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Ghoulish Delight
12-09-2002, 01:01 PM
Saw the unoficially oficially opened Aladdin show at the Hyperion yesterday. Here are my thoughts.

Not ready for Broadway. By any means.

This production seems to me to be a chance for them to pin down the musical numbers, the big set pieces, and some of the staging. They seem to be planning to deal with such details as story telling and dialog at a later date.

The staging was pretty impressive. They need to smooth out and link some of the bigger stage effects to the action on stage a little more. For example, The genie's first appearance. It's a kind of spiffy effect, with a dummy genie being zipped up rather quickly from front stage straight through the ceiling with an imprssive looking blue tail. Then he's supposed to disappear above and the actor appear from a cloud of smoke on stage. Unfortunately, the fake one was still quite visible when the real one appeared, so most of the audience was still kind of looking up at the fake one. It took two or three beats to catch on and the effect was kind of lost.
The whole beginning was rather slow and muddled. Like I said, they seem to be saving the actual story telling bit for later (or at least I hope they are), because the already thin and mildly trite storyline of the movie is even more so here.

I was unimpressed by Jaffar. "Dramatic" and "screaming" are not the same thing. And his lines were pretty corny and forced.

Lion King has spoiled me, and the Iago puppet was, um, just a puppet.

Of course, it's not all bad. Some of the musical numbers were fun (they did a good job with Friend Like Me). I liked how they pulled off the carpet (both the character, and the flying). And we learned that Szczerbiac Maniac is an accidental prognosticator. (read the spoiler below, unless you don't want to see the spoilers, then don't read it)
They have errected an architecturally interesting prescenium, but the paint job left something to be desired. SM commented before the show that he wished they had made it a little more interesting. Lo and behold, the lights go out and the prescinium lights up all the way around with star-like point lights. He got his wish. Also before the show, he joked that since he was sitting in the aisle, and since he has particularly long legs, he should be careful about putting them in the aisle so as not to get in the way of the elephant (an allusion to Lion King). Well, what should come into the theater half way through the show, but a Lion-King esq. elephant carrying Prince Ali! Who knew SM had such powers :D)

Overall, the show suffered from being a third the length of an actual musical. No time for storytelling or character development. It was just big scene after big scene. Again, I believe this was intended, that they are just using this as a giant dress rehearsal for the big scenes and leaving the details for later. As such, it's an entertaining 40 minutes, but will NOT bring in the theater going crowds as they might have hoped.

I think it has some Boradway potential, but it has a long way to go.

disneyscott
12-09-2002, 01:29 PM
I must disagree, I saw the first show on Sunday and really enjoyed it mistakes and all.

My question to all is this ( and there is no way of suger coat it) I was alittle wierded out by the lady in the wheelchair. Now I understand that ones dissablilitys shouldn't come in to play, and a singer doesn't need her feet, but eveytime she would be zipping around my eye would watch her and not the show.

How did seeing this efect the rest of you?

Ghoulish Delight
12-09-2002, 01:43 PM
Originally posted by disneyscott
I must disagree, I saw the first show on Sunday and really enjoyed it mistakes and all.

My question to all is this ( and there is no way of suger coat it) I was alittle wierded out by the lady in the wheelchair. Now I understand that ones dissablilitys shouldn't come in to play, and a singer doesn't need her feet, but eveytime she would be zipping around my eye would watch her and not the show.

How did seeing this efect the rest of you? Either she's an understudy, or she was being understudied for the late show (we saw the last one of the evening), because I noticed no one in a wheelchair.

I didn't say I didn't enjoy the show. It's just that it has been billed as broadway callibur entertainment by Anne Hamburger and Disney and they are supposedly trying to bring a theater going crowd to the park. In addition, it's also billed as a tune-up run for a full scale broadway show. So that was the perspective I was reviewing it from. As such, it falls well short. For themepark entertainment, it's quite good. For a broadway show, it's terrible.

I perhaps am being a little critical, but Hamburger's comments, claiming that DCA attendants (myself being one of those) are not sophisticated enough to be seeing boradway shows elsewhere has made me so. If she's going to get up on her high horse, she'd better put together a show that merits it, and I certainly don't think she has.

