SOB's Least Favorite Shows Of The Noughties: #5 - Gone With The Wind (2008, New London Theatre, London, United Kingdom)
Introduction: Hard as it is to comprehend that we're already 119 months into this "new" millennium, we are fast approaching the end of its first decade. While we have yet to agree on what exactly we should call the '00s, I'll take a cue from the fine folks at The Times of London and the BBC and henceforth refer to them at the Noughties. With that small introduction, I'm not only pleased to present my list of my top 25 favorite plays and musicals of the Noughties, but also a simultaneous countdown of my five least favorite shows out of the hundreds and hundreds of shows I've seen over the last ten years. A flop of truly epic proportions, the musical's creative team was still chiseling away at its lumbering length a month after it opened in hopes of averting complete disaster. Instead, its massive capitalization was
Gone With The Wind.
Although purely unintentional, this ranks as one of the decade's funniest laugh-out loud musicals. While writer/sociologist
Margaret Martin and director
Trevor Nunn failed to deliver a compelling musical that could stand on its own, they did mount a show that was so bad, it left us nearly laughing in the aisles. Their efforts added nothing to the art of live theatre except endless exposition and a legend that gives those of us who saw it the best bragging rights this side of
Carrie, which helps to keep it from being named #1 on this list.
Did we really need a narrator telling us that Miss Scarlett was about to look at herself in the mirror when we could see that for ourselves, or worse, having her step over dying soldiers rolling around on the stage who suddenly popped up to tell us they were all dying? Funny, yet sad at the same time.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
In keeping with the new that unfairly discriminate against bloggers, who are now required by law to disclose when they have received anything of value they might write about, please note that I have received nothing of value in exchange for this post. I paid my own way for each performance.Labels: Gone With The Wind, London, Margaret Martin, Musical, SOB's Least Favorite Shows Of The Noughties, Trevor Nunn
A Tale Of Two MonthsPerhaps it was a far, far better thing on paper than the turkey that opened just two months ago at Broadway's
Al Hirschfeld Theatre, but the two-month old tuner
A Tale Of Two Cities used Election Day in electing to post its closing notice for November 16. Perhaps they thought no one would notice!
The $16 million musical, adapted from
Charles Dickens' classic book, opened to
dismal reviews. The critical response, mixed with a tough economy, resulted in a tepid box office. This past week, the show attracted a capacity of only 44.5% -- hardly enough to sustain itself over the long haul.
Personally, I had absolutely no desire to see this show, particularly after taking the advice of countless friends, as well as witnessing the overwrought and overblown debacle on the West End known as
Gone With The Wind.
Once it closes,
A Tale Of Two Cities will have performed just 68 regular performances.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: A Tale Of Two Cities, Box Office, Broadway, Charles Dickens, Closing Notices, Gone With The Wind, Musical
Going, Going, Gone With The Wind
Going, Going, Gone With The WindHardly a surprise, but London's musical version of
Gone With The Wind will soon be gone with the wind.
By the time it closes, it will have played 79 performances -- longer than most critics, including
yours truly, would have thought possible.
Apparently, no whittling down could save this stinker. So much for tomorrow being another day.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Closing Notices, Gone With The Wind, London, Musical
The SOB Five "Worst" Of 2007-08As
noted yesterday, I've been extremely fortunate to take in 84 different performances of 81 various productions during the course of the 2007-08 Theatrical Season.
Since I'm
not given freebie tickets, instead paying for them all out of my own pocket, you can bet that I'm hoping beyond hope to be entertained by every single one of them. Even though there's really no such thing as a bad night at the theatre -- after all, you have to see some real dogs (my apologies to my pooches Henne and Fargo) to truly appreciate the best -- I've still managed to see some downright awful shows.
Since I paid for every last ticket and still take no paid advertising, I'm taking advantage of my right to free speech by offering up my third annual list of the "5 Worst" shows I saw. I may as well unleash all my inner negativism now before moving on to all the wonderful shows that have made my "Best of" lists.
