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Threaded Order Chronological Order
| These Paper Bulletts! Ugh :( | |
| Posted by: | RufusRed 07:53 pm EST 12/20/15 |
| The positive things I can say about this show are Keira Naughton brought a naturalistic AB FAB quality to her role as the drunken friend and the production in terms of the projections and the costumes were pretty good. Other than that, this show is one HOT MESS! I went mainly from the word of mouth of a friend, the posts on here, the NYTimes review and Billie Joe Armstrong's music. First of all, is it a musical or a play? Who knows? There were what, 7 or 8 songs? And they sounded like Green Day rejects, all forgettable and not one strong voice and/or musical talent amongst the cast and to add insult to injury, the sound was tinny. The show starts, and doesn't let up, with actors all shouting their lines with indecipherable/sort of British accents. I heard attempts at Liverpool, London Queen's English and somewhere in between that went nowhere. Everything was played for slapstick, I think I laughed perhaps twice? It was Monty Python meets Benny Hill meets Laugh In meets? Honestly, it was excrutiatlingly bad, there I said it! I assume Geffen's financing is why this show has any life to it. | |
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| Don't get the hate for this, yet love for Noises Off | |
| Posted by: | sampos 11:20 pm EST 12/20/15 |
| In reply to: | These Paper Bulletts! Ugh :( - RufusRed 07:53 pm EST 12/20/15 |
| Noises Off last night was just a tedious broad physical humor bore. Megan Hilty's character sticking to the script no matter what in the third act was the only actually funny part. At least Bullets has a number of clever jokes and a fun spin on a Shakespearian comedy plot, or really any plot at all compared to one being nonexistent in Noises. | |
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| See Once Upon A Mattress | |
| Posted by: | RufusRed 09:33 am EST 12/21/15 |
| In reply to: | Don't get the hate for this, yet love for Noises Off - sampos 11:20 pm EST 12/20/15 |
| I don't doubt that Noises Off sucked as well, I don't like that play either. It's just a reminder to be very particular towards the theater choices you make. I recommend Once Upon A Mattress. It was lighter than air entertainment which will put a smile on your face and the performances are really first rate. | |
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| re: These Paper Bulletts! Ugh :( | |
| Posted by: | schauspieler 11:03 pm EST 12/20/15 |
| In reply to: | These Paper Bulletts! Ugh :( - RufusRed 07:53 pm EST 12/20/15 |
| I can see how the show is not going to be everyone's cup of tea. However, as someone who was a teen during the Beatles era and is familiar with just about every bit of trivia about them as well as having seen all the classic 'switched on' films of that era (In addition to the Beatles films, movies like SMASHING TIME, MORGEN, BEDAZZLED, CASINO ROYALE, THE CARRY ON AND PINK PANTHER FILMS) I had a great time at the show. The music was a delight: just original and clever enough to stand on its own while always giving the nod to this or that Beatles tune. The best was the Hey Jude homage near the end. I don't really get that broad British humor as done by the constable and his minions, but boy, did they put every possible bit of energy into, so much so that they ultimately won me over. In fact everyone, especially the ladies, were 'on' every second, and delightfully so. Their costumes were fantastic and they looked great in them. Sure it was a kind of madcap everything-but-the-kitchen-sink comic extravaganza, and it was certainly too long and often fell flat. But for the music and the ladies alone it's worth a visit. | |
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| re: These Paper Bulletts! Ugh :( | |
| Posted by: | ryhog 10:28 pm EST 12/20/15 |
| In reply to: | These Paper Bulletts! Ugh :( - RufusRed 07:53 pm EST 12/20/15 |
| The show wasn't great the music was pretty swell. And it certainly wasn't made up of "Green Day rejects" since it brilliantly evoked music from a period 20+ years before Green Day was born. | |
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| re: These Paper Bulletts! Ugh :( | |
| Posted by: | Seth Christenfeld (tabula-rasa@verizon.net) 12:17 am EST 12/21/15 |
| In reply to: | re: These Paper Bulletts! Ugh :( - ryhog 10:28 pm EST 12/20/15 |
| it brilliantly evoked music from a period 20+ years before Green Day was born. Not sure if this is going to make you feel old or young or what, but all three primary members of Green Day were born in 1972, so the (spectacular) songs that Billie Joe Armstrong has written for These Paper Bullets! only predates his birth by five or ten years at the most. Seth, pedantic as always | |
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| re: These Paper Bulletts! Ugh :( | |
| Posted by: | ryhog 12:47 am EST 12/21/15 |
| In reply to: | re: These Paper Bulletts! Ugh :( - Seth Christenfeld 12:17 am EST 12/21/15 |
| Now Seth, I said the birth of Green Day not of BJA. IIRC, he was 14 when Green Day was born, so 14 plus lets say 8 (1964) equals 22 which is 20+. But I still feel old. | |
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| re: These Paper Bulletts! Ugh :( | |
| Posted by: | Seth Christenfeld (tabula-rasa@verizon.net) 09:41 am EST 12/21/15 |
