CINDERELLA Previews Thread.

[ghostlight2]

What do you think this is?

[WhizzerMarvin TrinaJasonMendel]

Ha, thanks Ed. Even though I have such a passion for going to the theater I fear that if I gained employment by it any way I would soon come to resent it. I find enough enjoyment getting to share my thoughts on this forum and read the thoughts of my fellow theatergoers.

Slight spoilers, I guess, about the transformations...

The pumpkin turning into the carriage was cool. This big pumpkin starts to grow from behind the stone wall in Cinderella's front yard. The pumpkin starts to fold open like a flower and the carriage is there behind it. (Note the carriage isn't actually in the pumpkin.) The footmen are actually a fox and a raccoon that were hand puppets earlier on. Cinderella sings "My Own Little Corner" to them. Some smoke comes on the stage and the two footmen tumble out of the wings.

The costume transformations are more impressive. It's like each dress is a reversible dress. The bodice flips around the top half folds down to reveal the new dress. It happens very, very quickly. William Ivey Long is a pro and he's having fun with these quick changes.

[RaisedOnMusicals]

Whizzer,thanks for those comprehensive and coherent comments. I have a couple of questions.

Usually, as I am walking out of a theater after a show, I get a sense of how the audience liked or didn't like the performance. I obviously draw no conclusions from the obligatory standing ovations, but you generally hear people talking about what they just saw. So did you get a sense of how much or how little the audience liked it? Are the people who were there going to tell their friends to run and buy tickets or too save their money?

Also, picking up on what someone posted a short while ago, do you think it's really capable of the show being edited sufficiently in the next few weeks? I'd guess that would involve quite a bit of swallowing pride on the part of some people. Do you usually go back later in previews or shortly after opening to see if a show has undergone significant changes?

[suestorm]

Um they need word of mouth first.
FINEBYDESIGN, not sure what your issue is with this show, but word of mouth isnt one of them, they have the highest of any show coming up according to the poll on broadway.com

January 25, 2013 - 10:40AM


Ann3%

The Assembled Parties0%

The Big Knife0%

Breakfast at Tiffany's3%

Cinderella20%

Hands on a Hardbody3%

I'll Eat You Last: A Chat With Sue Mengers4%

Jekyll & Hyde14%

Lucky Guy2%

Matilda18%

Kinky Boots8%

Motown: The Musical2%

The Nance1%

Orphans0%

Pippin11%

Pump Boys and Dinettes0%

The Testament of Mary0%

The Trip to Bountiful0%

The Velocity of Autumn0%

The Miss Firecracker Contest0%

[little_sally]

RaisedOnMusicals, I know this question wasn't directed towards me but I saw the show with a large group of 14 year old girls (they were a school group) and many of them just thought it was "okay." Nobody in our group of about 40 was blown away.

[WhizzerMarvin TrinaJasonMendel]

RaisedOnMusicals,

Last night we had an onstage proposal at the end of the curtain call so the chatter walking out of the theater may have been more focused on that subject than the actual show. I will say the audience response throughout the evening was respectful, if a little tepid. Rarely were the jokes met with much laughter; the only times the audience went nuts were the costume changes and SLIGHT SPOILER
when Victoria floats across the stage.
END SLIGHT SPOILER

I often go back to show at the end of previews, or even several times during previews. It's fun to see a show often when changes are being made, but honestly it's very rare when they actually do make significant changes. Sure, most shows change a line, rewrite a joke there, but those aren't really going to change the finished product in any real way.

You hit the nail on the head though. It's all about swallowing pride and bruised egos. Are they willing to say, "We made a mistake. This subplot has to go." Take a look through Not Since Carrie. Songs used to be cut and replaced all the time. Characters were cut, actors were replaced. It's tough to make these decisions, but sometimes you need to for the good of the show.

Luckily this show doesn't need to be rewritten so much as it needs to be trimmed. Lock the creative team in a room and don't let them out till they've chopped off an hour of show. They could do it. Whether or not they will is for us to find out.

[Jungle Red]

Another expression: "Writing is rewriting." A script is never finished, even when it is.