And so, without any further ado, here are the
SOB Five Worst of 2007-08:
5 - Cry-Baby (Marquis Theatre, New York, NY)
Is it fair to count a performance of
Cry-Baby when it was just
three weeks into previews among my worst? Well, if they can charge me to see a bad show, I can include it on my list, and there was nothing about it that made me want to return once the show opened. I can only hope it actually improved, given its Tony nominations. Despite its multi-million dollar budget, this new musical quite incredibly comes across as a poor man's
Grease with its tired good girl gone gaga for bad boy premise. Sadly, the latest
John Waters-inspired Broadway musical
Cry-Baby is trashy fun. Without the fun.
4 - Gone With The Wind (New London Theatre, London, UK)
A flop of epic proportions, I understand that they're still chiseling away at this show a month after it opened in hopes of avoiding all their capitalization from becoming
Gone With The Wind. Although purely unintentional, this ranks as one of the year's funniest laugh-out loud musicals. Simply put, writer/sociologist
Margaret Martin and director
Trevor Nunn fail to deliver a compelling musical that can stand on its own. Their efforts have added nothing to the art of live theatre except endless exposition. Do we really need a narrator telling us that Miss Scarlett is about to look at herself in the mirror when we can see that for ourselves, or worse, having her step over dying soldiers rolling around on the stage who suddenly rise up to tell us they're all dying? Funny, yet sad at the same time.
3 - The Ritz (Studio 54, New York, NY)
The flaccid revival of
Terrence McNally's
The Ritz was low on shock value, except for how dull and lifeless it was. Ranking as one of director
Joe Mantello's most disappointing efforts yet, the only real highlight came near the end of the first act when its whacked-out Googie (
Rosie Perez) took to the stage of
The Ritz baths to sing an insipid, if it weren't so inspired, medley of tunes slapped together from the deviously clever mind of
Seth Rudetsky. For one brief enjoyable moment,
The Ritz thrilled before reverting back to the facile facscimile it was.
2 - Glory Days (Circle In The Square Theatre, New York, NY)
In retrospect,
I was far too kind to the subpar, threadbare 90-minute
Glory Days that dared to call itself a Broadway musical. The show vanished immediately after opening night. If not for the worst show of the year, the ill-fated
Glory Days ironically would have achieved that dubious distinction. Coming across as not even quite half-finished, this is not the type of show that should have so easily or quickly been catapulted directly to the Broadway spotlight from a regional theatre. The show could easily have been mounted by an Off Off-Broadway house and attracted an appropriate youthful audience it was clearly targeting without having the audacity to charge $100 or more per ticket. No glory there.
1 - Triple Espresso (Music Box Theatre, Minneapolis, MN)
Bad to the very last drop,
Triple Espresso was an inexplicably long-running musical revue about an eponymous comedy trio reuniting after 25 years. After running over a decade, it apparently had been percolating so long, it lost all its taste. The warmed-over schlock simultaneously tasted like it had been on the burner way too long without ever having been fully brewed to begin with.
So, there you have them: SOB's choices for the "5 Worst" shows I endured during the 2007-08 Theatrical Season. As I've stated in previous years:
Of course, this is all in the eye of the beholder. You may vehemently disagree or wonder whether I even have a clue as to what is artistic and what is not. But since my goal in life is to enjoy it rather than simply being a dilettante, I’m going to tell it like I see it by naming the five productions that I enjoyed less than any others.
If you saw any of these shows, let me know what you thought. And please feel free to share the worst shows you sat through (or walked out of) during that past year!