Laffite
12-09-2002, 01:57 PM
It's just a musical, and like you said I don't think they intended to develope the whole story. I mean, people pay (at least for those that pay) to get into the park probably doesn't want to sit through a whole "play", but it was rather a "musical" show, and that all it really was, a "musical show" of Aladdin.

Instead of "Aladdin musical" it was more like "the musics of Aladdin", kindda like a medley.

And as for me (spoilers ahead), I thought it kindda went downhill. The Jaffar snake was, unfortunately, cheap. Not that I know a better way to achieve the effect, but the one there was really cheap and uninteresting. But I guess I can't ask much because it's not meant to be a "full-scale" show (and being spoiled by Lion King as well :) )

Preston

SzczerbiakManiac
12-09-2002, 03:58 PM
Laffite wrote:
It's just a musicalNot sure what that means...? :confused: (I'll hold off comments until/if you care to clarify)

I told Ghoulish Delight, Cadaverous Pallor, and lindyhop this last night after we the show together: it's a diamond in the rough. There are some really good elements and there is stuff that needs work. The production design (costumes & sets) is quite good. For the most part, I think the performers we saw were good. What I'd like to see worked on: Timing (during spoken dialog) This was especially true in the beginning. This is an action comedy and you can't have gaps you can drive a truck through.
The Script As GD said, it suffers from being too short. It seems like they tried to cram all of the "good" songs in and then discovered they had no time for a coherent story. I think if you hadn't seen the movie you'd be left scratching your head several times wondering what just happened.
What's up with Aladdin's leap across the stage at the end of "One Jump Ahead"? When did Aladdin gain superhuman powers??? This gag needs to be changed to a leap off/down a building or something. They certainly have the doubles to pull it off. Jasmine's New Song (I don't remember the name) Pretty, but #1 I don't know if this abbreviated action adventure needs two ballads in a row and #2, it reminded me a little too much of "Home" from Beauty and the Beast.
But then again, "Part of Your World" is practically "Somewhere That's Green", so I guess Menken & Disney are okay with sort of thing. <shrug>Let's all keep in mind that this is precisely what previews are for. See what works and what needs to be fixed. I don't think any of those problems are insurmountable. The only question is will they devote the time and resources to get the job done right?
<crosses fingers but doesn't hold breath>

Oh, for those planning on seeing the show. Don't sit in the front half of the orchestra section. You'll be tilting your next back at a 90 degree angle to see what's going on (literally) above your head in several parts.

JeffG
12-09-2002, 04:07 PM
Originally posted by SzczerbiakManiac
Oh, for those planning on seeing the show. Don't sit in the front half of the orchestra section. You'll be tilting your next back at a 90 degree angle to see what's going on (literally) above your head in several parts.

It is probably best not to sit in the orchestra section at all. We were in the back half of the orchestra section for a showing on Saturday and found that the view of the effect referenced above was almost completely non-visible. The best seats for this show are likely the mezzanine.

I honestly think they need to rethink that particular effect. Since it involves some very key action in the show, it is a major problem that it isn't easily visible from most of the orchestra section.


Despite that complaint (and the fact that a few effects appeared not to be working right), I thought the show was pretty good. It could use some tightening of the action and the climactic sequence is kind of weak, but overall the show is quite entertaining and certainly is rather ambitious for a theme park show. I think it will be a real crowd pleaser.

-Jeff

Laffite
12-09-2002, 04:51 PM
Originally posted by SzczerbiakManiac
>It's just a musical

Not sure what that means...? :confused: (I'll hold off comments until/if you care to clarify)


*sigh* I don't remember saying that. I don't know why would I say that. I don't even know what that was supposed to mean. So I shall take it back (not that it'll do any good).

Sorry folks. It's Finals week has started, and I got exactly 3 hours of sleep in the past 23 hours :(

Preston

RStar
12-09-2002, 05:54 PM
perhaps it was only suppose to be music and not a stage play?

