Loving the Leap of Faith CD

[JayG 2]

I have the LOF recording, and can't understand - after listening to it many times now- how the show could be such a flop. Why was it so reviled?

[Jordan Catalano]

Because it sucked and every song sounded exactly the same.

[Rainbowhigh23]

The music was nice but the show was excruciating to sit through. It was a mess and really boring in parts. The singing lifted us out of the boredom but it wasn't enough to make the show good.

Scandalous was more fun by far, but I remember a guy jumping over his seat to the empty row behind him to escape before the end of Act 1! He wasn't having any fun.

[uncageg]

The show was not, for me, excruciating to sit through. It needed a bit of work in areas, but it was fine. In my opinion, it was a show that had good music, acting, etc. But no "wow" factor to draw in tourists. I saw it twice. A great night at the theatre. Fluff is good!

[dramamama611]

I agree that fluff can be fun..when it knows it's fluff. I don't think the creative team approached this as fluff -- I always got the feeling we were suppose to be moved somehow.

Yes, the cast was mostly talented and working hard -- they almost always are.

However, I couldn't wait for it to be over...truly one of my least favorite times in a b'way house. Down there with: Rent, Curtains, Story of My Life, Bklyn, Bonnie and Clyde and All Shook Up.

[little_sally]

I actually thought the score was terrible. Songs just ended abruptly and they all sounded the same.

[wonkit]

I like the score and think this cast album has a lot of fine moments. Which doesn't prevent me from regretting that two of my favorite songs from the L.A. production were gone in New York: Into the Sunset and Can't Get There from Her.

[uncageg]

I finally got the recording on Friday and can't stop listtening to it. However, the girl that plays the daughter/sister doesn't sound as good on the recording as she did live. She knocked "On the bus" out of the park onstage.

[DEClarke]

I picked up the album this weekend. The songs do sound a lot alike, but I think that has to do with the style of music they chose to use for the piece. It's fun lyrically and I feel it will be one I listen to from time to time. May the regional theatres do this show well!

[luvtheEmcee]

Because a show bursting with potential was trainwrecked to hell.

I had fun (of course I did) but it was a skeleton of its former self. And most people who saw it didn't have the luxury of fonder memories of what it used to be - so in their eyes it was just boring and thin. Several of my favorite songs got cut along the way, the ones that stayed were stifled into mediocrity, and the story virtually collapsed in on itself.

The album is fine. Great? No, but I'm glad it got made.

[LYLS3637]

Given the recent cast recordings of what has been on Broadway in the past couple years-- Menken's score for this is vastly more entertaining. This was a show people loved to hate (see Brantley's disgusting review), but, in time, I could see it catching on if they can figure out what to do with the horrific script.

I would listen to this before subjecting myself again to SISTER ACT, SCANDALOUS, the god-awful EVITA revival, BRING IT ON, ELF, GHOST, SPIDER MAN, LOVE NEVER DIES, ROCK OF AGES, PRISCILLA, etc. etc. etc.

[luvtheEmcee]

but, in time, I could see it catching on if they can figure out what to do with the horrific script.

I think that was the problem -- the script was closer to being figured out like, a year-plus before Broadway. It needed work after LA, but I was totally dumbfounded by what the "solutions" turned out to be. (Plus, the problem there was so much more poor direction than it was the writing, IMO) The best analogy I can come up with for the outcome is that it was like when you leave a pot cooking for too long and you come back and whatever was in it has been evaporated and there's nothing left. Overworked, maybe too many cooks in the proverbial kitchen. That's what was so disappointing about it. Ultimately I think it needed the right director so much earlier on in the process -- maybe then said process wouldn't have resulted in hacking the show to pieces in poorly aimed attempts to improve it.

(I know I sound like I'm hating on it; I certainly wasn't in the love-to-hate crowd, but I just remain so disappointed in what the outcome came to be.)

At the end of the day, even mediocre Alan Menken is Alan Menken, and that's still pretty good. Plus, you can't exactly blame him for Slater's sometimes inane lyrics (though I think this had some of his better work...).