Finding Neverland

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CJ-Rochester
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Re: Finding Neverland

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This article on Playbill.com also announces the closing date, August 21, but also says there are plans for a future Broadway return and film adaptation.

http://www.playbill.com/article/broadwa ... on-planned
kport
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Re: Finding Neverland

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LiamM
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Re: Finding Neverland

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Re: Finding Neverland

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Finally seeing this tonight. Is Alex D. still in the cast?

"Good writers define reality; bad ones merely restate it." -Edward Albee
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CJ-Rochester
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Re: Finding Neverland

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angelenroute wrote:Finally seeing this tonight. Is Alex D. still in the cast?
Glad you will get finally get to see it. :D
Yes Alex is still in the cast. Keep in mind, six boys rotate among the four roles, so you never know who you will get. Sound familiar?

http://findingneverlandthemusical.com/cast/
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Re: Finding Neverland

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Thank you!

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LiamM
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Re: Finding Neverland

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angelenroute wrote:Finally seeing this tonight. Is Alex D. still in the cast?
Not only is he in the cast, but he now plays Peter, in rotation.

The Playbill now lists which boy plays which role on which day, though it is subject to change.

While BETM what great from the front row, Finding Neverland is better from further back due to the many ensemble dance numbers.
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Re: Finding Neverland

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LiamM wrote:While BETM was great from the front row, Finding Neverland is better from further back due to the many ensemble dance numbers.
My 16th row center orchestra seat and I very much appreciate this news! Thank you! :D

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Re: Finding Neverland

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I got to the theatre about half an hour early, just in time to see a few actors and two large, fluffy dogs enter the stage door. I had a feeling I was in for something special. Inside, I found my seat and soon listened to a chorus of beautiful voices in the row behind me: somewhere between seven and ten Italian students all chatting away about God knows what, but in one of my favorite languages to listen to. Even though I loved it though, I worried they'd be loud during the performance as well. (As it turned out, the complete opposite was true. Even though the boy behind me whispered occasionally to the girl next to him--probably helping her with translations--he did it so softly, I couldn't make out any words at all, in any language.) More on them later!

The silence that arrived throughout the whole place when the show began was stunning, actually. 1,500 or so people were chatting loudly, and then all at once there was complete silence as all 1,500 in attendance allowed just one person on stage to speak instead. The power of live theatre!

I love recognizing actors I know from other shows. I'd misread my Playbill at first, thinking Alex Dreier (Small Boy in Billy Elliot The Musical) was not on as Peter that night. To my happy surprise though, I had mixed up the days, and there he was standing apart from the rest! This was a kid who had very few lines in Billy Elliot, barely on the stage really, and now he was singing solo and acting his heart out as one of the leads! This fan was very proud and extremely happy for him! He was so, so, so good, too! I last saw Laura Michelle Kelly holding an umbrella and flying up into the ceiling at the New Amsterdam Theatre. And though her character is quite a bit different from Mary Poppins, her singing is still as lovely and beautiful as ever. And her mother was played by Carolee Carmello, who just finished playing the mother in Tuck Everlasting, too. In fact, I only just saw her in that production two months ago.

So what did I think of Finding Neverland? It was wonderful! Beautiful show with lots of charm, wit, and good old-fashioned fun, not to mention an endless dose of heart at its center. Though the show crescendos at the end of the first act and never reaches that high again, it's still a very strong piece of musical theatre, and the songs are all great. I'd probably give it a B+, which I promise you is not a criticism in any way of the show really other than the editing. When a show brings you up as high as that first-act conclusion does, you simply must have some sort of a parallel--or at the very least a payoff for the adventure you seem to be introducing. And while there is one piece of pure theatre magic near the end of the second act, it just doesn't have the same BOOM! as the first act's finale does. That's the only reason I'd give it the lower grade, and you may of course disagree with me on that.

At the conclusion of Act I, the huge number I just alluded to, there was an immediate, visceral reaction from the audience. It got LOUD in there, and FAST! Every single person there was either thinking, feeling, or outright shouting "Oh my God!" as the lights came up. The buzz was huge, more than I've experienced in years, and deservedly so. And though some people left for the bathroom or the bar, more people than ever were staying in their seats for the entirety of the intermission, all waiting with building expectation to see what Act II would bring.

Remember the Italians sitting behind me? I couldn't understand a word they were saying before the show started, but now all I kept hearing was, "Bellissimo! Mamma mia! Neverland! Stupendo!" I know all those words!!! :D

All in all, it was a great show, and I'm so happy I saw it. The set design and lighting were fantastic, and the music was gorgeous.

The real star of this show, though? Tony Yazbeck. He has such a beautiful voice, I could have listened to him sing all night long and into the next day. I don't know what Kelsey Grammer or Matthew Morrison were like, but trust me, their replacements, especially Yazbeck, were absolutely perfect!

-Sean

________________________

The show closes August 21st, but there are lots of deals on Audience rewards, Broadway Box, and elsewhere to be had! My ticket (great seat mid-orchestra, center) was only $24 plus 500 Audience Rewards points.

"Good writers define reality; bad ones merely restate it." -Edward Albee
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Re: Finding Neverland

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I agree wholeheartedly: Tony Yazbeck is fantastic.

No mention of Alfie Boe? Was he not there?
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