Any way, I plan to wait a while and let them work the bugs out. At least until next week;) ..................

Baloo
12-09-2002, 07:50 PM
Well i think that part of the reason Anne has been stressing that it is a Broadway caliber show is because of its cast.
Lets not forget that the cast being used for the "Alladin Spectacular" comes from Broadway and have been in very well and popular shows.

As a theatre going person i feel that the stage and show is effect is of Broadway caliber. The customes a very well made and detailed and some of the effects are of much better quality than some shows i have seen on Broadway.

I very much enjoyed this show eventhough it does have some minor adjustments that are need.

The timing of some of the trap doors and effects is one of the most visible problems. Other problems i saw were the gaps in some of the sequence changes. These problems could be addressed very easily though.

The one thing that actually affected the way i saw the show and could not compare it to an actual Broadway was not because of the show itself. Please do not take this wrong but In a Broadway show most people that pay the large ticket fees actually go and respect others people reason for being there. I do not go to a show and talk or wisper with my guest or other people yet at the two shows i have seen of Alladin in both occasions i became a bit fustrated at how rude some people could be and actually talk and discuss the show while it is being played out. Some might say that it is understandable because it is in a theme park with families but i noticed that it was not the young kids that were rude but many of the adults. I believe that that is part of the reference that not only Anne mentioned but other executives mentioned about how many of the park goers are not exposed to a Broadway/musical comes from. Hopefully by having such a high quality show in a park it will open up the idea of a Broadway style show/musical to a more deverse group of people.

I give this show a 9 out of 10points for the best show ever produced outside of Broadway with a Broadway caliber cast.

Lani
12-09-2002, 07:54 PM
No biggie, but I've removed the word "tagged" from the thread's subject because it looks like some things are not always necessarily tagged. Thanks.

ldsguy
12-09-2002, 10:35 PM
GoulishDelight, I do have to completely disagree with you, but first I must clarify one thing, the lady in the wheel chair is not an understudy, while the leads have two complete casts, the ensembe has a different situation, at any given show 2/3 of the total number of people that fille the ensemble are perfoming and wuite well I might add, and 1/3 of them are off, those that didn't see her in the show probably went to one that she was one of the 1/3 that was off, but I think they make it work really well.



but will NOT bring in the theater going crowds as they might have hoped.

The people that have been giving it the best reviews have been the people that go to the theater on a regular basis, several of whom have season passes to their local theater that I have talked with.

The show is entertaining and works really well, we must also remember that there will be glitches, if anyone was at any of the shows today they can attest to that......I will post what all happened below in a spoiler, but I saw a couple of shows that were pretty much flawless on Saturday and were great.

Well, you want to talk about opening day glitches....murphy's law was in full effect today, anything that can wrong did, despite several flawless previews, no matter what on opening day there are always problems for some reason, oh and for the record today was touted as being the "Official Opening Day" by all cast members, they did say that there is going to be a press event sometime in Jan, but I digress.......Well here it goes:
First show:
Opening through carpet flying over the audience no problem, then the carpet on stage, the myst screen didn't completely cover the mechanical mechanism again, but then the fun starts at the end of the seen, the mechanical carpet refused to go back into it's little hole, so it's sitting on stage and the Wall does not come up, so the live carpet comes in from the side, and they work around it until it finally goes where it's supposed to, then the Genie after his argument with Aladdin says "If you need me i'll be in my sardine can" and tries to go down on the elevator, well, oops it does work, so he says "On second thought, i'll be out buying furniture, I hear barbie is having a garage sale" and walks off the stage, then Jafar has the gaurds arrest alladin (oh and the set for the pallace didn't come all the way down, so they had to work around it) and when Jafar summons the Genie he comes in from off stage and says "I couldn't find anything" and takes the lamp from Jafar, but since he has no brush to throw he ends up throwing the lamp off stage instead, so he has to go get the lamp and Jafar says "Yeah, go get me that lamp blue boy." The remainder fo the show goes off without too much of a problem, other than the set not being completely in place for part of the time, but they finally get that right. Well, any other show I have seen at Disneyland all those problems would be enough to cancel that show during the middle of it, but they did exceptionally well at improv.

