Scandalous Preview Thread

[SayitSomehow]

I rarely dislike anything I see and I never have or will walk out of a show - but this thing is a rather boring mess.

Like a prior Carolee endeavor, yes I dare say it, Lestat, this musical tries to squeeze 800 events of someone's life into a continuous stream of bland song and trite dialogue.

Spoilers

From the overbearing mother to the sassy black sidekick, there were so man cliches sprinkled about, so many characters with no depth, so many songs I almost completely forgot until I looked back in my playbill.

I could never figure out if it was intentionally or accidentally ridiculous. Campy or bad writing? I'm not sure they even know.

By the "court scene" - the 2nd act had wore out its welcome and I couldn't even listen to all the evidence they chose to drag out.

I walked away unsure of what the message/moral was supposed to be. "Be yourself, BUT not too much - be loud and proud, BUT it might turn you into a mockery or kill you."

I just kept thinking... if in season 2 of SMASH they made a musical about Aimee, even that would be way better than this.

Yes, Carolee is a wonder, always has been, and my previous reviewer said he got his $29 worth, but I didn't get my $41 worth. So... there's your price range.

A few jabs I'm offering to the critics:
"As the show closes, Carolee is belting "Stand Up," but the audience politely declined"

"I'm sure this story makes for a great wikipedia page, but not a piece of theatre"

"A life over-Semplified"

[WellsNYC]

Why do bitter people even go to shows? Especially shows that are still in PREVIEWS.

[everythingtaboo]

I thought I heard there was some nudity. Does it come early enough I can leave if the rest of this hing wears out its welcome?

[Jordan Catalano]

There's no "nudity" but at the beginning of act two there's an Adam & Eve number and Adam is WELL WORTH staying for.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Jordan, you're making it sound like this is the best show you've ever seen.

[Playbilly]

He was just dreaming of Jake as Adam. And himself as the fig leaf.

[Jordan Catalano]

Growl, I thought i made it pretty obvious that it was the worst thing I've ever seen.

[bwayphreak234]

Here's a picture of a model of the set.

[perfectlymarvelous]

They even took the stewardess costumes from Catch Me If You Can!

No but seriously, those white stairs look like the white stairs from Catch Me and Carrie mated and that was the result.

I love Carolee but this really sounds like it's a mess...I wish she would have the opportunity to originate something that's worthy of her talent again.

[bwayphreak234]

How do they even move those staircases? It literally looks like there is NO room on that stage...

[Mildred Plotka]

They never move.

[egghumor]

Eek! That set looks like some leftover from a 1980s Academy Awards show.

[DottieD'Luscia]

The picture of the set made me think of Catch Me if You Can immediately.

[ljay889]

http://broadwayworld.com/article/Photo-Flash-First-Look-at-SCANDALOUS-Starring-Carolee-Carmello-Andrew-Samonsky-and-More-on-Broadway-20121019

[egghumor]

The photo of Roz Ryan standing behind Carolee Carmello reminds me of Ethel Mertz and Lucy.

[Jordan Catalano]

My favorite part of the show...

[CurtainPullDowner]

That's why Eve was weak.

Carolee looks stunning, too.

[WellsNYC]

Saw the show last night...the stairs DO move... they werent in the way. Obviously, they are large pieces, and even when they move out of place they are still visible. But in fact, they do move! And, the model looks similar to the tabernacle scenes...but the costumes are not like that at all. Carolee is awesome. Honestly, they all sounded fantastic...and at times I kind of thought the ensemble sounded better than they probably should have.

[Playbilly]

And this show is NOT campy?

[bwayphreak234]

I can't speak for the show itself since I have not seen it, but some of the songs sound pretty campy from I have heard. Mainly the opening number. I have not seen the show though, so I will not speak for it as a whole.

[strummergirl]

"A life over-Semplified"

Brilliant.

[tmbyru]

Is this show worth going to even just to collect the colored playbill?

[egghumor]

"...just to collect the colored playbill"? For that alone, I doubt it, but if you read this and the other SCANDALOUS thread (especially - link below) it seems highly worth your time as a very memorable Broadway bomb experience; always good for cocktail party storytelling. Frankly, I'd kill to see it!



The other SCANDALOUS thread

[nasty_khakis]

I agree it's worth staying for act two to see Mr Watt's er, um...costume. Yow-za. Heidi Blickenstaff is one lucky woman to go home to that every night.

[WellsNYC]

I've seen Scandalous 2x since the previews began (free tickets)...The first time was opening night of the previews, and the second time was last Sunday. It was very interesting to see how much the show changed. Songs were cut, scenes were changed...completely different ending. And, the show was about 30minutes shorter. I personally thought all the changes were excellent, and made for a much better show. I do have to say shame on those who decided to post critiques of the show after only the first few days of previews. Previews are for changes, corrections, and perfections...not for the negative, foul commentary that I've read on this feed. It's really sad to see "Broadway fans" that seem to root for a show to fail...

[newintown]

Yeah, well:

a) you joined a month ago to post on nothing but Scandalous, you silly shill, and

b) as far as expressing an opinion about a preview, this show has been in development for years and has had two full productions and about a thousand workshops. It's not like they're going to suddenly write a good show in a few days after all that time spent writing poop.