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Related Stories:SOB's Best & Worst Of 2007-08 Theatre Season (May 22, 2008)
SOB's Best Of 2006-07: Top Ten Of The Year (June 4, 2007)
SOB's Best of 2006-07: Best Special Theatrical Events (May 23, 2007)
SOB's Best Of 2006-07: Best New Musicals (May 22, 2007)
SOB's Best Of 2006-07: Best New Plays (May 21, 2007)
SOB's Best Of 2006-07: Best Revivals Of Musicals (May 18, 2007)
SOB's Best Of 2006-07: Best Revivals Of Plays (May 16, 2007)
The SOB Five "Worst" Of 2006-07 (May 14, 2007)
SOB's Best & Worst Of 2006-07 Theatre Season (May 14, 2007)
SOB's Best of 2005-06: #1 - Theater Of The New Ear (May 30, 2006)
SOB’s Best of 2005-06: #2 – Guys And Dolls (May 26, 2006)
SOB’s Best of 2005-06: #3 – Hedda Gabler (May 25, 2006)
SOB’s Best of 2005-06: #4 – A Blameless Life (May 24, 2006)
SOB’s Best of 2005-06: #5 – Reeling (May 23, 2006)
SOB’s Best of 2005-06: #6 – “MASTER HAROLD”…And The Boys (May 21, 2006)
SOB’s Best of 2005-06: #7 – Love Song (May 19, 2006)
SOB's Best of 2005-06: #8 - Billy Elliot The Musical (May 18, 2006)
SOB's Best of 2005-06: #9 - The Well-Appointed Room (May 17, 2006)
SOB's Best of 2005-06: #10 - Sweeney Todd (May 15, 2006)
SOB's Best and Worst of 2005-06 Theatre Season (May 12, 2006)
Flashback: Best of 2004-05 (May 26, 2006)
Flashback: Best of 2003-04 (May 25, 2006)
Flashback: Best of 2002-03 (May 25, 2006)
Flashback: Best of 2001-02 (May 24, 2006)
Flashback: Best of 2000-01 (May 23, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, Cry-Baby, Glory Days, Gone With The Wind, London, Minneapolis/St. Paul, SOB Best of 2007-08, SOB Five Worst of 2007-08, The Ritz, Triple Espresso
Determined Not To Be Gone With The WindDespite
devastating pans by the critics (my own
SOB Review was fairly mild in compari-son)
, Gone With The Wind is reportedly going all out to save the $9 million show with a salvage operation worthy of post-
Sherman Atlanta.
According to
Baz Bamigboye in today's
Daily Mail, rumors of a weekend closure notice are giving way to confirmations that they'll be...
...shaving another ten to 15 minutes from GWTW...
...and pumping...
...hundreds of thousands of pounds into marketing...
...all as part of an effort to avoid any official proclamation using that dreaded four letter "F" word:
F-L-O-P.
Me thinks it's too little, too late.
To open this show cold on the West End now has to be considered one of the most costly mistakes in recent theatre history on either side of the Atlantic.
Trying a completely untested composer and librettist in the far reaches of the United Kingdom or at least having a more protracted preview period would surely have precluded this mess, wouldn't it? What were they
-- and "they" includes Broadway's own Nederlander Organization, among other producers -- thinking?!
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:Gone With The Wind (The SOB Review) (May 1, 2008)
Is London's GWTW Already Went With The Wind? (April 14, 2008)
GWTW Composer: Knowin' Somethin' 'Bout Birthin' Babies (September 27, 2007)
Frankly My Dears... (July 1, 2007)
Gone With The Wind The Musical? (February 22, 2007)
Labels: Gone With The Wind, London, Marketing, Musical
Gone With The Wind (The SOB Review) - New London Theatre, London, United Kingdom
* (out of ****)(Steve On Broadway sits down at his desk and contemplates typing his SOB Review for Gone With The Wind, which opened last week in London. He then begins to type.)Last week, I treated two of my favorite friends, who happen to hail from Atlanta, to the just-opened musical version of
Gone With The Wind (costing me approximately $330), which I can only describe as one of the funniest laugh-out loud musicals to come along in ages.
Only thing is those laughs are purely unintentional.
Tomorrow may be another day, but taking in this interminable show will lead you right into it. One must endure more than three and a half long hours to get through the mess created by sociologist and first-time musical creator
Margaret Martin's treatment of
Margaret Mitchell's epic 1936 novel. Inexplicably, Martin managed to gain permission from Mitchell's estate to transform the source material into a meandering pastiche of so many varied musical styles that you'd be forgiven for thinking you're watching several different intertwining tuners at once.
(Steve On Broadway momentarily ponders some of the silliest songs he has heard and then resumes typing.)Martin's ill-conceived book and largely inane lyrics seldom rise beyond the wings of a cliché. Most of the worst songs are reserved for the leading characters of Miss Scarlett (
Jill Paice was out sick, so I saw the valiant
Savannah Stevenson in her place) and her dashing husband Rhett Butler (
Darius Danesh, once a runner-up on
Britain's version of "
American Idol"); Stevenson and Danesh do what they can with the lackluster material, but are eventually done in by it. Surely, these actors must recognize that they've attached themselves to a stinker.
