So for those of you who have seen the show on tour already i was curious as to how the show is? especially from those who saw it on Broadway and can compare. Don't hold back on details- i wanna know as much as possible! LOL
I caught the tour opening in Minneapolis. Slightly scaled back from Broadway but, still solid, glitzy, harmless fun.
Scott Willis and Wade McCollum seemed to be navigating their way among their characters and respective laughs. Bryan West, understandably so, was comfortable and excellent. The Divas were in terrific voice, as well.
Just saw the tour during it's run in Cleveland, and it was beyond wonderful. I had never seen the show on Broadway and was dying to finally catch it, and not once did it ever let me down.
The one thing that really got me was that I truthfully never got bored during the show. The cast was upbeat and very into their performances, which made the show just rush by. I also can proudly say that a group of some very conservative older people around us left the theatre thinking very differently about the gay community. It was honestly so inspiring :)
Anyways, about the show. The only visible differences that I could see from Broadway was that there was no downstage conveyer track, and the bus was a tad bit downsized for the tour. Also, since the bus comes apart to be travelled, the seams in the bus are fairly obvious. Characters also never rise up or lower down on the bus, they always get on the top of it by either climbing a ladder on the back of the bus or by a back staircase hidden behind a drop. Besides that, the color and magic from Broadway was still there.
Since it is the beginning of their run, there were a large bit of technical difficulties. The show began 10 minutes late for there was a broken/disconnected moving light in the audience, and there was a very frantic stage manager out in the house trying to solve the issue. The bus at one point was stuck mid-turn (though the majority of the audience never noticed), and they are having issues with their downstage track. A stage manager told me as the bus slides downstage, the deck slides a bit which disrupts the track, but the team on that show is flawless and will get it resolved very quickly.
There was also a HUGE wardrobe malfunction in "I Will Survive". Bryan West did not come out for the song until the very end of the scene in the middle of it, awkwardly leaving Tick downstage dancing with himself for awhile. Again, the audience never noticed and Tick and Bernadette covered his lines very well, but knowing the show a bit more it was a little bit of heartbeat racing for me :P
All in all, this tour is in fine hands. It was truly one of my favorite nights spent in a theatre I have ever had. Though the performance seemed to run a bit roughly, it was incredible watching these artists all come together to still produce a wonderful show. Truly one of the most dedicated companies I have ever witnessed. This company handled all glitches perfectly, and will surely have everything figured out and running smoothly in no time. If you are able, RUN to see this show :)
The ping pong balls worked completely fine and the audience really enjoyed it! I think at first they didn't know what was happening, then they did but didn't quite know how to feel, but it then got huge laughter and a huge applause :)
With the treadmill gone, they just use a track at the front of the stage. Like I said, though, as the bus slides downstage it is forcing the deck to slide a bit, so the road kill scene did not work when I was there. Well, the sound of the roadkill and the bus lurching forward still happened, but nothing downstage. So compared to Broadway, I can't really say definitively what happens :P
The audience is still brought up onto the stage for "Thank God I'm a Country Boy", and the cast had a ball with them, it was wonderful :)
The insult is still the same. It got a little awkward laugh when it first came up, but as soon as Adam/Felicia became distraught over it, the audience got very emotional. Same was with the scene after "Hot Stuff". Bryan's crying was one of the most heartbreaking moments I have ever witnessed, and the audience truly fell in love with the characters during those scenes.
The tour is fantastic. I wish they'd take Adams, Sheldon and Swenson off the posters. Wade McCullum is a HUGE improvement over Swenson. He has a stunning, gorgeous voice and dances beautifully. What a treat. West and Willis are fantastic too.
The roadkill has been cut or at least it was in Buffalo. The bus also broke down during Act 2 and never restarted one night. The shoe does not fly over the audience either.
It's an incredible production with a stunning cast.
Honestly, the ping pong ball scene rarely works in my opinion. After seeing the woman playing her on tour, it made me appreciate the artistry of Elaine Marcos. Marcus was a gifted comedienne and took her time with her scene and enunciated. If you dont, the audience gets really lost. Pop Muzik was a jumble and the audience didn't react too much, more because of the lack of timing of the actress and her diction, I believe.
The tour was FANTASTIC! The whole cast were amazing in my eyes. i agree, having Nick, Will and Tony on the poster needs to be changed- seriously. Wade was the best of the three leads in my openion, he was incredible in all aspects. His vocals were heaven, his acting great, and his body- WOW!! Normally i am paying attention to Felicia's body most, but not here! after the show he told me that he was really sick with a weird flu, which made me even more impressed as he showed no sign of it in his performance.
