the slightest. Somethings been lost in the transatlantic journey and I couldn't put my finger on it. Christian is not as strong as Andrew in the role, and I think a lot of the humour has been lost. Is it a musical comedy? Is it a bio-musical? Is it something more serious? It's trying to be everything and so in the end it really has no identity at all. I'm curious if they were trialling a new finale tonight too, because it all felt a bit off at the end with only the reprise of "See You In Heaven". Also, what worked in the very intimate Almeida doesn't seem to work in the huge Palace theatre - I just couldn't get invested in the show tonight no matter how much I tried. What I will say is Katie is still wonderful and I'm sure changes will continue to be made, but I feel they have an uphill climb to make this show stand out in a very crowded season.
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2,760 posts
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Post by n1david on Oct 31, 2024 14:18:21 GMT
Thanks for the reports from Broadway. I was a big fan of this at the Almeida - saw it twice - whilst being aware that it needed work for a bigger venue. It's unfortunate that in working on it, some of its charm seems to have been lost. Hoping something can be salvaged as they work through previews.
If I remember rightly, this would be the third time that Rupert Goold has tried to take an American story to Broadway and it hasn't gone very well (after Enron and American Psycho). Maybe he should try taking a British story next time?
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Post by shownut on Nov 1, 2024 18:11:16 GMT
Interesting interview with Elton John, Jake Shears and David Furnish on this morning's 'Morning Joe' on MSNBC. Has clips of "The Light of the World" and "Empty Hands".
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Post by bobbievanhusen on Nov 3, 2024 5:51:51 GMT
'The Broadway World Bitch Club' as someone on there recently referred to them, are the most bizarre people. They claimed that no one knows who Tammy Faye is and that no-one cares either. And now their saying how Katie Brayben is nothing like her, doesn't sound like her, the accent is wrong, blah blah blah... why do they now suddenly care who is, if not just to slag the show off?
Also, has anyone ever seen people talk about a show closing, after just 1 preview? It's such weird behaviour. If some of them had made bets with a bookie, as to the earliest it might close, I wouldn't be surprised.
I don't think anyone losing money to the Bakkers has anything to do with the negativity surrounding it. The hate is purely coming from the young people on message boards.
I'm seeing the show in 9 days time and i'm so intrigued to see it again.
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2,859 posts
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Post by couldileaveyou on Nov 3, 2024 6:17:46 GMT
'The Broadway World Bitch Club' as someone on there recently referred to them, are the most bizarre people. They claimed that no one knows who Tammy Faye is and that no-one cares either. And now their saying how Katie Brayben is nothing like her, doesn't sound like her, the accent is wrong, blah blah blah... why do they now suddenly care who is, if not just to slag the show off? Also, has anyone ever seen people talk about a show closing, after just 1 preview? It's such weird behaviour. If some of them had made bets with a bookie, as to the earliest it might close, I wouldn't be surprised. I don't think anyone losing money to the Bakkers has anything to do with the negativity surrounding it. The hate is purely coming from the young people on message boards. I'm seeing the show in 9 days time and i'm so intrigued to see it again. Young people? Those are old queens! |
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Post by shownut on Nov 3, 2024 8:40:19 GMT
'The Broadway World Bitch Club' as someone on there recently referred to them, are the most bizarre people. They claimed that no one knows who Tammy Faye is and that no-one cares either. And now their saying how Katie Brayben is nothing like her, doesn't sound like her, the accent is wrong, blah blah blah... why do they now suddenly care who is, if not just to slag the show off? Also, has anyone ever seen people talk about a show closing, after just 1 preview? It's such weird behaviour. If some of them had made bets with a bookie, as to the earliest it might close, I wouldn't be surprised. I don't think anyone losing money to the Bakkers has anything to do with the negativity surrounding it. The hate is purely coming from the young people on message boards. I'm seeing the show in 9 days time and i'm so intrigued to see it again. Young people? Those are old queens! Whoever they are, I find them disgusting. They have nothing of value to add to any conversation and if you deign to make a positive comment or bring a counter-point they go into full attack mode. Sure, TAMMY FAYE is struggling at the box office but it is still very early days and none of the other 3 musicals currently in previews are doing that well either. |