Interestingly enough, the best songs of the bunch by far are the tunes sung by the slaves. Indeed, the most rousing, deeply moving song -- which in most musicals would have been reserved for the 11 o'clock number -- is sung near the beginning of Act II by the spirited
Jina Burrows as Prissy. Sadly, I can't tell you the name of the number because the $10 programme doesn't even bother to list the song titles (perhaps because the show was whittled down to less than four hours just days before it opened, they didn't have time to print new programmes).
This and the other soaring anthemic ballads sung by the tuner's fine black actors -- including a splendid
NaTasha Yvette Williams (most recently Sofia in Broadway's
The Color Purple)
as Mammy -- provide the few stirring moments of the evening. But because this is ostensibly a story about a fancifully conceited and self-absorbed white woman named Scarlett O'Hara, the black storylines never have a real chance of going anywhere.
Unfortunately, the rest comes across as a mishmash of high school musicals, bad dinner theatre and a seemingly conscious nod to "
Waiting For Guffman." There are all the elements of parody without any shred of satirical irony. With the exceptions noted above, this
Gone With The Wind rarely rises to the caliber of what one should reasonably be able to expect from the vaunted, hallowed heights of the prestigious West End. Audiences deserve better.
(Steve On Broadway muses to himself how a director like Trevor Nunn fails to form any semblence of a cohesive show.)You'd think theatre veteran Trevor Nunn would be able to wade through Martin's musical morass -- after all, he is listed as the show's "adapter," whatever that really means. Instead, he seems to amplify the material's incredulity to an absurd level, never allowing any of the themes or subplots to go anywhere but through the revolving door of a set.
(It was at this moment that Steve On Broadway remembers how John Napier's eternally-rotating set design serves as an accidental metaphor for trying to cram far too much into this already overblown production.)Yes, John Napier's ever-revolving set that rarely ever
really changes no matter how frequently it's given a whirl is perhaps the best gauge for telling when a month or a year -- or years, for that matter -- has passed since it effectively serves as a revolving door for far too many characters we never have a chance to know or care about.
(Steve On Broadway suddenly remembers thinking to himself, "If only someone could make those infernal narrations cease!")Then there's the narration.
The endless, ultimately irritating narration.
Fact is, if I really wanted to read the book, I would have done so on my plane ride to London (or listened to the book on my iPod). I don't need the constant exposition by characters telling me the obvious. Do I really need a narrator to tell me that Miss Scarlett is about to look at herself in the mirror when I can see that for myself, or worse, having the dying soldiers rolling around on the floor suddenly rising up to tell us they're all dying?
(So Steve On Broadway is thinking, "They're probably wondering if you enjoyed yourself. Go ahead and tell them the truth.")Did I have fun? Well, yes, but for all the wrong reasons. I found myself laughing when I should have been moved. I couldn't help but think, "So this is what audiences who saw
Carrie - The Musical must have thought when they saw that great flopperoo."
On a more serious note, simply put, Martin and Nunn fail to deliver a compelling musical that can stand on its own. Their efforts have added nothing to the art of live theatre except endless exposition.
So my advice is to save your pounds or dollars
and time and invest the $11 or so on Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer Prize-winning
book instead.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:Is London's GWTW Already Went With The Wind? (April 14, 2008)
GWTW Composer: Knowin' Somethin' 'Bout Birthin' Babies (September 27, 2007)
Frankly My Dears... (July 1, 2007)
Gone With The Wind The Musical? (February 22, 2007)
Labels: Gone With The Wind, Jill Paice, London, Margaret Martin, Margaret Mitchell, Musical, The SOB Review, Trevor Nunn
Catching Up On Reading...Since I'm just back from vacation and catching up on a mountain of work, as well as all the latest theatre news, I thought I'd use today to pause and let you know what I'm reading:
The eternally effervescent Sarah at
Adventures in the Endless Pursuit of Entertainment offers an illuminating piece on the organization responsible for the
Tony Awards:
The American Theatre Wing.
