CMU School of Drama


Sunday, November 25, 2007

Stage Reviews: 2 musicals dish out silly fun

Post Gazette: "Theatrical accident and my not having reviewed on Broadway since the Tony Awards created an odd serendipity: On the same trip, back to back, I saw two of the silliest possible musicals, 'Xanadu' and 'Young Frankenstein,' and to my surprise I had more fun at the former."

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

If this guy had Don's class “Theatre Management”, He wouldn't be surprised why Broadway producers are producing old-script shows? Because they probably pay less money for copyright and even don't need to pay. Also, the producer might be thinking the old story could bring over-50-year-old audience into the theatre. Plus the fancy set and ad., the young people would be attracted as well. Only the box office can tell if the audience would buy the producers' strategies.

Harriet said...

Sometimes, a little silliness goes a long ways. Especially when the silliness isn't forced. I'm not surprised by the reaction to Young Frankenstein . Everything that is coming out of it seems to be that it is big and over the top, while part of the appeal of the movie is how low-budget it appears to be.
I am also of the firm belief that anything on roller skates is instantly better than other options. I would love the opportunity to see Xanadu becuase the eighties are making a strong combat and it would be worthwhile to see.

and not just for leg warmers and roller discos.

Derek said...

Yeah, and while many people liked the movie, it quickly gathered a cult like following, where the popularity of the story since has fallen off. I know a lot of people now who have heard of the movie, maybe seen it once, but really thought it was over-rated by their friends who loved it, maybe too much. The musical therefore has an odd draw because its main audience is the cult group that loves the movie, but those people aren't as numerous as the regular broadway visitor. It seems like the musical would have an initial surge due to interest in the adaptation, but after that, if it doesn't spark something new, it really will have little interest.