Show Two:
No real problems until, again, the on stage carpet, turns out that Aladdin hit his head hard on some scenery, still not sure, but we heard he had to get stitches, basically the carpet went up when it wasn't supposed to and we saw him running off stage......This show they had to cancel at that point, because there was no one to take his place during the middle of the show, something that we are told they have fixed, by show three.

Show Three:
Starts 15 minutes late, the Aladdin from Show two want to go on, but ends up not doing so, the other Aladdin goes on....There are staging changes to accomodate for the on stage carpet not working from the end of Jamine's Song scene to the end of what the on-stage carpet scene should be, then when Jafar turns into the snake, well, oops, the snake doesn't come up, so they immeadiately do the only logical thing, they talk in the direction of the tail, changing thier staging accordingly, then, oops all of the sudden the snake comes up, except the Genie that's supposed to be inside of it isn't, but that still works out allright, so they change again and there was some line, that I can't remember that went with it.



Ok, that was long winded, I know, but my point is that the entire cast is so good that they can come up with improv for all of these situations, yes there are plenty of things that could be done ina full two hour version that can't be here, but it is by far one of the best, if not the best 45 minute show I have ever seen and most, not all people agree with me on that, but then again, not everyone is going to like everything.

Oh, we also found out that Aladdin has just gotten a 3 year contract for the Hyperion, but also that the full touring production could start in as little as 3 to 6 months, which would mean both would be running at the same time, in the style of Blast!, which had their 30 minute production while thier two hour production was touring, see we can teach Disney new tricks ;-)

Also there is going to be a merchandise booth, currently being painted right outside the que area. Should be interesting to see what they will put on it.

Also, I like the Orchestra section, there are things you can see from there that you can't see from anywhere else, but each section, aside from perhaps Balcony has it's advantages and disadvantages.

I will agree with the earlier post that people can tend to be a bit rude or I'll even go one step further and say be just plain stupid, I mean when they say no flash pictures, what do people think they mean, no flash pictures, unless you really, really want to? While I do take pictures I go through a lot to take them without a flash, it is doable, this is a safety issue, at least no one has yet to ignore the no video lighting announcement, not sure about the cell phone one, but I haven't heard any yet....as for the talking, well, unfortunately there's not much we can do about that, and I'll admit that I have at some times been guilty of it myself, but I have been doing better with it, esp. in this show, but there are sometimes when comments to the person next to you are needed, i.e. when sitting in the front row and the person has stuff on the floor right before the elephant comes through and you tell them they might want to move thier stuff, then they see why and ask if it's safe to put it back down, of course it is and you say so, but this is one instance where to someone that just hears whispering, not what is being said might think they were being rude when they weren't, yes this happened and someone chewed me out for talking, oh no, I saved someone's stuff that trumps being rude to me and it was a lot of photo paper and such, which is quite expensive, so I guess all I am saying is don't jump to conclusions, no matter how tempting it might be and I am sure the person that posted it wouldn't, I don't mean against that person, but just to be a general comment.

Ghoulish Delight
12-10-2002, 07:35 AM
It was more than just the glitches that bugged me about the staging at this point. I did not like the look of the snake. Something about it just didn't fit. I figured there was a problem in the third show when the snake took a while to pop up. But other things, like Aladdin getting the snake into the lamp, were, in my opinion, not very good effects. I felt that him just putting the lamp next to the hole on stage when everyone can see the snake just lowering down into the hole, didn't really create the desired effect.

It's hard for me not to compare it to the Lion King. When I think of the Lion King, I think of the superlative creative work that went into the stage effects. Things like the wildabeast stampede machine, the lions running throug the savhana bits, and of course the pupetry. None of it was particularly technically comlicated, but they were all very creative, and very effective. I don't think they've pulled that off yet with Aladdin.

