Very Disappointed

I'd heard good things about this, even that it was superior to BROADWAY: THE GOLDEN AGE, and fully expected to like it.

Somehow, I just didn't. It was interesting hearing the critics' takes on what would and wouldn't succeed, and some of the behind-the-scenes stuff was very interesting, but if this was "the road to Broadway," why was there virtually nothing in it about WICKED's troubled pre-Broadway tour in which the show underwent drastic revisions and even a cast replacement or two? It's not as if this was a secret. That's what pre-Broadway tours were for in the old days: shaping and re-shaping a show (and WICKED is one of the few recent shows that actually had a pre-Broadway tour - because of the costs, they're virtually a thing of the past - shows are more likely to be developed in workshops now, which parts of WICKED also were. And though WICKED was essentially snubbed by the critics and the Tonys, it's found a huge audience worldwide - for the week of June 9-15th the Broadway company played to 100% capacity - AVENUE Q played to 66% of capacity for the same week.

Something that amazes me is the repeat business some shows get - the RENT-heads who've seen RENT dozens of times (I haven't seen it once), or WICKED, or the ones who saw TABOO goodness-knows-how-many-times. Back in the late 1960s people thought I was weird because I saw MAME and HELLO DOLLY three times each on Broadway.

And oh - There was a horrid, whiney version of “Lullaby of Broadway” sung over the final credits, and to my horror I learned it was by Idina Menzel – they even showed her recording it. It was almost unrecognizable – what’s wrong with singing a song standard such as that and leaving the melody alone? If I wasn’t over Menzel already, that song would have gotten me over her fast. Ugh. She doesn't cut it for me without the green makeup.

"Stone-cold sober I find myself absolutely fascinating!"---Katharine Hepburn