| In reply to: | re: These Paper Bulletts! Ugh :( - ryhog 12:47 am EST 12/21/15 |
| Alright, I'll allow it, but common English parlance would have the phrase "before Green Day was born" mean "before [the members of] Green Day [were] born," rather than "before Green Day was [incorporated as a band]." So there. ;) Seth, who wouldn't mind going back to bed | |
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| re: These Paper Bulletts! Ugh :( | |
| Posted by: | lowwriter 10:21 pm EST 12/20/15 |
| In reply to: | These Paper Bulletts! Ugh :( - RufusRed 07:53 pm EST 12/20/15 |
| I have to disagree about the songs, which I found very good and almost all of them sounded like songs of the period. I also thought adapting the plot from Much Ado About Nothing worked quite well. But I do agree it was too long. And some of the vulgarity was unnecessary. What you also don't menton is that cast is very good, especially the men playing the Quartos and the actress playing Bea. No one was shouting their lines when I saw the show and I had no trouble understanding what they were saying. I love the period that the musical was set in. But maybe no one cares about the Beatles anymore or that era. | |
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| re: These Paper Bulletts! Ugh :( | |
| Posted by: | RufusRed 09:40 am EST 12/21/15 |
| In reply to: | re: These Paper Bulletts! Ugh :( - lowwriter 10:21 pm EST 12/20/15 |
| I must have caught a bad performance, yes, everyone was shouting there lines, which were not to funny to beging with and maybe it's just me but I didn't care for the songs at all. I'm a huge Green Day and I LOVED American Idiot. I thought the cast perhaps did the best they could with what they given but I have to say, and I don't say this lightly that Justin Kirk, who I've admired in everything including twice I saw Love Valor Compassion, phoned his performance in on a grand scale. He had an expression that read, "Ok, I'll try to sing and play this guitar and make it look natural but I'd rather be home watching Homeland." There was also 0 chemistry between all of the actors. And lastly, is it supposed to be a musical or a play with a few songs? Right now, it's definitely in limbo. | |
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| re: These Paper Bulletts! Ugh :( | |
| Posted by: | student_rush 09:20 pm EST 12/20/15 |
| In reply to: | These Paper Bulletts! Ugh :( - RufusRed 07:53 pm EST 12/20/15 |
| I saw today's matinee and, while agreeing in part, am totally glad I went. Act 1 was firing on all cylinders - tight pacing, clever use of language and verse, beautiful physical production. At intermission, this was one of my most favorite recent things I'd seen. Act 2 really bewildered me. The first ~30 minutes just slogged to a grind. The dogberry subplot was completely unnecessary, and created a fifteen-minute "comedic" sequence that elicited nary a laugh from the audience. The last bit of the play picked up steam and ended on a good note, but really tarnished the effect of such an enjoyable first act. Loved the adaptation and music. | |
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| re: These Paper Bulletts! Ugh :( | |
| Posted by: | Jax 09:02 pm EST 12/20/15 |
| In reply to: | These Paper Bulletts! Ugh :( - RufusRed 07:53 pm EST 12/20/15 |
| Paper Bullets originated at the Geffen Theatre, but David Geffen did not produce it and has no money in it. I assume it's a co production between the two not for profit theatres. Totally agree with your assessment. The show's a real stinkeroo. | |
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| re: These Paper Bulletts! Ugh :( | |
| Posted by: | RufusRed 09:47 pm EST 12/20/15 |
| In reply to: | re: These Paper Bulletts! Ugh :( - Jax 09:02 pm EST 12/20/15 |
| Good to know that Geffen himself wasn't an investor, or was he? I remain baffled why anyone would put money into such an insufferable, obnoxious and frankly badly written farce, there's so much they could've edited out, what are they waiting for? That being said, some people obviously enjoyed it way more than me so there appears to be an audience out there for this show. | |
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| re: These Paper Bulletts! Ugh :( | |
| Posted by: | summertheater 11:06 pm EST 12/20/15 |
| In reply to: | re: These Paper Bulletts! Ugh :( - RufusRed 09:47 pm EST 12/20/15 |
| Early posts on the other board mentioned it was way too long and needed cuts. Then the reviews came out and mentioned it was way too long and needed cuts. For it to be STILL (as of this week) running at an abhorrent 2 hours 35 minutes is beyond me. Had some fun parts in act II, but the plot was totally incomprehensible to me (perhaps since it was loosely based on Shakespeare)? They really should hand out a Cliffs Notes version of the plot so that the audience can follow along. Not recommended. | |
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| re: These Paper Bulletts! Ugh :( | |
| Posted by: | ryhog 11:33 pm EST 12/20/15 |
| In reply to: | re: These Paper Bulletts! Ugh :( - summertheater 11:06 pm EST 12/20/15 |
| I did not think it was a great theatrical work, but I don't think it was intended to be, and I didn't mind it. Essential viewing? nah. A decent diversion lubricated by nice songs? For me, yes. | |
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