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Post by BVM on Nov 3, 2024 10:58:43 GMT
'The Broadway World Bitch Club' as someone on there recently referred to them, are the most bizarre people. They claimed that no one knows who Tammy Faye is and that no-one cares either. And now their saying how Katie Brayben is nothing like her, doesn't sound like her, the accent is wrong, blah blah blah... why do they now suddenly care who is, if not just to slag the show off? Also, has anyone ever seen people talk about a show closing, after just 1 preview? It's such weird behaviour. If some of them had made bets with a bookie, as to the earliest it might close, I wouldn't be surprised. I don't think anyone losing money to the Bakkers has anything to do with the negativity surrounding it. The hate is purely coming from the young people on message boards. I'm seeing the show in 9 days time and i'm so intrigued to see it again. Lol re BWW Bitch Club - it's exactly that. Abysmal place! It's true - you can't veer between "no-one knows or cares who Tammy Faye was" to "Katie is nothing like her" and "nobody is going cos they lost money to them." It's all just wildly inconsistent and just comes over as obsessive living to tear the show down. There's something wrong with these people. (My own obviously unproven hunch is that the overlap in Broadway musical go-ers in 2024 and people who lost money to the Bakkers is small to the point of insignificance in the fortunes of this show. Though "aware of the scandal and don't wanna see the show" may be bigger - I honestly have no idea). Anyway I remain sorry about the poor sales and I hope it doesn't impede the chances of getting an OBC as the score and Brayben are absolutely fantastic. |
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Post by shownut on Nov 3, 2024 11:32:29 GMT
Anyway I remain sorry about the poor sales and I hope it doesn't impede the chances of getting an OBC as the score and Brayben are absolutely fantastic. Agreed. There was a video on Insta the past few days of the ensemble in a recording studio recording what sounded like backing vocals...not sure why but maybe its already in the works? |
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4,803 posts
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Post by Mark on Nov 5, 2024 21:38:26 GMT
They might not even survive the month the rate they’re going.
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5,890 posts
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Post by mrbarnaby on Nov 5, 2024 22:10:49 GMT
I’m sad to say that I cannot see this lasting at all. The sales are just abysmal. I know all those bitter old queens on BWW don’t represent the main ticket buying public- BUT it is a barometer of the feeling/talk about a show and this one is bad.
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Post by shownut on Nov 5, 2024 23:41:47 GMT
I’m sad to say that I cannot see this lasting at all. The sales are just abysmal. I know all those bitter old queens on BWW don’t represent the main ticket buying public- BUT it is a barometer of the feeling/talk about a show and this one is bad. In truth, business is abysmal for all of the new shows in previews, not just TAMMY FAYE. |
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Post by bobbievanhusen on Nov 6, 2024 4:54:56 GMT
I guess it all depends on how deep Eltons's and the Nederlander's pockets are.
It will easily last into the New Year at least, though that's not exactly promising.
I dont understand all the 'it won't even make it to opening night' nonsense. When was the last time that happened to a show? The people involved wouldn't allow that to happen.
This time next week and I'll have seen it already. I'm intrigued.
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Post by jr on Nov 6, 2024 11:06:58 GMT
At the Almeida, I found the book terrible and direction not much better (still remember a scene with poor KB left to her own devices going around the stage like a headless chicken). Songs were fine and Katie Brayben was good. I don't think that's enough for a successful Broadway transfer. Not to go into why Brits think they can tell an American story better than Americans themselves...
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5,890 posts
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Post by mrbarnaby on Nov 6, 2024 21:12:07 GMT
I’m sad to say that I cannot see this lasting at all. The sales are just abysmal. I know all those bitter old queens on BWW don’t represent the main ticket buying public- BUT it is a barometer of the feeling/talk about a show and this one is bad. In truth, business is abysmal for all of the new shows in previews, not just TAMMY FAYE. Not Death Becomes Her… |
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Post by max on Nov 6, 2024 21:25:44 GMT
Unfortunately the kind of audience prone to be attracted to this are going to be feeling heartsick at the Election result, and not in the mood for watching shysters snare the gullible with faith-based answers.
