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Five Reasons that “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever” is Closing so Soon

19 Jan

By now, you’ve heard that new Broadway revival of On a Clear Day You Can See Forever will be closing up shop on January 29th, 2012. Maybe you are wondering: Why is this show closing?

Here’s the top 5 reasons I think On a Clear Day You Can See Forever is closing:

5. Shortage of Tony Nominations Come May - I have a feeling that the Tony committee might be overlooking this revival come May. With other huge revivals like Evita and Jesus Christ Superstar I don’t think that On a Clear Day… stands a chance. You also have to throw in the newly refreshed and revamped Godspell and Porgy & Bess into the mix and both of those shows are still running. There might be a few nominations in the technical categories but not for Harry Connick, Jr. or anyone else, though we have heard so many positive things about Jessie Mueller’s Broadway debut. Actually, come to think of it, that’s the only positive thing that I’ve heard about this production. (Watch a video of Mueller performing below.) If the producers don’t think they are going to get any Tony buzz, then it’s a lot easier to close a show “early”.

4. Not Enough Starpower to fill the St. James Theatre  - We can all agree that Harry Connick Jr. has been very successful on Broadway. Generally, the critics have loved him and his fans have flocked to the theatre to see him perform. The question is, can he fill a 1300-seat theatre eight times a week? That’s a total of 10,400 people a week, 41,600 (roughly) a month. That’s a crazy amount of people! I think he has enough draw and appeal to fill seats, just not enough seats in this case. (Check Playbill Vault for all of the stats.)

Photos by Krissie Fullerton - Playbill.com

3. The St. James Theatre is the Wrong Theatre - The St. James Theatre was selling out when The Producers opened April 2001. Since then, it hasn’t really had a hit. Recently, Hair (the touring cast), American Idiot and Finian’s Rainbow have all struggled trying to fill seats. All three of those shows probably could have run for a longer time in a smaller theatre. (I’ve been saying all along that American Idiot should have never been produced at the St. James Theatre.) Though producers thought On a Clear Day, with a huge star, could sell seats, I think they continue to under think the power of “selling out” in a smaller theatre. (See The Book of Mormon as an example of pure genius when it comes to marketing and selling a show.) Overall, it has done fairly well, but an average of 75% attendance over the last two months just isn’t enough to keep the show afloat during the Broadway winter slump.

2. The Critics Hated It - There are some shows out there that the critics, regardless of what they say, can’t kill like The Addams Family. Other shows, the critics have an easier time swaying the public. I think On A Clear Day falls in the latter category. People knew that On a Clear Day… didn’t do very well the first time on Broadway (even though it ran for a year), so they were waiting to hear what the critics had to say. Ben Brantley of The New York Times said, “This wholesale reconception of a fluffy, muddled 1965 musical about reincarnation appears to have given everyone who appears in it — including its charismatic star, Harry Connick Jr. — a moaning case of the deep-dyed blues.” Ouch. Stage Grade gave the entire production a C- overall. The Broadway Critic Blog posted some of their thoughts back in previews, and anticipated the nasty reviews and early closing. With iffy reviews and okay word-of-mouth, the ticket sales just weren’t at the producer’s expectations.

1. Make Way for Leap of Faith -  When a show is not living up to expectations and there’s another show in the pipeline, then producers jump on the chance to push another show into the theatre. This happened with On a Clear Day You Can See Forever. Leap of Faith was eyeing Broadway for a fall 2012 opening, but when they heard that On a Clear Day… wasn’t doing as well as predicted, then they jumped on the chance to put Leap of Faith into the centrally-located St. James Theatre. They even announced it’s opening before On a Clear Day… posted its closing notice. (Tacky, if you ask me.) But let’s see if Leap of Faith can do what On a Clear Day… couldn’t.

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Why do you think On a Clear Day You Can See Forever closed so soon?

 
7 Comments

Posted by on 01/19/2012 in Broadway, News

 

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Thoughts about “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever” Preview – 11/19/11

21 Nov

Written by: Dan Mason

It’s not unheard of for Broadway producers to gamble on reviving a dated piece of material and using it as a star vehicle for Broadway royalty. Just last season Kristin Chenowith packed houses at the Broadway Theater for the critically panned, but commercially successful Promises, Promises. Given the fact that the show recouped a sizeable investment, it seemed like an intelligent risk to team Harry Connick Jr (The Pajama Game) with Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening, American Idiot) and let them take a crack at the 1965 flop, On a Clear Day, a show largely praised for its score, and crucified for a book about reincarnation, ESP, and other psycho-babble nonsense.