I know it's early. I know this is "preview." And I know they will work on. I'm not calling the quality of the performers into question. It's the quality of the story and the quality of the staging. These are just the things that I noticed that need work. Like I said, I do see the potential, I just don't think it's there yet.

hefferdude
12-10-2002, 07:39 AM
My question to all is this ( and there is no way of suger coat it) I was alittle wierded out by the lady in the wheelchair. Now I understand that ones dissablilitys shouldn't come in to play, and a singer doesn't need her feet, but eveytime she would be zipping around my eye would watch her and not the show.

Hope I don't start flak for this. I also found my attention drawn away from the ensemble and re-focused on the singer's chair. I have attended many Broadway performances and I volunteer work for a local performing conservatory every season, attending most all shows. This was a new experience for me. I applaud the courage of the person taking on the challenge and implore them to continue in the Alladin cast !
Now, please don't take this wrong, but I do feel the actress's chair could be re-dressed by property to appear as a more show related conveyence. " Disguise " may be to harsh a word. But presented as it was, it did momentarily break the "suspension of belief " right at the finale of the performance.

I enjoyed the performance immensly despite the glitches.
The genie's rejoinder " sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't " when a garment got stuck was pretty funny.

ldsguy
12-10-2002, 07:57 AM
But other things, like Aladdin getting the snake into the lamp, were, in my
There was a glitch there too, the Genie is supposed to be inside the snake, and then the genie goes down into the lamp, when it works it's actually a really cool effect. The third show did not have the desired effect

Also, for the record Mondays performances were not "previews" according to anyone at the Disneyland Resort, they were indeed the official first day show and well, to be honest, all shows have major glitches on opening day no matter how technically complicated or uncomplicated the show is, I have seen some of the shows go on without any problems on other days hat were previews and it is so much better, but the cast does a good job at covering them up as best they can, but when an effect doesn't work it can be difficult in some cases, as mentioned above in the spoiler.

The only thing we haven't had is the big media party, which I am grateful for, you think the show is crowded now, just wait!

As for the wheel chair, yes I agree, it could be covered up better, and porbably will eventually, I never said that that shouldn't be done, but that I do think it's cool that they would use someone that is disabled in the show, if you sit up front when she goes by in the parade, you can hear that she has a really good voice, which is probably why they used her, they picked the best for the job.

Baloo
12-10-2002, 06:42 PM
Just wanted to comment on a previous post.

I want to assure you that i was not jumping into conclusion when i say people are rude and talk during a show. I have been to many shows both in Broadway and other parts of the world and i understand very clearly that once in a while a soft spoken comment is understandable because the occasion calls out for it or something similiar to what you described.

The rude people i am talking about in two seperate occasions were actually rude people that had no regards to the people around them. In one occasion two ladies were discussing some incident about some neighbors and actaully got annoyed when someone asked them to keep it down. The second occasion was a man speaking to someone two seats down and telling this other person to watch in certian directions because this and that was about to happen. That is just as annoying and rude as sitting in a movie and have someone tell you what is happening before it happens

Rallymonkey23
12-10-2002, 08:16 PM
Originally posted by ldsguy
There was a glitch there too, the Genie is supposed to be inside the snake, and then the genie goes down into the lamp, when it works it's actually a really cool effect. The third show did not have the desired effect

I agree that this effect is o.k. when it works. I saw the show Friday night and everything seemed to work just fine. But as of late it seems they are having major problems. Yesterday was Aladding getting hurt. And tonight it was the Magic Carpet getting hurt. Durring the "Friend Like Me" part of the show, when the Genie makes the carpet "dissappear" throught the little porthole, the porthole did not work on time so the Magic Carpet was just going to run off stage. Just as she started to run off stage the porthole worked which made her lose her balance and fall into the hole and it looked like she landed on the edge with her ribs. The show fell apart after that and you could see The Cave Of Wonders in the background where the lights are supposed to be for the staircase part of the song. Then the main screen fell and the show was announced cancelled.

With that being said. I think the show is pretty good. Not too sure about Broadway though, I have not been to many Broadway shows. But the couple that I have been to have been slightly better than Aladdin. Who knows, if I were able to see the "full show",(if there is going to be one) maybe I will have a better opinion of the show. As of now, I think it's theme park material.