New England's finest bloggers Chris Caggiano (
Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals) and Esther (
Gratuitous Violins) tell us how
The Drowsy Chaperone is faring on its Boston tour stop. Chris comes at it from the perspective of a long-time fan, while Esther has seen it for the first time.
Broadway Undercover was fortunate to get into the actual catered affair for
A Catered Affair and snapped a few photos in the process. Meanwhile
Modern Fabulousity tells us to ignore Big Ben's take on the musical and just go see it. I will, ModFab, in about a week, and given all those Drama Desk nominations, I'm really looking forward to it.
And finally, a reminder from my new best friends Andrew and Phil of the
West End Whingers that there
really have been worse musicals than
Gone With The Wind (read:
Carrie). Last Thursday,
I spotted a story delineating the 10 worst musicals of all time as endured by London's
Telegraph.
Happy reading!
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: A Catered Affair, Blogs, Carrie, Gone With The Wind, The Drowsy Chaperone, Tony Awards
Curse Of The Understudy - Part IVSo yesterday, I took in the savagely reviewed musical version of
Gone With The Wind in London. Although the show opened here just two nights ago, its Scarlett O'Hara
Jill Paice is already gone with "a severe throat infection."
In her place was her
Vivien Leigh-looking understudy, the appropriately named
Savannah Stevenson (pictured). The actress received a standing ovation for getting through the tough slog of a show (clocking in around 3 hours and 40 minutes) with little preparation and blessedly no prompting. Good on ya, mate.
My SOB Review of the show itself, however, will be coming soon.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:Is London's GWTW Already Went With The Wind? (April 14, 2008)
GWTW Composer: Knowin' Somethin' 'Bout Birthin' Babies (September 27, 2007)
Curse Of The Understudy - Part III (July 23, 2007)
Frankly My Dears... (July 1, 2007)
Gone With The Wind The Musical? (February 22, 2007)
The Curse Of The Understudy - Part II (January 15, 2007)
The Curse Of The Understudy (October 2, 2006)
Labels: Curse of the Understudy, Gone With The Wind, Jill Paice, Savannah Stevenson, Understudy
London Calling, Celebrity SightingsYesterday, I left a
quick post regarding a literal run-in with musical theatre star
John Barrowman, who was nice as can possibly be.
Last evening, whilst going to see
God Of Carnage with
Ralph Fiennes and
Janet McTeer at London's lovely Gielgud Theatre, RF's brother
Joseph (pictured) was seated just a few row behind us in the front stalls, while
Elizabeth McGovern was also in the audience.
More to come on
God Of Carnage with a complete SOB Review in the days ahead. For now, let's just say, we're all fundamentally uncouth.
Tonight, it's
Maria Friedman and tomorrow,
Gone With The Wind.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB) in London.
Labels: Celebrity Sighting, Elizabeth McGovern, God Of Carnage, Gone With The Wind, Janet McTeer, John Barrowman, Joseph Fiennes, London, Play, Ralph Fiennes
Is London's GWTW Already Went With The Wind?It looks like there might be trouble in Tara.
This evening's preview performance of
Gone With The Wind has been canceled, after having already been in previews since April 4. The musical version of
Margaret Mitchell's epic Civil War novel is currently scheduled to open one week from tomorrow at the New London Theatre in the U.K. capital's West End.
According to
Playbill:
A production spokesperson told Playbill.com that the performance has been canceled to allow time for additional technical rehearsal. Director Trevor Nunn is also looking to reduce the running time of the musical, which is scheduled to officially open in the West End April 22.
This
Gone With The Wind features a book and score written by sociologist
Margaret Martin, who was
profiled fairly extensively by Donna Kornhaber and David Kornhaber in this past Sunday's
The New York Times. Martin describes how she passed Nunn's Volvo test, but only after first managing to win the rights for the project from author Margaret Mitchell's estate.
Rumblings about the show's exhaustive four-hour running time have already been circling the Web, necessitating a
two-
part review by the
West End Whingers.
I'm supposed to be in the audience one week from Wednesday -- the day after it opens across the pond. But one of my in-the-know theatre friends said, only half-joking, "I hope it doesn't close first."