Mayer has completely re-conceived the show, taking the original story about an eccentric young woman, who was an English aristocrat in a past life, and turning it into a story of a young, gay, florist, who was formerly a female jazz singer. David Turner (Arcadia) plays David Gamble,  the love interest for Connick’s recently widowed psychoanalyst, Dr. Mark Bruckner. Except he’s not really the love interest, because middle-aged females aren’t paying to see their beloved Harry Connick romancing a man on stage. So the real love interest is the jazz singer, alter-ego, Melinda Wells (Jessie Mueller in her Broadway debut).

Confused yet? Because that love triangle is only part of what’s going on in this cluttered mess. Drew Gehling (Jersey Boys) is David’s badly treated boyfriend, Warren. Kerry O’ Malley (Into The Woods, White Christmas) is completely wooden and uninteresting as a medical colleague who is secretly in love with Dr Bruckner.

There are many different things happening in Clear Day, and the problem is that it’s hard for the audience to feel emotionally invested in any of it. The notion that Dr. Bruckner could be in love with a jazz singer who died 30 years before is completely implausible and hard to buy into. Yet, you don’t believe for a second that the doctor has a true romantic interest in David Gamble. In fact, Bruckner comes across as largely uncaring about his patient, using him only to gain more knowledge about a dead jazz singer. The only character that elicits any sympathy through the first two and a half hours is David Gamble’s long-suffering boyfriend Warren, but he gets treated so badly that you just wish he would run off and find someone new who actually appreciates him.

All that being said, there is one genuinely beautiful scene in the last 15 minutes, where the show exquisitely explores the one relationship that is compelling. That is when Dr. Bruckner confronts the idea of death and tries to find closure over the death of his wife. It’s a powerful scene, and one of the few moments in the show where Connick appears emotionally connected to anything happening onstage. Unfortunately, the payoff still doesn’t justify the stupidity of the previous two and a half hours, where we are treated to ridiculous dialogue about reincarnation, ESP, and even a song asking whether it’s possible for one to learn of “pre-incarnation” and know what their next life will be.

The pacing of the show is something that needs to be addressed as previews continue. The first act checks in at 80 minutes, but feels like two hours. The second act does move along better, although the songs that feature Dr. Bruckner’s students could be cut completely, as they serve no purpose to the show at all. The set design is an eyesore, using a black and white, checkered, opt art look that gives way to bright, vivid colors, that may be appropriate for the 1970′s era, but stand in stark contrast to a show that is not “bright” at all.

The audience reaction from the Connick fan base that I spoke with at intermission seemed to be mixed, with some women just excited to see him onstage, and others who found the story to be ridiculous. One couple sitting next to us left at intermission and never returned. It will be interesting to see whether Connick’s name alone can get this show through it’s run. It will likely have to because I think the script problems are too great to be fixed in previews.

 
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Posted by on 11/21/2011 in Theatre Review, Broadway

 

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Top 5 New Broadway Musicals I’m Excited About

05 Aug

Written by: Tyler Martins

The curtain of the first preview of the fourth show of the new Broadway season is set to rise this Sunday. The new season is full of exciting musicals and plays. Last season, there were only two musical revivals on Broadway. This season, there are at least half a dozen, ranging from ANNIE to EVITA, in addition to a few original musicals, such as LYRISTRATA JONES, who is making the move from a 99-seat gymnasium to the Walter Kerr Theater this fall.

Here are the 5 musicals that my my Broadway Musical Shortlist of Must-Sees.

5. Bonnie & Clyde

Frank Wildhorn is at it again. Last season, his WONDERLAND opened on Broadway to terrible reviews, was shut out at the Tony Awards and closed within weeks of opening. This isn’t the first time Wildhorn has faced failure, either. Many of Wildhorn’s shows, such as JEKYLL & HYDE, CIVIL WAR and DRACULA (but to name a few) have failed to recoup or give Wildhorn a good name. One does have to admire him, though – he never gives up. (Wildhorn has had other successes, of course, including an international hit written for Whitney Houston.)

This time, Frank Wildhorn has musicalized the popular story of bandits Bonnie and Clyde. The musical takes place in Depression era Texas and starts off with a 23 year old Bonnie singing of unfulfilled dreams and a world away from diners and waiting tables. Enter Clyde, who has broken out of jail and the two fall in love. The musical chronicles their romance, their life of crime, and their untimely death at the hands of the sheriff.