Kuzcotopia
12-10-2002, 08:55 PM
I haven't seen it, but I don't hold out much hope for it. Very tough to follow up Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King with something that sounds like a mixed bag.

These aren't the glowing reviews that Blast got, or Barrage. It doesn't sound like anyone's singing blew the back of the theater off, or that any new sequence was anywhere near as amazing as any random 5 minutes in The Lion King.

It sounds to me like we got a Cheapquel version of the Disney Stage Musical. Instead of Julie Taymor or Matthew Bourne we got Anne Hamburger....

(sorry, must stop giggling for a second. HAMBURGER!)

Ah yes, Anne Hamburger, the toast of the Great White Way. Who could forget her Tony-Winning direction of Stitch's Ohana Luau?

Guy in Aloha Shirt:

Hey kids, scream real loud and maybe Stitch will come out!

One......twoooooo ....... THREEEEEEEE!!!!!!

Oh, that wasn't very loud, let's try again!

One......twoooooo ....... THREEEEEEEE!!!!!!


(A guy in a really droopy Stitch costume enters)

Guy in Aloha Shirt:

Aloha, Stitch! Have you been surfing? (Stitch nods) You have?
Hey Kids, can you say "Aloha, Stitch!"?

One......twoooooo ....... THREEEEEEEE!!!!!!

ldsguy
12-10-2002, 09:26 PM
You know what, the show is done well, I was listening in on the surveys that were being taken on Monday, even after the cancelled show everyone I listened to gave it a 10 out of 10, they all noticed there were bugs that had to be worked out, but everyone agreed that was to be expected, and a couple of these people I had talked with before the show and they were season pass holders to thier theater that gets the touring shows, and have seen the full two hour version of beauty and the Beast and Lion King.

We have to remember when it comes to the bugs that some of these effects have never been done like this before,
i.e. the Flying Carpet is a new effect, in the past all flying of any form was done by humans controlling wires off stage, in this setup though, the carpet isw controlled by motors and a computer, of course I am sure there is appropriate safety meassures taken so that people can take over if need be, but that's where I'd expect some bugs to come into play, between that and the fact that the computer is at least partially responsible for the elevators and such, if they are all being run through the same computer, then they may be overloading the computer, which would explain a lot of things, I would also bet the onstage carpet is computer controlled, not by a remote somewhere, but ahs a preprogrammed movement that's always the same, unless it messes up of course

Well, I hope this helps those that haven't seen it understand why there are a few, incidentally very few people that don't like the show.

Kuzcotopia
12-10-2002, 09:41 PM
I think they may have set themselves up for some pretty tough comparisons when they said they'd bring Broadway-level entertainment to the Disneyland resort. The Music Center still struggles with that!

(Martin Short and Jason Alexander, love-em or hate-em, aren't Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane, they just don't have the Broadway chops. Would you rather see Simba and Timon or B.E.N. and Hugo? Case closed!)

Anyway... I would settle, heck I long for a good-ol show like Disneyland used to produce. The Legend of Pocahontas, Festival of Fools, Golden Horseshoe, Dick Tracy or Fantasmic!

My best hope is that this follows in those traditions.

SzczerbiakManiac
12-10-2002, 11:33 PM
Kuzcotopia wrote:
Martin Short and Jason Alexander, love-em or hate-em, aren't Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane, they just don't have the Broadway chops.Are you sure about that? While it's true I'd rather see Nathan & Matthew, it's not because I think they're more talented. Martin Short is a great (comic) singer and has headlined several Broadway musicals. (The Goodbye Girl and Little Me come to mind) Jason Alexander won a Tony award for Jerome Robbins Broadway so I don't think he counts as a Broadway newbie either.

Truth be told, I actually think Martin may actually do a better job with Leo Bloom because I think he's a better singer than Matthew. (Sorry Matthew. :( Even at 40 you're cute as a button, but I have to be honest and say Mr. Short is a better singer.)