Bryan was wonderful as Felicia, though he was alot less phyiscally impressive compared to Nick. he did not do any high kicks, drop splits or all the other things Nick did- but his Vocals made up for all that- incredible! His acting and personality were not as big as Nicks- but it didn't really matter. i noticed that his body wasent shown off like Nick's was. His shirt in Color My World was buttoned instead of unbuttoned. The V in his I Will Survive costume was much shorter. Nick's famous cooter slam after color my world was replaced by Bryan doing some Vocalizing for the "You've got some catching up to do' scene. I noticed one costume change that was cut for him- and that was the one during the game of truth or dare. i believe he kept his Go West outfit on instead of the green robe Felicia normally wears in the scene.
Scott Willis was wonderful as Bernadette, i especially loved his 'Hot Stuff Reprise'. The Divas were all amazing, Brit West was better vocally then Jackie B. was. The three really impressed my father, who was noticablly VERY uncomfortable thoughout the whole show (it was his first time seeing the show and he is extremely uncomfortable around the whole gay thing- despite living with me! LOL)
Babs Rubenstien was wonderful as Shirley, Nik Alexzander was perfection as Miss Understanding, i felt he was even better then Nathan was. Travis Taber was just okay as Farrah, i though Steve was better. something about his voice bothered me. I saw Amy Hillner on for Cynthia, which was intresting. she was curvy and not asian which was different, but she made it work really well. The whole cast were wonderful. as reported before, the roadkill scene is gone, and the shoe dosen't come over the audience. Also, there was no disco ball. the barnyard dance is still present. all the bows are done on stage, the new staging really worked fine, just not as big an effect as on Broadway.
He's GORGOUS!! His body is just perfection! You hit the nail right on the head- he is both! Soo hot and soo sweet! He couldent have been nicer when i met him. when we were posing for a picture together he was rubbing my back with his hand which made the pants i was wearing alittle tighter!! Lol- but seriously!! His boyfriend Noah Jordan ain't hard on the eyes either!
darreyl102 - I would think that Bryan's scaled back costumes aren't as revealing as Nick's because, well, Nick needs/craves the attention on his body. Bryan's performance stands excellently alone without the showoff aspect of Nick's costuming, IMHO.
I understand your point- but still, Bryan has a great body, why not show it off. Besides, isn’t that one of the highlights of seeing the show- half naked men……………… or is that just me? LOL. Plus I think it kind of goes with Felicia’s character. I wouldn’t consider Nick a show off at all or needs/ craves attention, and I feel that if Bryan just added the physicality to the role then his performance would be perfection- definitive, you couldn’t touch him.
Can't remember about the coat tails- but the little speedos they wear after Felicia rips the coats off was as the same. i can see the revealing clothes being scaled back for the tour.
I saw the show many times on Broadway and caught the tour twice while I was home in Buffalo this week. i didn't notice anything scaled back costume wise. I don't think they made it "conservative" at all. Material Girl always had the four dancers with little coat tails on the back. They still had dance belts under so if they turned fast I guess you could see something. Lol. But the tour is pretty identical to Broadway. I absolutely loved the show, and I agree about Wade. I thought he was fantastic and yes he definitely shows off his body and dance training whenever possible. Loved it.
I agree, Bryan did have more feathers during ‘We Belong’ over his butt then Nick did. They were subtle modifications but having seen the show sooo many times I was able to spot the differences. Plus right after the seeing the show twice in ST. Louis I rewatched my bootleg of the Broadway show to compare.
Another thing that I noticed was scaled back was during ‘A Fine Romance’, which did not have the staircase.
Saw the show Saturday night at Shea's in Buffalo and LOVED IT, too! I really wanted to go back Sunday but it just didn't work out.
I really enjoyed the pacing, the acting, the energy. Everyone was on top of their game and living every moment of it. I think there were a few small technical glitches Saturday night. At one point the bus appeared to be stuck in the 'forward facing the audience' position. And during a song in Act Two, you could hear the divas singing (ALL AMAZING VOICES!), but you couldn't see them. Then finally they dropped down.
I love that this show has heart, too. I've always loved 'We Belong,' but never thought of it as a 'gay anthem' until now. Just beautiful.
Curious for others who saw it in Buffalo how the audiences were for the shows you attended. Apparently Tuesdays audience just ate it up. I sit in the balcony and was a bit surprised to see so many empty seats (especially for a Saturday night). Although Shea's is also a huge theatre. The audience seemed a little quiet at first but was definitely loving it and getting all the jokes by the end. And the Finale/Curtain Call was fun with lots of cheering and love.
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joined:8/23/08
Posted: 1/17/13 at 10:40pm