The musical has had two out-of-town productions in La Jolla, California and Sarasota, Florida, receiving raves for both the leading actors (Laura Osnes as Bonnie in both tryouts, Stark Stands and Jeremy Jordan as Clyde, respectively) and the score, winning regional awards for Outstanding New Musical, Outstanding Lead Actor and Actress and Outstanding Direction.

BONNIE AND CLYDE will star Laura Osnes (ANYTHING GOES, GREASE) and Jeremy Jordan (ROCK OF AGES, WEST SIDE STORY) and play the Schoenfeld Theater, beginning November. Although I am not a fan of these sort of Western dramas, I’ve always been fascinated by the story of Bonnie and Clyde. Based on the 5 tracks available on the official website, I venture to say that Wildhorn has perhaps his greatest score yet. With lyrics by Don Black, a book by Hunter Foster, and direction by Jeff Calhoun, will Wildhorn finally have his hit musical and big Broadway breakout?

4. On a Clear Day You Can See Forever

Harry Connick, Jr. is coming back to Broadway, this time, starring as Dr. Mark Bruckner in the re-imagined and revised Lerner and Lane musical ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER set to begin performances November 12th at the St. James Theater. The new re-imagined book has altered Daisy to Davey, a quirky, gay floral assistant. Bruckner puts Davey under hypnosis, and discovers the patient’s past life as Melinda, a jazz singer, and falls in love with her.

The original production starred John Collum as Dr. Mark Bruckner and Barbara Harris as Daisy/Melinda, but was not received very well, thanks to the clunky and confusing book (reportedly written while on LSD.) The score, however, was lauded as “melodic and rich” with soaring numbers like “Hurry! It’s Lovely Up Here!,” “She Wasn’t You” and “Come Back To Me.”

David Turner and Jessie Mueller join Harry Connick, Jr. as Davey and Melinda, respectively. It will be interesting to see if and how the new book addresses the issues of the original production. I am also curious to see Harry Connick, Jr. tackle the role of Dr. Bruckner as well as see him live. More important, I am excited to hear the luscious score backed by a decent sized orchestra.

We’ll see how well David Turner can fill Barbara Harris’ shoes.

3. Porgy & Bess

Audra McDonald is a goddess. I would see her sing the phonebook, every night, if that were an option. I was extremely excited when news broke that Audra was leaving as series regular on the hit TV medical drama Private Practice. In my mind, that meant she would be back on stage in no time. Lo, and behold, Broadway will welcome Audra McDonald back where she belongs.

Broadway has not seen a production of the Gerswhin’s PORGY AND BESS since its last revival at the Uris Theater (and subsequent transfer to the Mark Hellinger Theater) in 1976. PORGY AND BESS tells the story of crippled Porgy, and his love for Bess, set on fictional Catfish Row, South Carolina. The piece (performed usually in an Opera House as a sung-through opera) is being re-imagined by Diane Paulus, Artistic Director of the American Repertory Theater, in Cambridge. Pultizer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks (TOPDOG/UNDERDOG, BOOK OF GRACE) is “working to retain all the best-loved elements of the original while crafting a piece that speaks to contemporary audiences.”

As if this wasn’t exciting enough, Audra McDonald will play the famed Bess, opposite Norm Lewis as Porgy. To hear Audra and Norm croon such standards such as “My Man Is Gone Now” and “Bess, You Is My Woman Now” will be quite the experience, according to backers who partook in an industry reading in New York City. PORGY AND BESS will have an out-of-town tryout at the ART, and will play the Richard Rodgers Theater, with performances beginning December. David Alan Grier will join Norm Lewis and Audra McDonald as Sportin’ Row.

Will this be the role that gives Audra McDonald her fifth Tony Award?

2. An Evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin

Upon news that Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin were bringing their concert act AN EVENING WITH PATTI LUPONE AND MANDY PATINKIN to Broadway, I was both exhilarated and crushed. My love for Patti LuPone knows no bound. You would think I would be thrilled to have Patti LuPone back on Broadway. Normally, I would be bouncing off the walls. One problem: I am not Mandy Patinkin’s biggest fan. (Gasp, a Sondheimanic who doesn’t like Mandy – shocking.) I have never seen Mandy Patinkin live (to be fair, I have actively stayed as far away as possible from him) but now that Patti LuPone will be joining him on stage every night, starting November 16th at the Ethel Barrymore Theater, for a limited engagement of 63 performances, I cannot avoid him any longer.