All of which has me wondering whether this production is already "Went With The Wind." If all else fails, maybe former
Curtains star
Jill Paice, who is creating the role of Scarlett O'Hara in the London tuner, could don some drapes a la
Carol Burnett in that
fabulously funny spoof from her seventies variety show.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:GWTW Composer: Knowin' Somethin' 'Bout Birthin' Babies (September 27, 2007)
Frankly My Dears... (July 1, 2007)
Gone With The Wind The Musical? (February 22, 2007)
Labels: Film, Gone With The Wind, London, Margaret Martin, Margaret Mitchell, Musical, Trevor Nunn
GWTW Composer: Knowin' Somethin' 'Bout Birthin' BabiesAs
reported in June, the upcoming musical version of
Margaret Mitchell's epic
Gone With The Wind -- which will make its debut next April at London's New London Theatre -- will feature a book and score written by sociologist
Margaret Martin.
Now that the tuner's official Web site is
live, we finally learn more about who Martin is:
MARGARET MARTIN (Book, Music, Lyrics) earned a Doctorate in Public Health from U.C.L.A. in Community Health Science and a Masters degree in both Behavioral Science/Health Education and in Population and Family Health, also from U.C.L.A.’s School of Public Health. Dr. Martin is a specialist in maternal, child and family health and has delivered continuing education trainings for nurses throughout California. She has worked as a consultant for Parenting Magazine, and has conducted Leadership Trainings in community building for the American Public Health Association. She worked as an editor for Fisher Books, and is the author and illustrator of Pregnancy and Childbirth: The basic illustrated guide. Dr. Martin has delivered pregnancy and childbirth classes to expectant parents for more than thirty years and now trains community health-workers in how to deliver such classes.
Dr. Martin studied music theory at the Colburn School of Performing Arts in Los Angeles. She is the Founder and President of The Harmony Project, a non-profit organization based in Los Angeles that provides musical instruments and ongoing tuition-free music education to nearly 300 children from low-income L.A.-area families (see www.harmony-project.org). Dr. Martin plans to establish Harmony Project programs in inner-cities throughout the country.
Dr. Martin supported herself from the age of fifteen. As a single mother, she identified closely with the challenges faced by Gone With the Wind’s young protagonist, Scarlett O’Hara. She also felt the filmed adaptation left considerably more within Margaret Mitchell’s epic tale to be explored. Dr. Martin developed Gone With the Wind for the musical theater on her own. She brought the project to Trevor Nunn after she had acquired the rights to the property from the Mitchell Trusts. Author of book, music and lyrics, Gone With the Wind is Dr. Martin’s first play. She is the mother of three children and lives in Los Angeles with her youngest son. She is currently at work on two new plays.
If all else fails, perhaps theatrical novice Martin will be able to better inform the musical version's Prissy on the fine art of birthing babies.
With thanks to regular reader BroadwayBaby.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Tickets go on sale September 30.Related Stories:Frankly My Dears... (July 1, 2007)
Gone With The Wind The Musical? (February 22, 2007)
Labels: Film, Gone With The Wind, London, Margaret Martin, Margaret Mitchell, Musical, Trevor Nunn
Frankly My Dears...
The West End will receive the world premiere in April 2008 at the New London Theatre. Still no word on casting, but rumors persist that
Hugh Jackman will take on Rhett Butler, while
Jill Paice will portray Scarlett O'Hara -- given that the latter is currently starring in
Curtains, maybe she'll be able to steel away a swatch of material now to design that notorious dress.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Film, First Word On New Show, Gone With The Wind, London, Musical, Trevor Nunn
Gone With The Wind The Musical?According to
Fox News,
Gone With The Wind is now destined to become a Broadway musical by way of London. According to the story,
Hugh Jackman is being eyed for Rhett Butler. The story will more closely follow the novel by Margaret Mitchell meaning it will be darker than the
1939 flick.
Before I say "Frankly my dears I don't give a damn," I'll have to learn more before casting aspersions on the move. More to come later!
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Broadway, Film, Gone With The Wind, Hugh Jackman, Musical