[NoName3]

Here's a Daily News article with a couple of pics about the NYPD Sergeant proposing to his girlfriend onstage after the bows. It's a free promotion by the show called "Royal Proposal" he found when looking up the show and he was the first take advantage.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nypd-sergeant-pops-question-cinderella-article-1.1250117

[RaisedOnMusicals]

There is a very contrary view of this show that was just posted on All That Chat by "seeseveryshow." I have no idea who he is, but he's a very respected "regular" so far as I can tell. He calls the show "stunning and magical", and though he agrees that some time should be chopped off the running time, he predicts a long run. I've posted the link here. He was at the preview after which a NY cop was called up to the stage with his "girlfriend", to whom he then proposed (and which was the subject of a story today in the Daily News.

In case the link doesn't post, copy and paste:

http://www.talkinbroadway.com/allthatchat/d.php?id=2118204

[RippedMan]

I could see this going either way. I think with Matilda gearing up to start, it might get lost in the brush.

[Mattbrain]

I feel like, depending on execution, I'll either love or hate this new book. I don't hate the idea behind these plot points. But you never know.

[SamIAm2]

I think that a significant part of the problem that people have with the new book lies in their motivation to see the show in the first place. It's a potentially exciting way of "going home again", revisiting a cherished part of their childhood. For parents, there is a desire to share something they love with their children. (I am not in any way criticizing these motivations, just saying what I read between the lines in some of the reactions to the show that I have read, here and elsewhere.)

The differences inherent in the new script can lessen or spoil the experience, not just by introducing a new element, but by introducing a subplot that moves one from the heart to the head. They don't, for this 2-3 hours, want to have to think about social inequalities or other harsh realities of life. They want a heart warming fairy tale, an experience to bring them back to the sweet innocence of childhood.

I think that the creative team miscalculated (or was oblivious to) the reasons why audiences would come to this show. As others have said, fortunately it is a problem that can be fixed.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Costumes look lovely. The sets, not so much. I can probably count on one hand the productions at The Broadway that I've seen that had sets that fully utilized the massive stage and wings. For some reason mostly everything I see there looks so empty and barren.

[Belle9]

I am new to this board, as I've only signed up to review this show. I think it's important for people to know what they're getting into so that they don't waste their money, as I believe I have in this case. This post contains spoilers.

As a little intro on me, I generally love Broadway. I probably see an average of 3 or 4 Broadway shows a year, and I rarely leave disappointed. I personally dabble in community theater and enjoy nothing more than a night at the theater. When I heard the beloved classic Cinderella was coming to Broadway, my friend and I decided to get tickets for last night's show. I heard rumors that some of it had been modernized, but when I saw the costumes were still classically fairy tale at the Thanksgiving parade, I believed it couldn't be that different. Boy was I wrong.

I'll start with what was good about the production. Laura is phenomenal. Her voice just floats. Despite my disappointment at the rest of the production, I was riveted whenever she sang. She definitely has a bright future ahead of her. The costume changes were mind blowing. They took place right there on stage. I still don't fully understand how they were done, but they definitely succeeded at the wow factor.

Now onto what didn't work. Point blank....this is NOT Cinderella. It's not the same story. It's not the same message. And unfortunately so much of the music has been changed. As stated by other posters, it is nothing but one long political message, a message that seems so forced and out of place, that it is clear that the writers only had an agenda. Cinderella goes to the ball for no other reason than to tell the prince that there are hungry people in his kingdom. The nice stepsister is dating a revolutionary who tries to start a siege on the castle so that they can cut taxes and get handouts. Cinderella teaches all the guests at the ball that other countries are using kindness in political forums. The prince becomes convinced that his kingdom needs to hold an election for prime minister.

Where in all of this political tension is the story of Cinderella? Well, I couldn't find it. The most iconic plot point is missing, and I'm shocked that I haven't found another review that mentioned it. At the end of Act 1, Cinderella drops her glass slipper. But as the prince looks at it and begs for her name, she simply goes back and takes it! That's right. He doesn't find her glass slipper. Everyone around me was very confused during intermission. What's going to happen in the rest of the story now? A stranger next to me suggested that they'll have a "kindness contest" to find her. I wouldn't have been surprised if that was true.