The concert act is directed by Mandy Patinkin himself, with musical staging by Ann Reinking, with the fantastic Paul Ford on piano. LuPone and Patinkin explore the changes of a romantic relationship, through musical theater songs selected carefully. Many of the songs come from the Rodgers & Hammerstein and Sondheim songbooks, such as Mandy singing of lost love in “This Nearly was Mine” and Patti singing of life’s domesticities in “In Buddy’s Eyes.”

I have a serious case of Theatrical Cognitive Dissonance. Will I be at the Barrymore almost every night? Yes. Will I love it? Yes. Will I this concert change my mind about Mandy Patinkin? That remains to be seen.

And the musical I am MOST excited to see it…

1.    Follies

Surprised? I didn’t think so. I have been losing my mind (pardon the pun) for this production of FOLLIES before it was even destined for Broadway, when it played at the Eisenhower Theater at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. With a cast composed of Jan Maxwell, Bernadette Peters, Danny Burstein, Ron Raines, Terri White, Elaine Paige and more, how can one not be excited?

The story of FOLLIES focuses on two unhappy, married couples amidst a reunion of showgirls:  Ben and Phyllis Stone; and Buddy and Sally Plummer. While the middle-aged couples confront some unpleasant truths about their past and present and come face to face with the future, showgirls from the Weisman Follies perform their signature act, sometimes accompanied by the ghost of their former selves.

It will be curious to see the changes made from the Kennedy Center production, including the pacing of Act 1. Rumor has it that improvements have been made, such as the restoration of more parts of the original book (score!) as well as the re-choreographing of Phyllis’ Folly number, “The Story of Lucy and Jessie.”

The first preview is this Sunday, August 7th, at the Marquis Theater. Regardless of whether or not the show has been improved, one thing is for sure: hearing the rich, breath-taking and beautiful Sondheim score played by a 28 piece orchestra with the original Tunick orchestrations will be worth the price of admission alone.

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Which musicals are YOU most excited for?

 
2 Comments

Posted by on 08/05/2011 in Broadway, News

 

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Broadway News/Blog Round Up #21

04 Aug

Each week, The Broadway Critic will be featuring the news that you don’t want to miss! A lot has happened since last week, so make sure you keep up to date!

  • Besides the American Idiot drama, there has been some cast announcements.  Most exciting is that Laura Benanti joins the cast of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. Check out the Lincoln Center website here. Can’t believe it starts previews in two months! I’ll be there! (See above, the Broadway cast poster.) Here’s the wiki page.
  • BroadwayWorld TV’s Los Angeles correspondent Michael Sterling, got up close and personal today with the cast of RENT at rehearsals for the Hollywood Bowl presentation of the groundbreaking musical August 6 through 8, 2010. Watch the video here. I would love to drive down and see this if I wasn’t performing in RENT this weekend at City Lights Theatre Company.
  • Frank Wildhorn’s new musical, Wonderland is headed to Broadway in the Spring. Directed by Gregory Boyd — the artistic director of the Alley Theatre in Houston, TX — the new musical will officially open on Broadway April 17, 2011. You can hear a bunch of the songs here.

Broadway Blog Round Up:

  • Steve on Broadway – A great review of Harry Connick Jr.’s concert on Broadway. If you missed, don’t fear, “While this concert gig closed on Saturday, my performance was filmed, presumably for television. So you’ll likely have a chance to see exactly what I saw sometime in the near future.”
  • Stage Notes – Check out this picturesque post about Idina Menzel in concert at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts. They said it was the “perfect evening under the stars.” Wish I was there!
  • Musicals in LA – Have you heard about Robin and the 7 Hoods? If not, check out this review. We are hearing reports that it might be headed to Broadway.
  • JK Theatre Scene – A very interesting point of view on how theatre has changed with the invention of the internet… very interesting post. Read it and comment!
  • Gratuitous Violins - Have you been to Joe’s Pub? Esther hadn’t and she loved it. I love Joe’s Pub! It’s such a fantastic intimate venue. She mentions that you should check out the Broadway Impact concert in August at Joe’s Pub. I tend to definitely agree with her! (Plus, her blog’s new look is quite awesome! Congrats on the update!)
  • Everything I Know I Learned From Musicals – Caggiano is back, snarky as ever – this time about Catherine Zeta Jones and her Tony Award. But the best part of this post, is that he loved the new cast in A Little Night Music which just makes me ecstatic that I’m going to be able to see this in October with such an epic cast!
  • Chicago Theatre Blog – A very interesting 2-star review of the pop musical, Bare.

What was your favorite Broadway news story this week? Any great Broadway blogs that I’ve missed? Let me know in the comments!

 
7 Comments

Posted by on 08/04/2010 in Broadway, News

 

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