Here's my suggestion to you Kuzcotopia. I know you can be pretty critical of things, so wait a few weeks and then go see Aladdin at DCA. Go into it knowing that as much as Ms. Hamburger would like us to believe this is a Broadway caliber show, it is not. At <45 minutes, it really can't be. However, that doesn't mean it can't be an enjoyable entertainment experience. Watch and judge it for what it is. You know I've seen my share of musicals and I enjoyed Aladdin. You may too if you see it with the right mindset.

Kuzcotopia
12-11-2002, 12:04 AM
Now that you mention it... Martin Short got a Tony as well, didn't he?

What was that for?


Yeah, I'll give both those shows a shot. For me, Nathan Lane was the only one who could fill Zero's shoes, though. Too bad I didn't see that one!




I hope that this is good, but I think comparing it to Broadway was a mistake. I imagine if people think that this is what a Broadway Musical is like, they'll stick to Vegas shows. Disney could learn a lot from Vegas. I enjoyed every one of the $260 I spent on "O".

Ghoulish Delight
12-11-2002, 07:24 AM
Originally posted by ldsguy
Also, for the record Mondays performances were not "previews" according to anyone at the Disneyland Resort, they were indeed the official first day show... That makes it even worse. Yes, all shows have a few gliches, especially at the beginning. But to open and have 2-3 MAJOR glitches EVERY SHOW? To cancel performances twice within a few days because performers are getting injured? If they aren't considering this preview and tuneup, I'm more worried than I was before.


Originally posted by Kuzcotopia
I haven't seen it, but I don't hold out much hope for it. Very tough to follow up Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King with something that sounds like a mixed bag.

These aren't the glowing reviews that Blast got, or Barrage. It doesn't sound like anyone's singing blew the back of the theater off, or that any new sequence was anywhere near as amazing as any random 5 minutes in The Lion King.For someone whose screen name is from a movie that bombed in the box office, got terrible word of mouth, and even with its new life on video is still much maligned by the public, you're awfully quick to judge. I've been critical on this thread, but I'm trying to give constructive criticism. Having seen it, I did enjoy it and do see that it can get better. But judging it without seeing?

Kuzcotopia
12-11-2002, 08:10 AM
Originally posted by Ghoulish Delight

For someone whose screen name is from a movie that bombed in the box office, got terrible word of mouth, and even with its new life on video is still much maligned by the public, you're awfully quick to judge

Awwww... That's low. Attacking my screen name! ;-)

You wouldn't bet that my name is meant to be ironic?

I'm not attacking the show, I 'm saying the past doesn't fill me with confidence in Anne Hamburger, and that they may have built expectations too high.

Jeez, I just told SzczerbiakManiac I'd give it a shot, didn't I?
(Just about every musical I've ever seen was because of him, I trust his opinion.)

ldsguy
12-11-2002, 08:50 AM
That makes it even worse. Yes, all shows have a few gliches, especially at the beginning. But to open and have 2-3 MAJOR glitches EVERY SHOW? To cancel performances twice within a few days because performers are getting injured? If they aren't considering this preview and tuneup, I'm more worried than I was before.

Well, one thing to remember though is that all shows, no matter how many previews they have have glitches on opening day, and they had many previews without any glitches, usually opening week is filled with them as well and it doesn't matter if it's a technically complicated show or not, even the simplest of shows have problems, but they are supposed to now have understudies fully dressed off stage waiting to come on if someone gets injured, or so we were told on Monday.

As for expectations being too high, my expectations were low, considering how much I loved Blast! But my hopes were high, this went beyond anything that I'd even hoped it would be. And that's good, since we haveit here for a minimum of three years now.

Rallymonkey23
12-11-2002, 07:51 PM
Update!! Hopefully this is a good sign.

I stopped by the parks tonight, went to the Hyperion and there were no shows scheduled today. I talked to a CM that I saw there Monday night. (figuring he may know what's up) And he said that The Magic Carpet lady was o.k. (A good thing) And that they didn't have any shows today because they were working on the technical problems of show. He didn't know when the show will be back up. Hopefully they get the problems fixed before opening the show back up. We shall see!