SOB's Least Favorite Shows Of The Noughties: #1 - Triple Espresso (2008, Music Box Theatre, Minneapolis, MN)
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. "Want to see a good show? Then you'll want to avoid
Triple Espresso the way I do
Starbucks,"
I warned nearly two years ago after seeing this buzz-kill.
More a musical revue than a musical,
Triple Espresso had inexplicably been a staple of the Minneapolis theatre scene since opening in the spring of 1997. When I learned the show had set a closing date, I figured I'd try to see what kept the show percolating for so long. While
Triple Espresso dubbed itself "A highly caffeinated comedy," I could have used a little of that high octane stuff to get me through the warmed-over schlock. Simultaneously, it tasted as if it had been on the burner way too long without ever having been fully brewed to begin with.
Triple Espresso revolved around an eponymous comedy trio reuniting after 25 years apart. The closest to "real" fame the three -- Hugh Butternut (Michael Pearce Donley), Bobby Bean (Brian Kelly) and Buzz Maxwell (George Tovar), get it?! -- ever came was in a botched appearance on the 70s "
Mike Douglas" talk show.
Lame attempts to involve the bored audience were exacerbated by largely unfunny schtick borrowed unceasingly from all things the 70s. The only thing I kept wondering was how this show could have been so underdeveloped and yet lasted so long.
Unfortunately,
Triple Espresso was bad to the last drop. No wonder it "earns" the dubious distinction as my least favorite show of the entire decade.
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 this performance.Labels: Minneapolis/St. Paul, Musical, Revue, SOB's Least Favorite Shows Of The Noughties, Triple Espresso
SOB's Least Favorite Shows Of The Noughties: #2 - Glory Days (2008, Circle In The Square Theatre, New York City, NY)
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. 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 (I managed to catch one of its last previews). If not for the worst show of the decade (which I'll reveal soon), the ill-fated
Glory Days ironically would have achieved that most inglorious distinction.
Coming across as not even quite half-finished, this was 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.
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 this performance.Labels: Broadway, Glory Days, Musical, SOB's Least Favorite Shows Of The Noughties
SOB's Least Favorite Shows Of The Noughties: #3 - Harvey (2003, Moulton Theatre, The Laguna Playhouse, Laguna Beach, CA)
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. As
Steven Spielberg seems to have recently discovered, sometimes it's wise to avoid taking a crack at an old chestnut.
Tony Award namesake
Antoinette Perry may have fashioned a huge fat Broadway hit out of
Mary Chase's
Harvey back in the 40s, but director
Charles Nelson Reilly failed to pull a rabbit out his hat, even with
Charles Durning as Elwood P. Dowd and a cast that featured
Joyce Van Patten and
Dick Van Patten.
This stilted production was so frustratingly awful that it was hardly surprising that this revival never reached its intended destination on Broadway. This was more than enough to make me wonder who had really been delusional.
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 this performance.Labels: Antoinette Perry, California, Charles Durning, Charles Nelson Reilly, Dick Van Patten, Harvey, Joyce Van Patten, Mary Chase, Play, Revival, SOB's Least Favorite Shows Of The Noughties
SOB's Least Favorite Shows Of The Noughties: #4 - The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas (2002, Orpheum Theatre, Minneapolis, Minnesota)
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. There's nothing like a good star vehicle to tell a cheap and tawdry story. Unfortunately,
The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas revival that toured the United States in the aftermath of 9/11 simply felt cheap.
As someone who has admired
Ann-Margret through her lengthy career, I was eager to see her perform live. But as Madame Mona Stangley, the Swedish kitten seemed incapable of anything but preening and posing directly to the audience, as if there were no other players in the show. Not even
Gary Sandy's best efforts could save this disappointing show.
In a word: “Atrocious.”
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: Ann-Margret, Gary Sandy, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Musical, Revival, SOB's Least Favorite Shows Of The Noughties, The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas, Touring Production
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