Instead the prince holds a banquet to find Cinderella. She gets another dress and goes, only to find the prince and bring him to the slums to show him how poor people are. It was like they stole Hooverville right out of Annie. By that point, I was slumping in my chair, bored out of my mind. That has never happened to me during a Broadway show...ever! Oh, and when she leaves the prince this time, and he asks for her name, she turns around and hands him her shoe. So then we get the classic search for Cinderella, which now makes completely no sense. Well he finds her, and then she awkwardly asks him if marriage is still on the table. Wow...that's charming.

The show ended, and I was initially surprised by the standing ovation. Then I realized everyone in front of us was actually standing to leave. So my friend and I followed suit, and we missed the proposal that happened after the performance. She asked me if there was any way we could get our money back. I wish we had tried, if only to make a statement.

This show is in deep trouble. All the talent is there, but the book is absolutely terrible. They have ticket sales because people believe they know what they're getting into. I have a strong feeling those sales will plummet when potential theatergoers realize this is nothing more than a political soapbox with a familiar name to get you in the seats. I honestly can't imagine anyone truly enjoying this show except for extremist liberals and people who do not know or care about the original story of Cinderella. Please save your money. I can only hope they make some extreme changes before opening night.

[RaisedOnMusicals]

Well, Belle.

No offense, since I don't have any idea who you are, but I am a bit skeptical of anyone who joins a board like this "just to review this show." Are you saying that you've never disliked a show as much as this and just had to tell the world? Or in the opposite vein, have you not loved a show so much that you wanted to share your feelings? Look, you might well be right in terms of how this show is perceived and reviewed, I have no dog in the hunt one way or the other. I might feel the same way as you do after I see it. I'm just saying that your motivation seems a bit suspect to me.

[dramamama611]

Well, while I agree it's odd to join JUST to write a review what do you think her motivation might be?

But in other news? SHE JUST HANDS HIM THE SLIPPER? Oy.

[Belle9]

I've read the board before, but I've never felt the need to be an active poster, so I hadn't signed up before. I just feel that this particular show has mislead audiences that it is something that it isn't. I don't want other people to walk away disappointed like I did. I really feel like I wasted my money, and I know not many people have seen the show at this point, so I'm just trying to help. Sorry if I came across as rude in any way.

[suestorm]

Raisedonmusicals thanks for that link of the review. I'm more excited then ever now to see it!

[JohnyBroadway]

Belle, If you know the original Cinderella Perrault story, the prince does not collect the slipper after the ball. The prince holds a second ball, in which the prince grabs the glass slipper. So it looks like it was a take on that.

[Belle9]

I wasn't aware of that. Thanks for clearing that up.

[RaisedOnMusicals]

Not rude. Strange. Your profile says you see 3-4 shows per year, so this one show bothered you SO much that you joined just to let us all know about it? I'll accept what you say at face value, but you should at least see why one might be a bit cynical.

[Jungle Red]

Thanks for the review! I'm looking forward to more and I hope others are too.

How do you have Cinderella take her shoe back? WHO THOUGHT OF THIS?! I'm angry.

[Belle9]

I definitely understand. But to be completely honest, I love almost every show I see. I've never disliked a show like this one. I've also have never seen a show as early in performances as this one, so I felt my opinion was more necessary now than it has been in the past.

[broadwaydevil]

Potentially good news folks: the creative team is currently working on cutting, with a target of shortening the show by at least 15 minutes.

[Mattbrain]

My guess is the tree monster will be the first thing to go.

[bwayphreak234]

I'm most disappointed to read about the barren set design. Same thing with Annie. These are huge shows in huge theatres. When both shows were announced I was excited to see what these top notch designers would do with design. Both Korins and Louizos produced some pretty bare bones designs it sounds like which is saddening considering everything you can do with these shows... The scenic designer in me is pretty sad.