It is a far better show than 'A Face In The Crowd' (in London), and it felt special at the Almeida; but like that other show it's unable to come into relevance, because it hasn't a hope of satirising what's beyond satire.
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Post by doornumberthree on Nov 7, 2024 4:26:17 GMT
Well I haven’t looked at the Broadway World thread and to be honest I couldn’t care less.
I saw the show on Broadway tonight and I actually enjoyed it so much more than the three times I saw it at the Almeida. Whilst it’s not perfect by a long shot, I genuinely think the creatives have actually taken on board where a lot of the flaws with the show were and have made what I find to be be positive changes. It still needs a lot of work but I found it to be much better than it was.
One of the biggest positive things for me was the lack of Andrew, whilst I didn’t love Christian either to be honest, but he was still a vast improvement on Andrew.
The song I LOATHED has been cut and I almost cheered when I realised it was gone (as I had tried to avoid seeing what the changes had been so far)
Edited to say I thought Michael did a brilliant job and was en par with Zubin for me.
The production is very much the Almeida set but scaled up - which doesn’t necessarily work with the enormous stage compared to the tiny Almeida one. The video screens work really well when it’s just Tammy but for parts of the song the camera wasn’t even on her face which was annoying but again something that can be fixed easily. The reception from the audience actually felt more positive than it did at the Almeida but that could just be because Broadway audiences are more vocal.
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Post by BVM on Nov 7, 2024 7:19:23 GMT
Well I haven’t looked at the Broadway World thread and to be honest I couldn’t care less. I saw the show on Broadway tonight and I actually enjoyed it so much more than the three times I saw it at the Almeida. Whilst it’s not perfect by a long shot, I genuinely think the creatives have actually taken on board where a lot of the flaws with the show were and have made what I find to be be positive changes. It still needs a lot of work but I found it to be much better than it was. One of the biggest positive things for me was the lack of Andrew, whilst I didn’t love Christian either to be honest, but he was still a vast improvement on Andrew. The song I LOATHED has been cut and I almost cheered when I realised it was gone (as I had tried to avoid seeing what the changes had been so far) Edited to say I thought Michael did a brilliant job and was en par with Zubin for me. The production is very much the Almeida set but scaled up - which doesn’t necessarily work with the enormous stage compared to the tiny Almeida one. The video screens work really well when it’s just Tammy but for parts of the song the camera wasn’t even on her face which was annoying but again something that can be fixed easily. The reception from the audience actually felt more positive than it did at the Almeida but that could just be because Broadway audiences are more vocal. Great to hear a positive review! And great not to be reading the abysmal BWW. A good reminder that for shows that may be struggling, the atmosphere on the internet is not the same as the atmosphere in the theatre. The latter in the main is filled with people who want to be there, think the show is "their thing" and the vast majority of people have a great time. |
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Post by shownut on Nov 12, 2024 21:17:06 GMT
Trailer is now out:
They will be on Good Morning America tomorrow morning.
I know the signs aren't great but I am hoping they can bounce back and find an audience.
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Post by BVM on Nov 13, 2024 14:30:10 GMT
Trailer is now out: They will be on Good Morning America tomorrow morning. I know the signs aren't great but I am hoping they can bounce back and find an audience. It's so sad! Broadway seems uniquely cruel the way if you're empty in previews, the writing is kind of on the wall..... I also pray it finds an audience, but looking at those seating plans, I can't see it. Still - some of the most stunning musicals in history (IMHO) are next level Broadway flops! |
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Post by nash16 on Nov 13, 2024 20:56:57 GMT
Trailer is now out: They will be on Good Morning America tomorrow morning. I know the signs aren't great but I am hoping they can bounce back and find an audience. I know there's clips of whacky dancing, but it looks too straight, if that makes sense. Like a mostly serious telling of her story. They should have used some of the funnier songs for the majority of the trailer instead of the ballad throughout. |
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